If the stream temps are too warm, try tenkara bass
It is HOT here in Wisconsin right now. Hot and dry. The trout streams are running a little warm, so Matt and I have largely left them alone and will continue to do so until it starts to cool some. But hey, the bass don't care, they like it! So when I had the opportunity to fish after a night shift this week, I naturally decided to chase some bass. I went to one of our favorite creeks. The fish there are not all that large, but they are plentiful and usually cooperative. Additionally, the creek is easy to wade and there is not much to snag on, which is nice for my post-night shift foggy brain.
The first big pool is always hit or miss. Today it was a miss. I know there must be fish there, but I'm guessing the fish get more pressure here than other parts of the creek, since it is right at the access point. No sweat, that's how it goes. The next pool was a different story. I cast along a downed log and hooked into a feisty little rock bass. Not my target species, but I always enjoy catching them. Where there is one rock bass, there are usually several, so I cast to the log again, and sure enough, another one came out to play. As long as I could get my fly to drift under the log, the fish seemed willing to take it. After catching a few, I moved up towards the head of the pool, and to my surprise, caught a bluegill. And another. I'm not sure I've ever caught bluegills in this creek before, but again, I won't complain. The next pool I is one I would consider marginal. The water there is deep enough to hold fish, but just barely. There is some nice structure, though, and a well placed cast will usually draw a strike. I was again surprised here to hook into multiple fish in a pool that is usually only good for one or two. It also turned out to be the pool of many species: smallmouth, rock bass, bluegill and one big ol' creek chub! Not too bad.
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At the head of the pool, I hooked into two nice smallmouth, one which I landed and one that came off the hook at the bank. Both of these fish were decent sized, just under a foot or so, which is pretty average for this creek. I was using the Badger Tenkara UNC for a change of pace, and I have to say, it is a blast to catch smallmouth on the UNC! I was using about 11.5 feet of the Badger Lite line with six feet of tippet. With this set up, I was not missing out on much casting distance compared to the Classic or Bad Axe, but had the joy of fishing with an extremely light weight rod.
The "bigger" bass put a bend in the rod and made the fight pretty entertaining, but the rod still has plenty of backbone to handle angry bronzebacks. I look forward to testing the rod on the Little Left Hand river, where the bass are bigger and even meaner! During the dogs of summer, consider giving the trout a break if the stream temps are too warm. Go chase some bass. You'll be glad you did!
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