Author: Troy Jackson

2017 Resolution Result – Bama Bass

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On the heels of my latest posting regarding a new Iowa bass best, here’s a similar record breaker quest that pertained to a lure instead of a location.

July 6, 2014 5:53am original Alabama Rig record, a whopping 11.5″ catch

“So for 2017, my resolution is to set a new Alabama rig personal best. As you can see from the above photo, size wise that ain’t a very tall order. However, from a confidence standpoint it could be a challenge in selecting this lure when I’m used to throwing something else. Yet I do have a handful of numbers lakes or off the beaten path fishing holes where I just might be able to pull off this proposed ‘record’ catch as the fish are either unpressured, dumb, or both.”

A couple looks at the bait, note that one hook is clipped to adhere to Illinois regulations of two hooks

Dateline: September 9, 2017 Knox County public strip mines

 

Tale of the tape was 13.5” and 1-1, not a trophy but darn fun to get this one done. Maybe for my next trick I’ll have to give it another go to see if I can fool two at once. Done that a few times over the years on other lures, but those are stories for another series stashed away for another day. Talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – IA LMB PB

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Our family moved to the Quad Cities area from Galesburg, IL back in August of 2014. Although still remaining on the Illinois side of The River, the proximity of one particular Iowa fishing hole caught my attention. I fished Scott County’s Lost Grove Lake on June 18 and June 29 of 2016 with good results in terms of quantity but quality left much to be desired. Even so, it grabbed enough of my interest to warrant a 2017 Resolution as follows:

“But it is still a quite young lake and based on stocking reports and a firsthand look at the habitat of the 360 acre fishing hole I am enthused about its prospects for the future. As such I am looking forward to a few more visits in 2017 in pursuit of a new Iowa largemouth bass personal best. 1-10 doesn’t set the bar too high, hopefully just a matter of getting some time on the water.”

So, off I went in search of my “Iowa Largemouth Bass Personal Best” beginning on June 10 and came up way short. But I was not deterred and going forward I opted for an all-in change of location on the fishing hole and it proved to be a winner. One week later, on June 17, I had a 1-11 that beat my old record by a whole two ounces. Not an outstanding fish but a winner for this resolution.

June 17 6:15am 15″ 1-11 Buzzbait

And Lost Grove Lake wasn’t done quite yet.

Two trips and three days later, on June 20, I latched onto a 2-3 that boosted the personal best Iowa bass into a little more respectable territory.

June 20 6:01pm 17″ 2-3 Mann’s Baby 1- Crankbait

That was as good as it would get despite five more visits throughout the summer and early fall. I did have one encounter with a bass that topped the four pound mark but I was on the camera end of a photo shoot, lending a helping hand to the bank angler who landed the lunker. It was a simple case of first come, first serve as he beat me to the spot where the big one bit by only a matter of seconds. In fact, I was rowing to the exact area, same spot where I caught my 2-3, when he pulled into the lot, hopped out of his vehicle, strolled down the bank, cast a popper and got the immediate reward. All within casting distance of my boat. A tough pill to swallow at first but his excitement over the catch quickly changed my tune and I joined the fun in offering to snap a few pics of him and his catch with his phone.

A different kind of “one that got away” that makes for a good story that I’m sure I will retell and revisit every time I cast to the area. Which I will certainly do every visit as he fortunately released the bass to fight again. Perhaps my next personal best. Talk to you later. Troy

2017 Resolution Result – Go Swimming

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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

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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

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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“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