Summer Bass Fishing
by Joe Wilkinson

From the underwater blanket of eelgrass, the bass gave up its hiding spot. The white swimming jig was too enticing. Greg Hall flipped him up on board. It was just under legal (14-inch) size, but they would all go back in the water today, anyway. What was interesting, was the color. This bass was bronze, a smallmouth on the Mississippi River side channel.

Smallies are in there, too, of course. When I think of bass on the Big River, though, it's the green-striped largemouth. On this day, though, below Lansing in Allamakee County, most of the fish Hall and partner Chris Mack caught were smallmouth bass. "That's what's great about fishing the Mississippi River. It is a very diverse ecosystem. It has all types of fishing opportunities," offered Hall. "The smallmouth bass 'key' on the eelgrass; the wild celery. That's probably why we caught them. We could come back tomorrow and they might all be largemouth."

The setting was familiar, hot and humid, with a chance of rain. Actually, the cloud cover minimized the sun/shade contrast. Rather than heading for deep shade, the bass were spread a little more evenly throughout the weed beds. "With the overcast sky, we switched tactics a little," explained Mack. "Greg is throwing more toward the outside edge for the aggressive fish that might be roaming. I'm fishing top-water lures."

His casts were over the lily pads, whether near the bank or out on the water. He had his eyes on the openings in the vegetation, throwing frog look-alikes with weedless hooks. "Top-waters are a good bait to use, especially in heavy vegetation," Mack explained. "Instead of fighting through the vegetation, you can fish right on top of it. The fish are looking up for frogs and other food. They'll come up and grab that top-water lure."

One of those casts, up against riprap on shore, yielded the big fish of the day. And this one was green. As the water boiled, Hall nearly jumped in himself, when Mack was a half-second late setting the hook. It broke water a couple times trying to go the other way, but finally came on board. An ounce over three pounds, this one would be the morning's top catch. Largemouth bass generally run a little heavier than their bronze cousins, so Hall's 2.5 pound smallmouth was right up there, too, a half hour later.

While some anglers put their gear away during the summer doldrums, others change tactics. Summer fishing is different than hooking fish before or during their mid-to-late spring spawning periods. Their metabolism is driving them to eat more in hot weather, but there is also more food in the water; minnow hatches and the countless small fish, frogs, crawdads and insects feeding in that thick vegetation. One of the smaller bass to come on board was nearly invisible, with the backwater salad hanging all over it and the line.

Mack and Hall work out of the DNR's Lake Macbride fisheries station. When it gets extra hot, though, they'll bypass lake fishing for a trip to the Mississippi River. "On a lake in the summer, the fish have to go deeper because of the lack of oxygen. On the river, there is a current. The water stays oxygenated," explains Hall. "You can fish shallow. You can constantly feel your bait; it's not 20 feet deep. I really like being able to the bait, to see the bass 'blow up' on that bait. That's the most enjoyable part of fishing."

Part of the attraction is matching what you offer with what ever the fish are biting on that day. Frog and crawdad imitators, a 'horny toad' and that white swimming jig caught all of the nine or 10 bass the two hauled in that morning.

'That morning.' There would be no afternoon fishing here. It was called on account of rain. And lightning. We could almost see our boat ramp, when we noticed rain coming over the bluffs. But this was no straight line exit. We had to follow the side channel upstream and out to the main channel, then downstream again. Now, I know why some bass boats have 200 horsepower motors. While the storm wasn't heading right toward us, the front edge of the rain was smacking us by the time we pulled in safely.

Note to wife: Don't worry. It wasn't even close.
Note to readers: Oh, yes it was.