The follow-up trip to Eclipse Day produced a slew of bass but nothing big to show for it. In fact, my one “keeper” on the rain shortened, one hour, Eclipse outing outweighed the Top 5 for this trip all by itself. But hey, anytime you can post 43 bass with most of them on a buzzbait, now that’s a blast. In lieu of a batch of lunkers to report, I’m going to pull out an old stunt and use some Pop/Rock music to help convey my day on the water.  First the bass and the data, then we jam.

  

7:07am 14″ 1-8 First Bass and Top Bass Buzzbait                                       7:27am 13″ 0-15 Buzzbait      

Stats
Date: August 22, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL strip mines (3 lakes)
Time: 6:25am-3:00pm (6.0 hours fishing, rest walking or driving)
Weather: Mostly cloudy/very windy
Air Temp: 66F-76F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 43 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (Snow White shad) – 34 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 4 bass
5” Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 3 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (copper) – 1 bass
Zoom Baby Brush Hog (green pumpkin) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-8 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 5-7 (1-8,1-1,1-0,0-15,0-15)

Rest of the Top 5 (left to right): 0-15 (8:51am Buzzbait), 1-0 (9:41am Baby 1-) and 1-1 (11:08am Buzzbait)

Notes & Nonsense

“Take It To The Limit” (Eagles – 1975) – Went for a change of scenery “one more time” on this outing and every time I pull this stunt I wind up beat and wonder if it’s the last time. And I’m not just talking fishing results as this type of adventure provides a real workout. Forgive me for being a little vague but this bright idea involves hauling a boat into fishing holes that are a long ways from the truck, we’re talking potential miles for a round trip.

“This Night Won’t Last Forever” (Michael Johnson – 1979) – So this is where the whole music oriented concept originated for this report. I’m just killing them on a buzzbait and all of a sudden realize that a slightly altered version of this cut is going through my head. Substitute “bite” for night and it goes a little something like this: “I know this bite won’t last forever, I know the sun is gonna shine sometime.” For the first time in a while I got what I was after as the clouds were my friend.  The result was an all-day buzzbait buffet, first buzzbait catch at 7:07am and last buzzbait bass at 2:12pm, truly an expanded window.

“Lovely Day” (Bill Withers – 1977)
When the forecast calls for cloudy skies,
A cool breeze puts heat behind,
The thought of buzzbait bassin’ time,
Is foremost on my mind.
“And I know it’s gonna be a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day…”
Yep, my own version of those lyrics were a significant part of my mental soundtrack as well. Maybe I ain’t right, but a lifetime in front of a radio has provided lyrics for every occasion and this one was spot on. If you dig tunes and topwater fishing, you know where I’m coming from.

“Lights Out” (Peter Wolf – 1984) – The former J.Geils Band lead singer summed up the fishing action quite nicely: “Blast, blast, blast.” Literally and figuratively, as topwater fishing appeals to the visual, auditory and tactile senses in an addictive fashion all in a split second of entertaining bass fishing action.  (Note: this Wolf tune is not to be confused with the video where he hops all the way through the song, that one is “Come As You Are”, quite interesting.)

“I Missed Again” (Phil Collins – 1981) – As the wind picked up, the buzzbait was still getting plenty of attention but I’d have to say that the surface chop made for a diminished success rate as at least a dozen bass came up short in their efforts.  Cue up the former Genesis singer with a classic early MTV bit of video entertainment as he croons, “Oh, did I miss again, I think I missed again” on behalf of those bass. In one case, a missed strike knocked the lure a foot above the surface, can’t recall ever seeing that one before. While it may have been wise to adjust my presentation to the changing conditions, I still had plenty of others displaying better aim, thus I kept right on buzzing as my primary approach.

The Jackson 5 – Lest anyone think that I am a sort of one hit wonder in lure selection most days, I did make a few changeups when cover and instinct dictated. Two bass on the Senko in two minutes around a lone bit of bankside standing timber was one case. In addition, I did add a few by lipless and shallow cranking in a couple spots that produced in the past. Overall, I landed bass on five different baits although the buzzbait was far and away the star of the group, the Michael of my tackle box on this day.

  

Left to right: Buzzbait (Michael), Red Eye Shad (Jackie), Baby 1- (Tito)

 

Left to right: Baby Brush Hog (Marlon) and Senko wacky rig (Jermaine)

“Hurt So Bad” (Linda Ronstadt – 1980) – Okay, so here’s the rundown on a fishing trip beat down. Both knees from hauling stuff and logging several miles of strip mine trekking (fortunately most was old roadways). Right shoulder from casting and lower back from hauling and sitting in an eight foot johnboat for about an eight hour day. Left elbow from a tumble as I also stand in that boat a lot even though not the wisest idea and several fingers just because they are getting old, ache and don’t work as well as they used to.

“Hurts So Good” (John Cougar – 1982) – But here I am a couple days later and those aches and pains are nearly a thing of the past and I’m well on the road to convincing myself that I need to try this stunt again. You know, the positives of a 43 bass day will still eventually outweigh the negative physical effects as the hours and days roll by. And don’t forget one other physical malady that is more of a badge of honor than a source of pain, good old bass thumb.

Thanks for tuning in and tune in again tomorrow for a blogging retrospective covering the last 15 years. Talk to you later. Troy