Bill Flader shares lessons learned from 75 years of fishing

Let your guide know of any specific desires or expectations you have.

Many readers of this newsletter will have experienced the excellent smallmouth bass fishery among the sunken logs of Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior, and most will have been guided by Roger LaPenter out of Ashland.

In my case it became an annual event around Memorial Day. I always enjoyed good fly fishing, but…..in Roger’s truck on the way to the launch site one year I was moved to say “Roger, I’ve been fishing with you for about 8 years and I haven’t caught a 20 incher. I’d like to catch one of those today.” Lo and behold, by day’s end we had caught four that size. Was that luck or….?

Years later, after one of Bob Clouser’s talks at a fundraiser at the American Family training center, I hopped onto the platform to chat with him, and shared my experience with Roger, knowing that he and Lefty (Kreh) had been scheduled the day after one of my visits to Ashland. In response he turned his head to the side, with his hand shielding his mouth, and said quietly, “He knew where they were.”