Tuesday’s are overnight days for our boys at my folks in Galesburg so that means Girls’ Night for the ladies and fishing night for me.
Stats
Date: July 11, 2017
Locations: Little John Conservation Club (2 lakes)
Time: 5:50pm-8:25pm (2.75 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/calm
Air Temp: mid 80’s but crazy humid
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 10 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 9 bass
Senko weighted wacky rig (electric shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-6 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 5-11 (1-6,1-4,1-2,1-0,0-15)
5:54pm 14″ 1-2 Buzzbait, so humid I ditched my hat at risk of exposing my balding head to the sun, now that’s hot.
6:13pm 14.5″ 1-6 Buzzbait, though only in the mid 80’s the humidity was ugly as seen in the color progression of my shirt.
6:28pm 12″ 0-15 Buzzbait, put the hat back on as I have no hair to stop the sweat, need me a headband like good, old Slick Watts (anybody remember that guy).
Notes & Nonsense
Attempted Plan – I intended to head out from work early at 3:00pm instead of 5:00pm to offset travel time to Victoria (about 70 minutes) versus my usual Lost Grove Lake, IA Tuesday destination (about 25 minutes). Well, got tied up on an issue so didn’t leave the office until about 3:50pm. Part two of a time saver was a shortcut off Route 34. About a half mile into the dirt road portion of said shortcut I found it way too muddy and had to put her in reverse all the way back to some gravel. All told, going back to the normal route cost me another twenty minutes (by the way anybody out there know if the road is open at the tracks in Altona yet). So, my intended 4:30pm first cast wound up being 5:50pm instead.
Calling All Clouds – In order for my buzzbait pattern to really kick into high gear on these lakes, I need some cloud cover, whether complete or intermittent. But every time I have had a chance to go of late there has not been a cloud in the sky. I can still manage to eke out a few bites but the big ones aren’t interested and I really feel like I’m force feeding the bass. Even so, it’s a sacrifice that I am willing to make during these abbreviated outings. As my previous trip demonstrated, it only takes one bite to make your day and I’m content to take my chances. On this day, that big bite didn’t come until the end of the day but that’s another story (see below).
Bad Decision, Bad Outcome – I stopped short of a solid piece of structure consisting of several laydowns bordering a pocket off the main lake. This put the wood between me and any fish taking a liking to my buzzbait, kind of a dumb move in hindsight. I clearly saw about a four pounder smash the bait roughly ten feet from the boat, right in the middle of the tress and proceed to head into the tangle before I could turn it in the right direction. The bass hit moving from my left to right which proved my doom. Had it been moving the opposite direction I would have stood a good chance of steering it clear of the snag. I could briefly feel the fish pulling amidst the logs but it soon wrapped me beyond hope and my line busted as I tried to free it.
7:24pm 14″ 1-4 Buzzbait, the heat just kept getting nastier as the evening wore on.
8:02pm 12.5″ 1-0 Buzzbait
Premonition – Odd thing is, I had been reminiscing a few days earlier when talking to myself about fishing (which I do nearly daily) and said aloud in my head that I could not recall the last time I lost a good fish. It wasn’t like I was patting myself on the back or anything just pondering some good fortune. Call it karma, the law of averages or just fishing but I will also admit to occasional flashes of superstition crossing my mind. Whatever the case, I guess I’ll do my best to avoid that conversation with myself going forward.
8:29pm Last bass, nothing to boost my total weight but shot the pic to show complete saturation by the end of the evening, crazy heat,
had sweat running off my nose when reaching for tackle in bottom of the boat.
In assessing my decision to make a longer drive for Illinois bass versus some Iowa bass closer to home, I vote that I made the right choice. Definitely bigger bass potential from this side of the river compared to my Lost Grove Lake results and I got my shot, just didn’t work out this time. Maybe next time or the time after that. Two more trips already in the log so stop back later this week for those reports or hit the Facebook page for some previews/spoilers.
Hey, just dawned on me, its Tuesday again, think I’ll go for the shorter drive to Iowa this time around. Talk to you later. Troy