Smallies And A Bit Of Everything On A Stormy Summer Day

“Here’s a fish,” Doug said. He extended his spinning rod, waited a moment and then yanked back. His rod was bent in half.

     “It’s a good fish,” he added. The fish took off and the rod tip was lunging. Doug stopped the fish and turned it around but the fish took off again. A moment later he stopped the fish again and got it coming back to toward the boat. The fish dove and tried to race off but Doug was winning  the battle.

     Finally he had it next to the boat. “It’s a largemouth,” he yelled as he pulled the fish into the boat. It was a nice fish probably in the three pound bracket. It was a bit unusual since the lake we were fishing is known for it’s smallies so it was a nice bonus fish.

     It was mid summer and Doug Hurd and Steve Osmonson both of Eagan, Minn., and I were fishing a lake in northwestern Minnesota. Although the lake we were fishing is primarily known for it smallmouth bass, largemouth as well as other game fish are known to be in these waters. Doug’s fish was a nice bonus to our day.

     We’d left earlier in the day to make the two hour drive to this lake and when we got there we had blue skies with white puffy clouds and a moderate wind. It  looked to be ideal conditions and the weather forecast told us there might be some isolated storms but otherwise it should stay nice for the day.

     They were wrong. Within an hour the wind picked up and we could see black clouds building up in the southeast. Storms were coming our way. We got into the rain gear when the first rain began pelting us.

     Steve set the hook and the water exploded as a smallmouth bass rocketed out of the water. It dove as soon it splashed back in the water. Steve’s spinning rod was bouncing as the fish tore off. It was a typical smallmouth; they never give up. The fish made a couple of runs and each time it looked like Steve had the fish getting closer to the boat it ran off again. Finally he had it alongside the boat but the fish still never quit and made several dives under the boat.

     He brought the fish back each time and finally it was splashing next to the boat. Grabbing his line he hauled the fish in. It was a fat, football size smallmouth bass. It was the fish we were after on this fishing trip and it probably was the biggest smallie of the day.

     “They sure do fight,” Steve said as he twisted his tube jig out of the fish and slipped it back in the water.

     Stormy weather seems to be the norm for this summer. Spring was wet and stormy and it carried right into summer. In northwestern Wisconsin most of the lakes are higher then anyone has seen in a number of years. We have been going through a drought the last few years and with all the water we have had in the last three months it looks as if the drought is finally gone, at least for this year.

     Inconsistent, stormy weather has a reputation for shutting down fishing and it generally does. However, I believe, if stormy weather, like we have been having through much of the summer happens regularly then that becomes what is consistent to fish therefore becoming the dominant weather pattern.

     Regardless of the weather, fish have to eat and if they become accustomed to abnormal weather it becomes their normal. Therefore they will continue to feed under conditions they might not have done so otherwise if storms erupt only every now and then with good weather as the main pattern.

     As fish adjust to the less then ideal summer weather so must fisherman.

First of all make sure you have good rain gear and carry it with you regardless of what the forecast may be. Also fish may be a bit sluggish or hitting lightly but they will still be feeding as their summer metabolism is kicking in.

     Therefore for bass using plastics may work better then other baits because it gives the fish a slower presentation. This summer I have found bass have been hitting much lighter then normal so strike as soon as you feel a fish. Throughout the summer many of my bass are just giving my bait one quick bump and if I don’t set the hook immediately they are gone. Often I see strikes only by watching the line move or bump slightly.

      Normally when a bass hits a plastic bait you have all the time to reel up the slack, make sure the fish is still there and then set the hook. This summer it is not the case. Strikes are light so you need to set the hook quickly.

     I felt a bump and could still feel the fish when I pulled back on my spinning rod. The fish surged off, doubling over my spinning rod. I pulled back and the fish swirled on the surface. It had a long thin tail that poked through the water. “I think it is a muskie,” I yelled. I had not gotten a good look at the fish except for the tail and I knew it wasn’t a bass.

     The fish put up a strong fight and it made a couple of shorts runs. There didn’t seem to be any quit in this fish either. As I got the fish closer to the boat we finally positively identified it as a northern pike. It was about two feet long. There are muskies in the this lake so it had been a possibility and over the years we have caught a couple of small muskies.

     The northern was certainly an odd fish. First of all it hit a tube jig which is never been considered a northern or muskie bait. Although Doug and I fish this lake several times a year, primarily for smallies, it was only the second or third northern we have ever caught on this lake.  But the most interesting aspect was like the smallies it never gave up all the way to the boat which is unusual for northern pike. It put up a good fight.

     We ended the day with over twenty smallmouth bass, three largemouth, my northern and a couple of rock bass. A month earlier, in this same lake Doug, Steve and I fished another stormy day when Doug caught a walleye on a tube jig for bass. In all the years we have fished this lake this was the first walleye we ever caught.

     Late afternoon we motored across the lake back to the landing. I walked up to the parking area to get the truck with the trailer and passed a fish cleaning hut where a family was cleaning bluegills. They had a pile of hand sized bluegills so they had a good day of fishing too.

      So regardless if you are fishing for bass or bluegills or any other fish when abnormal weather becomes normal, as it is this summer, it will become the pattern fish become used to. Regardless and perhaps in spite of the weather the fish will continue to bite so get out there and don’t let the weather stop you from catching fish.

Although we were fishing for smallmouth bass, Doug Hurd's largemouth was nice bonus fish.

We were after smallmouth bass like the one Steve Osmonson took on a tube jig.

Shorlty after we got on the lake storm clouds built up over the lake. Normally that might have adversly affected he lake but when abnormal weather becomes the norm fish will adjust to it and keep right on hitting.