Blog Banner – Angling Essentials

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“I get up in the morning and it’s just another day,

pack up my belongings, I’ve got to get away.”

Movin’ On – Bad Company (1974)

Henry County pond near Coal Valley, IL – March 3, 2018 with my boys, Zac & Jayce

An important aspect of a fishing trip is checking and double checking your stuff in an effort to insure that you have everything you need before you hit the water.

Take today’s photo for instance.

Tacklebox, check! Spare poles in case of any issues, check! Waxworms, check!

That pretty much does it, all set to fish.

But wait, there’s the drive to the fishing hole to consider as you don’t want to end up parched or hungry. Kind of interferes with your concentration as you try to fool those wily panfish if you are not adequately hydrated and nourished. Thus a stop at the gas station is in order to get the rest of the essential supplies. Looks like a couple Grape Crush, some Hershey Drops and some Sour Patch Kids were the ticket. Pure sugar to keep my young fishermen on top of their game.

Not only part of a fishing outing but part of being a Dad. I can recall a few stops at a Mom & Pop shop called “The Trading Post” in Monmouth, IL while trapping or tagging along for bankpole or jug fishing when my brother, Brent, and I were kids. Dad would get us some sodas and a bag of Sterzing’s chips for the ride home.

I guess it’s what Dads do. And while the convenience of gas station fare is well, convenient, I sometimes long for the days when those places simply sold fuel for your vehicle not for your family. It all adds up and can get a little pricey with our crew in tow.

Just tough to say “No” when setting out on a big adventure such as the outing in today’s photo. Gotta tell you though, with a roughly twelve minute drive to this fishing hole it actually took longer to track down our treats than it did to reach our destination.

It makes for a classic pic, however, probably worth the $8-$10. Talk to you later. Troy

Blog Banner – Old School Scribe

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“It’s a thousand pages give or take few, I’ll be writing more in a week or two.”

Paperback Writer – The Beatles (1966)

Let me tell you, that old clipboard was definitely on the “give” side over the “take” side of today’s lyric from The Fab Four. I made that thing in junior high shop class back around 1980 and then proceeded to lug it around wherever I called home for the next 38 years or so. Knox College, a place called 848 North Broad Street, Lake Bracken, the Quad Cities and more, I’ve known that thing longer than I’ve known most people that are not blood relatives.

For year’s it sat within arms reach on an end table, a headboard or a desk always ready for whatever form of composition arose. And when I took up writing in 2002, it became an even more invaluable companion in the process of transferring mental notes to somewhat legible scribbles.

It tagged along on road trips, fishing trips, camping trips and family trips. Always at the ready whether in a truck, a boat, a tent, a hotel room or a lawnchair pulled up to a campfire. Ultimately, a computer keyboard is where it all winds up in terms of input for blog posts but a clipboard has long been where the pen hits the paper.

I laid this old shop class creation to rest last year as the hardware had flat out worn out. It was a tough call but upon receiving a replacement as a gift it was time to start a new chapter.

A few paragraphs of which you have just read.

Twenty seven more Blog Banner posts to go as well as the weekly Friday Flashback. It says so right there on the blogging schedule on my clipboard. Talk to you later. Troy

Blog Banner – Long Time

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“It’s been such a long time…I’ve got to keep on chasin’ a dream…”

Long Time – Boston (1976)

Knox County strip mine – March 4, 2017
(Note: this banner pic was shot just prior to launching my own website)

Since I kicked off my own blog on May 1, 2017 I had some catching up to do from fishing trips that had already taken place. All told, by that time I had four fishing trips and 42 bass in the log for 2017.

And the bass in today’s blog banner pic was the very first of that bunch.

It was a bass that I had been after since I was a teenager when I first caught this crazy bass fishing bug. For many years I’d chased a fish of the caliber that my fishing heroes triumphantly hoisted at arm’s length on TV shows, magazine covers and print ads. The stuff of a young angler’s dreams and still elusive as I became not as young.

When I landed the bass above I had well over thirty years of bass fishing under my belt. That’s a lot of casts and a lot of bass but never one that weighed six pounds. I nearly made it in February 2002 with a 5-15 and I’d actually surpassed it in September 2009 with my personal best of 7-3. The latter bas was pretty cool, an awesome bass, but still blanked for the six-pounder, hopped right over the mark with that one so it still left me wishing.

On March 4, 2017 I got my wish after a tap on my trusty black and blue jig and pig got my attention. A slight sideways movement of my line at the water’s surface got me to set the hook. And luck was on my side as despite a few rolls in an effort to shake the lure I got a bass that tipped the scales at 6-2.

This bass sure meant a lot to a guy who has more than a few in the ledger dating back to the early 80s. In the original write up here on the blog I noted that “I just sat for several minutes letting it sink in.” Turns out that I could’ve sat there for the rest of the day and wouldn’t have missed a thing. My six-pounder was the first and only bite I had all day and that first bass of 2017 would be the biggest bass that I caught all year.

Not a problem, it’d been a long wait for that one bite. Talk to you later. Troy

Blog Banner – Hello Hooray

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“Hello, hooray, let the show begin.”

Hello Hooray – Alice Cooper (1971)

Hennepin Canal Parkway near Sheffield, IL – August 5, 2017
(Note: all banner pics come from March 2017 to August 2018)

Where to start when considering a batch of 30 posts?

I suppose a friendly, up close wave from yours truly and all the people I live with similarly greeting in the background.

This banner pic represents the most important things that Julie and I have going as well as some of the values we are looking to instill in those four kids.

First up is family. We’re a team, right? Not always a well-oiled machine but so far we’ve managed to get it done and generally get along. With four kids there are lots of different interests and even levels of interest within common pursuits. Throw in that those interests and the regular responsibilities of maintaining a family unit pull us in many directions and life gets a little wild.

That’s where getting out in the wild comes into play. Nothing like a good old family day trip for a bit of an escape. Sure, there’s still the customary, “Are we there yet?”, “Tell him to stop touching me!”, “The bugs are driving me crazy!”, “How long is this trail?”, “When can we go home”…If you’ve got kids you know the routine.

But what makes up for it are the comments that come once the dust settles and we have time to reflect on the adventure. Without fail, Julie and I also hear stuff like “Mom that was fun hiking through the forest”, “Dad do you remember when we saw that crawdad?”, “That was cool throwing walnuts off the bridge” and the clincher, “When can we go back?”

Yep, it’s rewarding to hear such positive feedback from our crew in a post trip assessment especially when it is a candid, unsolicited comment. It lets you know that something about the experience stuck and makes us parents walk a little taller with the feeling that we are doing something right.

Now more than ever the outdoors beckons for us more experienced folks to pass on its wonders to the kids of the sanitized, instant feedback, indoor computer age. Here’s to some quality time in the fresh air with dirt over hand sanitizer, field guides over phones, picnic baskets over drive thrus, ears over ear buds and forests over Fortnite.

At least for a while. Talk to you later. Troy

Blog Banner Intro

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“Every picture tells a story don’t it?” – Every Picture Tells a Story, Rod Stewart (1971)

The blog banner that scrolls across the top of this webpage consists of a half dozen panels that each contain five photos.

Perhaps you’ve taken a look.

If so, thanks for checking it out. It took some work to select the pics and they each say something important about my passion for the outdoors.

And they do it without any words.

Well, until now at least, as I kick off the second year of the “Blog Banner” series. This project will be similar to last year’s series where I detailed the scoop behind each of the 28 original pictures that graced the banner. That original blog banner ran from the May 1, 2017 kickoff of the website through July 30, 2018 when the current collection took over.

The original 28 pics were gathered from years past and I filled up the blog in February 2018 with the story behind each of those original pics. One for each day of the month, 28 pics, 28 days. But in the interest of taking things up a notch, as I like to do here, I wound up with a couple more pics than February days for the current blog banner. Throw in the fact that I’ve also gone and kicked off another “Friday Flashback” series and it looks like my blog banner posts are going to run into March. Hey, no problem, as open water is still a ways away around here with over a foot of snow on the ground and several recent sub-zero days. Yep, winter has got a pretty good grip on us so I might as well write to get my outdoor fix.

Today’s post is my invitation to stop on by for tales such as “Nature’s Ninjas”, “Twisted Sisters”, “Nemesis”, “Uncle Martin”, “Gaunt & Gone” and dozens more. My goal is to churn them out as regularly as I can amidst my real life responsibilities. After all, one mark of a good blog is regular content.

Folks, I’m good with that one as I do my best to stay regular. Hopefully you’ll find some quality reading in the posts to follow as opposed to, well, you know. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback Intro

Posted on by Troy Jackson

This is kind of what my brain looks like for this project, except a little less organized

In March of 2018 I introduced a series called “Friday Flashback” that featured a weekly revisit of some past outdoor adventures. It ran for 35 consecutive Fridays before wrapping up in November.

Well, it’s back.

Same concept as we take a stroll down Memory Lane while looking back in increments of five years. From now through November, every Friday will feature pics and words from 1984 or 1989 or 1994 or 1999 or…on up to 2014. All told, just over 40 mostly fishing related posts to kick off your weekend and perhaps inspire you to grab your gear and go.

And the 2019 version is going to take it up a notch from last year’s initial run that featured over 175 photos, more than a dozen guest appearances, two dozen fishing holes, lots of lures and close to 400 bass reeled in along with several other species. You never know what else may crop up and sometimes neither do I as none of the posts are yet composed, only a pile of notes (both mental and physical) and a date on the calendar.

It all begins next Friday with an icy blast from the past which is certainly a fitting start during what has been an ugly and lately dangerously cold winter in my neck of the woods.

Hope you’ll tune in.

But wait, that’s not all, as I’ve also got another project to launch that will keep you clicking in between those Friday Flashbacks. You know, we might just get through this winter yet. Talk to you later. Troy

2018 Video Blooper Reel

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Back for a second year with a batch of silliness via a collection of clips compiled throughout 2018. Got a little help from my boys with a slip from Zac and more than a few contributions from Jayce. Don’t know that anything would qualify to win us some cash on the funny video show but good outdoor memories nonetheless. All the more rewarding too, considering were headed for a temperature of -27F to start the final day of January. Not really good for outdoor activities so I get my fix as some sort of internet rambler.

 

Coming your way to kick off February is not only a new “Lyric of the Month” (dedicated to Mother Nature) but also the intro to another year of the “Friday Flashback” series for 2019. Talk to you later. Troy

2018 Fishing Video Recap – The Recaps

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Day 10 of the video recap series has arrived as promised. Since we started this project with a montage of intro clips, it seems fitting to end it with a batch of recap bits. A look at the part of the trip that comes on the heels of the preparation, the anticipation and the on the water execution. A time when the dust has settled, the gear has been packed up and an angler’s thoughts turn to evaluation (and a sandwich).

With an hour drive home from most of my favorite fishing holes it leaves ample time to rehash those best laid plans to ponder what worked and what didn’t. Most of the time there’s a little of both to consider, all to the welcome soundtrack found on the presets of the truck radio.

Weather, lures, water conditions, trip duration and number of bass caught are among the standard topics in a recap. In addition, there’s the general summary of the ups and downs that come during a day on the water while enjoying the entertaining and dynamic hobby called fishing.

All of the above are included below in the 2018 Fishing Video Recap of the recaps.

 

There you have it, the finale of a Top 10 sort of video recap from the year that was. I hope you found something worthwhile in the clips whether it was entertainment, education or simply an escape from what you should really be doing instead of hanging out on the internet.

As I mentioned at the outset of this series, video has indeed added an enjoyable new wrinkle to this fishing hobby. A hobby that I am serious about but that doesn’t mean that I take myself too seriously when going about it. On that note, one final piece of video headed your way next, the 2019 Video Blooper Reel. Talk to you later. Troy

2018 Fishing Video Recap – Top 5

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Back in 2014 on a former blogging gig I kicked off an audience participation thing called “Top 5.” It all began with bass and basically you send in your catches as the year progresses working towards a year end Top 5 weight. I’ve covered all of the specifics here on the website a couple times, most recently in the January 7 Top 5 Update post so I’ll refer you there for the scoop.

For 2018, 116 more bass entered the database thanks to anglers both young and not as young, waters both public and private and lures galore. It’s always a treat to see a new message in the Inbox, catch one for myself or have a front row seat when a fishing partner gets a good one.

And the latter is where we are headed with today’s video. All of the 2019 bass had their merits so how in the world would a guy pick a Top 5 from the Top 5 to call his favorites.

Actually, it was pretty easy.

And they ain’t even mine.

 

Yep, it was quite a day. Chunking Senkos on Cinco de Mayo with my boy. Don’t get much better than that.

I’ll leave it at that too, as the video says plenty. You don’t need any more words from this guy, just go back and watch the video instead.

Talk to you later. Troy

2018 Fishing Video Recap – Details

Posted on by Troy Jackson

So, this whole series comes courtesy of my recent foray into the world of video technology via GoPro or iPhone. Neither of which actually existed back when I started writing outdoor articles. The new wrinkle of being able to include some video with the words and pictures has been a pretty cool addition that I find quite entertaining.

And entertainment is a lot of what the last 17 years and 1363 postings has been all about. I must say that a fair amount of all of that stuff has primarily entertained one person more than the rest.

That would be the guy who composed it.

Today’s clip is a perfect example of how the video aspect has added to my entertainment while enhancing the fishing and writing experience. What we’ve got here is a 12” bass that tipped the scales at one pound even and was caught at Lost Grove Lake on July 27, 2018 using a buzzbait. It says so right there in my log book. Standard issue recording of a catch, similar to the four hundred or so other 12” bass in there, nothing particularly noteworthy, right?

Well, throw in a little video of the catch and it turns out that there is more that meets the eye. Take a look for yourself before I delve into the details.

 

Let’s start with a classic summer evening buzzbait scenario as you run the bait along the outside weed edge of an expansive shallow, weedy flat. Keeps you right on the edge of your seat.

Watch and listen again at the 0:12 mark as the bait briefly hangs in some weeds, skips a beat and accelerates forward as I give it a twitch to pull it loose. You know what happens in the next split second. Classic bite after a lure has banged into an object and darted free.

At 0:16 the thrashing bass hits the edge of the duckweed surface cover and carves a path through the mat on the way to the boat. By 0:31 the duckweed has regained complete surface coverage which is kind of cool to watch. It’s a neat example of something that I never really paid any attention to as my eyes and attention focus intently on the catch.

Of course, the video also comes with audio and it is fun to listen to whatever thoughts and details are presented as the catch proceeds. Yet again, aspects that would be lost to time without some cool pieces of technology that easily fit in your pocket (or tacklebox) or strap around your chest.

As I said, perhaps I primarily amuse myself but I’d like to think that there are some fellow anglers out there who can relate. After all, I suspect there’s more folks reeling in their share of run of the mill bass in between the occasional and often elusive lunker than there are certified big bass slayers. I would guess that a lot more fishing resembles this video than it does a magazine cover.

To finish up today’s submission I’ve included a bonus video that I figure a few can relate to as well. It was a bit too much to include on my already full blooper video for later this week. But since it features some more Lost Grove Lake footage it fits in here just fine.

 

Raise your hand if you’ve been there, done that on a summer fishing hole. Sure looks good right about now though. Talk to you later. Troy