A Trip With "The Man About The Woods"

Tuesday night I found myself on an adventure that was very new to me.  Certainly I was on the water fishing, but this time I did it in a way that I am not accustomed to.  I tagged along with our "Man About The Woods" Bill Sherck as we used his drift boat to fish Smallmouth Bass on the Mississippi River.  I have heard so much about this stretch of water over the years, and jumped at the chance to hop on board.  We had a few different weapons in the boat, and the plan was to catch a few conventional style, then switch to the fly gear.  It was a whole new experience for me, and I can honestly say that it was the first time that I actually felt like I was being guided.  It was great!  He had the same half hour's worth of chatter that I give to all my guests as they come on the boat.  Not that I haven't caught numerous smallies in the past, but it was a whole new feel, and the drift boat seemed to set it all in place.  How we would work the spots, and most of all, the use of a fly-rod is very new to me.  The fish weren't jumping in the boat on this afternoon, however it didn't take too long for me to land a couple of dandies.  My first fish went about 19 inches and the next two followed very similarly.  When you add the current into the equation, you are really in for a treat.  After my third fish, I decided it was time to find out what this fly fishing stuff is all about.  After a quick tutorial from Bill, I was slinging back and forth trying to get dialed in.  With the strong winds, it made things interesting, but I got it figured out and it was go time!  I pictured myself stripping a huge popper on the surface as if I was Tarpon fishing in the keys, and waited for the explosions.  Well, they came, and I missed all 4 explosions on my popper.  Oh well, Can't catch em all the time, but it sure would have been nice to say I conquered that Smallie on the Fly.  We had a great time on the water, and although the fish weren't flying in the boat, we had some great laughs, and a few of what I call "kids Messes."  For those of you who don't know Bill aka: Man about the Woods, he is a regular guest on our shows, and the host of Due North Outdoors, which if you aren't too busy after reading this, you can check out the new site that I just created for that show.  Looks strikingly similar to this site, except it's Bill Sherck and Laura Schara.