30-41 Achigan - Tight Lines Fly Fishing Co.

30-41 Achigan 6/19/06 7:31 PM Page 30 

Nearly wiped out 

Achigan 

of the midwest 

during the logging 

years, smallmouth bass 

make a triumphant 

return in the freestone 

streams of Wisconsin 

S T O R Y A N D P H O T O S N E L S O N R . H A M Underwater photography by Eric Engbretson 

30 F ISH& F LY 

S UMMER 2006 31

30-41 Achigan 6/19/06 7:31 PM Page 32 

FRENCH EXPLORERS TO EASTERN CANADA, New France, adopted the Algonquin word 

achigan for bass, meaning “the one who struggles.” They were referring to the tenacious smallmouth 

bass so abundant in the rocky streams and lakes of the southern Canadian Shield—the 

low but ragged land of ancient rock that is the core of North America. 

Included in the Shield is the north country of Wisconsin, and this landscape belies a long 

and turbulent pre-history ending with the Great Ice Age. But the Wisconsin northwoods 

endured its toughest environmental challenge only in the last 150 years, with the clear cutting 

of forests, construction of dams and pollution of water resources. Vast quantities of fish described by early settlers 

were decimated, including the smallmouth bass. 

Today northern Wisconsin is a premier 

smallmouth river fishery. The 

forests have returned, the rivers run 

clear and the smallmouth bass are back, 

accommodating the dams as best they 

can. Many miles of streams await those 

interested in pursuing achigan once 

again. The bass grow large—three to 

five pounders live here—and you’d be 

surprised at the flies they’ll eat. 

Think saltwater big. 

Dark Waters and Ancient Rocks 

On a hot day last July, I headed north 

from Green Bay to float a favorite 

stretch of river with two new clients. 

The quickest route takes me about an 

hour and a half—if I don’t get caught 

behind an RV—and the ride is easy. 

The small towns along the way are great 

for coffee, but otherwise don’t make 

much of an impression. 

My anglers were meeting me at the 

launch, so I rode alone and made the 

trip a bit longer. Twenty miles short of 

the landing I turned on to a gravel road 

that follows the river. I wouldn’t call it a 

“river road,” but it’s close enough. It 

weaves its way back and forth for a few 

miles, every so often giving a glimpse of 

the river. I always slow down for these 

picture spots and pretend they’re views 

from long ago. 

The forest is thick by this time of year, 

and the water is dark—tannin-stained 

from the bogs upstream. Then there are 

the rocks. This is a freestone river to be 

sure, held up by two-billion-year-old 

rocks of the Canadian Shield. They’re 

worn but solid. Of course they make up 

the falls and rapids, but in this river 

they also make ledges, banks, humps 

and islands—unlike an alluvial river of 

sand and silt. Seemingly sprinkled on 

top are plenty of boulders, some the size 

of my driftboat. These are erratics left 

by the last great North American glacier—the 

Laurentide Ice Sheet. 

This river is like many in northern 

Wisconsin. If you’re a smallmouth 

angler, it is some of the best water in the 

world. Achigan thought so as well; 

northern Wisconsin is native territory 

for smallmouths—lots of rock and gravel, 

downed wood, shady banks, big 

boulders and clear water full of crayfish 

and minnows. 

Smallmouth bass here did well for 

several thousand years, and today hold 

their own. But 100 years ago it was 

damn hard to find a decent shade tree, 

a clear drink of water or a smallmouth 

in the northwoods. The environmental 

history of northern Wisconsin, its rivers 

and the smallmouth are inseparable— 

linked by ecology. It’s a story of land 

pushed to the brink of disaster by greed, 

followed by a tale of redemption. 

Cut, Dam and Kill 

I first set eyes on northern Wisconsin 

over 20 years ago and thought I was in 

an ancient forest. When I moved here 

and started pursuing brook trout and 

smallmouths, I learned the trees were 

hardly old. A century ago, Wisconsin 

was the antithesis of any legitimate conservation 

ethic. 

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the 

northern forests were clear-cut to 

“feed” the growing cities of the Midwest 

and elsewhere. 

Land was to be conquered, not cared 

for. 

Few thought of the long-term consequences, 

but Increase Lapham was an 

exception. Think of him as Wisconsin’s 

first state scientist. In a show of conservation 

foresight, he wrote Report on the 

Disastrous Effects of the Destruction of 

Forest Trees, Now Going on so Rapidly in 

the State of Wisconsin in 1867. 

Lapham’s warning went ignored. 

When the lumbering era ended 

around 1930, the northwoods was 

called the cutover. Old photos show 

“stump forests” without a standing tree 

in sight. And absurdly as it sounds, the 

new land was advertised as good farmland. 

But these infertile soils, poor 

growing seasons and rough terrain 

proved to be an agricultural nightmare 

for settlers. 

Early in the lumbering era, logs were 

moved to milltowns by floating them 

down rivers such as the Wisconsin and 

Wolf. Trees were cut in winter to take 

advantage of spring floods, and the logs 

were also easier to move out of the 

forests and swamps on frozen ground. 

With river transport came the need 

for dams as a means of moving logs 

across drainage divides and from tributaries 

to major rivers. This increased 

spring flows and reduced log jams, but 

rail transport eventually took over after 

the damage had been done. 

These log drives were destructive to 

rivers. Even before a drive took place, a 

channel was “improved” by removing or 

blasting boulders, rock ledges and 

sunken logs to lessen the chances of a 

catastrophic log jam. When appropriately-named 

splash dams were opened to 

initiate a drive, the sudden flood of logs 

would scour the channel walls and bed. 

Aquatic life took a real beating. 

Although many 19th-century dams 

in Wisconsin were built for logging purposes, 

some operated grist mills and an 

era of hydroelectric dam construction 

followed in the early 20th century. 

Sure, it looks pristine and calm right now. Just wait until there’s a five-pound smallmouth bass splashing on the other end of your line. 

Smallmouth bass here did well for several thousand years, and today hold their own. 

But 100 years ago it was damn hard to find a decent shade tree, a clear drink of water 

or a smallmouth in the northwoods. 

Thousands of dams remain in 

Wisconsin. 

Most of the northwoods lay in shambles 

at the beginning of the 20th century. 

Wild fires raged, lakes and rivers 

choked from silt and channels were ravaged 

by drives. Hundreds of dams 

squeezed the rivers. Land, lake and 

river ecosystems were devastated. 

Catching a decent fish was practically 

a fantasy. 

Imagine how much worse it got when 

the paper companies started polluting 

the water in the decades after the log 

M U R D I C H M I N N O W 

PATTERN BY BILL MURDICH 

TIED BY UMPQUA FEATHER MERCHANTS 

HOOK: Tiemco 811S, size 1/0 

THREAD: White 6/0 Uni-thread 

TAIL: Silver Flashabou over white bucktail 

with pearl Flashabou 

COLLAR: Silver Flashabou over white Ice Fur 

BODY/HEAD: 

Pearl Estaz, top colored with cool 

gray Pantone pen. If needed, use 

underbody of white med. chenille 

for bulk 

EYES: Silver or pearl 3-D molded, size 5.0 

NOTE: For freshwater use TMC8089NP size 10 or 

Targus B9089 size 8. 

drives. 

Revelation, Rehabilitation and Rebirth 

Someone saw the light. The relatively 

mature forests and mostly healthy 

rivers of the northwoods today are owed 

to model conservation and environmental 

movements that developed in 

the 20th century. Environmental 

tragedy turned into a remarkable recovery. 

By the early 1900s, a State 

Conservation Commission was established, 

which included the Fisheries 

Commission and State Board of 

Forestry. Northern Wisconsin was 

replanted with the help of the 

Civilian Conservation Corps 

and nurtured to forest once 

again. 

The conservation effort to 

rehabilitate the northwoods was 

well underway by the 1930s, and it 

32 F ISH& F LY 

S UMMER 2006 33


included restoring streams and lakes to 

bring back the “good old fishing days.” 

Sid Gordon, author of How to Fish from 

Top to Bottom (1955), for a time headed 

the program to improve aquatic habitat. 

Fish hatcheries were important to 

this rehabilitation effort. The first fish 

hatchery in the country was built in 

Madison about 1875. A bass hatchery 

was established in 1903 in Minocqua, 

and by 1940, Wisconsin had eight stateoperated 

bass hatcheries that produced 

between 1.5 and 2.5 million fry and fingerlings 

per year. 

In the 1950s it was clear that natural 

reproduction was sufficient to maintain 

bass populations and stocking was 

almost eliminated. Even so, much of 

the bass stocking that took place in the 

early 20th century 

was for largemouths, 

which 

were stocked mostly 

in lakes. 

Stocking of smallmouths 

was 

minor, and limited 

bass stocking has 

returned in recent years. 

The struggles of Wisconsin’s aquatic 

resources didn’t end in the ‘40s and 

‘50s, however. Senator Gaylord Nelson 

founded Earth Day in 1970—the impetus 

for the establishment of the 

Environmental Protection Agency and 

the Clean Water Act. 

It was finally some help to address 

years of abuse of water resources. 

Dams remain a complex issue. 

Hydropower is a relatively clean energy 

source, but the negative impacts are 

obvious, such as restricting fish passage 

for spawning and dramatic flow changes 

that flood or strand fish. New laws 

make it easier for the Wisconsin 

Department of Natural Resources and 

groups such as the Wisconsin River 

Alliance to have a voice in protecting 

rivers when hydroelectric dams come 

up for relicensing. 

So, Where are We Now 

Many Wisconsin rivers are better 

today than they were several decades 

and even 100 years ago. Most rivers 

designated by the DNR as Outstanding 

& Exceptional Waters are in the northwoods. 

The return of smallmouth bass to 

northern Wisconsin is especially 

BAR TEAU M I N N E A U X 

PATTERN BY BART LANDWEHR 

TIED BY BART LANDWEHR 

HOOK: Tiemco 8089NP, size 6 

THREAD: White 6/0 Uni-thread 

TAIL: Gray Icelandic sheep fur over pearl 

Flashabou over silver Flashabou over 

white bucktail 

LATERAL LINE: 

Two peacock herl each side 

THROAT: Red rabbit 

COLLAR: White Ice Fur 

UNDERBODY: 

White medium chenille 

BODY/HEAD: 

Pearl blue Angel Hair spun in dubbing 

brush; top colored with cool 

gray Pantone pen 


NOTE: Vary the pattern by coloring with different 

pens. The Barteau is a great saltwater pattern 

as well and has been used to catch 

many species including jacks, stripers and 

snook; substitute a stainless hook. 

BASS S A N D W I C H 

PATTERN BY BOB MARVIN AND 

NELSON HAM 

TIED BY NELSON HAM 

HOOK: Daiichi 2461, size 1/0 

THREAD: Chartreuse 6/0 Uni-thread, Flatwaxed 

Nylon for attaching foam 

TAIL: Two chartreuse marabou plumes 

LEGS: Orange round rubber hackle 

UNDERBODY: 

Chartreuse Estaz 

BODY: White 6mm craft foam, front cut at 

45-degree angle 

EYES: 7mm doll eyes 

NOTE: Body is from The Happy Face Fly by 

Captain Bob Marvin, Naples, Florida. It’s 

a simple but effective way of creating a popper 

from sheet foam. Substitute rabbit strips, 

craft fur, bucktail, or feathers for the tail. 

Rubber legs can be attached to front foam 

tie-in. Fish with short, quick strips and give 

good pops. A long strip will pull the fly 

underwater, resulting in a big air bubble and pop. 

impressive if you consider that the 

species received little help after the logging 

era and the modern population is 

self-supporting. Stocking numbers from 

the Wisconsin DNR are telling: In fiscal 

year 2005, about 14,000 smallmouths 

were stocked statewide—compared to 

about 170,000 largemouths and over 20 

million walleye, three million pike and 

two million brown trout. 

The smallmouths seem to be doing 

well on their own, but this doesn’t mean 

they aren’t susceptible to over harvest. 

A trophy fishery can be lost in a hurry. 

Convincing more anglers to practice 

catch-and-release and to not fish for 

bass protecting their nests during the 

spawn is critical. 

Why 

First, there isn’t much scientific 

debate that removing a male from a 

nest, even for a few minutes, results in 

some mortality to eggs or fry. And there 

is no question that a guardian removed 

permanently from a nest results in complete 

mortality. Basically, fishing to a 

bass on a nest is a bit like hunting deer 

chained to a fencepost—let them be. 

Second, there is a common misconception 

that bass numbers are near 

those of trout in similar-quality streams. 

As John Lyons, fisheries biologist for the 

Wisconsin DNR, told me, “…because 

bass are higher up on the food chain 

[largely fish and crayfish eaters versus 

aquatic insects]…more total primary 

and secondary productivity is needed to 

produce a pound of bass than a pound 

of trout.” 

He went on to explain that anglers 

and even some fishery managers have 

unrealistic expectations as to how many 

bass a stream can support. Lyons’ years 

of research suggests that trout will have 

maximum densities three to 10 times 

higher than bass, all other things being 

equal. 

Finally, bass in colder, less-productive, 

northern waters grow much slower 

than those in southern states. A 20- 

inch river bass from northern 

Wisconsin is easily 10 years old or more. 

Catch-and-release angling is vital to 

supporting and improving the fishery. 

Their river homes and lives are tough, 

even without the destruction of days 

gone by. The smallmouths still endure 

the dams, ice, cold, heat, floods, pike, 

musky and countless other obstacles. 

A trophy smallmouth is more than 

anything a survivor, “one who struggles.” 

Waiting for Popper Time 

When I met my clients that July 

morning last year, we dropped my driftboat 

at a launch below a dam, and I ran 

my shuttle. My two smallmouth mentors, 

Tim and Bart Landwehr from 

Tight Lines Fly Fishing near Green Bay, 

had found their “shuttle girl” a couple 

of years earlier. Still in high school, she 

drove fast enough—seemingly powered 

by bubble gum and pink flipflops—and 

I was back at the ramp in 15 minutes. 

As I rowed away from shore, I knew 

we would quickly be out of the dam’s 

sight and then float seven miles without 

hearing a car and only seeing a cabin or 

two. My anglers started casting minnow 

patterns at bank eddies, and within five 

minutes both had 14-inch smallmouth. 

We started into a long straight reach. 

Here the river flows over those 2-billion-year-old 

rocks and also follows a 

fault—a suture zone where ancient 

North America added a new piece of 

crust a long time ago. 

I barely had to move the oars to drift 

just so. Otherwise I stared at the water, 

alternating between my angler’s flies 

and the bank far ahead, looking for the 

telltale swirl of a surface take. No swirls 

yet, but it was only midday. 

We stuck with my mid-summer play 

and kept on fishing big streamers, but I 

was so wishing for popper time. 

Summer Strategies, or, Keeping it Slow 

I’m no different than most bass 

anglers who believe catching smallmouths 

on the surface is simply the 

best. There is good fishing in Wisconsin 

spring and fall, but a hot July and 

August are the halcyon days of northwoods 

smallmouth fishing. 

Fishing smallmouths in a big 

Wisconsin river can seem daunting, but 

keep two things in mind: 

First, there is a lot of unproductive 

water. 

Second, you aren’t going to find many 

spots where you’ll catch 20, 10 or even 

five fish too often. So, besides recognizing 

good structure, it’s best to cover 

large amounts of water. 

One strategy that I use mid-summer 

involves searching with a large (four-tosix-inch) 

streamer on a floating line 

(e.g. Murdich Minnow). Fish such 

Fish large salt water flies with short, erratic strips to imitate dying minnows. Then, 

annoy the heck out of your driftboat companions by catching all of their fish. 

TIBOR REEL AD 


S UMMER 2006 35


T A C K L E T I P S 

A Northwoods Fly Box 

PICK FLIES THAT COVER THE WATER COLUMN IN ZONES—surface, 

shallow, middle, deep and bottom. Most of the following are 

widely available: 

Good surface flies are Umpqua’s hard-body poppers, Dahlberg 

Divers, Murray’s Shenandoah Chuggars and Sliders, Whitlock’s 

deer-hair poppers and foam poppers. Get these in minnow gray, 

red/white/black and yellow/red to start. Add yellow or chartreuse, 

and black for the divers. 

Standby streamers are the Clouser Minnow, Whitlock’s Sheep 

Minnow, Barr’s Bouface, Lefty’s Deceiver and Blanton’s Flashtail 

Whistler. Most come in one or two standard colors; good Clouser 

colors are chartreuse and white, chartreuse and yellow, sculpin and 

baby smallmouth. 

Bottom patterns include Whitlock’s Near-Nuff Crayfish and 

Scorpion, woolly buggers, Holschlag’s Hackle Fly and Galloup’s Zoo 

Cougar. Go for browns, olives, black and crayfish. 

Murray’s Hellgrammite and various nymph patterns are great. 

Some swear by Clouser Bass Nymphs. 

Many bass flies are tied on Tiemco 8089 hooks. Buy them mostly 

in sizes 10 and 6. For most other freshwater hooks, use sizes 1 

through 8. For saltwater patterns find hooks no larger than 1/0, 

preferably 1 and 2. Better yet, buy models and tie your own on 

freshwater hooks. If you tie, the TMC 8089 and the Targus equivalent 

are excellent. I use the Targus in size 8 quite a bit. The Daiichi 

2461 is good for longer-shank patterns. 

Smallmouths will sometimes feed heavily on trout forage. Carry 

a box that includes terrestrials—hoppers, beetles and ants. Some 

Wisconsin streams have good leukon, brown drake, and Hex hatches. 

A few White Wulff, Drake, and Hex patterns will have you covered. 

streamers as a dying minnow, meaning 

erratic strips and pauses. 

Slow, long strips are a no-no. 

If you’ve ever watched a predator fish 

feed on baitfish, you know the act. 

Dying guys are always taken first—the 

easy meal. Also, never take your eye off 

the fly. A smallmouth often hits the fly 

during the pause and will spit it out 

before you feel the take. 

If you don’t get hits on a shallow minnow, 

think about going to a smaller fly 

first, then probing deeper with a weighted 

streamer, such as a Clouser or a crayfish 

imitation. If need be, switch to light 

sink-tips. Choose crayfish patterns that 

have action even in slow water. Worst 

of all are the raffia-and-feather concoctions 

made to look like real crayfish. I’d 

take a woolly bugger any day. Fish these 

with a strip-pause-pause-strip cadence. 

In the best of times you’ll go up the 

water column. When aggressive fish 

start hitting shallow patterns, switch to 

poppers or divers. For most bass anglers, 

smallmouth on the surface is ‘our’ dryfly 

fishing. 

There aren’t many ways to mess up 

popper fishing, but most people seem 

inherently good at doing it wrong. Some 

people do pop too much, however. In 

still water, 10 to 20 seconds between 

pops is an absolute minimum, some 

would say even a minute or more. If 

you’re fishing moving water, the time 

isn’t as important as the distance. A pop 

or two every ten feet is a good start, but 

pop more frequently with increasing 

turbulence or turbidity. 

The second problem is the hook set. 

It’s human nature to set the hook as 

soon as you see action at the fly. Wait a 

second or two—then set the hook. 

You’ll catch more fish by slowing 

down. 

On the Rocks With No Ice 

Technique is one part of smallmouth 

strategy, but you need to cover structure. 

Authentic river rat and smallmouth 

master Dan Gapen (son of 

“Muddler” fame) calls them “cuts”, but 

you’ve heard “current breaks” or 

“seams” in trout fishing. They’re places 

where water velocity abruptly changes 

because of stream structure. 

Smallmouth don’t expend more energy 

than they need to. They would 

rather be in slow water right next to fast 

current, a veritable food highway. 

People think of cuts as being only vertical, 

such as where current breaks 

around a boulder, but velocity transi- 

On a typical summer day, focus your surface and shallow-water presentations on bank eddies, 

points of rock or gravel jutting into the channel, rock ledges, rock walls, rock islands, 

rocky shorelines and river humps—shallow, rocky, submerged islands. 

These flies are made completely out of baby bunny rabbits. Or synthetic fur and rubber legs, either one 

Remember the Nymphs 

Nymphing for bass is important to 

master. In the heat of midday, when 

fishing with streamers or poppers can be 

slow, Harry Murray’s strategy of 

methodically drifting nymphs through 

riffles into pools can be deadly. 

Bass nymphing is best done differently 

than nymphing for trout. Bass are 

sight feeders—a fly showing life is 

important. Again, pick flies with materials 

that have action in the slightest 

current like marabou and soft webby 

hackle. 

The most effective way to fish 

nymphs, and even crayfish at times, is 

to periodically move the fly by hard 

mends or lifting the line. You’ll know 

the fly has jumped when you move the 

indicator. Bigger flies also mean a bigger 

indicator. 

This technique can be 

extremely effective on 

finicky smallmouth. 

It’s also a great 

searching 

technique in 

off-color water. 

Try Murray’s nymph patterns, woolly 

buggers, Tim’s Moppet and crayfish. 

TIM ’ S M O P P E T 

PATTERN BY TIM LANDWEHR 

TIED BY TIM LANDWEHR 

HOOK: Tiemco 8089, size 10 

THREAD: Black 6/0 Uni-thread 

TAIL: Black zonker rabbit strip, yellow 

Krystal Flash 

BODY: Copper Diamond braid 

LEGS: Fluorescent yellow round rubber 

hackle 

HEAD: Black rabbit fur spun in dubbing 

loop 

EYES: Lead or lead-free medium dumbbell, 

yellow 

NOTE: Chartreuse, black, crayfish and white are 

standard colors. For white pattern substitute 

red Krystal Flash, pearl diamond braid, red 

eyes, white and red, with black perfect rubber 

legs and a turn of red fur at the head. It 

can be stripped like a crayfish, but is most 

effective drifted under a big indicator with 

occasional jumps by mending. 

tions also occur in the horizontal, for 

example where a riffle empties into a 

pool. The classic river structures to target 

for smallmouths are those that generate 

cuts or those that concentrate forage 

(crayfish and minnows) in slower 

water. 

On a typical summer day, focus your 

surface and shallow-water presentations 

on bank eddies, points of rock or gravel 

jutting into the channel, rock ledges, 

rock walls, rock islands, rocky shorelines 

and river humps—shallow, rocky, 

submerged islands. Uniform sand and 

small gravel isn’t productive—but don’t 

pass rock piles big enough to hold fish. 

Big boulders and boulder fields 

should never be missed. I learned that 

lesson the hard way two years ago when 

Bart and I guided four anglers. We were 

on a stretch of river he had floated the 

preceding month and I had only seen 

for two days. 

We were even between our boats 

most of that summer day, but then I 

“low-holed” him—unintentionally, of 

course. When he passed me, his anglers 

were sitting and he was rowing fast. He 

moved to a shelf with boulders in shallow 

water, dropped anchor, tied poppers 


S UMMER 2006 37


T A C K L E T I P S 

Gearing Up for Smallmouths 

PICK A MEDIUM-FAST OR FAST-ACTION NINE-FOOT 8-WEIGHT 

for your first smallmouth rod. The heavy line allows for easy casting 

of heavy or wind-resistant flies and quick landing of a strong 

fish in current. Six and 7-weight rods certainly have their place in 

smaller streams and also in clear, shallow water typical of late 

summer, so keep those in mind for those conditions. 

I prefer fast action rods (but not too stiff) and haven’t used anything 

better than the Sage XP. They cast well in the range of 30 to 

60 feet and have strong butt sections. Other folks certainly make 

excellent fly rods, just make sure you test cast with a fly when it’s 

time to buy. 

You don’t need a stop-a-truck drag for bass, but reel weight is 

more important than you think. Casting a tip heavy 8-weight will 

lead to arm and hand pain. Pick a reel that balances your rod 

roughly at the position of your index finger and thumb. 

If money is tight, get a good rod and workman reel. If your wallet 

is more forgiving, consider that your new 8-weight will be ideal 

for steelhead and bonefish—assuming you have a reel with a quality 

drag. Buy the best reel you can. Ross Canyon reels are proven 

big fish performers. The Cadillacs are still Tibor and Abel. 

I plead shameless endorsement for Rio fly lines. The Clouser is 

the best bass line that I’ve used. Its turns over bulky flies easily and 

shoots well. Rio uses the Clouser taper in several other lines useful 

for bass fishing. 

My favorites are their short-head (seven to nine and a half-foot) 

intermediate, type 3, and type 6 sink-tip lines (look for Streamer Tip 

and Density Compensated Sinking Tip). They’re ideal for shallow 

rivers. I use the intermediate clear-tip line often. Its slow sink rate is 

perfect for fishing streamers over submerged bars, shelves and humps. 

Flies connected to floating lines are best served by a standard 

eight or nine-foot leader tapered to eight, 10 or 12-pound tippet. If 

you tie your own, there are plenty of published formulas to pick 

from. Sink-tip lines work fine with a three- to five-level leader. 

Regular mono is good most of the time, but fluorocarbon has its 

place, especially in low, clear water. I’ve used mostly Umpqua and 

Rio tippet, but I’m also impressed with Frog Hair; although expensive, 

it really is supple, stretchy and strong. 

Tie on your flies with the non-slip loop knot. It is strong, quick 

and easy to tie—and most importantly, allows the fly to move 

freely. Practice tying the loop small; big loops cause tangles. Check 

your leader and knots frequently. 

Casting a big fly rod, especially with heavy flies and sink tips, 

isn’t easy. Take a couple of lessons, and practice regularly. Focus 

on basic casting, but also mending, shooting line, casting under 

obstacles (branches) and accuracy. 

Two skills poorly developed in many anglers are hook setting and 

fish fighting. Have someone show you how to strip-strike properly. 

Most people use far too little force and wonder why they lose 

fish—they never did set the hook. There is a lot of stretch in a fly 

line, and 10-pound tippet is strong stuff. 

It takes skill to land a strong fish quickly, and keep in mind that 

the “Orvis Pose” is a bunch of b.s.—it’s a great way to break a rod. 

Keep the rod lower and closer to your body. You’ll tire a fish quickly 

by pulling the rod in the direction opposite to its run. One final 

thought—a good guide will show you how to fish as much as 

where to fish. Take advantage of that. 

Smallmouth bass are wily creatures, but can still be fooled by an expertly-placed leggy fly. 

also seldom saw big fish pictures—no 

22-inch monsters. 

I did catch fish, but not many and not 

anything big. 

Then I had an epiphany, mostly 

because I was just really tired one 

Saturday morning. A few years ago I 

accidentally watched ESPN one weekend 

and started reading In-Fisherman 

and Bassmaster. 

And to answer your question: No, I 

don’t have one of those fishing shirts 

that make me look like a NASCAR 

crew chief. But I suspect there is a flyfishing 

rep somewhere with visions of 

guides wearing Winston or Sage plastered 

across their shirts and embroidered 

flames thrown in for the new generation. 

What I noticed was the gear guys 

using tactics a lot more refined than 

things I’d seen in any fly fishing magazine. 

Granted, fishing deep with gear is 

more user-friendly than with fly tackle, 

but to be more successful as a smallmouth 

fisherman, I needed to nymph 

and sling sink tips more effectively and 

more often. Otherwise, my bass fishing 

It’s fishing those trenches that will make you look long and hard at spinning gear 

the next time you’re at a hook-and-bullet store. 

on both rods and waited. In the next 20 

minutes, my boat picked up two fish 

and his boated 12, while we were made 

to watch. In the afternoon heat the bass 

had moved up on to the shelf to feed on 

minnows, and they were happy to eat 

poppers as well. 

The lesson learned was: grasshoppers 

should never low-hole their masters. 

Weeding Out 

Weedy areas attract minnows and 

can harbor big bass. They can also be 

tough to fish with fly tackle; try surface 

and weedless patterns. Slower water 

downstream of riffles, larger drops to 

deep water, and the tails of pools can be 

productive. Occasionally 

you’ll need intermediate or 

deep-water lines and flies. 

Drowned or partiallysubmerged 

wood is a 

mixed bag. Isolated 

stumps or logs will often 

hold a fish or two in an 

MIKO ’ S M U D B U G 

PATTERN BY NELSON HAM 


HOOK: Eagle Claw 630, size 1 

THREAD: Brown 6/0 Uni-Thread 

WEIGHT: Medium nickel-plated Dazl-eyes 

EYES: Black medium bead chain or burned 

mono; tied down bend from shank 

CLAWS: Two brown grizzly marabou plumes 

FEELERS/LEGS: 

Orange or yellow round rubber 

hackle; Flashabou and Krystal Flash 

to complement 

BODY: Brown grizzly, oversized saddle 

hackle; palmer over pearl-root beer 

Estaz 

NOTE: Plain lead eyes can be used, but harder 

dumbbell eyes create more sound when hitting 

underwater rocks. Most effective fished 

when stripped instead of nymphed. 

otherwise bleak stream bed. 

Some authors stress fishing the shady 

bank, but too many fish are caught in 

sun. Concentrate on structure and forage 

first, and then shade. Nonetheless, 

always cover water beneath overhanging 

trees. 

Honestly, if you’re fishing northern 

Wisconsin rivers for the first time, you 

would be blind to miss half the good 

structure. The islands, ledges, points, 

walls, humps and big boulders are obvious 

in the lower flows typical of late 

summer. 

Short of signs saying, “cast here,” the 

structure can’t be more accommodating. 

It’s some of the best smallmouth 

water in the country. 

But the other half River knowledge 

is hard won. There are still times when 

I fish with Tim or Bart on a river we all 

know, and invariably we catch a few 

more fish on “their side.” 

At its bleakest, fishing for smallmouths 

will make you think you’re 

hunting for the giant squid in an ocean 

trench. When the fish disappear there is 

only one place to go—deep with heavy 

flies and sink-tips. Gapen calls it “center-streaming.” 

The fly tackle is cumbersome, 

the casting is not really casting, 

the strikes are hard to detect and 

the fishing is slow. 

My advice to you: Good luck 

It’s fishing those trenches that will 

make you look long and hard at spinning 

gear the next time you’re at a 

hook-and-bullet store. 

The ESPN Epiphany 

When I first read about fishing for 

smallmouths, it 

seemed that I’d 

need poppers, 

a few crayfish 

patterns and 

roughly 500 

Clouser minnows—and 

the 

streamers should 

all be two-tothree 

inches long. I 

AVER Y A N C H O V Y 



HOOK: TMC 8089NP, size 10 

THREAD: Danville monofilament, ultrafine 

TAIL: Silver and pearl Flashabou, mixed 

BODY: Pearl Ice Wing Fiber or Gartside 

Secret Stuff or Martinek Dri Ice 

TOP: Smoke DNA Holo-Fusion 

EYES: Pearl or silver 3-D molded, size 5.0 

NOTE: Ice wing fibers are attached in alternating 

clumps until the head is reached, then 

brushed vigorously rearward with a dog 

brush. Flies up to six or eight inches long 

can easily be tied in combination with other 

tailing materials like feathers, Icelandic 

sheep fur or Puglisi fibers. Try fishing with 

a Petitjean Magic Minnow Head or 

Wigglefin. 

would be like dry-flies-only fishing for 

trout. 

All this led me to one magical 

thought: 

I wondered why we didn’t use flies as 

big as some of those bass lures. 

Have you measured a Zara Super 

Spook or looked lately at the size of 

most soft baits Three-to-six inches is a 

lot more common than two or three— 

and the largest swimbaits used today for 

targeting giant largemouths are almost 

a foot long! 

It was about this time that I started 

fishing saltwater with Captain Bob 

Marvin. A chance referral put me with 

this masterful, old-time, Florida guide. 

His snook flies acted like smallmouth 

flies. 

I also became entranced with saltwater 

tyers like Steve Farrar and Tim 

Borski. Their flies made of the latest 

synthetics, sometimes mixed with naturals, 

were no longer stiff and lifeless like 

their predecessors. 

The final piece of the puzzle was my 


S UMMER 2006 39


friend and former fishing partner Phil 

Cochran, an ichthyologist now living in 

Minnesota. In my mind he is the last of 

a dying breed of old-school field naturalists. 

He gets the credit for everything 

I know about stream ecology, but certainly 

none of the blame for all the 

things I’ve forgotten, which are a lot. 

Phil showed me my first caddisfly— 

Helicopsychidae if I remember right— 

the one whose case looks like a snail 

shell. For the next few years he went on 

to show me how a stream works. He 

also showed me research of his friend 

John Lyons, who most consider the 

Wisconsin DNR’s expert on smallmouths. 

Saltwater Streamers and Big Stinking 

Bass 

The result of all this fishy learning is 

that I realized big saltwater streamers 

T R A V E L T I P S 

B A S S P ALA , O.F. ( O R I G I N A L FLOATING ) 

HOOK: 

Northwoods Rivers and Shops 

THREAD: 

DON’T EXPECT “TOP 10 SMALLMOUTH RIVERS.” Similar articles 

have turned weekend trout fishing on the spring creeks of southwest 

Wisconsin into a team sport, complete with early morning 

races to the one car pull-outs. Fortunately, many bass fishermen 

focus on lakes in the summer and many smallmouth streams in 

July and August can only be negotiated by wading or canoe. On 

many summer days you can have a Wisconsin smallmouth stream 

to yourself. 

The DNR estimates about 3,500 miles of smallmouth water in 

the Wisconsin. The northern water includes the big rivers and 

flowages, such as the St. Croix and Wisconsin—almost all of which 

can be fished by boat. The southwest streams are part of the spring 

creeks region. This is small-stream wading or canoe water. 

Buy DeLorme’s Wisconsin Atlas and Gazetteer for planning trips. 

Wisconsin has excellent trout-only guidebooks, but Motovioloff’s 

Flyfisher’s Guide to Wisconsin (2003) includes smallmouths. 

Midwest Fly Fishing magazine regularly publishes articles on 

smallmouth streams, patterns and tactics and can be found online 

at www.mwfly.com. Russ Wayre’s Smallmouth! America’s Top Bass 

Waters (Midwest/South ed.) profiles several lakes, rivers, and 

flowages in Wisconsin. 

Much more info on the “where” can be found on the Internet. 

Many smallmouth waters are on state or federal land, or under the 

pervue of power companies, and these folks are happy to supply 

info. You shouldn’t have trouble finding them online. A good start is 

the DNR website at www.dnr.state.wi.us. Use the U.S. Geological 

LIP: 



Mustad 3191, size 2/0 (straighten 

offset bend with line pliers) 

White Flymaster; white Flat-Waxed 

Nylon for attaching foam 

FlyLipp 

UNDERBODY: 

Pearl Estaz 

BODY/HEAD: 

Black over white strips of 2mm craft 

foam 


NOTE: Flash tail and rattle can be added. Short, 

quick strips work best. 

should work for imitating minnows 

important to a river smallmouths diet— 

sometimes more so than crayfish. And 

there was no reason not to go big; 

ichthyologists say that four or five inches 

is an optimal forage size for larger 

bass. Many minnows such as shiners, 

dace, stonerollers and chubs have average 

lengths of two-to-four inches, with 

the largest adults being several inches 

longer. 

That is when I started using saltwater 

patterns for smallmouth. New equipment 

and tying materials meant I could 

cast the flies easily and they had life in 

the water. Most importantly, I caught 

more big bass and fewer smaller ones. 

When Tim and Bart trusted me to 

show me their smallmouth “crusher,” I 

felt an inner redemption. It was a fiveinch 

saltwater pattern marketed by 

Umpqua called the Murdich Minnow. 

Fished like a dying minnow, it attracts 

Bass in colder, less-productive, northern waters grow much slower than those in southern states. 

A 20-inch river bass from northern Wisconsin is easily 10 years old or more. 

Catch-and-release angling is vital to supporting and improving the fishery. 

Survey’s website to monitor river discharge, especially with the 

passing of summer storms (water.usgs.gov). You can assess 

whether you’ll find a raging torrent or perfect conditions on your 

favorite river. 

The following are Wisconsin flyshops that can set you up with 

equipment, flies, and a good guide. Local river knowledge is important. 

Top-water and shallow-water fly fishing is a relatively short 

season—plan ahead. July and August are the prime months. By the 

way, we haven’t touched largemouth bass or lake fishing— 

Wisconsin is black bass wonderland. 

Tight Lines Fly Fishing Co. 

Tim Landwehr 

DePere, Wisconsin 

920-336-4106 

www.tightlinesflyshop.com 

The Fly Fishers 

Pat Ehlers 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

414-259-8100 

www.theflyfishers.com 

Hayward Fly Fishing Outfitters 

Larry Mann & Wendy Williamson 

Hayward, Wisconsin 

715-634-8149 

www.haywardflyfishingcompany.com 

Angler’s All 

Roger LaPenter 

Ashland, Wisconsin 

715-682-5754 

lapenter@charter.net 

Superior Fly Angler 

Jeff Dahl 

Superior, Wisconsin 

715-395-9520 

www.superiorflyangler.com 

big smallmouth. 

Unfortunately, the Murdich didn’t 

survive in Umqua’s lineup—they never 

figured out that Bill Murdich made a 

killer smallmouth fly. Like me, you’ll 

need to tie your own, but it is completely 

worth the time and effort. 

Believe me. 

Smaller flies have their important 

place in bass fishing—in spooky water, 

for example—and sometimes bass simply 

aren’t aggressive to larger prey and 

thus larger flies. But the latest generation 

of fly rods makes casting larger flies 

easier, and new fly-tying materials allow 

us to tie bigger patterns that are light, 

maintain the appearance of bulk, shed 

water easily and show life in slow-moving 

water. 

Don’t expect big streamers to be a 

panacea. You’ll probably catch fewer 

fish on average, sometimes very few, but 

in the right situations you’ll be casting 

the right fly to take some of the biggest 

fish of the season. 

It is the same principle used by 

Whitlock, Galloup, and Linsenman to 

target monster brown trout—big baitfish 

patterns with big equipment for big 

fish. 

If you are serious about hunting big 

bass, give big minnow patterns a try and 

stick with them. We’ve waited far too 

long to fish big “lures” to smallmouths. 

The Bassmasters did it years ago, but 

they had a good reason—they fish for 

money. 

I also have some new bass heroes— 

Steve Farrar, Bill Murdich, Tim Borski, 

Jack Gartside… the list goes on. The 

next time you need some bass-fly inspiration, 

look in the saltwater bins. You 

might stumble onto a bass-wielding 

treasure. 

Just for a Moment 

My new friends and I finished the 

float last July by casting poppers to rising 

fish, but the biggest fish that day 

took a Murdich Minnow it saw only for 

a second. The outside bank of a fast 

sweeping bend had a rough rock wall 

Just like putting together an opening paragraph or the foundation for a building, bass 

fishing is all about structure. Find downed logs or rocky banks and you’ll find the fish. 

with one eddy no wider than a shoebox. 

Time for one cast and a quick strip. 

I had to slip my boat slowly downstream 

into quieter water so we could 

land the fish—19-inches long and dark 

SILI - SKIN M I N N O W 

PATTERN BY STEVE FARRAR 


HOOK: Tiemco 8089, size 10 

THREAD: White Flymaster or Danville 

monofilament, ultra-fine 

UNDERBODY: 

Mother-of-Pearl Sili-skin rolled 

around middle half of hook shank 

TAIL: Silver Flashabou over Tan DNA 

Holo-Chromosome over white 

DNA Holo-Fusion 

BODY/HEAD: 

Pearl Flexicord Light (quarter-inch) 

covered by Mother-of-Pearl Sili- 

Skin 


GILL SLIT: Red Pantone pen 

HEAD COATING: 

Dip in Softex, Softbody, or Plasti-Dip 

as chocolate, but as beautiful as they 

come. 

On some days I’ve seen that river, 

with the passing of a summer storm and 

low fog, look a bit like the coastal rainforest 

of Alaska. The rocks look eerily 

like cloaked sentinels, standing guard, 

unwilling to give in to the constant 

passing of dark, acid waters born in 

headwater bogs. 

Similar is the smallmouth bass, a survivor, 

unwilling to come to hand without 

a fight—the one who struggles. 

The Algonquin were right on, and 

this struggle can mean many different 

things. 

If you come to the northwoods, you 

might find yourself whispering achigan 

when the fighter slips out of your hands 

and back into dark waters. 

Nelson Ham grew up the son of a Bavarian 

fräulein and a U.S. Army combat soldier 

who always let him go his own way. A 

glacial geologist and college teacher by 

trade, he spends his summers fishing and 

guiding in northeast Wisconsin for Tight 

Lines Fly Fishing. He lives in Green Bay 

with his very understanding wife. She 

even rows a driftboat. 


S UMMER 2006 41

30-41 Achigan - Tight Lines Fly Fishing Co.

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