By this time next week, September will have arrived. That can mean some good fishing, but it also means that it is crunch time as weather, activities and access are all considerations when looking to get on the water. As we look to the home stretch of 2022, today’s flashback looks back on the “fall” kickoff from five years ago this week.

Excerpts below from the original September 4, 2017 blog post.

Stats
Date: September 2, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL public access strip mines (7 lakes)
Time: 7:00am-1:45pm (5.0 hours fishing, the rest walking or driving)
Weather: Partly cloudy to sunny/calm to breezy
Air Temp: 47F-74F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 27 bass
Lures:
5” Senko wacky rig (pumpkin/black flake or green pumpkin) – 10 bass
Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 7 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (Snow White shad) – 5 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 4 bass
Zoom Baby Brush Hog (green pumpkin) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-8 KVD 2.5 crankbait
Top 5 Weight: 12-12 (3-8,3-5,2-5,2-1,1-9)

7:02am – First bass and Top Bass at 3-8 on a crankbait

Notes & Nonsense

Great Start – On about the third cast of the morning with a buzzbait I was rewarded with a large blowup. Unfortunately, I was not rewarded with a bass as it had poor aim. Another cast with the buzzbait failed to get a repeat so I fired out my Strike King KVD 2.5 crankbait instead and hooked up with a 3-8 which would set the Top Bass bar pretty high. In fact, that first bass wound up being Top Bass for the day although I had one later that gave it a run for the money. Anyway, a couple casts later I landed a 2-1 and then a 1-9 less than ten minutes later. So, after thirteen minutes of casting I had three of my Top 5 in the log at 7-2 and was excited about the solid start. Things slowed for the next several hours in terms of quality bites but that would eventually take a turn for the better with a 3-5 and 2-5 joining the creel to finish the outing.

Odd catch, a “brokeback bass”

Lure of the Day – It felt good to nail a few on a good, old crankbait for a change. The KVD 2.5 squarebill that did the trick runs to a depth of about five feet. I’m typically a little leery throwing these things from the bank, especially on unfamiliar waters as I am cheap and don’t want to get snagged on any underwater structure when I don’t have the means to get the lure back. On this morning, the bass just wouldn’t commit to a topwater bite, and I was comfortable with the lakes I was fishing being snag-free so this bait was my choice in finding a sub-surface bite without having to slow down my presentation. It was indeed a winner, producing four of my Top 5 bass when worked with an occasional rip and pause in the retrieve.

 

One final note from this trip is that it marked the first Top 10 Trip Tunes feature.

10. “Bad Medicine” – Bon Jovi (1988)
9. “For What It’s Worth” – Buffalo Springfield (1967)
8. “Talk Dirty to Me” – Poison (1987)
7. “Moondance” – Van Morrison (1970)
6. “Goodbye Stranger” – Supertramp (1979)
5. “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” – Led Zeppelin (1970)
4. “Anyway You Want It” – Journey (1980)
3. “Don’t Look Back” – Boston (1978)
2. “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” – Bachman Turner Overdrive (1974)
1. “Burnin’ For You – Blue Oyster Cult (1981)

Hoping to revisit the Top 10 Trip Tunes concept, got another Hennepin Canal report from August, and hopefully one more trip this month. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Today’s flashback looks back at an overnight outing coinciding with a solar eclipse that the media billed as the “Great American Eclipse.” I figured that it would be fun to fish during the phenomenon. However, Mother Nature had other plans as detailed in the original blog entry below from August 22, 2017.

Since a couple vacation days in early August wound up returned in favor of work, I thought I’d try it again this week to coincide with the Eclipse. In addition, Julie was still a couple of days away from having any kids at the aftercare program and all of ours were starting their first full week of school, so the stars were aligned. Always a roller coaster ride, however, when it comes to having a “plan.”

Stats
Date: August 20-21, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL strip mines (2 lakes)
Time: 7:00-8:00pm (8/20) and 6:25-7:25am (8/21)
Weather: Partly cloudy/breezy (8/20) and overcast to mostly ugly (8/21)
Air Temp: 80F (8/20) and 66F (8/21)
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 9 bass (7 on 8/20 and 2 on 8/21)
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (Snow White shad) – 8 bass
5” Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 5-11 Senko
Top 5 Weight: 9-9 (5-11,1-1,1-1,1-0,0-12)

Notes & Nonsense

The Plan – Three days, two nights flying solo camping and fishing. Leave Sunday afternoon (left home at 5:00pm), camp overnight, fish Monday through Eclipse and return home to meet the kids at 3:00pm after school. Return to campsite that evening after Julie finishes a back-to-school activity at 6:00pm. Overnight again and fish all day Tuesday with an evening return home.

Reality – I got in the anticipated one hour of fishing Sunday as planned after setting up camp. Next, was a peaceful and uneventful overnight with a nice campfire and a few Miller Lites. Then, I managed only one more hour of fishing on Eclipse Day morning before wicked skies sent me packing. I tried to wait out the storm but waved the white flag at 10:30am amidst thunder, lightning, and heavy rains. I scrambled to tear down and pack in a shower and was home by noon. Monday night camping was also called off with more thunderstorms forecast for the bulk of overnight.

An Eclipse Eve bass on a buzzbait

Eclipse Eve Fishing – I was able to cast from 7:00pm to 8:00pm on a lake I haven’t visited for a while with an all-out buzzbait blitz due to limited window until sunset. Conditions were favorable with partly cloudy skies, a little color to the water and light chop. Seven bass came aboard but lacked a lunker with Top Bass at 1-1. It was a solid start; I was happy with the results and looked forward to the next launch in about ten hours.

Eclipse Day Fishing – I thought it would be fun to fish through the partial eclipse just to say I did, if nothing else. The fun started right off the bat with a 5-11 on a Senko wacky rig but it was short lived with only one more fish (11.5” on a buzzbait) before the skies got scary, opened up, and sent me home.

Eclipse Day first of only two bass was a whopping 5-11 on a Senko

Top Bass – I caught my 5-11 less than ten minutes into my outing after my first two proven buzzbait spots failed to produce a strike. Stop number three was a solid Senko wacky rig area amidst a stretch of overhanging bushes so I changed it up from the buzzbait. The Senko came through yet again on the first cast to the tune of my largest Senko bass and my fifth biggest bass ever. Pretty wild as I never felt the hit, just saw the line moving to the right, reeled down and set the hook anticipating the usual pound and a half fish from the spot. A few tense moments with the 10-pound Trilene on my spinning rig before I got a look and knew I had something special. The bass went airborne at one point, and I missed my first attempt with my Boga Grip. The battle had me nervous, but it was meant to be and saved what would be a short day on the water.

Eclipse Day morning got ugly and when it looks like this it is time to get off the water

Casualties – Unfortunately, there was no GoPro footage on the Top Bass as it bit the dust somehow while editing footage around the campfire the previous night. Julie mentioned that the salesperson dropped it at purchase and said to bring it back if any issues so got that on my to-do list. In addition, I thought I knocked my Fuji camera overboard after taking a spill on my tripod and crushing it when I lost my balance as my boat coasted into the bank. It seems that while I had replaced the batteries after shooting pics of the big fish, I fortunately did not re-attach the camera to the tripod. I was kicking myself for the last half hour about losing the camera and all the pics on it before finding it safe and sound in one of my utility boxes. Thank goodness, a strange turn of events. Some days the mind and body let you know that they’ve seen better days.

View during the eclipse from our makeshift viewing box

A series of highs and lows all in the span of about sixteen hours. Better than being at work but several weird and nervous outdoor moments had me wondering if I was better off inside.

Amateur astronomers getting a glimpse of the solar eclipse

So, in the end, I wound up observing the eclipse in our driveway with Julie and Carly. All good, as they both recall the event. That’s even better than landing a big bass in the shadows, right? Talk to you later. Troy

 

Twenty years old, a summer job with the Galesburg Park Department and not really a care in the world. Hit the shop at Lincoln Park just before 7:00am, get our marching orders for the day to mow, pick trash, paint, weed trim and refrain from doing anything dumb in front of the public and then head home at 3:00pm. After that, it was often off to the fishing hole. And what a trio of waters that make up today’s “Friday Flashback.”

August 5, 1987 – Steck’s Pond
Located a few miles northwest of Lake Storey, me and Brent fished this farm pond a few times with Bret Bruington who had access to the fishing hole. Bret (or Little Bru) is the son of Gary Bruington (Big Bru), longtime Galesburg High School baseball coach. Big Bru was not only my coach but also took several ball players on fishing trips while in high school, stoking my passion for the pursuit as he was a knowledgeable bass angler. Anyway, my catches for this day are noted in the original and database log entries pictured in this post. However, I must say that my fondest memory from Steck’s Pond was Little Bru, Brent and I landing a few fish on a February day when the line was freezing in the eyes of our poles. Or there was also the time a near four-pound bass spooked out of a weedbed and almost jumped right in the boat. Yep, don’t get me started…

August 8, 1987 – Green Oaks
Weekends were also spent at the fishing hole and weekends were the only days that the Knox College field station was open for casting. Too many stories for a flashback post but a 1988 Green Oaks bass at five pounds eight ounces was my personal best for many years afterwards. I’ve longed to get back to the fishing hole which is right across the highway from my Little John stomping grounds, but access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff. However, I recently learned from a reliable source that a fish kill had decimated the bass population and rendered the spot a “crappie hole” per the report. Sad news as it once was a premier destination.

August 13, 1987 – Roehlk’s Pond
Like Steck’s Pond, Little Bru was our “in” on this fishing hole on the south edge of Knoxville, IL around Eiker Acres. If I were to rank ponds, this one would likely be number one on my list. It had an incredible variety of structure including a pronounced channel, flats, weedbeds, a duck blind, flooded timber, points, a stump bed and an island. And that was just the stuff we could plainly see. Who knows what else was hidden in the depths. My favorite memory from Roehlk’s was watching Little Bru pull out ten pounds of bass on back-to-back casts, a six-pounder followed by a four-pounder. I don’t know about Brent, but I’m still a bit jealous thirty-five years later.

Original log entries from these outings

It’s hard to say how many bass those of us who fished these spots and more all those years ago have landed in the interim. Guesstimation from my totals combined with the fishing habits of just the three of us mentioned in today’s flashback, I’d say it would easily exceed 20,000 bass. That’s a lot of fish but what is crazy is that to this very day I could walk or row you to the exact spot of all the catches referenced in today’s post. Whether that is passion, obsession, or just plain nuts, that’s fishing. Talk to you later. Troy