Boy, is it fun when you get it right.

And even more rewarding when you are traipsing cross country over some challenging terrain in search of some bites with a longtime fishing companion.

The best day of 2013 (83 bass including a rock solid Top 5) comes your way below via some excerpts from the original post.

Back in 1980, the R&B/Funk duo, The Brothers Johnson, posted their third and final Top 10 hit with an entertaining cut called “Stomp!.” Well, lets fast forward to September 2013 when the bass fishing duo known as The Brothers Jackson put a “stomp” on some Knox County strip mine bass. Here’s how it went down.

Stats
Date: September 29, 2013
Location: Knox County public walk-in strip mines
Time: 7:50am-1:15pm (4 hours fishing, the rest walking)
Weather: Sunny/windy
Air Temp: 60-75F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 83 bass & 2 green sunfish (7 different lakes)
Brent Totals: 44 bass & 1 green sunfish
Troy Totals: 39 bass & 1 green sunfish
Lures Brent: White Spinnerbait, Mann’s 4- crankbait
Lures Troy: Rebel Suspending Jerkbait – 22 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (orange craw) – 10 bass, Bass Pro Shops River Bug – 5 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (rainbow) – 1 bass, K9 Walker stickbait (Madd Shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass Brent: 2-5 Mann’s 4- crankbait
Top Bass Troy: 4-3 Rebel Suspending Jerkbait
Top 5 Weight: 15-7 (4-3,4-0,3-5,2-5,1-10)

8:52am Top Bass #3 of the day 19.5″ 3-5 Jerkbait

Changeups – Lots of decisions are made during four hours on the water (or bank in this case) and it is rewarding when they pay dividends. It doesn’t always work in our favor but just as I report the lackluster performances and bad calls, I also pass along the times when we get it right. Either way, it’s simply a matter of giving you my version of the straight dope from a day on the water. The following “changeups” went a long way towards making this a memorable day.

9:54am Top Bass #4 of the day 2-5 Crankbait

Changeup #1 (9:54am) – Relying solely on his white spinnerbait, Brent had put on a fishing clinic at our third stop while never leaving his spot on the bank. He’d landed nine bass in just over twenty minutes before his bite left. As we were considering leaving he tied on a Mann’s 4- crankbait and proceeded to nail a 2-5, his largest of the day, on his first cast. While taking the above photo I made sure to compliment Brent on this changeup to add a solid second fish to our creel (all fish released though). We wound up sticking around for another twenty minutes and landed nine more bass combined to bring the lake totals to 19 bass in 45 minutes.

10:25am Top Bass #5 of the day 1-10

Changeup #2 (10:25am) – Brent moved from the main body of our fourth lake to a narrow finger and proceeded to clean house with his spinnerbait. In a hurry, he had five bass to my one and added another solid bass to our five fish limit with a 1-10. Once again I offered a thumbs up on a productive decision that would eventually produce a total of thirteen bass for him in forty five minutes.

10:43am Top Bass #2 of the day 20″ 4-0 Jerkbait

Changeup #3 (10:43am) – I took over the point Brent had vacated with his move to the finger and quickly had a large bass explode on my K9 Walker stickbait. I briefly had the fish on but it let go and left me pretty bummed that it hadn’t hooked up. A few casts later, to my surprise, the bass busted the bait again but completely missed with its tail clearing the water and providing reason for dejection as it was a good one. I opted to leave the fish alone and moved to a nearby dropoff with a muskrat run extending out into deeper water. Two casts later with a suspending jerkbait and Brent was snapping a photo of me holding a 4-0.

10:53am Top Bass of the day 20″ 4-3 Stickbait

Changeup #4 (10:53am) – I definitely wasn’t leaving without giving my hot fish one more chance and moved back to the point where I’d enticed the two blowups. Amazingly, the bass gave me a third shot and this time his aim on the K9 Walker was true and our former Top Bass was displaced after ten minutes with a 4-3. The neat thing is that this is a handmade bait that I received from a blog reader and commenter, Frank Harvey. In fact, as I posed for the picture, leaving the lure hanging out of a lip, I said to Brent, “How cool is that to catch it on Frank’s lure.” Thanks, Frank, it’s a winner!

K9 Walker homemade stickbait crafted by a reader at my former blogging gig

We wound up our day hitting all the spots we’d aimed to fish, racking up a couple dozen more bass in our run and gun process. It was tough to leave a few fishing holes but we were on a mission as we had plans to attend a birthday cookout for Dad that evening. At one point during a good bite, Brent wondered aloud if we’d make it to all of the lakes we had on our agenda. I responded that if the bass kept it up we might not make it to the family gathering. It was that kind of day. We left tired and a little sore, but a good kind of tired and a little sore. It didn’t take me long to get over it though as I was back the following day headed for a half dozen more lakes in a different direction. But that’s another story.

Believe it or not that is the slightly abbreviated version. As much as I like to talk fishing, I sometimes find it hard to stop. Especially on a day when the bass make you look like you actually know what you are doing. Talk to you later. Troy

A solid day on a longtime fishing hole south of Galesburg, Illinois for me and Dad featured a couple interesting and unexpected catches. Both are detailed below in an excerpt from the original report posted to family and friends.

Original log entry from this day on the lake

Date: 9/17/2003
Location: Lake Bracken
Angler(s): Me and Dad
Time: 6:00 am-11:45 am
Bass: 24
Crappie: 3
Bluegill: 4
Channel Catfish: 1
Lures:
Mann’s 4- crankbait (wounded alewife) – 8 bass
Spinnerbait (white) – 5 bass, 1 catfish
Quad Shad Spinnerbait (salt & pepper) – 4 bass
Mann’s 1- crankbait – 1 bass
Twister tail (white or chartreuse) with spinner (gold) – 6 bass, 4 bluegill, 3 crappie
Top Bass: 2-15 Troy – Mann’s 4- crankbait
Top 5 Weight: 7-6 (2-15,1-5,1-4,1-1,0-13)

10:32am Top Bass 18″ 2-15 Mann’s 4- crankbait

Top Lure for the day Mann’s 4- crankbait (wounded alewife pattern, I think)

Between 9:14 and 9:16 am we end up with four bass in the boat at one time although we are practicing catch and release. Along the dam, I hook a small (9″) bass on my Mann’s 4- crankbait (wounded alewife) that falls into the bottom of the boat as I lift it out of the water. Not wanting to waste time trying to find this fish I go ahead and fire another cast. A couple cranks into my retrieve I’ve got another hit and set the hook. About the same time, I see Dad ram the hooks of his Mann’s 1- crankbait into a hungry bass. As we each battle our fish to the boat, I let Dad know that I’ve got an unusual result on my crankbait. It turns out that I’ve caught two fish on one lure for the second time this year. It’s now 9:16 am and there’s one fish flopping around in the bottom of the boat, Dad’s unhooking his bass and I’m hoping neither of my bass fall off before Dad can snap a picture. Both of my bass cooperated and we got a nice picture of a 12″ bass on one treble hook and a 13″ bass on the other.

9:16am – A rare “double” during a flurry when we had four bass in the boat at one time

A second unusual catch occurred later as Dad hooked a fish on his white spinnerbait. Actually, that part is rather common, as the white spinnerbait is one of his deadliest weapons. However, the way the fish fought and the body plan upon our first glimpse suggested something other than our targeted species. I grabbed the net and soon we had a decent catfish in the boat posing for a picture. The fish makes a Grand Slam for Dad with four species along with largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill.

Dad’s white spinnerbait is also a winner with a “whiskered” bass

Always a good time on the water and definitive proof that you just never know what lies in store with each outing. And yet again reinforces why I feel that fishing trips can always use a few tools beyond rods, reels and lures. A camera, a log book and a word processing program (after a rough draft with pen and paper on the old, trusty clipboard) all help to preserve the details for revisiting the tales anew more than a few years down the road. Talk to you later. Troy

My boy, Jayce, gets us on the board for September

In conjunction with a weekend work errand I was able to swing a visit to the Knox County, Illinois strip mines, Little John Conservation Club to be specific. A last minute change of plans also had me playing fishing guide as opposed to struggling angler desperately trying to fool some more respectable bass for his less than impressive Top 5 total. Perhaps some time for that later this month as taking one of your boys fishing should take priority.

And it did.

As expected, however, it put just a little different spin on the outing. The nine-year old version of a fishing trip is considerably briefer and a bit more prone to distraction than the fifty-something guy who thinks he’s a Bassmaster version. We put in maybe 45 minutes on the water/bank and fooled only one bass but nonetheless had an adventure complete with some education, celebration, imagination and one’s that got away.

Jayce’s request for a heavier version of the wacky rig was the right call as the Zappu Inchi Wacky Head saved the day

Education – Rather strong winds were not only a challenge for the guide while rowing the boat but also raised a red flag for my young fishing partner. His weightless Senko wacky rig just didn’t have much sink to it in the choppy conditions prompting Jayce to ask, “Dad, do you have anything with weight?” Indeed I did and I was quite impressed with Jayce’s assessment that his presentation needed an adjustment from the only way he’d ever previously fished the highly effective wacky rig. Enter the Zappu Inchi Wacky Head which proved to be a winner mere minutes later. Well done, young man!

Well done, young man, on this task also as its kind of nice to just chill in the truck

Celebration – Like a dummy, I did not have my GoPro rigged up to catch the exciting action of our lone bass but we did do a post catch interview. Just like the big boys we ran down the details on the lure that got the job done even though we have yet to market our skills to some sponsors (Gary Yamamoto, if you’re out there reading though…). Unlike some of the big boys, however, we actually reported the stats on our catch to the nearest half inch and ounce. A little education here as well, the old “honesty is the best policy” standard.

Imagination – Don’t know if anybody else out there is into this “The Meg” thing but my boys sure are “obsessed with it” (Jayce’s description). If you are unaware, it’s “Jaws” for the new generation with a giant, prehistoric shark known as a Megalodon terrorizing ocean goers and facing off with a band of heroes out to save the day. Well, what I didn’t know is that apparently “The Meg” is not relegated to salt water as it had a bead on our eight foot johnboat while headed back to the ramp (insert classic boat line from “Jaws” here). Other than a handful of lightning storms or high winds, I have never rowed so fast during my decades on the business end of some oars. I’m not sure how “The Meg” ends as I’m still wavering on whether viewing is such a good idea for a seven and nine year old but in our adventure the good guys lived to fish again.

My assessment of how it feels as you attempt to escape the colossal “Meg”

Ones That Got Away – About ten minutes in, Jayce started to holler. “Dad! Dad! Dad!” and I observed the tip of his bowed rod nearly hitting the water’s surface. Jayce then stated, “It’s pulling good” before the lure came shooting out of the water as the fish had let go. Who knows but sure looked like it could have been a quality fish. Near the end of our afternoon Jayce told me to go ahead and fish as he prowled the bank messing with little frogs. A cast to a productive laydown got me a bite and from my perch on the bank about six feet above the water I actually got a decent look before my fish also let go. Looked to be one pushing the two pound range which qualifies as a “good one” in my book and a downright trophy bass for my rough 2018.

Chalk up another adventure that played out a bit different than the original plan but good stuff during some rare one on one time with one of the kids. Although the haul was only one bass I was encouraged by three bites in limited casting and less than ideal water conditions as the normally clear lake still features a substantial stain to the water. Solid call on altering his lure presentation by my protégé and good practice for him in casting for bass from a watercraft as opposed to the bank, he did quite well.

A welcome exclamation point to our outing

Oh yeah, and we tuned into the radio on the ride to hear the makings of a Cubs victory as they played longball on a young Phillies Cy Young Award candidate. A great day all around. Talk to you later. Troy