Traveling America By Van: Out And About In West Bend
By: John Kumiski
Dave and Beth met us at their door. It was so good to see them! There was laughter, and tears, and stories old and new, and food, and drink, and it went on deep into the evening. Good stuff, all.
I wondered what to do the next day. The ladies made plans to do lady stuff. Dave had a golf date. I did some research, got some advice from Dave, bought a fishing license, and went to the Milwaukee River crossing of Highway H to do some wade-fishing with a fly rod. There were supposed to be smallmouth bass there. A hiking trail gave access. I wanted to see those bass for myself.
After rigging my tackle, I just walked the bank, looking for fish. It didn't take long before I saw some. A moment later, I was up to my hips in the river, casting a black wooly booger, first toward one bank, then the other.
Crayfish kept scooting out in front of me as I waded easily visible in the clear water. I thought this a good omen.
Before long I got a bite. A bass! Granted, it was very small, five inches long or so, but it was beautiful, and it was alive, and it was a jen-you-wine smallmouth bass, and we don't see many of those in Florida, oh, no. So, I was well pleased.
It was the first of a lot of them. Most were small, and none were big. The best was perhaps a fourteen-inch fish. But the action was pretty steady, and the river was lovely. I had it all to myself, too.
I lost a fly to a small pike. A small "thump," then nothing, then a fly-less leader. Then the little booger swam right past me as I tied a new fly on.
I came to a spot where it got too deep to wade, so I clambered out of the river and hiked back to the van. Driving through West Bend, I could not help but notice the river ran right through town. It looked good, and no one was fishing. I found a parking spot, and in the shadow of the Museum of Wisconsin Art, tried it again.
Bam! Times three. I got three more small smallies right there. Now out of time, I drove to Dave and Beth's.
Dave with a bass from Jim's pond.
We had a delicious dinner at an Asian fusion restaurant in West Bend that evening, during which I told Dave about my day's fishing. He said, "We're going to my friend Jim's farm pond tomorrow." Private water? I'm in!
Morning found us in a small aluminum boat, floating on a pond of maybe five acres. I tossed a fly, Dave a spinnerbait. I got a couple big bluegills. Dave got bass after bass, cookie-cutter fish of a pound-and-a-half or so. I kept changing flies, and got a bass here and there. It wasn't until I put a mousy-looking gurgler on that my fortunes changed.
Jim came out in another boat. He rowed over to us. "Hey, I brought you guys some cold beer." I don't often see that level of service while fishing! We took the beer, thanked him, then watched him pull a fat walleye in.
A few fish later, Beth and Susan showed up on the pond's edge. "We brought you guys some lunch!" The bratty part of my brain wondered why they didn't bring it out to us. We went ashore and got under Jim's gazebo. The food was delicious, or I was especially hungry. But I certainly dug into it.
Jim himself, fishing for walleye.
Lots of chatting went on, enough that after we were chatted out I was fished out, too. It was the heat of the day, after all. Back at Dave and Beth's it was more laughter, more food, more drink. Maybe a shower, too. Dave said, "Tomorrow, we'll take the boat to Little Cedar Lake." More fishing! Fine with me.
We got the boat launched at the crack of noon. It was already hot, with jet- and water-skiers tearing up the lake. The water looked good, though, clear and weedy, with lots of water lilies. But there was a lot of traffic.
We worked it hard for several hours, using both fly and spin tackle. I got a small bass on a fly, then another on a soft plastic shad. Dave got a bite on a DOA Bait Buster, a lure he'd never seen before, and pulled in a chunky two-pound largemouth. That was it for fish. We pulled the boat and headed to the ranch.
Saturday morning was Farmer's Market day in West Bend. We went, and perused the goods, buying coffee, and croissants, and flowers, and fixin's for the evening meal. Then we went to the Museum of Wisconsin Art.
Beth with some flowers at the West Bend Farmer's Market.
"Hey, I caught some fish here the other day!" No one cared. The museum was sponsoring a chalk art competition, and the grounds were largely covered up with people. Some were artists, making fantastic chalk art on the sidewalk. Some were vendors, selling all manner of food and drink. Most were sight-seers though, checking out the art, eating brats and pretzels, having a beer- like what we were doing!
An artist making some sidewalk chalk art.
Once we finished perusing the exterior, we entered the museum itself. Although the building is physically small, the exhibits were outstanding. It was a very worthwhile way to spend a couple hours.
In the meantime, the chalk artists had been working. We took one more round outside before heading back to the house. We had some packing to do.
Sunday morning, we said our goodbyes to Dave and Beth and got back on the road. We still had plenty of driving to do before we got home again.
Have you done something interesting outdoors? Join Global Outdoors and write a review to tell everyone about it! We’re building the home for trusted reviews of outdoor experiences, outfitters, and guides.
