Flambeau River, Rusk County, Wisconsin

[MarkFromSea]

We spent the last couple of weeks in a vacation rental home located on the Flambeau River, just a mile above where the Flambeau empties into the Chippewa, above Lake Holcombe. The fishing was incredible! Small mouth heaven! My time fishing was a bit limited since I was there to see my daughters but I managed about 10 fish average per day up to 19" in an hour or two of fishing.

We bank fished, waded and used kayaks at different times. The fish bit just about everything we threw at them the first few days then the fish seemed to get more selective but would never fail to end up biting something very well for a day or two.

Spending two weeks in the same location afforded us the opportunity to fish in multiple conditions. The river was always in a state of flux even though it is controlled with dams. Lots of storms rolled through while we were there causing the river level to rise then receed as much as 18" over a couple days. You can wade across this river usually so 18" made a huge difference as to where the fish would hold.

During high flow conditions, the fish held tight to the shore and avoided the deeper middle even though I didn't. During lower water conditions, the fish were more spread out between the depths.

One day, We drifted down the river in kayaks over a 7 mile stretch from the Thornapple dam to the house. Fishing wasn't as productive. The best way to fish this river seemed to be spend lots of time in small locations that had that optimum fishy feeling and just drift through the marginal stuff casting as you go.

Crank baits, mepps spinners, plastics, drift fishing worms, every thing seemed to work at various times. When the BIG fish, muskie(???), moved in front of the house, the bass moved out. I hooked that big fish several times, line screaming out of my reel, but it LDRd each time.

I did catch two 30"+ catfish. Those were a hell of a fight sitting in a kayak. One of the cats rode back to the house for dinner. Now where do you put a 31" cat when you are sitting in a kayak? LOL Right between my legs, the slime washes off just fine. LOL

The most precious part of the trip was when my daughter hooked into a nice bass, she looked over with a terrified look on her face, asking for help, stating that the fish was going to pull the pole out of her hands. LOL I reached over her shoulder and just steadied her pole while she cranked the fish on in. After that, it was game on, she out fished me one day and caught the biggest fish of her life, a 19" SM bass! LOL

I've only got this one picture handy, I'll post more later.

[natetreat]

That sounds like a great vacation to me! The fishing out there is quite different than around here. I've never had a chance to fish outside of Washington or Tennessee, so I just sit around and read all the articles wishing I could actually do some of it.

[MarkFromSea]

You do more than that Nate. You seem to fish all over the place here in WA targeting a lot of different species. And you seem to be pretty successful at it.

I picked up a lot of bass on that river drift fishing a worm, kinda like we do for salmon out here using eggs. Not so different.........

Although, there were SOOOOOOOOO many crawdads everywhere.......... I've never seen so many out in the open in such a short amount of time.

Thanks Nate

[natetreat]

Yea, I catch my fair share of fish, especially for a bank bound angler. I haven't taken my raft out yet this summer, on account of time and sloth. It takes a long time to pump that thing up.

We are blessed with a fine array of fish to target in Washington, I love to eat 'em. My brother went to school in New york and has told me stories about the fish out there. I guess the grass is always greener. I'd like to get a hold of some catfish again though, those things are the tastiest! Bass are pretty good too. I'd like to get a hold of some of those warmwater fish more often.

[Mike Carey]

cool, great vacation trip.