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Some people spend their free time on the golf course. Some folks just work themselves into the grave. And some of us take every chance we can to enjoy the outdoors river-fishing style. I don’t believe there’s a more relaxing way to spend time than floating down a river. The scenery is ever changing. Yesterday we saw deer, eagles, kingfishers, cedar waxwings and countless other species. The serenity was periodically jolted by bonecrushing attacks from hungry riverine bass.

Oh yeah, did I mention we were fishing for big mean Mississippi smallmouth? I sweet talked a pretty young lady into accompanying me the other day. Her name is Sienna Miller, my fourteen year old daughter. She claims fishing isn’t for her - but I make her come along anyway.

At this age, there’s a bunch of things she’d probably rather be doing. I try to explain that there’s a lot more to fishing than catching fish. By the time the float was over, after about five hours, I could tell she was really enjoying the whole experience. She rarely put the rod down after the first encounter with a surface busting smallmouth.

This day the fish were looking up and they were all business! The first couple good looking spots produced savage strikes from torpedoing smallmouth - bumrushing surface lures and flies. Sienna’s 19 1/2 incher (pictured) hit the lure three times before finally managing to get hooked. She had two others bomb her Pop-R within a few feet of the canoe - one of them actually frightened her…good stuff!

Dad managed a few himself, but of course Sienna caught the biggest one and several others as well. We both probably missed 6 - 8 fish that exploded and missed or refused our blurbling poppers. It was a very beautiful and exciting summer day. Sienna’s cousin Matt Miller added to the youthful competition guided by his dad, my brother Bruce. Matt landed seven smallies and had one 18 incher. Uncle Bruce picked up a few, but was largely paddling as was I.

Putting people on to fish like this is something that can alter someone’s perspective forever - watching them as they take in the beauty, grace and excitement of fishing and being outdoors.

Emu Deceiver
Designer: Dave Kollmann (St. Cloud, MN | See “The Secret Lake” below)

The next time your driving around Australia and come across a dead Emu, grab some feathers. Our friend and frequent contributor, Dave Kollmann is using this fly with promising preliminary results for big smallies on the Mississippi. It’s a large fly, pushing 4 inches, and can attract large fish of various species.

We are seeking replacement feathers in the event one does not have ready access to a dead Emu. You might try plucking a few feathers off a live one - if you see one grazing somewhere, but I’d call that ill-advised.

Emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae) are the missing link between a dinosaur and a bird. I understand they don’t take kindly to feathers being plucked off of them while alive. Furthermore, word has it - they don’t particularly care for plucking when they are dead, either.

Nonetheless, this new fly, with encouraging early reports, may cause a meteoric rise in the stock of Emu farms around the world. Sounds like a great investment opportunity in light of the current plight of the Dow.

Dave claims a mature Bald Eagle or Ivory-Billed Woodpecker make a nice replacement if Emu feathers are scarce in your area.

Here’s the tie:
HOOK         MUSTAD #3366 #2 - 2/0 (photo)
THREAD:   3/O LIGHT OLIVE
TAIL:          SIX BLACKTIPPED EMU FEATHERS, TIE IN AT BEND
FLASH:       GOLD FLASHABOU ACCENT ON EACH SIDE OF EMU FEATHERS
BODY:         OPTIONAL, GOLD MYLAR BRAID
WING:        (BOTTOM TO TOP) WHITE BUCKTAIL, TAN SYNTHETIC HAIR, OLIVE SYNTHETIC HAIR
THROAT:  RED FLASHABOU ACCENT
EYES:          SILVER STICK ON ¼”
HEAD:      30 MINUTE EPOXY, ROTATE ON DRYING WHEEL

Ever been to popper heaven? I visited there yesterday. We hit a medium-sized Minnesota river right on the nuts for water temperature, water levels (perhaps two or three inches low), and most importantly - smallmouth on the hunt.

I am a firm believer in hot humid weather bringing out the best in top water smallmouth action. In addition, we had overcast skies early in the afternoon which kick started the six hour float.

The fish were extremely aggressive. Often we saw movement right next to the bank as big smallies bum rushed minnows against the bank. A popper placed anywhere within four feet of the disturbance, brought immediate strikes.

The strikes varied from imperceptible sipping to violent waking torpedos that often saw the fly pulled away prematurely due to anticipatory pilot error. We had enough action so missing fish was more a folly than a bummer. Black poppers ruled the day, even when the sun emerged after the first two hours and the fish continued to hit hard all afternoon.

We dragged ourselves from the river wishing the day wouldn’t end. My brother Bruce and I had one of those days that every river fisherman should have occassionally. It’s what brings us back again and again. Bruce had four fish over 18 inches. I lost several fish over 18 and had a little “dropsie” problem throughout the onslaught.

And that was just the big ones. We had tons of hits and probably landed over 30 fish, lost at least a half dozen (always big when they get off), and hit and missed another fifteen fish. Spread out over five to six hours made for almost non-stop action with a few breaks along the way. 

Now is one of the best times of the year to hit the smaller streams accessible only in higher water. Get to them before they drop and you’re forced to wade fish only. Floating and bombing the banks for aggressive smallies is my kind of popper heaven.

I’m glad I wasn’t a minnow in the shallows yesterday - the way those smallies were going, I wouldn’t be here today.

The rivers are finally starting to drop. We had a bunch of rain in June in the Midwest and elsewhere. This is great for the watersheds, but changes the fish location, as you know. High, colored water can be good or bad depending on a number of factors. However, low clearer water is always preferred especially for surface fly fishing where the fish can quicly detect your fly and decide whether to eat it or not.

We floated a local tributary to the Mississippi in the Brainerd area yesterday with mixed results. The water was about a foot higher than the preferred height, but we connected on  a moderate number of bronzebacks. While the size was on the smallish side, they took both surface and sub-surface offerings.

I finally connected using the famed Red & White Hackle fly, also known as the Homer Rhodes Tarpon Fly. I tie mine on a #4 streamer hook for smallmouth. Fish hit this fly fairly well in relatively clear water.

They finally got going on a gray foam popper later in the afternoon which provided for some badly needed topwater action - slow to come to the north country this season.

Conditions are improving as we speak, so gear up and get ready for a fabulous summer of hard hitting smallie action on a river near you!

I’ll call this the Swisher Knot, since that’s where I first saw it tied in the late 80’s by Doug Swisher himself. Swisher visited a local fly shop in Minneapolis and gave a talk on fly fishing. I’d already owned several of his 3M series on fly casting, which I still believe are some of the best I’ve ever seen. The fishing action interspersed in them is priceless.

He shows this knot, I believe in one of those videos. Here is how I use it to tie a fly to a tippet or a jig to monofilament for other types of fishing. It has all the traits of a great knot: easy to learn, easy and fast to tie, and strong. Take a look at the video below and give the Swisher Knot a try. And Doug, if you ever read this, tell me where you got it!

This may take a minute to load, so be patient…

 

 Podcast Video: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Everyone should have a secret lake. If you don’t have one, get out a topo map and go find one. There’s a bunch of them out there, just waiting for your discovery. A secret lake is an out-of-the-way gem that:

• is difficult to find and access
• contains good populations of fish
• is overlooked - perhaps near other popular lakes
• hardly anyone else fishes it
• the fish are relatively easy to catch
• is easy to fish
• is a great place to take kids fishing

I have a secret lake, I call it suprisingly: “The Secret Lake”. I stumbled upon it five years ago when I moved to north central Minnesota. It holds all the features above. It’s loaded with small to medium sized largemouth - and that’s about it! It’s very shallow but spring fed and only about six feet deep. That does not allow the fish much belly room during a cold winter when the ice can get a couple feet thick. My neighbor owned land near it and bemoaned the fact that they couldn’t catch any sunfish. He complained all they could get were those damn bass. Loose lips, sink ships.

I slithered over that way the next day and found the lake.

Sure enough - it took awhile, but the lake was indeed full of largemouth. Not a single northern, sunny or crappie. It must have froze-out at one point and perhaps been secretly stocked by the DNR. That’s one theory. Since there’s no decent inlet, apparently the northerns just can’t make it up that far.

I have taken many folks to the Secret Lake over the last five years. I’ve taken kids and adults, both newbies and skilled anglers to get a taste of a pristine deep woods lake that gets more attention from duck hunters than anglers.

After a particularly severe winter in 2007-8, we feared The Secret Lake may have froze out. It’s so shallow and we had snow cover nearly all winter and cold - the perfect recipe for a freeze out. Early reconnaissance was disappointingly as I checked it a month ago and never got a hit or saw a fish. I also didn’t see any signs of dead fish along the shoreline.

I returned a couple days ago with my daughter for the big test. I tried the first “slam dunk” spot - no fish. I went to a “can’t miss” shoreline area and the first several casts brought nothing. I was just about to make the sad decree, when I noticed my foam popper had disappeared near the shoreline and was replaced by a plate sized boil in the water. I set and, of course, missed. But is was what I wanted to see. I subsequently moved down the shoreline and began catching all sizes of fish, including one of about 2 1/2 pounds. On this secret lake, top end is just pushing three pounds. There’s so many fish and just so much food to go around.

A secret lake is the essence of fishing. It conjures hot foggy mornings and dark calm overcast evenings where dragon flies dance and fish rise to catch them. A secret lake can mean a sweaty hike through a buggy forest. It offers the antithesis of today’s gonzo sporting culture. A secret lake offers the hope of seclusion and high excitement. 

My Secret Lake reminds me of what a true fishing outing should be:  Peaceful time on small uncrowded waters - with the promise of great fishing - to accentuate the privilege of being in the outdoors.

My nephews always ask when they can next go to the Secret Lake. I tell them it should be ready for fabulous top water action very soon.

Don’t forget your blindfold…