2014 off to a good start; hooking bass without my perch

Until this week, the spot I normally fish on the Chippewa River has been under 10 feet of water rushing swiftly toward the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of snow and a rainy, cold spring made sure that phenomenon (which places Eau Claire, Wisconsin under a fairly frequent flood risk) lasted well into May.

A spate of dry and warm(er) weather allowed the river level to recede, and though my 'spot' - that is, the chunk of old city concrete atop which I stood and cast out for Big Missy last summer - is still under water, there is at least a place to stand and cast out, whereas two weeks ago the water level was halfway up the bank.

It was strange, actually: I could see my chunk of concrete just under the surface of the water; last summer when I was here, it was part of 'terra firma', a place I could get to. But now, it is no longer part of my domain.  Later in the summer, the hotter and drier that it gets, the river will shrink further and my perch will likely be there again. But for now it remains a restricted area, and that alters my choices and course of action. And that gets me thinking about the relationship we have with the land beneath our feet, and how throughout history, our evolution as a species has been affected tremendously (sometimes irreparably) by the presence or absence of water. The story of the American Indian leaps to mind; if there had not once been a land bridge across what is now the Bering Strait, connecting Russia and Alaska for a relatively short time in history, indigenous ancestors would not likely have found a way to get across from Asia. The entire 'new world' might have remained completely isolated for a lot longer than it did, altering everyone's history.

The fishing was good. It was warm, and sunny. The river current was still pretty strong, which made retrieval awkward, but the bass were begging to be caught in a way that, I got to admit, I haven't often experienced. They kept smashing my lure (a trusty old spinnerbait, with a grub trailer), time and time again, and putting up a hell of a fight for their small size, as they're known to do.

Great way to start out the 2014 season. Though still no hat cam! ;-)

SMALL BUT SCRAPPY - This little guy did everything he could to not be taken. He was one of several bass begging to be hooked on the Chippewa River recently, but coming out of the water with a typically bad attitude.