ON GUARD...Diligent smallmouth, catch and release season protects future
By Dick Ellis
Reader Note: When reading any of Dick Ellis’s 1200 Wisconsin journeys taken over two decades as a syndicated columnist, be sure to check current regulations when planning the trip yourself. In 2012, the catch and release smallmouth and largemouth bass season ends June 15.
Ted Sellers stood high on the casting platform of his Tuffy and scrutinized the roving, dark shadows below working along a winding, shimmering line separating the pristine shallows of the Eau Claire Chain from a steep drop-off. Two schools, each with nine or ten fish, disappeared into the black only to emerge again seconds later in the penetrating sunshine over pure, rifted sand virtually void of wood or vegetation.
“They’re all smallmouth,” Sellers said finally as the closest fish offered a boatside examination. “All females, I’ll bet. Look at the size of them. Those two are four pounds. But I don’t know if they’re coming or going. They might be just moving up into the shallows to spawn, or they might be done already.”
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| Ted Sellers of Superior prepares to release a 20 inch smallmouth bass into the Eau Claire Chain near Hayward on June 3rd. The catch and release season from early May until June 19 in the northern zone protects spawning smallmouth and largemouth and the future of Wisconsin bass fishing | |
We had already introduced ourselves personally to a dozen smallmouth during a few hours of catch and release fishing on the lakes of the Eau Claire Chain near Hayward June 3. Adopted to protect spawning bass, the catch and release season in the northern zone begins with the regular season in early May and continues until June 19, when anglers may keep five fish at a minimum of 14 inches. The fish we had quickly released again averaged a hefty 17 inches. Three had touched the magic 20-inch mark.
Sellers, a smallmouth fanatic from Superior, was accomplishing his early season goal on several of his favorite lakes on the Pike and Eau Claire Chains to determine just what he might find targeting deeper water in later summer. In addition to pitching tube jigs to the large schools of bass moving up and down the shorelines and enticing an occasional strike, numerous circular beds swept out by smallmouth pairs in pre-spawn still held the vigilant bass. It was not difficult to locate and evaluate the size and numbers of smallies following nature’s orders to protect the nests from any and all invaders.
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| A smallmouth bass stands guard over its spawning bed on the Eau Claire Chain near Hayward June 3. The early catch and release season in the northern zone protects spawning largemouth and smallmouth and the future of Wisconsin bass fishing. |
“The early catch and release season in the northern zone is great way for people to see what their own lakes or lakes they want to fish hold for smallmouth bass,” he said. “Anyone can whack em on their beds. In August you have to use your noodle when you’re fishing the deeper water for those roving wolf packs of big females.”
Although big bass are vulnerable to anglers in the spring and Sellers stresses the importance of returning any fish caught immediately to the water to protect the nest from predators like crayfish and bluegills, he prefers targeting deeper water in summer. He is the world record holder for 10-pound class line with a 23-inch, seven pound, one ounce bass taken and released in August, 2002 from this Eau Claire Chain as officially recognized by the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward. His catch and release late-summer tally included three fish over six pounds in 2003.
We had launched onto the Eau Claire Chain in mid-70 degree air temperatures. Basking in the sun after two months of being rained on, this trip was a success even before the first smallmouth answered the bell. Water temperatures rested at 60-degrees.
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| Ted Sellers of Superior basks in rare sunshine and mid-70 degree temperatures on the Eau Claire Chain near Hayward June 3 during the early catch and release bass season in Wisconsin’s northern zone. The season protects spawning bass from easy harvest, and the future of Wisconsin’s bass fishing. |
“Smallmouth spawn 62 degrees but everything gets pretty heated up at about 60 degrees,” Sellers said. “Every spring is different but spawning is usually already done by this date. It’s been a cold rainy spring.”
While shallow sandy areas held no bass beds or fish, gravel areas ideal for spawning harbored virtual maternity cities. In the dead calm water as many as seven circular nests brushed away in pre-spawn by the sweeping tails of mating pairs could be located in a straight line from a single vantage point. Many docks also held the beds. Virtually each spawning area held a fish or both the male and female. Few were empty.
A less welcome sight was the hundreds of rusty crayfish on the lake floor of the Eau Claire system, which is also known for its high walleye numbers. The smallmouth is a secondary species, which enables individual bass to grow larger without the intense competition for food. Sellers faults the rusty with destroying what had been heavy vegetation throughout the chain, and the crayfish as a threat to the smallmouth eggs. On two occasions as a smallie was brought to the boat, the fish burped out a crayfish. Sometimes in nature, the food chain and predator-prey relationship works both ways.
It was a satisfying afternoon of fishing in beautiful Hayward. And for Sellers, of remembering and of looking forward to a promising future built on catch and release.
“I caught my first smallie when I was 10-years old fishing Vilas County up by the Michigan border,” Sellers said. “My dad and I just picked out a lake we had never before fished. We weren’t smallmouth bass fishermen. But I caught one on a leech. It fought so hard. I’ve been in love with it ever since.”
“The northern zone catch and release season has been in place for years. It’s the reason these big fish are here. The population has really come back. People used to take them off their beds and it was all over. Catching a 20-inch bass is not a big deal anymore. Not so long ago, catching a 20 inch smallmouth was a very big deal.”
For more information on fishing, area events and activities, visit the Hayward Lakes Visitor and Convention Bureau website, view its Calendar of Events, or call 1-800-724-2992.
For lodging and fishing information in the Hayward Area, contact Treeland Resorts at www.treelandresorts.com or Cheryl Treland at Cheryl.Treland@TreelandResorts.com.