Fishing doesn't get any easier

Going with the flow is my preferred mode of travel.

Especially when it comes to wading in rivers.

Even though upstream wading is often safer – the current will push you out of trouble rather than farther into it – it is more strenuous, less enjoyable and often less productive.

Don't get me wrong. I would not risk my life wading downstream in unknown waters. But in waters known to be no deeper than the belt of my waders, direction of travel is not a safety concern.

Nor am I totally averse to hard work. I would wade a mile upstream to catch several nice smallmouth bass, if that's what it took.

But why run when you can walk? Why stand when you can sit? And why wade upstream, pushing moving water out of your way, when it can help propel you downstream?

Especially if the fish don't care which direction you are wading, and most of the time they do not.

During the past month, with the Wapsipinicon flowing through Buchanan County at an average rate of about 300 cubic feet per second - an optimum flow for a wading angler - I have been enjoying fishing that is at times almost too easy.

In my travels up and down the river, I have discovered a seldom-fished stretch of rocky bank inhabited by many smallmouth bass whose numbers include a disproportionate share of adults.

This rocky bank is on my right side as I am wading downstream, which for me, a right hander, is the ideal scenario because I can move effortlessly along the target shore without having to cast across my body, which requires more effort and concentration and results in a higher percentage of inaccurate casts.

When I first started fishing this spot a month ago, I typically reversed course at the bottom end of the fish zone, wading back against the current and casting across my body to the rocky bank.

I caught fewer fish doing so, which was likely just an indication that I had worn out my welcome on the first pass. But I also quickly noticed that what had been unalloyed fun had become a grueling chore.

Then it dawned on me that rather than fishing my way back up river, I should just get out on the sandbars and walk back to my original starting point, from which I could begin another downstream pass with the target bank back on my right.

If Disney were designing a “Fishing World” for the sedentary masses, its entertainment engineers could improve on my late-summer setup only by installing a chairlift to carry their patrons back up river.