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It’s summertime and the fishing isn’t always easy.
Fish in farm ponds become lethargic and ignore anglers’ offerings as the water temperature rises. The blistering sun makes venturing out on the big lakes unpleasant at best and unrewarding at worse.
However, there is a way to beat the heat. Wade fishing is made to order for this time of year.
There are a wealth of wade-fishing spots, including one in Hickory County where my son, Brad, always says “looks good” every time we pass over it. It’s a small stream that John McKetchem told us about years ago, and it has some good fishing for smallmouth bass and big bluegill. We tried it with our fly rods and caught lots of fish. After that trip, we knew we could always count on catching fish for dinner while camping at Pomme de Terre State Park.
The easiest way to find wade-fishing streams is to drive blacktop and gravel roads in your area, passing at bridges and low-water areas to explore the possibilities. Don’t assume that streams with only a trickle of water are too small to provide good fishing.
Creeks with little or no water in summer can harbor substantial pools that may be just out of sight of most crossings.
Once you find a suitable wade-fishing spot, you need to consider equipment. Unlike other fishermen, who need a lot of gear, wade fishermen need only what they can carry in their pockets.
Some of the most important equipment choices are what you wear, starting with your feet. High-top shoes are a popular choice for several reasons. First, they are lightweight and allow water to escape easily. Second, their high tops keep out rocks that can make walking painful. Nothing enhances your appreciation of clunky-looking footwear like stopping every few steps to remove sharp stones from a pair of low-topped shoes.
Regardless of your choice of footwear, make them large enough to permit you to wear two pairs of socks. This provides a cushion against the tiny, pointed stones that will find their way into any shoe or boot.
Most small-stream anglers end up more than 90 percent of the time with two or three lures, and they can carry these in a plastic box the size of a wallet.
When choosing tackle for wade fishing, go light or ultralight. A 5-foot spinning rod is good and make sure your reel is matched to the rod size.
It’s summertime and the fishing isn’t always easy.
Fish in farm ponds become lethargic and ignore anglers’ offerings as the water temperature rises. The blistering sun makes venturing out on the big lakes unpleasant at best and unrewarding at worse.
However, there is a way to beat the heat. Wade fishing is made to order for this time of year.
There are a wealth of wade-fishing spots, including one in Hickory County where my son, Brad, always says “looks good” every time we pass over it. It’s a small stream that John McKetchem told us about years ago, and it has some good fishing for smallmouth bass and big bluegill. We tried it with our fly rods and caught lots of fish. After that trip, we knew we could always count on catching fish for dinner while camping at Pomme de Terre State Park.
The easiest way to find wade-fishing streams is to drive blacktop and gravel roads in your area, passing at bridges and low-water areas to explore the possibilities. Don’t assume that streams with only a trickle of water are too small to provide good fishing.
Creeks with little or no water in summer can harbor substantial pools that may be just out of sight of most crossings.
Once you find a suitable wade-fishing spot, you need to consider equipment. Unlike other fishermen, who need a lot of gear, wade fishermen need only what they can carry in their pockets.
Some of the most important equipment choices are what you wear, starting with your feet. High-top shoes are a popular choice for several reasons. First, they are lightweight and allow water to escape easily. Second, their high tops keep out rocks that can make walking painful. Nothing enhances your appreciation of clunky-looking footwear like stopping every few steps to remove sharp stones from a pair of low-topped shoes.
Regardless of your choice of footwear, make them large enough to permit you to wear two pairs of socks. This provides a cushion against the tiny, pointed stones that will find their way into any shoe or boot.
Most small-stream anglers end up more than 90 percent of the time with two or three lures, and they can carry these in a plastic box the size of a wallet.
When choosing tackle for wade fishing, go light or ultralight. A 5-foot spinning rod is good and make sure your reel is matched to the rod size.
Since casting in a small stream, fly fishers usually drop a size or two from their usual gear when fishing a small stream since casting often must be done within the confines of narrow, vegetation-laden bank.
Any lure that imitates a grasshopper will produce a hit in small streams. Floating minnow imitations are also good bets to get a hit. Live bait also works, but it increases the likelihood of a small fish swallowing the bait and suffering fatal injuries.
Anglers who are used to fishing a spot with a 200-horsepower motor and flinging lures resembling two-by-fours for huge bass have a big adjustment to make when shifting to wade fishing.
Fish in small streams, especially smallmouth bass, can be as skittish as fishing for native trout. You have to sneak up on them.
To do this, it helps to fish upstream. Food usually comes to stream fish from upstream, and they habitually orient themselves facing upstream.
Sam Brown, a small stream angler from Warsaw, has experience with wade fishing.
“I fish some of these small streams and catch some good fish,” he said. “Usually, I leave my truck at a take-out spot or have my wife drop me off at the bottom end of the stream and pick me up later. You have to resist the temptation to jump over water in front to get to a more promising spot, but many times you will spook some good fish from surprising spots.
“When you find a good spot, you need to approach it as if you were on a commando mission,” Brown added. “Stay low, move slowly and scout every log and rock ledge where a fish might hide. When you do spy a fish or a likely ambush spot, cast a few feet beyond the target area, so as not to spook the fish. Fish each spot from as far away as possible. Making long casts gives you the drop on wary fish that may see or hear you if you cast from close range.”
Fishing early and late in the day when fish are more active will allow you to miss the beastly middle hours in the shade – that’s what the fish will be doing.
Finally, remember that wade fishing is more about little pleasures than big fish.
