Month: January 2018

2017 Resolution Result – Go Swimming

Posted on by Troy Jackson

    

This Resolution started out like this:

“Okay, so I know that the collection of baits in the photos above do indeed catch some bass and some really good ones at that. However, I just can’t seem to put down my confidence baits in favor of any of these varied lures that are generally categorized with ‘Swim’ as part of their names.”

As such, the intent of this Resolution was to catch a bass on either a Swim Jig or a Swimbait. From the picture above, you can see that like many fellow anglers I do not lack when it comes to options for the weapons of choice in these lure categories. The occasional purchases with good intentions have added up over the years but have rarely ever seen action. I don’t believe any of the baits have fooled double figures and many have likely never even been wet.

Now, the funny thing is, that I know a couple anglers who swear by them and have the documented proof to back up their endorsements. For those fellows, I’m sure that these baits represent what are referred to as “confidence” baits just like the Red Eye Shad, Booyah Buzzbait and wacky rigged Senko do for this angler.

But I did cast aside those “go to” baits in favor of a swim jig back on October 11, 2017.  And it went a little something like this…

 

Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes. I made it a point to employ the swim jig and was rewarded as demonstrated in the above clips. No monsters, but it didn’t matter.  Resolution accomplished and the swim bait was the best lure of  the day. Talk to you later. Troy

Trapping Tuesday – 2013 Cousins

Posted on by Troy Jackson

So, Dad has eight grandkids, all of whom have had the experience of tagging along on the trapline over the years. And fortunately, for most of those years they all lived in the same town. Even though our bunch has relocated about 45 minutes to the north in recent years, the get together of “the cousins” is always a treat and something the kids definitely look forward to. Today’s flashback to 2013 features a batch of those cousins under the supervision of Papa and Aunt Julie/Mom enjoying some fresh air (well, except for one picture perhaps).

Jayce, Brady, Zac and Papa Jackson doing their best “opossum face”, a family tradition.

Aunt Julie/Mom enjoying some tailgating Jackson style 

Apparently this catch was not too aromatic, these boys have no idea

Not sure what Zac is pondering, only he knows, but another classic shot from the trapline (with Uncle Brent)

Plenty of stories from these adventures that will be told for years to come.  That’s what it’s all about.  Talk to you later.  Troy

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Well, folks we’ve got one more December bass that makes its way into our final 2017 update now that the Holiday Season dust has finally settled. And it’s a good one…

Weight: 6-13
Angler: Mark Balbinot
Date: December 10
Location: Fulton County, IL Strip Mine Lake
Lure: Texas rigged Zoom lizard
Water Temperature: 39 degrees
Structure: Laydown in about 10’ of water
Top 5 Weight: 33-14 (7-4,6-15,6-13,6-8,6-6) culls 6-3

Way to go, Mark, another fantastic year, been great to follow along. And for anyone who wishes to see this catch and others in action, along with some cool new video data features check out Mark’s You Tube links below:

December 10 Video – https://youtu.be/-52xKFYsMyg

Dashware Enhanced Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mLcxmSxlak

Got several things going on with a few more Trapping Tuesday and Resolution Result posts to finish up the month but also looking to get a series of Top 5 posts put together regarding the final 2017 stats as well as looking into the numbers from four years of the project. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – Kid Fishing

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“Simply looking down a stretch of bank to see four young anglers casting, reeling, laughing, hollering, smiling and catching is about as good as it gets.”

This Resolution involved getting our crew on the water more often and during school break we were able to do just that. But time flies and it always seems that there’s just not enough of it to get everything done. Stuff like work and well, work, just seem to demand a lot of a grownups time. Of course, I will admit to getting a bit selfish more than a few times when heading out in the pre-dawn hours to chase my bass.

All water under the bridge for 2017 but still plenty of catches and many memories as conveyed in the pics and videos below. (Note: looks like we need to get the biggest sister to reel in a few as well.)

    

  

So far so good on the 2017 Resolutions as this makes it a perfect 5 for 5, we’re on a roll with several more to come. Talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – Retro Report

Posted on by Troy Jackson

For this Resolution I proposed revisiting a concept for submitting a fishing report that was first instituted back in 2002. The idea was based on a Bassmaster magazine series that follows a pro on a new lake and details their approach and results over the course of seven hours as they look to discover what it takes to get bit.

My version featured a photo and the details of every bass we landed, big or small. After all, we don’t quite rank like the folks who actually make a living by fooling fish so there’s a chance that our haul wouldn’t quite wind up as impressive as the pros. But for me, the rest of the story is just as important as anything we catch. As always, it’s fun to look back and reminisce about a day on the water with a favorite fishing partner no matter the quality or quantity of the results.

For whatever reason, I put this concept on the shelf after 2009 so I figured it was high time to bring it back in 2017. And I did just that, along with Dad, during an abbreviated July 8 outing at Little John Conservation Club that I called “Lake Lowdown.” The stats from the trip appear below (along with several pics mixed in throughout this post):

Totals: 17 bass (Troy – 10, Dad – 7)
Lures:
Senko weighted wacky rig (electric shad) – 9 bass
Senko weighted wacky rig (smoke) – 7 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 5-0 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 12-4 (5-0,3-5,1-8,1-4,1-3)


Bass #1 – 6:08am 16” (1-8) Senko wacky rig (electric shad)
On the board eight minutes in with our first “keeper” after two regular spots let us down, spot number three is once again a winner.


Bass#3 – 6:29am 7” Senko
Wasting no time, Dad grabs the lead, but who’s counting? And yes, for this project they all count and get their picture taken, even if they aren’t much bigger than the lure (5” Senko).


Bass#6 & 7 – 7:02am Dad 12” (0-14) and Troy 11” both on Senkos
Dad gets the first of our only double as I hook mine only seconds after he has set the hook. He gets me by an inch with our second “keeper” boosting our weight to a whopping 2-6 and looking for three more to round out a Top 5.


Bass#9 – 7:16am 8” Senko
I dig the take a pic of every bass aspect of this project as it shows that you typically have to wade through a bunch of “dinks” in search of the “keepers” and occasional “lunkers.” The thing is though, you don’t really want to bother the other guy with one of these so you do the photo honors yourself. Holding this one close to the camera still doesn’t make it look bigger, however.


Bass#10 – 7:19am 14” (1-3)
Now this one was cool as it came from an area that has produced in the past but I was going to skip due to cramped quarters in Dad’s Bass Tracker versus the old eight foot johnboat. However, Dad got snagged on an underwater limb prompting a rescue mission into the area. First cast to an overhanging bush after freeing his Senko and we had “keeper” number four, bumping our weight to 4-13.


Bass#14 – 8:11am 21.5” (5-0) Buzzbait
The buzzbait shutout ends in a big way after intermittent casting for the first two hours failed to produce.  I had told Dad that it only takes one bite and this was it.  Throw in the fact that it came on the second visit to a spot that is historically productive including a couple other big ones and it really makes you feel like you know what you are doing.  Top 5 complete with a big jump in weight total to 9-13.


Bass#15 – 8:39am 20” (3-5) Senko
Dad joins the big fish parade with what he speculated was his “biggest Senko bass ever.” A great fight featured a dive at the boat that had me poised and ready with the dipnet when the fish surfaced. Crazy thing was, it surfaced about eighteen feet behind us having swam completely under the boat. Dad deftly guided the fish back around to our side, dodging our rear trolling motor with his rod tip under water and we had another big boost to our Top 5. This fish knocked out the earlier 0-14 and brought out total weight to 12-4.

A rousing success and glad I revisited the idea, just might have to bring it back as annual event. While this was only a 3.5 hour trip, don’t think that we shortchanged the concept as we did have a full day on the water. It’s just that the next few hours were spent with my boys chasing some panfish in Papa’s big boat. Which is part of another Resolution headed your way soon. Talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – Spring Stroll

Posted on by Troy Jackson

This Resolution pertained to what has become an annual trek across some Knox County strip mine ground. My designation as a “stroll” was intended as tongue-in-cheek, for what is defined as “a short leisurely walk” is really no such thing.

Here’s a bit of how I described this Resolution:

“Last year was particularly ugly as I was eaten alive by mosquitoes and fought armpit high weeds across the entire site once stepping off the interior road that bisects the area. On top of those nuisances, the quality of the bass that I fooled left much to be desired with only four at 12” or better for a Top 4 weight of 4-13. Just not my day and I began to wonder if I would pull such a stunt again, vowing to re-read the blog posting I submitted about that misadventure when pondering a 2017 visit. Therefore, the resolution is to add the site to my list for the fifth straight year but to do so nearer to opening day (April 1) rather than closing time (site shuts down after September 30).”

So, this stroll thing accounted for a little over 6.5 of these miles, I’ll leave the feet/bass calculation to you based on the numbers below.

Success on all accounts with two trips (April 8 and May 13) encompassing 6.25 hours, just over 6.5 miles of hiking, 33 bass, Top Bass of 3-6 and a Top 5 Weight of 12-1. And, as an added bonus, no mosquito bites.

In my original posting I also noted the following:

“Here’s to short weeds, no skeeters and an overdue boost to my all-time Top 5 from the site that presently sits at an even 20-0 (4-6,4-3,4-2,4-0,3-5).”

  

My two best of the adventures, 3-6 (April 8 on left) and 3-5 (May 13 on right), both caught standing in the same exact spot.

Well, mission accomplished on the Top 5 boost too, as my 3-6 added one whole ounce to my total. Here’s to a repeat of this Resolution in 2018. 80 days and counting…Talk to you later. Troy

Trapping Tuesday – 1973 Coon Hunting

Posted on by Troy Jackson

1973 (l to r) – Terry Jackson (with Lady), Bill Downin (with Buck), Jody Jackson (with neighbor’s plot hound, name forgotten) 

Coon hunting was an activity that ran in conjunction with trapping season for more than a few years. I did get to experience this interesting pursuit as a youngster on several occasions and have a handful of recollections from those evenings. But I’d have to say that one of the primary memories is just the general sense of how dark dark really is once you get away from the artificial lights and switch off the headlamps.

Anybody know what these are?  Likely another reason there’s no action shots of the hunts, not as easy as pulling out your “phone.”

And I suppose dark is part of the reason why there are not any photos during the actual hunts.  Instead, the pictures are more so of the processed pelts or the hunters with the true workhorses, the dogs.  I recall dogs named Bones, Susie and Paint while a check-in with Dad also yielded several others such as Buck, Lady, Herbie and Spot (the latter identified by Dad as “the best coon dog ever”).  Certainly a great deal of tales associated with that pack of hounds for another time.

Never knew this second shot existed until Dad recently found another batch of photos, pretty cool from the days when black and white was film not a filter.

Did I happen to mention how dark it gets when you’re coon hunting?

You know, when you’re a kid out there with your Dad, you’re safe, right?  After all, he’s not scared of anything, he’s seen and done it all, knows the woods like the back of his hand and can positively identify everything that goes bump in the night. Even so, when you’re a ten year old kid, it’s a whole different world out there in the dark. And all of these years later, I’d have to honestly say that I’ve never quite put that whole dark thing behind me. Give me some moonlight, a campfire and a little space and I’m perfectly fine. But middle of the woods, pitch dark, senses running overtime…

I’d say don’t tell my kids that I’m not as brave as Papa but I suppose they already know that from some of his outdoor tales. Talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – New H2O

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“Destination…somewhere new.”

So began the New H2O Resolution post and so begins our update.

I managed to check this one of the list with three bodies of water. Two were actually new and one was a spot I hadn’t fished since 2002, so essentially new in my book.


April 8, 2017 Private pond

April 8, 2017 – One of the plant locations of my employer features a pothole of a pond that I gained permission to fish last year during a conversation with the Plant Manager. The visit produced four short bass in an hour of casting while a pond side discussion with a plant worker on his break wound up being one of those “you should have seen this pond a few years ago” stories. It appears that I missed the heyday of the spot as he noted that several large bass had been harvested over the years. However, the cooperative nature of the ones that I fooled on this morning led me back a couple more times with the kids in tow and a good time was had by all (more on that in a later Resolution post).

April 8, 2017 – After the stop at the above location I hit some walk-in strip mines and managed to fool another short bass out of a remote pothole that I’d never fished before. Always interesting what may lie in these off the beaten path spots and there’s still plenty more at this area that await fulfilling a revisit to this resolution.

September 11, 2017 Johnson-Sauk Trail

September 11, 2017 – I suppose Johnson-Sauk Trail Lake warrants an asterisk as I had actually fished it twice before, once for panfish back in the mid-90s and a brief visit in 2002 chasing bass. However, I feel that sufficient time has passed to deem this new water. I managed five bass in three hours with Top Bass only 1-2 but found the lake to be just about right for that old 8’ johnboat and a set of oars. In addition, I’ve seen a handful of pictures of some quality bass and a few nice muskies (all noted as released) that show potential for a good catch.

Nothing stellar but always fun to see some new fishing holes, full reports for each can be found by clicking the link in the dates above. Two for two so far on the 2017 Resolutions and more results to come. Talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – Traplines

Posted on by Troy Jackson

For this 2017 Resolution, I boldly offered up the following:

“To coincide with the beginning of trapping season in November I am going to kick off a multipart series of blog postings that I collectively refer to as ‘Traplines.’ And when I say ‘multipart series’, you don’t even know…”

While the original trapping blowout project did not materialize due to time constraints and a desire to do some further research, an abbreviated version continues with the weekly “Trapping Tuesday” pictures and postings which will run through the end of the month.

I’m going to have to give myself a thumbs up on this one, however. After all, the Tuesday blog (and Facebook) entries do indeed qualify as a “multipart series.” Nowhere near the collection of parts anticipated but a shout out to trapping to say the least. Heavy on nostalgia and family but those things are as important as any catches.

All told, the “Trapping Tuesday” posts will cover 13 weeks and feature over three dozen photos spanning 45 years on the trapline. A pretty solid look at three generations enjoying an often overlooked and less glamorous outdoor pastime when compared to the big business of hunting and fishing pursuits. But even 13 posts only scratch the surface when looking back over decades of stories and photos. Perhaps another time…

   

  

More Resolution results on the way, hope you’ll tune in for these brief bits of Cabin Fever relief. Talk to you later. Troy

Trapping Tuesday – 1978 Outfoxed & More

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Last Fall, during a visit with my folks, Dad produced a batch of outdoor pictures that included today’s shot. Many other gems were also included in the stack of pics which was quite a treat. I had long thought that I’d gathered all of the family outdoor pics from a collection of photo albums and random envelopes but as it turned out there were more treasures to be had.

For me, it’s cool enough that this shot displays a collection of fox pelts as that species was not a primary focus of Dad and Uncle Dick. Instead, it was coons, muskrat and beaver that were the main furbearers targeted. To me, it goes to show that my trapping mentors simply knew how to get it done regardless of the quarry they had in their sights.

But wait, there’s more to this classic shot.

Dad’s hat is also a neat bit of trapping nostalgia as the emblem represents a group known at The Fur Takers of America which was founded in 1968 according to their website. I recall going to a meeting or two with Dad in the 70s and believe I even had a membership card of some sort, perhaps the youngest member in the local chapter, sounds like a good story anyhow. I seem to recall meetings being held at the Galesburg Moose Lodge and at one point I believe Dad and my Uncle Dick filled the roles of Secretary and Vice President, respectively.

Another fun aspect of this picture relates to the location as that is still my Mom and Dad’s driveway all these years later, close to the end of that dead end street on the banks of good, old Cedar Fork. That classic wood panel station wagon has given way to a parade of vehicles over the years but I have to say that it is outstanding to find it inadvertently preserved in this bit of outdoor family history.

The backdrop also makes me wonder if we are looking at a piece of West Central Illinois meteorological legend. The note on the back of the photo simply states 1978 season which leads me to believe that this photo reflects the 1978-79 trapping calendar year as the season has typically spanned from November into January and even March depending on the species pursued. As such, the snowfall behind Dad quite likely is part of what a March 3, 2014 Galesburg Register Mail article noted in stating, “Set in the 1978-79 winter, Galesburg received 52.8 inches of total snowfall during the astrological winter.” A National Weather Service bit covering January 1979 entitled The Brutal Winter of 1978-79 also adds, “Besides being a month for record snow, January was also the coldest month ever in the Quad Cities. The average temperature for the month was only 6.3 F. The second coldest reading ever occurred on January 2, when the temperature dropped to 27 F below zero.”

And here we are, exactly 39 years removed from that record low and I now call the Quad Cities “home.”  Luckily, in 2018 we’re only looking at a forecast low of -12 F. Talk to you later. Troy