7-31-10

When the bite is on, the fish can make you look like a genius.  All the finest tackle, latest techniques, and spiffy duds are worth the proverbial hill of beans if the fish don’t open their lips.  Today, though, the smallies popped their chops with startling regularity.  So the truth is our success had nothing to do with the mental acuity of the fishermen! As any number of friends, colleagues, and clients will eagerly attest, Captain Don Graham and I, most assuredly, are not geniuses.  Heck!  We’re not even smart!  Well, Don maybe on a good day….

During our little five hour morning smallie trip, though, even the slow guys put some major hurt on the smackers of our beloved Muskegon River bass population.  20 for 28 exclusively on top water bugs is hot smallmouth fishing—no matter where you are.  Both black and yellow corkers were smoking with the average fish running 12-14″ and the larger ones in the 15-17″range.  Don and I aren’t numbers guides, but today I thought we would crow a bit since recently we’ve had a number of days with tough bites, due perhaps to high, dirty water and who knows what else.  Suffice it to say, though, the two grizzled senior citizens of RiverQuest–their bones and joints creaking and groaning all the while–cast their way into one spectacular day of top water fly fishing.  I am sure someplace, somewhere, better top water smallie fishing exists, but for the 95 per cent of places that can’t compare, the Muskegon today topped all comers.

Great day, Captain Don!  Will remember this one for a long, long time.

Captain Tom Kuieck