Original log sheet featuring the March 22, 1987 catch from Downin’s Pond in Warren County

How in the world do you make a fish story out of a lone 8-inch bass?

Well, here we go.

1987 marked my first real year of bass fishing. You know, with real bass lures and stuff. Along with the lures there was also a commitment. Previously, I’d spent a lot of time with Dad, Brent and my buddies casting Beetle Spins and various other ultralights around Lake Bracken for whatever would bite. That almost exclusively consisted of bluegill, crappie, and a steady stream of green sunfish when you cast too near any rocky shoreline. When the panfish didn’t find our offerings first, the bonus bass were few and far between and less than impressive.

By 1987, I’d invested in a couple of bass fishing combos, one Lightning Rod spinning and one Lightning Rod casting, courtesy of an incredible buy one get one free offer at the time. As far as tackle, the fun was just beginning. From the looks of my 1987 log sheets, my early collection featured the classic Rapala Floating Minnow, a few topwater baits (Zara Spook, Pop’R, Uncle Buck’s Buzzer), a handful of plastic worms and several spinnerbaits.

One of my original spinnerbaits and the winner on March 20, 1987, hadn’t seen it for years

Among my meager collection of spinnerbaits was a Strike King model that featured an interesting pairing of a modified willow and Colorado style fluted blades. Just for fun I decided to dig through the tackle archives as I thought that I may still have the old spinnerbait that logged that early bass. Sure enough there it was in an old hip-roof tacklebox amidst what could be called the “Spinnerbait Graveyard”. The skirt was so rotten that pieces broke off if not handled with care.

The “Spinnerbait Graveyard”

The time of year was also a learning experience. Late March can be a challenge as the bass aren’t quite fired up yet in the cold water. In addition, I had rarely fished this early in the year for much of anything, let alone bass. In hindsight, that also signified buying into thinking that I could be a bass fisherman.

And one eight-inch bass from Downin’s Pond near Berwick with Dad was proof that with some practice and a little bit of knowledge, lures built for bass will catch bass, even in March. And so it began.

Thirty-five years later, I’m still learning, and I plan to get some more instruction this weekend.

Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

I always enjoy the challenge of fishing Lake Storey, my “home lake” situated just north of Galesburg, Illinois. And I’ve fished it for a long time, primarily during the fall drawdown. However, today’s post features a successful early spring outing with Dad from ten years ago.

Original log entry from March 21, 2012

Originally posted 3-22-12

I rarely fish Lake Storey other than the fall drawdown as by the time the water warms in the spring the vegetation makes things quite frustrating. Of course, this is nowhere near a normal year, and it was fun (and a little weird) to get on a favorite (and challenging) fishing hole with some clean, sixty-degree water on the second day of spring.

Stats
Date: March 21, 2012
Location: Lake Storey
Time: 8:50am-3:20pm
Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy/very windy
Air Temp: 65-80F
Water Temp: 63-65F
Totals: 5 bass, 3 walleye, 1 muskie (Troy – 5 bass, 1 walleye, 1 muskie, Dad – 2 walleye)
Lures: Booyah Spinnerbait (snow white) – 4 bass, 1 muskie, Bomber Flat A (baby bass) – 1 bass, Strike King KVD 1.5 Square Bill crankbait (sexy shad) – 1 walleye, Rapala DT10 (parrot) – 1 walleye, Strike King Bleeding Bait spinnerbait (bleeding white) – 1 walleye
Top Bass: 3-1 (Troy)
Weight (2 bass > 12”): 4-6 (3-1, 1-5)

Notes and Nonsense

Walleye World – Dad’s first fish was a 14” walleye on a crankbait, one of three we’d combine for on the outing. I’d later pick up a 19” and Dad would take the crown with a 20” catch on a spinnerbait which was kind of odd.

Figure Eight Success – I am not a muskie fisherman, tried it, spent some dollars, enjoyed the challenge but I’m a bass guy at heart. But good, old Lake Storey has her share of surprises like when I alerted Dad that I had a follow. I instinctively did a rather ugly “Figure 8” to no avail, showed Dad with my hands that it was only about 24” and then realized the fish was back looking at my lure as I had yet to lift it from the water. Cue “Figure 8” number two and the fish exploded on my bait. Having about three feet of line out I hit the thumb bar, let the fish run a bit, Dad dipped him up and I had my first ever successful hookup on the crazy, last-ditch technique. Awesome stuff from a fish that somehow was more clueless than the fisherman.

Top Bass – Our final fish of the day came off of a windblown, riprap bank in less than two feet of water. Wind, weather, and water conditions were good but it’s still hard to believe we got fish so shallow on March 21. I love it as I’m a shallow guy (in angling parlance only) and a firm believer that there is no such thing as too shallow when conditions are right. The stocky 3-1 bass provided a nice finish to what is always a challenge as Lake Storey can be tough. I’m not “Mr. Excitable” but I couldn’t suppress a fist pump as Dad hoisted her aboard with a fine job of dipping.

This trip was a perfect example of why you never give up as our last hour and a half on the water produced three bass (two “keepers” although we’re strictly catch and release), two walleye and a muskie. I won’t pretend that I’m always brimming with confidence; I get down just like the next guy, maybe more. But its finishes like this one that get me to thinking that maybe I have learned a thing or two about this pursuit over the last twenty-five plus years.

In the ten years since this outing, I have not made a spring visit to Lake Storey. After reading this fish story, however, the wheels are turning. Talk to you later. Troy

About this time annually, I begin to ponder the first catch of the year. Not being much of an icefisherman, that means open water and that aspect can vary by about a month from year to year. In the case of today’s flashback, I was able to get my first casts in a few days prior to my typical March goal. Below is the original post for the outing as related while blogging on the Heartland Outdoors website. Relying on old blog posts sometimes feels like cheating but it’s hard to beat the fresh, original version of the fish story.

Originally posted 2-28-2012

Early season, clear, frigid water and limited time to fish make for what I generally refer to as a “one bite outing.” Essentially, I’m looking for one bite, hoping it’s a solid hit and counting on being able to execute on my end of the line. I’m certainly not opposed to multiple opportunities but looking at it realistically, other bites would simply be icing on the cake. As pictured below, my one (and only) bite worked out.

Original log entry from February 26, 2012

Date: February 26, 2012
Location: Snakeden Hollow – various lakes (see below)
Time: 2:10pm-5:30pm (1.75 hours fishing, the rest walking/driving)
Weather: Sunny/very windy
Air Temp: 55F
Water Temp: 44F
Totals: 1 bass
Lures: Yum Wooly Curltail (green pumpkin) – 1 bass (12.5”)
Top Bass: 0-12

Notes and Nonsense

Four Targets – Snakeden presents a wide array of options when exploring on foot. So, during the twenty-five-minute drive I usually change my mind several times before arriving at some sort of a gameplan. For this trip I narrowed it down to four rather specific targets.

Target One (2:25pm-2:55pm) – My memory did not serve me too well as a downed tree in West Turkey Lake had deteriorated and was a bit too shallow even for me on February 26. After a handful of casts with the trusty old jig & pig (black & blue) in the deeper water nearby I chalked up my eighteen-minute walk to a waste of time.

Target Two (3:15pm-3:45pm) – A nameless, narrow 100-yard cut that I’ve named Pepper Lake (another story) features one stretch of deeper water where I hoped all of the 12-16” residents would be stacked. I’ve seen bass up to two pounds here, but I was just looking for any bite while hoping to put the jig & pig in front of a taker. The “shooting fish in a barrel” concept didn’t produce either.

Target Three (4:45pm-5:00pm) – A spot I call the South Crater is a depression about the size of a baseball infield and features a small, sunken fir tree that is partially visible in one corner. Despite being a regular early season producer, it also let me down on the jig & pig.

Target Four (5:00pm-5:30pm) – A downed tree in the North Crater (similar setup to its southern companion) was my last chance and a Yum Wooly Curltail (pictured below) broke up the shutout (described below).

Yum Wooly Curltail, a great cold water bait

Sight Fishing – As I crawled my grub around the downed tree a bass came into view in about six feet of water in front of me. Shortly it was joined by four others, so I gently cast beyond the school, dropped the grub amongst them and then proceeded to shake it in place on the bottom. My initial attempt didn’t produce but on my second shot, one of the fish went nose down, picked up the bait and got a surprise (and a photo). Fortunately, I was in a protected area as the windy conditions would have made it impossible to see these fish elsewhere even in the typically clear strip pit waters.

2012 First Bass

“Still the Same” (Different Body Part) – Hearkening back to a blog entry from last year (2011) where I lamented the occasional failings of a forty something body, here we go again. Last August it was a bum knee that prompted me to use the Bob Seger classic “Like A Rock” to contemplate the changes between eighteen and forty-four. Well, the rock legend gives me a hand yet again as I’m “Still The Same” at forty-four only this time around my roadwork/treadmill runs have produced a bad heel that was less than enthused about strip mine terrain fit for a mountain goat.

I always get a kick out of being able to work in some song titles or lyrics in a fishing report, so it is fun for me to revisit these old posts. And speaking of old, the above post is ten years old meaning that by this summer I am going to have to work in a tune that references “55”. And yes, I already have one in mind. Talk to you later. Troy

Time flies when you’re telling fish stories so here we go with the final round of the series that kicked off in 2018

I kicked off the Friday Flashback series on March 16, 2018, with the goal of being able to ride it out for a five-year stretch. You see, I figured that by focusing the flashbacks on five-year increments from the current year, I could provide weekly Friday content through 2022.

Well, believe it or not, we’re here.

But much has changed since the inception of Friday Flashback, especially over the last two years. And this year, the major disruption knocked me down for a couple weeks and put a damper on just about everything, including blogging. I just didn’t have the energy for it, and I am still trying to play catch up. Due to the combination of that bump in the road, the annual bout of Cabin Fever and my common practice of avoiding winter, blogging has been sparse. In fact, I recently realized that I had failed to kick off my Friday posts last week as intended.

Therefore, we’re going to go with an intro on Monday and the start of the series on a Tuesday before getting back on the Friday track.

So, whether you’ve missed the blog or not, it’s back. Of course, the events and catches for the 2022 fishing year have yet to unfold. However, count on a final run of Friday Flashback for a weekly read from now through the end of November. Talk to you later. Troy

What’s a year of fishing without some partners to share the adventure and make some memories?

Primarily, those partners were family. The year started with my brother, Brent, and I hiking into Snakeden Hollow just like we’ve done for over 30 years. As spring rolled on, I got my boys, Jayce and Zac, dialed in to some strip mine fish. We later joined forces with Papa and some waxworms to fool a batch of Lake Storey bluegill. During the summer, it was good to get Dad back out in the big boat for some bass fishing al Lake Storey and Little John, spots we’ve fished together forever. Brent and I also prowled the strip mines on several occasions and Jayce and I joined up with Jim Junk for a morning adventure as well. Fall found me on Lake Storey with Brent and crossing paths with my friend, John Kirkemo, whom I have corresponded with on and off the water for several years. John and I also swapped fish stories and more on a couple occasions including an entertaining night around the campfire with my family.

Plenty of highlights but I must say the trips with my boys are a trip. Somehow, we wind up with a focus on sustenance both before and after we focus on the fish. The menu included Oreo Bites, Takis, Hot Fries, beef jerky, sodas, chocolate milk and a Culver’s drive thru. Long ago, I learned that’s what dads do as part of the outdoor adventure. However, when I was kid, the closest thing to a convenience store was The Trading Post in Monmouth which was always good for a soda pop and a bag of Sterzing’s potato chips. Of course, there’s also some bloopers, some trash talk and some entertaining conversation ranging from Fortnite (a video game) to Mr. Beast (a YouTuber) to superheroes to flatulence and more.

Lots of fun as we created a new batch of memories and fish stories.

In closing I would like to give a shout out to an old fishing friend who unexpectedly passed away last August.

RIP to my old friend, Larry Smith (1949-2021). I’ve known Larry and shared fish stories with him since the 1980s. He was the guide for me and my brother, Brent, in July 1987 when we first set eyes on an unnamed and off-limits lake that would later become Snakeden Hollow’s Lake McMaster. For the last dozen years, Larry and I have swapped fish stories via email and crossed paths on an old favorite fishing hole, Lake Storey. We could have easily written a book with the hundreds of longwinded, rambling emails over the years. Just a few days before he passed, I received an email and text about his latest catch on his favorite bait, a Gulp Minnow.

“Two days ago, caught a musky at Lake Storey to complete my catching every species of fish that swims there on a Gulp minnow.”

A good man and a talented fisherman, I sure do miss his fish stories.

Talk to you later. Troy