I met Dave Gellatly at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Show in Minneapolis back in March. I saw a guy towing a drift boat with Wisconsin plates pull into the parking lot. I went right over and it turns out Dave is from my old stomping grounds of Ashland right on Chequamegon Bay in Lake Superior. Right then and there Dave said I needed to join him on his boat for a day this summer.
Well, today was the day. I was on the road from Hayward to Ashland at 5:15 AM. Unfortunately upon arrival, the ocean size lake was angry with wind, whitecaps, waves and swells along with some drizzle. It was far worse than the forecast I read last night and it wouldn’t have been a comfortable day even in Dave’s flats boat. After a short discussion we opted to bag the franticness of Chequamegon and drive an hour south for an inland lake, the Turtle Flambeau Scenic Waters Area.
The scenic waters area was a new one for me and it was unbelievable. The beautiful, mostly wilderness flowage is so vast it reminded me of being in the famous Boundary Waters of Minnesota. At only 1.5 hours from Hayward, it’s a must that I get back with Granny to camp and fish.
Our fishing today however was extremely, and from what I understand, uncharacteristically slow. Though we didn’t have to deal with the stormy conditions we would have met on Lake Superior, we still dealt with brisk wind and far below average temperatures all day. This time of year, such conditions often shut down the smallmouth bass activity.
On the positive side, we didn’t get skunked. I managed one nice smallie. But better than that, I moved a lengthy musky. He literally charged my fly and got within six inches then somehow put the brakes on and dove away. Though I wish he devoured my fly, anytime you see a musky is a delight.
Even though fishing was tough I have no complaints. It was with great company and I have a new friend here in northern Wisconsin. And I got to see a new piece of WI I knew nothing about. Good stuff!