A fishing week to remember

Wildside column: Wapsipinicon, Maquoketa rivers ensure a lot of fun and action

Orlan Love – correspondent

Christmas. 02/21/2021 1:42 pm

Quasqueton’s Orlan Love poses with a perch caught on July 10th in the Maquoketa River’s catch-and-release zone below the Lake Delhi Dam. (Mike Jacobs / Monticello)

I could have gone to an exotic location and hired a guide and couldn’t have had more fun than fishing the local rivers earlier this month.

From July 7th to July 13th, a succession of cool, calm, cloudy days coinciding with low, clear rivers in the Wapsipinicon and Maquoketa rivers made fishing especially productive and enjoyable.

No wind that blows my drops off course and puts a big bow in my line. No blazing sun to burn my neck and expose the fish to their predators, which makes them jumpy and difficult to catch. No cloudy water to hide bait from fish and underwater obstacles from wading fish. Not a strong current to interfere with hauling in and hinder my movements.

Warm, calm, shady water prevailing during this week-long stretch provides ideal conditions for the bass to strike bait from the upper water – a presentation that will delight an angler’s eyes, hearing, and touch.

Orlan Love of Quasqueton releases a perch caught on July 10 while rafting on the Maquoketa River. (Mike Jacobs / Monticello)

For the whole week I fished almost exclusively with my new favorite bait, the Strike King Mini-Pro Buzzbait – one of the cheapest lures in my arsenal for $ 3 a piece. It can be thrown long distances with minimal effort; its single hook facilitates quick loosening without injuring fish or anglers; and especially among its many attributes, it is sometimes irresistible to the bass.

The weather and river conditions, matched with plenty of hungry black bass, resulted in several memorable excursions.

The first one happened on July 8th, when I fished seven whiskers from 10:30 a.m. to noon – hours I wouldn’t even have fished if the sky hadn’t been overcast. Although three of these perch got hooked ahead of time, I didn’t regret it as I’ve already had the fun hooking and fighting them and no longer needed large fish photos. At the end of a cool morning, I was surprised to find that I was sweating profusely.

The exceptionally clear Maquoketa River flows over the Lake Delhi Dam on July 7th. As sediments settle over the dam, the river downstream offers excellent water quality and a habitat for game fish. (Orlan Love / correspondent)

The second occurred on July 10th on an effortless water trip on the Maquoketa River with Mike Jacobs of Monticello. Floating trips can be a little tiring if the fish aren’t biting, and especially if an upstream wind overwhelms the current, making it sometimes difficult to paddle just to stay in place. We covered two miles of river without even paddling. We just rested downstream in a gentle current, fished along the way, and caught perch at least a dozen times at the same time.

About halfway through the journey it dawned on me that I was “in the zone” – that I could feel where the bass was and that I kept placing my bait exactly at this point. During those few hours, while my bait whizzed past logs, rocks, and overhanging willow trees untouched, I could imagine what it was like to be the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes throwing in double cover for touchdown passes to complete.

Orlan Love of Quasqueton poses on Monday with a perch caught in the Wapsipinicon River – one of many caught in the Wapsie and Maquoketa last week with favorable fishing conditions. (Orlan Love / correspondent)

The third happened on Monday when little buzzer led three more Whoppers to pose for their photos.

I was expecting more that same Tuesday, but was disappointed when two hours of work resulted in only five half-blown basses. Right before I stopped, in a spot I usually pass by, I decided to try a few casts in hopes of saving something from the day. As the buzzer gurgled across the water, a large fish appeared underneath and emitted an impressive wave, but it did not touch the bait. On another throw it rose under the bait and then disappeared.

Thinking that a more aggressive top water bait might make the fish strike, I made several casts with a bait that churns the water up like a small motorboat. Nothing.

Okay, I thought, maybe a large perch, scouring the surface, will hit a plastic worm swimming along the bottom. I tied a jig and a ringworm, and the first cast – toink. I hit the hook and when the big fish hit another soccer metaphor came to mind – how New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick must feel after planning another Super Bowl win.

Then my line tore and I went home feeling like one of the many college football players who dropped the ball before crossing the goal line.

source https://outdoorsportsnews.com/a-fishing-week-to-remember/