Meet the Angler
Here is how I got started.
My uncles were the only family members who cared about fishing. One was a great bass fisherman. I remember him cleaning 3 fish to feed 10 for dinner. We were stuffed. Those were monster largemouths. But I was just kid. Too young to learn from him before he moved away. His brother and I sat on many river banks and watched our bobbers. Occasionally we would get a crappie or bluegill. Fast forward a few years. My poor luck as a kid fisherman was far from discouraging. It set the hook. I knew there was more to learn.
So I started fishing with guides in Alabama and Michigan: Fishing Meccas warm and cold. I started with crappie. They are less wary and good teachers. It also helps that they taste great. Little Jerry in Alabama taught me how to find the fish and the techniques to land them in numbers. With Little Jerry, we had days ranging from 120 fish landed to 30 fish landed. On the 30 fish day, Little Jerry declared “they kicked our butts today.” The bite was off after a cold front. In summer, Little Jerry would chase stripers. We fished below the Lay Lake dam over boulders in the cool oxygenated effluent of the dam. The cool, oxygen-rich water attracted the shad. The shad attracted the bass. The feeding was so heavy that the bass would push shad onto the bank, where they would be scooped up by huge cranes. It was something to see.
Most impressive was how Little Jerry read the water. We fished one day under a bright blue sky and no wind. I cast in every direction with no luck, and gave Little Jerry a look of disappointment. He pointed to some bird activity 100 yards away and moved the boat. I cast to the birds and hooked up immediately. A 14lb striper slammed my fluke. That striper took lots of line, so I tightened the drag to get the fish in the boat. A few casts later another one. Then a bigger one hit. It peeled of about 50 yards of line and was gone. It had straightened the hook because I had not reset the drag. Lesson learned about big fish on spinning gear. It’s a dance of subtle presentation and keeping them on the line. The bigger lesson that day was reading the water to take advantage of a feeding frenzy. Present shad when they are gorging on shad.
In Michigan, I’ve fished both deep and shallow water. Arthur is the grandfather of salmon and trout fishing in southwestern Michigan. We idled through Lake Muskegon one afternoon. I was expecting an hour boat ride to the salmon grounds. Rain had pushed Lake Muskegon mud into Lake Michigan. There was a long and distinct mud line. Arthur said, “We are fishing here.” I never saw 10 or 12 rods hanging off Arthur’s boat. He ran two down riggers. He said, “Gotta make the bait work for you.” He dropped two J plugs just above marks on the sonar and cruised the edge of the mud line at a precise speed. We caught a 12lb to 15lb king salmon every 30 minutes like clockwork.
Arthur convinced me to go trout fishing. It was snowing as we launched his boat. A couple of other boats trailed us because they knew Arthur was king of the river. We drifted egg sacks for steelhead. As I missed bite after bite, Arthur said, “It’s all about angles.” Then he pitched bait into an eddy, set the hook, and handed the rod to me. He was generous. He shared the experience of fighting a steelhead. When hooked, they are acrobatic chrome and rainbow bullets. They are very intent on spitting the hook, and always find another surge of energy if you get them close to the boat.
That river trip with Arthur set the hook in me for river fishing. This was a new puzzle to figure out. The rivers and streams near me are small. So I kayak to fishing holes. The deeper holes I fish from the kayak. Other spots are better waded. Regardless the kayak is mobile and easy to store and transport. Typically, the less stuff I take, the better the fishing. That is the application of Arthur’s wisdom. Make your bait work for you.
This site is about sharing my expertise. I have fished:
- Atlantic Ocean off Montauk, New York.
- Michigan rivers and Lake Michigan.
- Rivers, lakes, and creeks in Alabama.
- Streams in Sitka, the Kenia River, the halibut waters off Homer, and the deep waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska.
- Rivers, streams, and lakes of the Midwest.
I’m taking all the experiences in various fishing environments, all I’ve learned from guides, all I’ve learned reading, and applying them to smallmouth fishing in small rivers and streams. Why? Because smallies are elusive. They are a challenge to catch. And they are tireless bullets, who make other freshwater species rather dull to fish for, because other species give up. Not the smallies!
I’m not trying to catch the little ones, gents. Anyone can do that. I’m chasing the big smallies.
Join the hunt!