Click here to get a printable version of the guides 2009 year in review!
 Bart Landwehr
At the end of another great season, I have been asked to share my thoughts on
the summer.
So here goes...I have to first say that, from a guide's standpoint, the weather this year was awesome. We had consistent mild weather, which allowed for less angler fatigue, and seriously reduced beverage costs. Nice. It also allowed for the dog to appear each day, well the days that she didn't take herself out of the equation via injury. Weird year that way. A couple of run-ins with clam shells didn't agree with Marley's pads. Thanks Hunter for helping out with the late-night superglue sessions!
Speaking of Hunter, this season saw his introduction into the Tight Lines "family". While skepticism will always loom at first, I was more than impressed with Hunter's work ethic both on river and off. More than once when it was my turn to make the grocery run, Hunter offered to ride shotgun to keep me company.
Nice.
The crew held tight once again with Tim, Nate, Hunter, and myself sharing quarters. And it was nice for Marley to find a new camp friend in Hunter's dog Sage. Nelson also made some key appearances at camp, wish they'd happen more, but with a wife and new child at home, we'll take whatever we can get.
This year also brought our buddy Todd Polacek into the mix a bit more to help out with overflow. I have to say, some of the greatest times of the summer were had during Todd's stays. Just a bunch of fish junkies sharing a beer and
berating each other like siblings.
As for the fishing, come on, we work on arguably some the greatest smallmouth water in the world. Many great days were had, and I have to say that exploiting some more of the "headhunting" possibilities definitely got my blood boiling. Sight fishing to huge bass with trout patterns on a dead-drift, need I say more?
Some highlights:
-Cindy Finesilver making a perfect shot to a goliath fish that was sighted and had her completely unnerved. Named a spot after you on that one Cindy--way to go! Did I mention she connected with the fish on her first cast with a long leader, small bug, and a tough down and across with tricky currents? Yeehaw!
-Russ and Sue jacking a pair of sight-fished monsters at a spot called "Henry's Fork". All I had to do was set up anchor, spot the fish, and enjoy one hell of a show.
-Jon McMahon nailing a beast on a dragon fly pattern on a day that ended with us ducking for cover from a ferocious T-storm. Yikes.
There are so many more things I could rant about, but only so much space for my thoughts. Bummer. Thanks to my clients, my guide family, Charlie for never
failing to come through when we need something done, and Tim and Sarah for
keeping the ride going. Been at this for a decade now and I'm not even close to slowing down. See you all in 2010!
Best,
Bart and Marley
 Nate Sipple
One word comes to mind when reminiscing on the 2009 smallmouth season; weird. It wasn't the customers, the fish or the food that you sometimes find when you're in extreme northern Wisconsin. It was the weather. This was the first summer that I can remember using the heated seats in my truck in August. We had frost advisories in late June, when it should have been muggy and in the 80's. A good number of July and August mornings started with a light fleece and a cup of coffee, instead of flats-style shirts and lots of bottled water. And the fishing sometimes reflected the abnormalities in the weather. Just ask Charlie how the carp fishing was (unless he looks grumpy). On the days that it didn't feel like summer, the fish were sometimes very tough to come by. Poppers ruled the majority of the summer. Every once in a great while, one of the other guides would come back to camp and proclaim that they'd gotten a fish on a Murdich or Barteaux. We'd laugh about it because that shouldn't be shocking. The pre-spawn trips definitely yielded some of the biggest fish of the summer, including a handful over 20" and two over 21". It was also a tough year from a water standpoint. There was a good amount of gel-coat left on the tops of rocks in the river. Some mornings you'd show up to float a stretch and you'd hardly even recognize it because they were holding so much water back at the dams. I'm serious Timmy, next year I'm guiding out of a Hover Craft. I wonder if they're as loud as a jet boat. And if the summer hadn't already been strange enough, we got ants. Lots of ants spread out over lots of days. Some came in late July, some in early September. A couple of the days were epic and after a while, I think the fish just got sick of them. I particularly remember the day with Winston. He had been hearing about the ants for nearly a decade and the day he was in my boat the ants were blanketing the water in certain spots. But apparently on that day the fish could have cared less. We chuckled about it and about how he was going to go back to the shop and tell Tim that he was full of it. The next day there was 1/10th as many ants and the fish were gorging themselves on them once again. And kudos to my group from Tennessee, for I have never in my life seen more smallmouth put in a boat over a two day stretch. It was also different having our new guide in camp, Hunter. There was that strange "getting to know you" period, kind of like being in college and rooming with a complete stranger in the dorms. At first it was kind of awkward, but halfway through the summer the ball was rolling just fine. Hunter's dog, Sage, was a great girl to have around camp, even if she did sometimes make my bed look like Chewbacca by the end of the day. You were thrown into the fire, but you did a great job, Hunter. In closing, it was a strange, but once again awesome year. Even if I got hooked three times in the head by a popper, lost a half-dozen flies, fought twenty mile per hour head winds and got stung by a hornet, there was solace in knowing that I got to go back to camp to laugh about it all over beers and a burger with the most awesome group of guides....anywhere. If there was ever a year that we guides really had to work our tails off, sometimes just to put a small handful of fish in the boat, this was that year. Bart, Nelson, Tim, Todd and Hunter, you guys are the best.
Thanks again for a great summer and I can't wait for next season! -Nate Hunter Dorn
This has really been a great year. My summer with Tight Lines started when I was standing waist deep in the Baraboo River in June. It rained all day that day and was about 46 degrees. Fitting as I had scheduled a river clean-up. I got the phone call from Tim, promptly quit my desk job, and packed my boat and truck full of gear. My dog, Sage, got situated somewhere in the mix for the move. This was my first season guiding for the Tight Lines team, and I wouldn't have traded it for the world. This summer re-affirmed why I love rowing a boat. We had extremely low water for most of the summer, and by the time I left in late September, it had gotten a little lower. Some of these fish, no matter how low the water got, still wanted to sit right along the bank, occasionally with their backs out of the water. They would wait for your unexpecting Boogle Bug to float (not pop) past them before they slid over and sucked it down like a trout on the Henry's fork. Then the fireworks would start. I can't tell you how many times I heard WOW in my boat this summer.
Out of the 40 some trips I guided this summer, countless huge smallies made their way to hand. The river and the other guides made this a truly unforgettable summer for Sage and I. I can only hope for many, many more.
It was the season of hatches and I got to fish a bunch of them with clients. The crop of BWO's was particularly thick. It was almost a given that on any day from the end of March into early June that if there was cloud cover, there were going to be fishable numbers of Olives. The number of BWO nymphs in some of the riffles was almost unbelievable. Rocks in April were absolutely coated with bugs. Flies representing Olives accounted for more fish than normal for me throughout the season. The other hatches were also very good. Ninety degree weather in April brought on some of the thickest clouds of Black Caddis I've ever seen. Some days I witnessed caddis hatches of western proportions.....the kind where they're all over inside your waders and under your sunglasses. The bugs were particularly interesting one day. It was very warm and hazy. There were some caddis coming off early, but every so often, the sun would break through the clouds and the bugs would explode until the sun was covered again. This went on for a while until the clouds cleared for good and the river completely erupted. It seemed like every fish in the creek was temporarily rising with reckless abandon. This was one of the most exciting hatches I have seen to date. The sustained 25+ mph wind was a huge hindrance that day (remember Tom and Don?), but we did our damage none-the-less.
 Todd Polacek
2009 marked my 4th year of working with Tim and the Tight Lines staff. This season I took on a good number of trips and I must admit I always have "summer delusions" of big fat copper bass smashing poppers in the hot Wisconsin sun. Windy, cold, drizzly, and rainy all sound like words you might want to hear when gearing up for a couple of days of steelheading, or a weekend hunting divers, but not bass fishing. That is what we encountered through July and August.
When preparing for July trips, I heard that Nate closed out the 2008 season catching smallmouth well into October when the water hovered in the 50's. I also learned that Tim and others were catching fish already the first week of May on poppers. May was unseasonably cool and that is very unusual. Though few guides will come out and say this, there is always a nice and cordial admiration and respect for "what the other guide's program is", but it is a veneer that masks streaks of competitiveness among us. You can see right through the veneer when the fish shut off and one guide is doing well as others struggle. I have deep respect for the Tight Lines group. It is unique how the group is always trying different approaches and push one another while still maintaining such a great atmosphere as professional "keepers of the sport" of fly fishing. Although I wonder if more than one of us has imagined how big of a salt-plastic Senko worm you can throw on an 8 weight. This forced me to try new tactics and strategies that 10 years ago, if someone explained them, I would have said "You're going to do what"? I am always learning from these guys and a Brown Beadhead Crystal Bugger on a mile of 4X saved my guests from seeing "man tears" from me on one of my outings. When the weather did cooperate, it was poppers moved slow, but I really enjoyed the "slam and grab" when fish took a well-presented Murdich Minnow.
I owe a special thank you to Sarah and Tim, Bart, Nate, Charlie, Nelson, and Hunter for teaching me and accepting me into this group. I have had a full-time career now since I closed Madison Outfitters and remarked to Tim that I would "almost pay to do this". I would also like to thank the anglers I had in the boat this year, many of whom are career anglers. I learned much from them. And, finally, I would especially like to thank my wife, Christine, who supports me on these endeavors.
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At the close of another guide season, I can now take the opportunity to reflect... 2008 started out with a whole bunch of water, which actually held on and kept flows at real "fishy" levels for a good portion of the season. Weather patterns, for the most part, were consistent enough to keep the fish happy, and I was fortunate to once again spend a lot of time on the water with a client list any guide would envy. I had several bests this season, including my biggest smallmouth to the net (way to go Chris from Tate & Lyle!), a 40" class northern expertly wrangled to the boat by Alan Finesilver, and my pal Andy Krysiak sticking a seven pound walleye on a day that started really bleak only to finish as one of the coolest of the season!--all extremely memorable moments not soon to be forgotten. These are just a few cool things that happened out there--believe me there were lots more! 2008 also saw the introduction of my new first mate, Marley. 
A mutt in the truest sense, thanks to all my clients for putting up with a young pup learning what it takes to be a boat dog--although I have to admit she made me look like an expert trainer way more than I deserved. And finally, thanks to my guide family who share a ridiculously small space for a lot of nights together, you guys are my best friends and make this job all the better! Being able to return from the river and compare notes i.e. drink a beer and talk smart with some really great guides makes the long strings with no days off a lot more manageable. My job is about creating an experience for people, and I take it very seriously. Let's be honest, we're out there to catch some fish, but fun is the most important part, and that can be had whether the smallies are smashing flies or not. I feel truly lucky to spend time on the water, day after day after day after day, always anticipating the possibilities found at the next good "spot". Thanks again to everyone who has helped make my life as cool as it is!
Best,
Bart and Marley
June 7th marked the first day of my first full-time season with Tight Lines. I can't believe that I'm sitting here now writing this and in front on me is a calendar displaying the month of October. 2008 has flown by like a pair of wood ducks hell bent on staying ahead of another harsh winter. The smallmouth season is almost over for me, with just one trip left on the calendar, and it couldn't have gone any better. It was a summer filled with epic topwater fishing and some of the biggest bass we've ever seen. Sure, there were days that we took a beating, but being a guide means that you beat back. Every day that I spent in my boat this season was a great one. Be it a group from Florida that have been guiding and fishing since before my parents were born, or a couple from the area that had never fly fished and were celebrating their first anniversary, I sincerely enjoyed having all of you. The "funny in retrospect" trip that Matty and I had, Bart losing his topper window, sleeping four deep in a little trailer with our guard dog and all the nights that discussions on what is really important were had over a PBR were what made 2008 a great year. Tight Lines,
I couldn't have asked for a better summer of smallmouth fishing on the Menominee River. The high water of late spring and early summer, a product of our record winter snow fall, gave way to a summer typical of the last few years-little rain and low flows. Although a few tough days of fishing were had, my memories are of amazing popper fishing in late July and August. I can recall trips when we could fish topwater all day long, and the biggest fish of the river didn't hesitate to crush a popper. My favorite patterns were home-made Clouser poppers and the Ham Sandwich (in 1/0); a new favorite is Rainy's Mini-Me (2/0)(the loudest popper I've heard.) But believe it or not the best day of popper fishing I had was on Penobscot-style bass spiders that resemble Chernobyl Ants. Fishing the spiders was brought our way by ong time smallie fishermen who happen to be Florida guides.When the bass didn't eat on top, I used a variety of minnow patterns this year including sparkle minnows and buck-n-bunnys (the Murdich is still in there too). My most consistent dredging patterns were the Menominee Mudbug and a simple rubber-leg crayfish pattern tied on a tin-head jig hook. Nate Sipple turned me on to some of Kelly Galloup's articulated patterns, especially the Sex Dungeon-a great pattern especially during the early season. They were hard to come by in the Tight Lines shop by mid summer. I'm excited about several new patterns I tried as well, a floating/diving crayfish pattern for 'fishing the flats' of the Menominee, a new fly-rig for crayfish hopping, and an articulated diving minnow that is probably best for lake fishing(think pike/musky). They still need work...can't wait until next year.
Well, its fall already and it really snuck up on us quickly. I'm sure some of you are getting ready to chase that Steel. 
It's hard for me to sum up a season in a few paragraphs. So much happened in the course of four months. As a whole, the season was good. High water early, no water late, and WIND WIND WIND. I could have entered the Tight Lines guide staff in a world arm wrestling competition and we would have swept it. The one thing that stands out the most to me was the evenings. Typically on corporate trips, Bart and I would be racing downstream to catch a windless popper bank around five o'clock pm. This season it felt like the wind waited to blow till then. All in all it did not affect the final outcome of the year. Some of our biggest bass ever landed, big pike, brief meetings with musky, and that not so common walleye. As usual, our largest bass came top water. Chris from the Tate and Lyle group landed a giant 22" (taped) and Lynn Langefeld a massive 21' fish at the put in. Fly patterns remained about the same. Big baitfish when fish would not eat on top and popping bugs whenever possible. As the water dropped by the first part of August I began fishing smaller poppers and Whitlocks Crystal Dragon fly. The Crystal Dragon was a revelation to me.