This one covered a few miles making for a pretty full day

Well, now that I finally got caught up on the wrap-ups from 2019, it’s time for the first fishing report of 2020. This one comes from beyond my stomping grounds as part of my “2020 Visions” series and involves variety. In this case, I finally got around to a standing invitation from my friend, Jim Junk, to join him on some productive Fulton/Peoria County water. Tougher weather than expected made for a challenging few hours and eventually sent me scurrying to a Knox County comfort zone. Here’s the scoop.

Stats
Date: March 7, 2020
Location: Fulton, Peoria and Knox County strip mines (4 lakes)
Time: 11:15am-2:15pm and 4:15pm-6:00pm
Weather: Sunny/very windy
Air Temp: 48-52F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 2 bass (Jim – 1 bass, Troy – 1 bass)
Lures
Jim – Chatterbait (white)
Troy – Rapala Shad Rap (blue)
Top Bass: 4-1 (Jim)
Top 5 Weight (2 at 12” or better): 5-6 (4-1,1-5)

Text exchange en route, the conditions proceeded to get less appealing

Notes and Nonsense

Early Reward – The 30 degree early morning temperature meant that there was no need to get on the water at or near daybreak. Giving the sun some time to warm the water even in the slightest could work to my advantage, I figured. So, I get a couple texts from Jim on my way to the fishing hole that would eventually show that early was indeed the best part of the day. Best in terms of both lack of wind (see snip above) and also in terms of a lone, quality bite (see snip below).

Should’ve been there earlier but non-stop drives of any length, well…

Not a Banner Day – Let’s face it, we had a tough day on Banner Marsh. To start with, conditions were a bit rough with heavy winds pounding the wide open spaces of our selected fishing holes. With our mutual setups of smaller watercrafts this made for a challenge, particularly for a guy whose propulsion is a set of oars. I did find an appealing secluded area and we also took our shots from the bank on some historically productive spots but we just couldn’t muster the bites.

Hail Mary – Around 2:30pm, after a brief wander and ponder on some other lakes on the Banner Marsh site, I elected to take a drive to Knox County for one last shot at breaking up my shutout. Just over an hour drive put me on the water around 4:30pm. I gave my jig and plastic, a Red Eye Shad and a Rapala Shad Rap a workout on some regular spots during the hour and a half that I fished and was rewarded with one bite. Luck was on my side as the bass stayed hooked and got it’s picture taken as the lead fish for 2020. Mission accomplished, just in the nick of time, whew!

First 2020 bass 14.5″ and 1-5, not a trophy but a start

A short clip below of some stuff I previously recorded for a potential project, perhaps more to come…

Final Thoughts – Despite the weather app topping out at 52 degrees, it was not a pleasant 52 degrees. Does anyone know if there is such a thing as windchill at such temps? If not, there should be. The final thought that kept running through my head was the line that “I’ve been a lot warmer when it was colder.” Just an early, deceivingly sunny, March day.

And now on to the question of just how many posts on blogger can get out of a fishing trip that only featured two bass. Stay tuned as nobody performs such a feat better that troyjacksonoutdoors.com. Talk to you later. Troy