Fishing The Wild
Wisconsin River
By Ted Peck
The
character of our Wisconsin river is like
the metamorphosis of a sleepy
caterpillar into a frenetic Wood Nymph
butterfly--in reverse. There is
undeniable power in the brown, boiling
water of this broad-shouldered stream as
it tumbles over shallow sand near
Prairie Du Chien where it crowns the
Father of Waters into a state of Grand
River majesty.
Although the beauty of the lower
Wisconsin river is undeniable, it pales
in comparison to the natural grandeur
found some 400 miles upstream near
Merrill where the river races past the
first few dams like a speeder blowing by
a toll booth. Twenty-six dams attempt to
harness the river's power between
headwaters at Lac Vieux Desert and
confluence with the Mississippi some 435
miles downstream, earning the Wisconsin
a nickname as "the hardest working river
in North America". The river drops 435
feet between these headwaters and
Merrill past places like Whirlpool
Rapids and 1,315 foot long wooden tubes
at Grandfather Falls before even
considering access to fishers who would
like to make a cast without hanging on
to the gunnels of a canoe for dear life.
There is plenty of wide-eyed water
between access near the hospital in
Merrill and a take out point some nine
miles downstream behind the lumber yard
in Brokaw, just above the city of
Wausau.
But it can be fished with due caution.
And considerable success if you're
sharing a boat with an avowed "river
rat" like Todd Koehn. Koehn is the only
guide working the upper river, ghosting
his jet-powered flatbottom over and
around foreboding boulders with
piano-sized dimensions in pursuit of
smallmouth bass and muskies. Both of
these premier gamefish species are
present in these wild waters in both
numbers and dimensions which make the
upper Wisconsin river the best kept
trophy hotspot in the state.
Koehn keeps
two Beckman landing nets near the stern
of his flatbottom boat, the larger of
which has ample mesh to cover a main
battle tank. Commenting on the size of
the larger net gleans an omniscient
smirk from the portly Koehn, who
describes the larger "toothers" which
swim here as "whopping big pigs". We
never got a chance to use this net in
three recent days on Koehn's river. But
we didn't fish for muskies much. In the
couple hours we did throw bucktails and
Suicks for the official state fish we
hooked up once and saw two more muskies.
And they were whopping big pigs. Another
muskie had Koehn diving for the smaller
landing net when he thought the 30 inch
fish, which refused to show itself in
the rootbeer-colored waters, behaved
like a substantial smallmouth bass.
Koehn doesn't bother netting smallies
less than 20 inches long, simply
hoisting smaller specimens which whack
his #4 Mepps Black Fury spinner over the
gunnel to be unhooked and quickly
released. This bait is ideal for the
wild waters of the upper Wisconsin
river, imitating crayfish which are the
primary forage base for chunky bass
which seem to wait behind every boulder.
Koehn smirked and even snorted when I
tied an obnoxious yellow X-5 Flatfish
on, growling that smallmouth bass don't
eat bananas. A minute later he had to
make a bullfrog-on-a-dragonfly stab with
the net as 22 inches of defiant
smallmouth tried to take the banana bait
under Koehn's boat for the fourth time.
The Flatfish, a crankbait called the
Timber Tiger, and Koehn's Black Fury
Mepps kept the Beckman wet. But none of
the fish was a "two-footer".
"There are 24-plus-inch bass in this
neck of the river" Koehn says with
authority. "But they don't want to
leave...and with all the rocks and wood
to dive into so close to their ambush
points the big ones often get away".
Most anglers would be content in
tangling with a five pound riverine
smallmouth on a daily basis. Not Todd
Koehn, whose avowed mission in life is
besting the 9 lb. 1 oz. state record
smallie caught in Indian Lake over 50
years ago. "This part of the river is
virtually untouched with most fish
growing old before even seeing a hook"
Koehn opines "something I'm trying to
change one smallmouth at a time--before
setting them free to fight again".
Todd
Koehn is the premier Northern Wisconsin
Jet Boat guide. His fishing is from
Wausau north to Rhinelander. Dam
sections include Brokaw, Merrill,
Alexander, Grandfather, Pride, Kings,
Hat Rapids, and Rhinelander. 20 years
experience. This is fly fishing, in-line
spinner, spinner bait, surface lures,
and rattle bait heaven.
For more
information contact Todd Koehn at:
1308 Smith Ave || Antigo, WI 54409-1561
Call: 1-800-710-8020 or 715-623-2115
Email:
rotax.head@verizon.net
Website:
www.rivercatch.com
All content is expressed solely by
Ted Peck & Todd Koehn, through their
experience. All photos and words are
theirs.
©2005 - Ted Peck -
www.riversmallies.com
