The river of endless pursuits

LACROSSE, Wis. - Being green with envy is not a medical condition. It's more of a state of mind when I find myself surrounded by towering bluffs, backwater sloughs and fish willing to cooperate.

This is Mississippi River country, a land filled with history and jumbo fish.

Locals here have a tendency not to brag all that much about the fishing and hunting opportunities. But some do express sorrow for us Illinois folks because they know we often lust for their lifestyles in the land where big water is king.

With that said, I offer for your consideration the opportunity to hunt big deer and catch lots of hungry fish.

My friend Bob Bott operates a guide service known as TGIF, or as he calls it, "Thank God I'm Fishing."

And Chicago-area anglers gladly invest four or so hours of their driving time to meet and fish with Bott 12 months a year.

Bob is a retired LaCrosse city police sergeant who decided that it was time to trade uniforms - from law enforcement blue to shorts and a T-shirt.

"It's not that I wasn't happy being a policeman," he said, "but after 30 years I wanted to be on the water instead of riding in a squad car or sitting at my desk."

Photographer Mike Seeling and I finally squeezed some time into our schedules so we could join Bott and explore some of his "honey holes."

Bob suggested we stay at a riverfront hotel so all we had to do was walk a few yards to the boat dock where we subsequently stepped in to Bott's well-appointed bass boat.

"We'll fish with these Lethal Weapon II swim-jigs," he suggested.

For the uninitiated, a swim jig is a lure resembling a spinnerbait without the long arm and blades. You tie your line at the nose of the jig instead of on the side or top of the jig head. The jig's body has a "skirt" like a spinner bait as well.

Our first stop was at the mouth of a creek that dumped into the Mississippi. Seeling caught three bass, two largemouth and one smallie even before I tied on a jig. A couple more small fish came to the boat, and then the action shut down.

"We're moving to another sand flat," Bott declared.

Ten minutes later we found ourselves fishing just a section of wing dams off a main channel. Wing dams are man-made structures placed in the river to help prevent shoreline erosion. At most times of the season they also act like magnets for bait and gamefish.

We spotted a very narrow patch of green weeds and tossed lures to the inside edges. It appeared the bass were waiting for us. Seeling and I arm wrestled some decent largemouth to the boat while Bob held the craft in a parallel position to the weed line. And then, like before, the action shut down.

Our next location was a backwater area of the Black River. Baitfish jumped all around us as we coasted to a stop. Once again we tossed the swim jigs into open pockets of weed growth, and once again the bass cooperated. The funny thing was that we were in water 1 feet deep. The bass didn't seem to care.

Bott has a squad of apprentice guides who work for him, and his service is always booked.

In fact, while we fished the Black River, Bob received a call from an Arlington Heights angler who wanted to come up for a day of fishing.

For me, a single day is never enough to explore this great fishery with a very knowledgeable guide. And that's why I'll be back in spring.

You can contact Bob Bott at TGIF Outfitters, (608) 790-1944, or angler88@comcast.net

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