Author: Troy Jackson

Strip Mine Report 4/8

Posted on by Troy Jackson

While a pair of March trips were able to fill out my Top Five, with a lunker to anchor my limit, it still left plenty of room for improvement as the other four in my creel were all under two pounds.  During my first April day on the water I was fortunate to displace a couple of those fish and fool a decent quantity as well.  It took some legwork to do it, here’s the rest of the story.

Stats
Date: April 8, 2017
Locations: Private pond and IRAP public strip pits-Knox Co. (7 lakes)
Time: 8:00am-9:00am and 10:45am-5:20pm (IRAP = 5.00 hrs. fishing the rest walking)
Weather: Sunny/very windy
Air Temp: 45F-72F
Water Temp: 53-58F
Totals: 24 bass
Lures:
Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with twin tail trailer (salt & pepper) – 13 bass
3/8 oz. Strike King Rattlin’ Jig (black/blue) with #11 pork frog (black) – 7 bass
Chatterbait (bluegill) with swimbait trailer (watermelon) – 1 bass
KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill Crankbait (sexy ghost minnow) – 1 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass
3/8 oz. Fish Head Underspin (white) with 4” Keitech Swing Impact (electric shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-6 Jig & Pig
Top 5 Weight: 10-0 (3-6,2-1,1-12,1-8,1-5)


8:01am First bass of the day, one minute into casting and first ever Underspin bass, nothing particularly impressive but a good start to what would be a good day.

Notes & Nonsense

Work Pond – First stop was a pond that I was given access to through my employer.  I knew the pothole existed at one of the plant locations but never gave it much thought in terms of fish or fishing.  One hour to start the day with temps in the 40’s produced four short bass (Jig & pig -2 bass, Underspin – 1, Chatterbait – 1) and a visit from a regular who informed of a fish kill a couple years ago that wiped out the quality bass (up to six pounds).  Oh well, cool to fish new water, got my first underspin bass and likely will come back again as the water warms and the surviving residents get more active.

11:58am 16” 2-1 Spinnerbait, eventual runner-up for the day’s Top Bass

12:58pm Top Bass 18” 3-6 Jig & pig, caught early enough in the day that I was able to assume the catcher’s stance for a pic and not need help getting back up.

1:44pm 16” 1-12 Jig & pig

IRAP – Next stop was some public access Knox County strip pits accessible via the Illinois Recreational Access Program which I have taken advantage of dating back to 2013 with solid results.  Walk-in only access is a double edged sword at the site.  On the upside, it offers off the beaten path angling and a stick and jab approach with numerous potholes; no bites in fifteen minutes or so, move on to the next body of water.  The downside is the fact that my iPhone Health app recorded a total walking distance of 5.2 miles from 10:19am when I left my truck until 5:50pm when I got back (13,365 steps, by the way, for any Fitbit fans out there).  And this ain’t some leisurely stroll around the neighborhood as undeveloped strip mine terrain pretty much stinks.  Last fall I performed a similar stunt and wasn’t sure I wanted to pull it again.  However, as I surmised, an early season trip is much more user friendly as the weeds are manageable (both terrestrial and aquatic) and no mosquitoes yet compared to the previous outing where I darn near needed a transfusion.

 

So you wanna do the walk-in only access thing?  And that’s only covering seven of the couple dozen possible fishing holes.  That “Flights Climbed” thing gives me a chuckle too, sure would be nice if some of those strip pit banks indeed had stairs.

Weather – Though I wound up a bit sore, bank fishing was definitely the right choice on this day as the wind was howling out of the south and would have been a bear to deal with in a little johnboat.  In addition, the recent heavy rains in the area had really pumped up the lakes to a fuller pool than I have ever seen before.  Even so, they were not muddied up and with the wind chop on the surface and the windblown banks being riled up it really made for some favorable conditions.  If there was anything that was less than optimal it was a lack of cloud cover but after barely seeing the sun in early April, no complaint, I can deal with it.

Textbook Success – Top Bass came in a classic spot on my first cast after relocating to IRAP fishing hole number three.  This narrow cut/pothole runs north to south meaning that on this day the wind was just pounding a ledge on the north end that drops pretty rapidly from about two feet into ten plus.  My jig and pig offering was met with a telltale tick after a couple hops down the drop and the result was a 3-6 with an impressive well-fed gut.  Pretty cool when it works like that but I will also admit that during the course of the day there were many other similar, can’t miss setups that just didn’t pan out despite considerable effort.  Runner up Top Bass at 2-1, however, did show up in a windblown chute on a spinnerbait after the jig and the underspin proved ineffective.  Lesson here is that if you think a spot sets up to hold a fish give it a variety of offerings before giving up.

1:52pm 14” 1-8 Spinnerbait – Always fun trying to get a shot of the catch on a regular camera instead of a selfie in the crazy terrain.

2:16pm 14” 1-5 Spinnerbait rounds out my Top 5 for the day

A productive day on the water and what a nice day to be outside. I’d waited all the way since February for this one, kind of a weird year.  Between the sun and wind I even wound up looking like a real bass fisherman with a burnt nose, cheeks and neck combined with pale eyes and forehead.  When it was all said and done, my back put up some protest regarding my habit of hauling too much tackle and one knee was a bit stiff but overall I was pleased with my ability to successfully pull off this stunt one more time.  Might just have to do it again…today. Report to come.  Talk to you later.  Troy

 

 

Strip Mine Report 3/26

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Today’s posting is the second of three catch up fishing reports to get things up to speed while I await my next outing (maybe this weekend).  As reported last week, my initial 2017 outing on March 4 produced only one bite but it was a good one to kick off the year and my Top 5 at just over six pounds.  For trip two I was looking to fill my Top 5 and hoping to fool a few more big ones.

Stats
Date: March 26, 2017
Location: Little John Cons. Club/Snakeden Hollow
Time: 10:15am-1:15pm/2:15pm-3:45pm
Weather: Overcast/windy/occasional drizzle
Air Temp: 52F
Water Temp: 51-52F
Totals: 6 bass, 1 crappie
Lures
Jig & Pig (black/blue) with #11 pork frog (black/blue) – 4 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass
Ned Rig (electric shad) – 1 bass
3/8 oz. Underspin (white) with 4” Keitech Swing Impact trailer (electric shad) – 1 crappie
Top Bass: 1-15 Strike King Red Eye Shad
Top 5 Weight: 7-7 (1-15,1-12,1-10,1-3,0-15)

10:36 am First bass, Top 5 entry #2, 15.5” 1-12 Jig & pig

11:57am Top 5 entry #3 15.5” 1-10 Jig & pig

12:10pm Top Bass, Top 5 entry #4 16” 1-15 Lipless Crankbait

Notes & Nonsense

Conditions – While the forecast looked halfway decent when checking the weather on the previous night, it never quite lived up to the prediction.  Instead, it wound up cooler, windier and wetter than what was offered up by those in the know.  Fortunately, the drizzle never amounted to enough to actually get wet, I packed an anchor to beat the wind and I never lost feeling in my fingers despite hauling that anchor up at least half a dozen times.  A handful of decent bass always make the weather better as well.

First Stop – Not surprisingly, I started my morning at the Little John lake where I landed my lunker to kick off 2017.  Interior road conditions were iffy and water clarity was more stained than usual so it seemed that the area had received a fair amount of rain.  Apparently the rain originally slated for my neighborhood wound up materializing more to the south, which is just fine, regardless of what it does to my fishing holes.  No heavyweights to report on this day but quite pleased with my haul of four solid bass to fill out my Top 5 as well as a bonus crappie as the first fish ever landed on an Underspin lure.

11:25am Bonus 11” crappie, first fish to fall to an Underspin lure

Second Stop – After a lap around my starting point I drove by a couple other Little John fishing holes and found the water clarity left a bit to be desired so I elected to head for a pair of early season Snakeden producers that are reliably clearer.  These spots that I refer to as The Craters were the sites for my first bass each year from 2012-2014, the latter of which was the last time I had paid a visit to these fishing holes.  These are walk-in spots with the upside that they do not lie far off the beaten path so just right for having about an hour and a half left of my fishing day.  The downside is there are only about half a dozen spots where an angler can get close enough to the water to cast and even then you’ve got to watch out for weeds and branches as you load up to cast, suits a spinning rig much better than a baitcaster in most spots. Anyway, two of my spots gave up a bass, both in pretty cool fashion as described in the final two notes to follow.

Consider, Commit, Caught – My first Snakeden catch came on the North Crater after I cast my jig and pig as best I could in the limited casting space out beyond some overhanging bushes.  I had worked the lure most of the way back when I spied a decent bass cruising just under the surface pretty much directly over my jig which remained out of view in deeper water.  Concealed by a barrier of cattails in front of me I gently gave the jig a few small twitches and saw the bass turn as if considering lunch.  Another light twitch brought my jig into view in about 4’ of water and the bass nosed down to take a look.  One more short drag of the jig talked the bass into committing as I watched my line and the fish move off to my left.  A hookset confirmed that the jig was also moving along with the fish and I wound up with a pretty cool catch.

Ned Rig – 1/16 oz. Arkie DeD Stand-Up Finesse Head (green pumpkin) with the tail end of a beat up Senko for a body (electric shad).  A bit of contrast in the colors but the only damaged Senko I had and too cheap to rip up a new one.  It is a cool concept though to get some more mileage out of the Senkos as they typically rip in the middle leaving the end in good shape for this rig.  In addition, I purchased some cheaper knockoff wacky style worms for this purpose but accidentally forgot to pack them, maybe next time.

Meet Ned – I’ve been reading the magazines and viewing some internet videos that give high marks to an unassuming setup called the “Ned Rig” (named for the fellow who made it popular).  As shown above, Ned cracked the starting lineup today and came through as what I would call a follow-up bait, kind of like a pinch hitter or pinch runner, I suppose (Manny Mota or Herb Washington, perhaps).  Originally, I had worked a jig along a laydown and had a bass follow up until the point that I was running out of water a couple feet shy of the bank.  The fish seemed to lose interest and disappeared back into deeper water out of sight.  However, I suspected that he was still around as a possible Ned candidate.  I left my jig in the water as is customary when not using in order to keep the pig moist and cast Ned well beyond where I estimated my target was looming.  Letting the rig settle to the bottom I slowly began to drag it back and right on cue got the bite where it was supposed to be.  Only an 11” bass (smallest of the day) but first on the Ned Rig and always a treat when the bass make you look like you know what you are doing.

12:31pm Top 5 complete 14” 1-3 Jig & pig

3:21pm 12.5” 0-15 Jig & pig, no boost to the Top 5 but a fun catch and about as close to sight fishing as I get as detailed above.  The surroundings also give a bit of a feel for the somewhat confined casting space on the bulk of the North Crater.

A good day on the water in my estimation and while no early season lunkers got fooled I was certainly happy to land some quality fish to complete my Top 5.  Of course, plenty of room for improvement with my second largest bass at 1-15, but that’s all part of the fun as the year progresses.  Think about it, who would want go out and catch a limit of five-pounders the first time out and then struggle the rest of the year to boost your weight?

Well, maybe…

This outing wrapped up my March fishing and it was a couple weeks until I got to take shot number three at the bass.  Got that report headed your way tomorrow to get us all caught up for the year.  Talk to you later.  Troy

Why

Posted on by Troy Jackson

In wrapping up the introductory series, today it is my turn to ask the question that a parent gets to answer countless times every single day.

“Why?”

After the long and winding road of who, what, when, where and how, here we are at the big question.

Perhaps you are also pondering this question.

And, hopefully it’s “Why do I fish, hunt, trap, hike, camp, etc…?” rather than “Why am I still reading this stuff?”

I guess the basic answer for me is that nurture made an appreciation of the outdoors second nature.  For that I am grateful to my mentors, primarily my dad and one of my uncles.  Their guidance, attention and instruction built a solid foundation for a guy who somehow finds 50 on the horizon with his own collection of charges in his sphere of outdoors influence.

Such a change of perspective also helps to answer another variation of the “Why” question as in “Why do I write?”

Well, I guess reminiscing is a big part of my passion for this hobby as I hesitate to think of how many times I’ve sat around with family and friends recalling classic tales of success and stupidity.  It’s good stuff when they still bring a smile, a laugh or a shake of the head.  Many times the tales begin with someone mentioning, “I saw this story the other day and I got to thinking about that time when we…”

And the rest is history, literally and figuratively.  Here’s hoping that I can be blamed for starting a few such conversations.  Such is much (I like weird sounding phrases like that) of the appeal for me in what the English language has collectively labeled “fish stories.”

On a personal level I’d also like to think that someday these stories might mean something to my kids.  Perhaps they’ll one day take a look at what was going on during these days that will fade from memory as other more recent events take their place.  Maybe they’ll find amusement in an “ancient” family adventure or discover a bit of why they turned out however they will turn out as some of this stuff is about more than roasting marshmallows, hooking bass or trapping coons.

Along the way I’ve also come to realize that it’s not always the biggest fish that makes for the best fish story.  Instead, I truly enjoy passing on some of the details that would otherwise be lost over time.  For me, in the grand scheme of things, it’s more about quality time than the quality or quantity of the catch no matter flying solo or playing fishing guide for a bunch of kids.  Some of the silliness or lighthearted aspects of the trips go a long way towards providing a further escape from life’s daily challenges.  As an adult with a wife, a family and the accompanying grown up responsibilities there’s always plenty of seriousness and an outdoor getaway sure helps to put it on the back burner for a while.

So, there’s my shot at an answer to the final, and perhaps, ultimate question.  It’s also the toughest one to nail down as I’m sure fellow outdoor enthusiasts can attest.  I like to write, but some stuff just can’t be sufficiently conveyed no matter how much goes down on the page.

Maybe I would have been better off simply referencing the quote, “I fish, therefore I am” as offered up by either Descartes or Dance, or was it Plato or Parker, then again maybe it was Voltaire or VanDam.  Better yet, perhaps I could have saved myself six hundred and twenty six words by getting even more philosophical and simply typing, “Why not?”

But what fun is that?

Talk to you later.  Troy

 

 

How

Posted on by Troy Jackson

For a change of pace, this posting will be primarily a visual explanation of the way me and my family enjoy the outdoors.

Still old school (and cheap)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching the way many of us likely learned, gotta love bluegills

Biker Bass

Hiker Bass

I’m better with manpower than horsepower

1987 Tracker as high tech as it gets (small guide negotiable)

Two of our many mini trappers over the years

Logging is an important aspect of my blogging

If these ideas look cluttered, imagine my brain

Okay, one more intro posting to complete the journey, offering up my answer to the ultimate question.  Talk to you later.  Troy

Where

Posted on by Troy Jackson

I was born and raised in Galesburg, IL and lived there until the summer of 2014 when our family relocated to the Quad City area (Illinois side). I’ve been a local outdoorsman of West Central Illinois pretty much exclusively and foresee more of the same as my outdoor days move forward.

Despite the state of Illinois being real fouled up for quite some time, I’m still pleased with the fisheries management of my stomping grounds, the vast majority of which are public access.

Regular Spots

Little John Conservation Club – Knox County (private)
Snakeden Hollow State Fish & Wildlife Area – Knox County
IRAP – Knox County

Occasional Visits
Lake Storey – Knox County
Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area – Bureau County
Lost Grove Lake – Scott County, IA

Possibilities
Lake Carlton – Whiteside County
Lake George – Rock Island County
Hennepin Canal – multiple IL counties
Buffalo Pasture (actually Buffalo Prairie but like my name better) – Knox County
Johnson-Sauk Trail – Henry County

Past Regular Haunts
Lake Bracken – Knox County (private, fished 1980s-2008)
Emiquon Preserve – Fulton County (fished 2009-2013)
Pat’s Creek – Henderson County (fish and trap 1970’s-2012)

And while I’ve only rarely taken the time to fish big moving water, in a matter of minutes I can be casting on either the Mississippi or Rock River (from the bank as I don’t have a boat that can safely hang on these bodies of water).

With all of the options that I already have and the limited time I can get away, I feel little urge to wander too far from home and waste valuable fishing time and gas money behind the wheel of my truck. That’s not to say that I haven’t given it a try many years ago with visits to “exotic” destinations like Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake and Mark Twain Reservoir. However, with coves that were way larger than my entire local lakes, I was left a bit baffled, admittedly overwhelmed and honestly, a little intimidated.

As such, it is unlikely that I will wander too far from the lists above. Of course, I am always up for some suggestions on public waters within an hour of the Quad Cities that a wannabe bass fisherman or his bluegill fishing brood might find appealing (particularly on the Iowa side as I am not too familiar).

Back tomorrow with the next to the last piece of introductory postings. Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Here’s the first of what I hope are weekly Top 5 updates as I have reserved Mondays for the reveal of our latest catches.  Been a bit of a drought as of late but fortunately I had this one stockpiled as I left it out of my final update at my previous gig as kind of an insurance policy for the new blog.  Hey, every once in a while I pull off a good decision.  And that would certainly apply to the way I fooled this fish as well.

Weight: 5-9
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: April 25
Location: Little John Conservation Club
Lure: Booyah Buzzbait (salt & pepper)
Structure: Point with overhanging bushes
Angler Comments: I’ve been doing this fishing thing for a while and every now and again something just instinctively feels right in regards to a change in presentation.  In this case, it was a buzzbait a bit earlier in the season than I would typically throw it.  In fact, most years I wouldn’t even have a buzzbait in the tacklebag in late April.  But something clicked both the previous evening when I packed a buzzbait and again the following day when I tied it on.  In the middle of my fishing “career” I may never have caught this fish so it is refreshing to find that this older angler can occasionally step out of his comfort zone with a changeup reminiscent of the younger angler who had yet to get set in his ways.
Top 5 Weight: 19-1 (6-2,5-9,3-6,2-1,1-15) culls 1-12

So there you have it, the first Top 5 Update post here at the new digs.  While I’m always up for a bump in my weight, I also dig the submissions received from fellow anglers.  So, if you’re out there, and if you’re catching, email link is at the top of the page, send ‘em this way.  Talk to you later.  Troy

 

Strip Mine Report 3/4

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Some may have seen a version of this report before on my previous blog but I’m going with a new run of the posting here so I provide a start to finish collection of fishing reports for 2017.  Just kind of tough when I decided to kick this thing off one third of the way through the year.

Oh yeah, and I also like a rerun of this post as it’s got a pretty good catch (singular but solid).

Stats

Date: March 4, 2017
Location: Little John Conservation Club, Knox Co. IL
Time: 2:30pm-5:30pm
Weather: Sunny/windy
Air Temp: 48F
Water Temp: 44F
Totals: 1 bass
Lures: Jig & Pig (black/blue) with #11 pork frog (black/blue) – 1 bass
Top Bass: the only bass landed
Weight: stay tuned below

Notes & Nonsense

Company – As I pushed my boat into the lake, another pair of anglers arrived and I had a decision to make when faced with sharing water.  The location lends itself to a couple options that I’ll just call a right turn or a left turn.  Both directions have been productive over the years so it was not necessarily an easy decision on which portions of the lake to give up.  I chose to take the figurative left and fate was on my side, winding up with no regrets or second guesses at the end of the day.

 

Old Faithful – Now the “Old’ part of Old Faithful is certainly apt when it comes to the pork trailer on my trusty black and blue jig and pig setup.  I have no idea how old this piece of pig really is nor how many bass it has fooled but it has been through the wringer as I am about as frugal as it gets when it comes to fishing stuff (well, life actually).  The photo above left shows the rig from the top, where it looks pretty normal.  However, the photo above right shows the pig portion flipped over to reveal how much it is chewed up and faded to almost white.  I’m sure some of those Bassmaster sorts would cringe or shake their heads at my unsophisticated presentation but it fooled another fish and yes, I put it back in the old weathered jar for next time once I decided to call it a day.  (Note: the next outing I lost the setup on an unreachable snag while bankfishing, bummer)

Perseverance – On these early season days I go out with the mindset of getting one bite knowing that the conditions are such that it is unlikely I will be greeted by a steady stream of bass coming into the boat.  A week long batch of cold weather, southeast wind, 44 degree water temps and a warm-up not forecast until the overnight meant it could be a challenging day but I was definitely glad to finally get on the water.  I made my first stop at a productive area which allowed fancasting to a number of spots that have cooperated in the past.  I spent 20 minutes anchored where I chose to start and fired away with the jig and pig, slow rolled spinnerbait, squarebilled crankbait, Shad Rap and underspin with a swimbait trailer all without so much as a bite.  Finally, the jig and pig paid off with a bump and a slight sideways movement of the line prompting me to shake the winter rust and set the hook.  Initially, I felt I had a decent fish but a dive near the boat left me wondering just how decent this fish was truly going to be.  When it surfaced, rolled and shook its head, it was obvious that I had something pretty special.

2:57pm 2017 First Bass 22.5″ 6-2 Jig & Pig (black/blue)

Details – At 6-2, this fish was my first ever in the six-pound range and my second largest bass ever landed.  As such it pretty much broke every personal record with the exception of largest crankbait bass.  In addition, it got my 2017 Top 5 off to a pretty good start, doubt I’ll be culling this one when it’s all said and done.

Aftermath – Five days prior to this catch I had written a post about my quest for the elusive six-pounder including one fish that “might have been.”  Fortune was smiling on me on this first outing of 2017 as I had now caught and released the bass that I’d been chasing after for a long time.  After a brief weigh-in, photo session and texts to Julie, one of my brothers and Mom and Dad I just sat for several minutes letting it sink in.  Maybe a little over the top, sappy or cheesy but those three ounces better than a 5-15 bass on my ledger from February 2002 sure meant a lot to this angler.  Granted, many reading this posting have bigger personal bests, and I do too, but the six-pound monkey was now off my back.

After my catch I really didn’t care how the rest of the day panned out.  Good thing too, as I never got another bite.  Talk to you later.  Troy

Top 5 Stat Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Gonna shift gears over the next few days and finish up the intro type stuff later next week (Where, How and Why).  Instead, I’ll focus on some 2017 fishing items to play a little catch up in transitioning from my previous blogging gig to the new website.  First up is a look at the current 2017 totals for the Top 5 project as I continue with the regular monthly stat update.  (Note: the Top 5 has been an annual project since 2014)

2017 Totals (* = new record)
*January = 1 bass (no previous entries)
*February = 13 bass (old record 7 in 2016)
March = 10 bass (record 13 in 2014)
April = 8 bass

Top 5 Weight by Month (* = new record)
*January = 2-11 (2-11) no previous record
February = 21-5 (5-2,4-14,4-2,3-15,3-4) record 22-9 in 2016
March = 22-15 (6-2,4-11,4-9,4-3,3-6) record 28-0 in 2016
April = 22-14 (6-0,5-15,3-14,3-10,3-7)

Boat vs. Bank Fishing
Boat = 27 bass
Bank = 5 bass

Boat vs. Bank Top 5 Weight (all anglers combined)
Boat = 28-1 (6-2,6-0,5-15,5-2,4-14)
Bank = 16-6  (3-14,3-10,3-7,3-6,2-1)

Public vs. Private Water
Public = 20 bass
Private = 12 bass

Public vs. Private Top 5 Weight (all anglers combined)
Public = 26-10 (6-0,5-15,5-2,4-14,4-11)
Private = 20-1 (6-2,4-2,3-10,3-7,2-12)

The Baits – (* = new record)
Crankbaits = 14 bass (Top Bass 6-0 Randy Sampson Sr.)
Jigs = 9 bass (Top Bass 6-2 Troy Jackson)
Lipless Crankbaits = 3 bass (Top Bass 4-3 Bruce Zilkowski)
Swim Jigs = 2 bass (Top Bass 3-10 Jake Bresson)
Unsderspins = 2 bass (Top Bass 5-2 Mark Balbinot)
Jerkbait = 1 bass (Top Bass 3-0 Mark Balbinot)
Spinnerbait = 1 bass (Top Bass 2-1 Troy Jackson)

2017 Monthly Top Bass (* = new record)
January
*2-11 Mark Balbinot (no previous record)
February
5-2 Mark Balbinot
March
6-2 Troy Jackson
April
6-0 Randy Sampson Sr.

2017 Top 10 Bass (* = new Top 10 all-time)
6-2   Troy Jackson 3/4
6-0   Randy Sampson Sr. 4/15
5-15 Mark Balbinot 4/14
5-2   Mark Balbinot 2/26
4-14 Randy Sampson Sr. 2/19
4-11 Randy Sampson Sr. 3/25
4-9   Bruce Zilkowski 3/26
4-3   Bruce Zilkowski 3/26
4-2   Mark Balbinot 2/19
3-15 Bruce Zilkowski 2/19

2017 Angler Weights
22-3    Randy Sampson Sr. (6-0,4-14,4-11,3-6,3-4)
22-1    Mark Balbinot (5-15,5-2,4-2,3-14,3-0)
18-0    Bruce Zilkowski (4-9,4-3,3-15,3-0,2-5)
15-4    Troy Jackson (6-2,3-6,2-1,1-15,1-12)
7-1      Jake Bresson (3-10,3-7)
3-2      Brent Jackson (3-2)

2017 Bonus Species – Northern Pike
54.5” Jake Bresson (33.5”,21.0”) both on Tubes
Weekly updates of new entries will be featured each Monday beginning next week so send fish if you’ve got ‘em as detailed in the Top 5 Intro post from earlier this week.  Playing more catch up tomorrow with a fishing report from my first outing of 2017.  Talk to you later.  Troy

When

Posted on by Troy Jackson

While my earliest outdoor memories date back to somewhere around the early 70’s, my interest magnified considerably with the independence offered a teenage boy and his younger brother during the bulk of the 80’s.  Further independence as a young adult resulted in a few lost years in the 90’s before getting back on the outdoor track.  Becoming a responsible adult in the new century/millennium along with a new found passion for writing and bunch of kids further rekindled the urge to escape to the outdoors when able.

“When” is also reflected in a practice I began back in 1985, keeping a fishing log.  It was an idea that was just sort of fun to start with, still is, and has become habit all of these years later.  Kind of wild to look back at the early data, seeing a combination of definite room for improvement and ample free time to practice, sometimes getting on the water four or five days in a week.  Fast forward to 2017 when it may take me a couple months to work in that many fishing trips amidst just a few more responsibilities.

1960’s – Dad before first kid (this blogger) showed up                                      1970’s – my younger siblings and some rats

1980’s – campout, bankpoles, independence…and skinny                 1990’s – no responsibilities & no gray hair

2000’s – 2 dads rocking Emiquon               2010’s – panfish w/ Batman,Superman,Hannah Montana,Lady Shakespeare

Photos are also an important aspect of today’s topic.  Starting with old family photo albums of my dad and uncle doing their outdoor thing and continuing with gigabytes of jpegs on hard drives and memory cards it’s always a treat to look back and reminisce.  Put those pics and logs together with these modern things called social media and blogs and I’m having a field day rambling away.

And that’s the final piece of this “when” posting that I wrestle with, blogging frequency.  I’ve been advised that frequency (as well as content) can be an integral part of maintaining some semblance of reader interest.  I could definitely run around outdoors and write some sort of longwinded blog entry about every day if I could manage to turn it into some sort of occupation.  Not the case at present, but I will commit to coming out with guns blazing for this new blogging adventure and see where it goes from there.  It will also be fun to get more in tune with some of the peripheral social media outlets that aren’t quite so labor intensive and lend themselves to short bursts of inspiration as opposed to something that takes a little more time and occasionally some planning.

My initial goal is a blog post a day for May.  Beyond that, I’ll remain a bit elusive with any predictions or revelations.  How about we just leave it with a parallel to my standard response to the question, “When is the best time to go fishing?”  Having spent thirty plus years on the water, for me the answer is simple: “Anytime you can.”  Talk to you later.  Troy

What

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Fifteen years ago I launched a project to share fish stories.

Since then, times have changed and the scope of the outdoor tales has expanded as conveyed by the collection of pics that grace the homepage, the About page and today’s post (all of which have been featured in a past blog entry somewhere).

You see, when I began writing I was just a guy with few responsibilities going fishing.  These days as a husband and father of four it’s a whole different world but one that has featured plenty of fodder for outdoor stories on and off the water.

While fishing will still be the primary focus of my blogging, other activities such as camping, hiking and trapping will have their days.  Hey, once upon a time Bigfoot even took over one of my former blogs for a week.

As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.”  I should certainly be able to provide that in an outdoor sense ranging from “serious” wannabe bass fisherman to campfire storyteller to nature photographer to assistant family tour guide to outdoor site interpreter and perhaps even videographer one of these days.

These are the normal sorts of things that one will find detailed on the blog.

 

These types of things are also outdoor related…so that could happen.

And then there was “Herb”, loosely outdoor related though I don’t recall how?  Anyway, expect the occasional unexpected along the way.

Over the years, the “what” aspect of my writing has evolved to reflect an increased appreciation of the little details that make up the big story.  I’ve been accused of rambling, guilty as charged, but there’s a whole lot more to a fishing trip than a half dozen bass caught in a couple hours conveyed by a sentence or two on a fishing forum.  Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places but I just don’t find many fishing reports that provide the combination of stats, details and tangents that I like so I just write ‘em myself.  Granted some may push the contemporary internet attention span but how in the world do you abridge a fish story, just can’t do it.

Sharing the outdoors with a bunch of youngsters also makes for some excellent adventures and blog opportunities.  Watching them experience nature from my grown up perspective takes me back to walking in their shoes (or bare feet) more than a few years ago.  Of course, there’s also plenty of interesting stunts that I would never have imagined witnessing in the days before these smaller versions of me and Julie came along.

These days, a handful of their little bluegill are just as exciting as my somewhat rare five-pound bass.  It’s a treat to supervise some rowing training in the same eight foot johnboat that me, my dad, my brother and some buddies started rowing around local fishing holes back in the early 80’s.  And watching some youngsters actually set aside their devices in favor of taking in the starry, night sky, a roaring campfire or a handful of waxworms gives me hope that nature can still win out over YouTube, Snapchat and the likes.

Admittedly a blog seems to run against that grain, but I can deal.  It’s my getaway to relive getaways when I can’t actually get away.  And I’m old enough that all of this computer age stuff didn’t shape my formative years.  Nature still wins, technology simply enhances.  Besides, I’ve seen this all before having ditched my Walkman, 8-track tapes and VHS movies that once ruled the day.  But until this whole internet, device and social media fad goes the way of the Atari I’ll continue to contribute what I’ve got to promote the great outdoors.  Talk to you later.  Troy