30-41 Achigan - Tight Lines Fly Fishing Co.

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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
30-41 Achigan 6/19/06 7:32 PM Page 34 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 EYES: Silver or pearl 3-D molded, size 5.0 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 34 F ISH& F LY S UMMER 2006 35
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