I have been a member of Little John Conservaton Club near Victoria, IL for over thirty years. That membership came courtesy of Mom and Dad who have been members going back nearly forty years. Plenty of memories, and just a few fish caught out there over all those years during fishing, camping, and day trips to the area. A number of those adventures have also included a third generation as my kids, nieces, and nephews have lined the shorelines, roamed the grounds, and gathered around picnic tables or firepits through the last twenty-plus years.

2013 Flashback – same lake with Natalee in foreground, Jayce the guy in the green shirt and Papa providing guidance

Mom and Dad have eight grandkids, and on October 10, a couple of them came up with a plan for a fishing trip. My niece, Natalee, had been wanting to fish for a while but life gets different when those kids aren’t little anymore. As teenagers to twenty-somethings, they are pulled in many directions and half of them are far (and farther) from home. At any rate, the group of eight was whittled down to a dynamic duo of two for this trip, Natalee, and my oldest boy, Jayce.

And I got to play fishing guide, while Mom and Dad had a front row seat on the bank and observed. We launched Dad’s 1987 Bass Tracker mid-afternoon armed with Senko wacky rigs which are typically a winner in the clear strip mine waters of Club Lake.

I’d rate the fishing as fair as the duo landed five bass in roughly a two-hour cruise. We hit productive spots with a proven winner in the Senko but just couldn’t get anything going. We pondered shifting gears to other presentations but those two have had success with our offering so they opted to go all in with the wacky rig.

While I do not have any sort of post-trip survey to rate my guide service, I was a little disappointed in not being able to put them on more (and larger) fish. Even so, they both seemed to enjoy the time on the water and indicated that they would consider my “services” again.

As we headed for home, Dad and I hopped in his truck with the boat in tow while the two kids rode/drove home with Mom. While there were new memories created on the water on this day, there were also old memories shared on the drive to and from the fishing hole. I dig reminiscing about those “fish stories” as that is what it is all about, no matter the results. And boy, do we have a few tales. Now Natalee and Jayce have another one to add to their repertoire. Talk to you later. Troy