Fishing in TFF 45-50 years ago was nothing like it is today. Some of you might remember those days. For those who don’t, I thought I’d reminisce.

Walleyes were still the favorite target. Year after year, the walleye bag limit was five. Fishermen could count on that limit as sure as they could count on the sun rising in the east. Opening day was always in the middle of May, and musky fishing opened on the same day as walleye fishing. The Flowage was full of many, many more stumps, “leaners” and log jams than the measly amount that remains today. As I’ve said before, a 7 HP outboard was okay, a 9,5 was ideal, and anyone mounting 15 HP on the back of their boat was being quite daring, indeed.

There were two productive ways to catch walleyes. (Incidentally, back then, catching a smallmouth was something that happened almost as often as catching a musky. they were pretty rare.) You could cast for walleyes, or you could “stump dunk” for them. Casting was done using a June bug spinner, retrofitted with a weedless hook, and adorned with a live mud minnow.

You would slowly and carefully navigate the circuitous route that was necessary to get past the dam. Then, you would always squeeze through the five-foot wide opening that was provided between those two llarge, looming stumps that were some four feet in diameter. Hidden stumps just below the surface were waiting to ensnarl those who would choose to bypass this preferred passage. Then, you were out into “the open water.”

It wasn’t really "open" inasmuch as there was a veritable sea of “leaners” out there. These were trees that had only become partially uprooted. Part of their root structure had come loose, but some of it was still firmly attached to the bottom. So, the tree would lean over and float. bobbing up and down if waves came along, but always remaining attached to the bottom. These were not as menacing as stumps. If you hit a stump, it was an immovable object that made known its displeasure by tsometimes aking revenge on your boat or, worse yet, your lower unit. On the other hand, if you hit one of the leaners, it would just bob down and allow the boat to ride over the it.

There were, of course, various “floaters” drifting around. If you hit one of these the chances were that it would bob under the boat as you passed over it. Then, when the engine got to the floater, it would naturally kick up out of the water and make a bit of a high speed bark at this sudden airborne kick.

For walleye fishing with a June bug, spinner you would go down into the big water and then drift with the wind through the multitude of leaners. The easy way would be to toss your rig upwind, and then drag it along downwind. However, when you invariably managed to snag your rig, you would have to turn around and go back upwind to retrieve it. So, the best method was to cast downwind and crank the retrieve back toward the boat as the boat drifted toward your rig. Naturally, you had to crank fast enough to offset the drift speed of the boat. But that way, when you got snagged, the boat would drift over your rig, and most of the time it would just come loose as you passed by.

A day of fishing amounted to just a nice, lazy drift through the leaners, with an occasional walleye to hook onto your stringer. Quite a few “snakes” (small northerns) would inhale those mud minnows as well. It was your choice whether to put them on the stringer, or toss ‘em back into the Flowage.

The other method was one that was favored by Gene Netzel . He would guarantee 10 walleyes if you would take him along to row your boat for a day’s fishing. He always made good on his guarantee. His method was easy to duplicate, of course. To do “stump dunking,” you would bring along a coffee can full of weights, a coffee can full of hooks, and dozens upon dozens of nightcrawlers.

The walleyes would “hide” in the roots of the leaners. This allowed them to pounce upon the crawdads that also found homes on the lower portions of the leaners. Your task was to drop a whole, juicy, squirmy nightcrawler down into the tilted-over root sanctuary favored by the walleyes. Nowadays, fishing jigs are tipped with half a crawler as the preferred means of presentation. But, back then a whole fat crawler on a bare hook was the method used, and it achieved the best results.

Of course, you were messing with the root structure, so lotsa snags would ensue. You’d just cut the line and tie-on another hook and sinker and have at it, again. You’d move from leaner to leaner, using your oars to get there. There were so many leaners out there that it was never a long pull on the oars to get to the next target.

In those days another cherished item (in addition to lotsa shear pins) was a stump hook. If you put down an anchor, there was a good chance that it would get snagged and you would lose it. So, if you wanted to fish for awhile from a stationary position, you’d just cozy up to a convenient stump, and thump into it with your stump hook, which was at the other end of the anchor line instead of an anchor.

Anyway, every winter since then the annual ice-out has cleaned out and removed the leaners and stumps and log jams that used to adorn the Flowage. It’s now “wide open” in comparison. As a result, fishing in the TFF has evolved into the used of entirely different techniques these days. Just thought you’d like to know how it used to be.

And remember, 30 or 40 years from now, THESE will be the “good old days.”