Strip Mine Report – June 11

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Well, my folks took my boys for a couple days this week and my girls (Julie included) really don’t mind if I stay out of the way so guess what I decided to do on Tuesday?

Yep, even was able to ditch work a few hours early to hit the fishing hole. That fact convinced me that I needed to invest in the extra drive time to some of my favorite ground rather than dinking around closer to home at the often stubborn (and currently dirty) portion of Lost Grove Lake.

However, the Knox County strip mine bass started out rather tight-lipped too before a late rally saved the day.

Stats

Date: June 11, 2019
Location: Knox County, IL private strip mines (2 lakes)
Time: 3:15pm-8:45pm (5.25 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy/breezy to windy
Air Temp: 80-72F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 11 bass
Lures:
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (watermelon/crème laminate or natural shad) – 7 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 3 bass
Booyah Pad Crasher Frog (cricket frog) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-11 (Senko)
Top 5 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 5-7 (1-11,1-7,1-7,0-14)

4:49pm the first “keeper” on a tough late afternoon/early evening bite 15″ 1-7 Senko

Notes and Nonsense

3:42pm First bass and thanks Landon for the inspiration (details below)

Frog Inspiration – Leaving work at 1:00pm I then ran by home to pack my lunch and supper before hitting the road and decided to check my email. Pretty cool when you have a fishing report to greet you just as you are headed out the door. The report from some Knox County water from fishing friend, John Kirkemo, noted, “No action until Landon brought out his Walmart- bought scum frog which he had never used. He cast the lure on the vegetation a few times before he started to get hits. The fish or fishes kept after the frog until one was hooked. The fish was immediately caught up in the weeds, so we had to go after him with the boat. We didn’t see the fish until we had scooped a pile of weeds with the net.” That presentation also boated my first bass of the day and was my first frog bass since July 6, 2014. A tip of the floppy hat to the young Top 5 angler, Landon Hannam, for inspiring an old dog to try an old trick.

Things just look ugly out there this year, I blame the crazy spring weather but who knows 

Dirty Water – I suppose it is largely a factor of the monsoon-like spring we experienced but my strip mine water is really a mess. It is quite dingy which puts a damper on my buzzbait bite as I had at least half a dozen bass come up short and a couple more come unbuttoned as they likely weren’t hooked very well. It also diminishes the effectiveness of the Senko which shines a bit more in less stained water. In addition to the clarity aspect, the surface vegetation bears an ugly and unhealthy looking hue in the shallow surface mats and floating clumps. Finally, random strands of floating weeds and a fair amount of cottonwood fuzz add some frustration. And then there’s the gnats…

8:01pm finally back on the board with another “keeper” as a late rally kicked in 12″ 0-14 Buzzbait

8:14pm Top Bass 15.5″ 1-11 Senko

Late Night Bite – With sunny skies to start the day I knew it could be slow and I was pleased to see the forecast called for things to cloud up as the evening progressed. I tried to keep my head up after three bass in the first three hours knowing that the low light conditions of dusk/sunset and cloud cover combo held potential. Thank goodness for a good finale as eight bass in the last couple hours turned it into a decent outing.

8:35pm crunch time with a 15″ 1-7 on a buzzbait but ran out of time on a fifth “keeper” to complete a “limit”

While I didn’t get any of the big buzzbait bites that I know are out there, I was happy to find an extra day on the water to get my fix. Also got my tune fix on the ride down (bad Cubs performance took over the airwaves on the way home) so look for Trip Tunes post this weekend on the heels of tomorrow’s weekly Friday Flashback. Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

A regular smorgasbord this week with three species and I believe from three different counties.

Weight: 1-10
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: May 31
Location: Snakeden Hollow
Lure: Senko wacky rig
Top 5 Weight: 1-10
Editor’s Note: After hearing that Brent had fooled a qualifier I asked him if he had a picture. His response was “Yep, it’s a Jim Junk shot.” Had to laugh and indeed looks rather familiar.

Length: 34-35”
Angler: Chris Schwarz
Date: June 2
Location: Spring Lake – McDonough County
Lure: Squarebill crankbait (bluegill)
Structure: Submerged trees
Angler Comments: This was a lot of fun! Caught this fish on a bluegill colored square bill and it gave me a 10 minute fight of pulling drag craziness! I believe this is a blue cat, but maybe some of our catfish experts can help me out? My scale only read 6 pounds, but this fish measured around 34-35 inches, which would put it in the 15-17 pound range according to most length to weight conversion charts. I can tell you that it was way more than 6 pounds, ha!
Top 5 Length: 34-35”

Weight: 1-8
Angler: Teagan Mills
Date: June 2
Location: Private pond
Top 5 Weight: 1-8

Thanks guys for the variety, always good to see some fish in the Inbox and have something to offer on Mondays. I am trying to work out a time to chase some bass with the guy who posted the bass for today’s update so stay tuned. Not sure what sort of stunt we will pull but I’ve got one idea that could be interesting. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – June 11, 1994

Posted on by Troy Jackson

For several years, Bassmaster held a Superstars tourney which featured all the heavy hitters from back in the day. Folks like Jimmy Houston, Roland Martin, Larry Nixon, Gary Klein, Denny Brauer, newcomer Kevin VanDam and Hank Parker.

That last guy was the rooting interest of me and Brent as we took a weekend drive down to the Peoria Civic Center to check out the final weigh-in. We weren’t disappointed as it was an exciting finish although our man Hank wound up getting edged out at the end by O.T. Fears III.

Final standings as a four-pound final day kicker fish pushes O.T. Fears III past our favorite.

Twenty-four years later, I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Hank Parker at the QCCA Outdoor Show. I mentioned that me and my brother were pulling for him all those years ago and he launched into a discussion of the tourney with me as if I was his regular fishing buddy, pretty cool.

A reunion of sorts as as me and Hank wind up in the same place in a different locale 24 years later.

I purchased a souvenir t-shirt at that event and as I am prone to do, wore it until it wore out. Initially it was just a regular part of my limited wardrobe but once it began to get a bit threadbare it became a fishing shirt.

And a darn good one at that as evidenced by more than a few pics in the outdoor albums.

August 14, 2001 and July 12, 2002

June 25, 2003 (a double) and July 23, 2004

May 11, 2005 (another double) and August 16, 2006

July 21, 2010

Good memories all the way around and if you’ve got about twenty minutes to spare sometime you can check out this YouTube recap of the tourney.

As the camera pans that crowd of 9,000 fishing fans, somewhere out there is a pair of West Central Illinois fishing brothers who were there to cheer on some of their fishing heroes. Talk to you later. Troy

Lost Grove Lake Report – June 2

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Early departure required to catch sunrise on the water this time of the year.

I wasn’t sure if I would fork over the dough for a Non-Resident Iowa fishing license this year but broke down last weekend. On the upside, the regular haunt over the river is only a 25 minute drive. On the downside, I still have yet to figure out how to fool any of the quality bass that I’ve seen firsthand and in scattered reports over the last several years.

Spoiler Alert – This was it for the morning, one lone bass

Stats

Date: June 2, 2019
Location: Lost Grove Lake – Scott County, IA
Time: 5:35am-8:05am (2.25 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/windy
Air Temp: 56-58F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 1 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (bleeding shad) – 1 bass
No bass at 12” or better

Brief clip of the lone catch, a well placed cast along a laydown in flooded timber got it done. Duplicated the cast in dozens more similar spots with nary a strike.

Notes and Nonsense

Bugs, Boats and Breeze – While it’s always good to find time to get on the water, this trip turned out to be a bit frustrating. For starters, my normal area was too muddy so I had to drive uplake in search of clearer water for a second drag of my boat to the water. No surprise as the gnats were terrible but just had to grin and bear it. Two parking lots totaling 50 trailers and a couple dozen other vehicles got me reminiscing about the days when I used to have weekdays off and generally owned the water. Finally, a stiff breeze is not angler friendly to a guy in a rowboat.

A couple shots of lots and I’m sure the third launch was just as packed, they were still coming as I was leaving.

Limitations – In regards to that last aspect, oars just don’t lend themselves to rapidly relocating to a better or less crowded spot. And on this day, there was no such thing as less crowded as any direction I looked there was a boat or half dozen or ten. Often I can get into some locations where bigger boats can’t go but even those presented a challenge as there were few open lanes to traverse without infringing on someone else’s spot.

The lake was littered with dead fish including some crappie that were pushing the 12″ mark.

Dead Sea – While I wasn’t constantly checking the other anglers, the only person I saw landing fish was a bank angler who fooled a pair on a point while casting a crankbait. What I did see was a multitude of dead bluegill and crappie anywhere I rowed and some pretty decent sized ones in the mix. Tough to say the cause but perhaps something in the runoff from the overabundance of rain took them out.

So, while it was interesting to see a new section of the 400-acre lake I really don’t know when I will be back to get some more use out of my Iowa license. I definitely would like to take a shot at my regular portion of the lake but when you can barely see the skirt on your buzzbait at boatside it’s going to be while until the water clears up.

Friday Flashback coming your way tomorrow and beyond that will have to see when I can get away again. Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Stats

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Another month means another round of Top 5 Stats. Been a lean year in most respects but here’s hoping for an uptick in activity as we head to summer and hopefully leave the “Monsoon Season” behind.

2019 Totals (* = new record)
January = 1 bass
February = no submissions
March = 8 bass
April = 14 bass
May = 11 bass

Top 5 Weight by Month (* = new record)
January = 3-3 (one bass)
February = no submissions
March = 19-3 (4-8,4-2,4-1,3-5,3-3)
April = 19 -10 (4-1,4-1,4-0,3-12,3-12)
May = 19-1 (4-6,4-0,3-15,3-10,3-2)

Boat vs. Bank
Boat = 3 bass
Bank = 31 bass

Boat vs. Bank Weight (* = new record)
Boat = 4-3 (2-4.1-2, 0-13)
Bank = 21-2 (4-8,4-2,4-6,4-1,4-1)

Public vs. Private
Public = 26 bass
Private = 8 bass

Public vs. Private Top 5 Weight
Public = 21-2 (4-8,4-6,4-2,4-14-1)
Private = 14-1 (3-10,3-2,2-10,2-7,2-4)

The Baits (* = new record)
Chatterbait = 10 bass (Top Bass 4-2 Jim Junk)
Lipless Crankbaits = 7 bass (Top Bass 4-8 Jim Junk)
Spinnerbaits = 7 bass (Top Bass 3-10 Chris Schwarz)
Jigs = 3 bass (Top Bass 2-10 Troy Jackson)
Plastic Worm = 3 bass (Top Bass 4-0 Jim Junk)
Underspin = 2 bass (Top Bass 4-6 Jim Junk)
Buzzbait = 1 bass (Top Bass 2-4 Troy Jackson)
Livebait = 1 bass (Top Bass 4-1 Jim Junk)

Monthly Top Bass (* = new record)
January
3-3 Jim Junk
February
No submissions
March
4-8 Jim Junk
April
4-1 Jim Junk
May
4-6 Jim Junk

Top 10 Bass (* = new Top 10 all-time)
4-8 Jim Junk 3/28
4-2 Jim Junk 3/30
4-6 Jim Junk 5/14
4-1 Jim Junk 3/31
4-1 Jim Junk 4/10
4-1 Jim Junk 4/13
4-0 Jim Junk 4/13
4-0 Jim Junk 5/19
3-15 Jim Junk 5/18
3-12 Jim Junk 4/24

Angler Weights
Jim Junk 21-2 (4-8,4-6,4-2,4-1,4-1)
Chris Schwarz 14-1 (3-10,3-2,2-10,2-7,2-4)
Troy Jackson 10-14 (2-10,2-4,2-3,2-0,1-13)
Landon Hannam 1-2 (1-2)

Other Species
13-0 Channel Catfish Teagan Mills 4/20/19 Private Pond

The extended forecast in the region looks a little drier and sure wouldn’t think it could get much wetter. Hope some folks have a chance to get out there on the water and don’t forget your favorite bug spray. Talk to you later. Troy

Buzzbait Bite Behavior – Part II

Posted on by Troy Jackson

No Top 5 fish to report this week so I’ll run with a final piece from my May 27 outing. Today’s post features some footage of an effective follow up presentation after a missed strike on a buzzbait.

In the video below you can hear the buzzbait skip a beat at roughly the six second mark and see the resulting ripple in the water. Telltale signs of a missed strike and one of those things that you learn to recognize and differentiate from contact with surface debris such as floating vegetation which can also cause a hiccup in the retrieve. In the case of a weed or stick, however, there is no ringed ripple spreading out after a collision.

So what do you do upon finding that you have encountered an interested fish who didn’t quite get the job done?

One option is to fire the lure back out a ways beyond where the missed strike occurred and run it back through the strike zone. This can do the trick although I like this approach more so with a stickbait like a Zara Spook to elicit a second strike as a floating lure allows for a little more variance in retrieve.

With the buzzbait I like to go with a sinking lure pitched into the spot where the strike occurred. My go to lure in this case is usually a wacky rigged worm as I rarely am without one tied on from May through September, a similar timeframe for my buzzbait presentation as well.

 

The sinking lure follow-up worked like a charm with immediate results in this instance. Not a big fish by any means but always cool when a tactic works like you intend.

I managed a few hours on the water over The River this past weekend with disappointing results. But, as promised, you get the bad with the good when it comes to fishing reports so stay tuned later this week. I also hope to get a Top 5 stat recap posted to get us up to speed through May. Hope you’ll stop by and talk to you later. Troy

Buzzbait Bite Behavior – Part I

Posted on by Troy Jackson

So here’s some cool buzzbait footage and a bit of a fishing lesson from my May 27 outing.

I’ve compiled this clip to first show the strike and follow-up cast in real time, followed by a zoom view of both casts and finally a zoom view in slow motion. On the initial cast, watch the wake come from the left as bass zeroes in on a meal. This is one of the coolest things to observe when topwater fishing and while it happens very quickly it is interesting what transpires in terms of an experienced angler’s brain and muscle memory. Standard operating procedure in topwater fishing states that one should resist the urge to set the hook until you actually feel the fish. Observing the wake prior to the impending strike sure doesn’t make it any easier to remain calm in that split second as you wait to see if the predator’s aim is true. Even after decades of fishing and likely thousands of topwater strikes it can still be a challenge to not set the hook too soon.

Take a look at the video and read on for some further thoughts.

 

What’s also interesting and kind of weird is the same bass surfacing as my follow-up cast approaches. I’ve seen this behavior many times after busting off a bass hooked on a topwater lure. Often the bass will surface with a head shake to dislodge a bait such as a Zara Spook or buzzbait. My speculation in those instances is that the bass knows something just isn’t right and continues to try and dislodge the bait just as it would during a leap when that lure is still tied to your line.

In the case of this missed bass, I theorize that its mouth/brain was still registering the feeling of a hook thus a similar reaction minus a lure being stuck in the lip. To know for sure, I would have to ask the bass and I would guess that we are not on speaking terms. And who could blame him? I’d be a little upset and perhaps embarrassed as well. Hopefully not too long of a memory though as one of these days I’ll likely be back to pester him and his buddies again.

While I cast the buzzbait back for a second chance in this case, there is actually another technique which can be employed to see if the bass can be tempted to bite again. And as luck would have it, I wound up using just such a trick later in the day. That video and discussion is up next as we continue to explore the entertaining pursuit of bass fishing. Talk to you later. Troy

One Hungry Bass

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Every once in a while you land a bass that provides a clue as to what the fish are eating. It may be the telltale fish tail indicating a baitfish meal or perhaps the hairlike antennae in the throat that signify a crawdad dinner.

This catch was of the latter persuasion and there was no doubt what it had for breakfast as shown in the video below.

 

Pretty crazy stuff when considering that this bass was geared up for another meal before finishing the previous one. And this fish sure didn’t care where that next bite was coming from in light of bottom dwelling prey for breakfast and the immediate attack of a topwater bait on my catch. Kind of fun and a bit of insight into what these predators are really all about. As tough as they can be to fool sometimes, they are built to kill and are quite effective at doing just that throughout the water column.

Back again tomorrow with further proof of that aggression and an additional bit of odd behavior courtesy of another piece of interesting fishing footage. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – June 9, 1999

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Today’s catch comes from a time when I used to have a big lake in my backyard.

Lake Bracken sits south of Galesburg, covers about 170 acres and intermittently over the course of 20 plus years I saw them all. Funny thing with this fish though is that I caught it about as far from my backyard as one could get. That particular stretch of bank running east from the lone boat ramp was always good for a few bites but this fish was easily the biggest of that bunch over the years.

No surprise on the lure that fooled it as “The Blue Glimmer” was a Lake Bracken standout and an overall solid producer in the 90s. It has long been out of production but I do have one more left and several others that are banged up and need dressed with new skirts. I did bust one out a couple years ago at Lake Storey but sadly it lost a blade after fooling a few bass. Not sure if I’ll unveil the lone “new” one I have left or just keep it in the package for old time’s sake.

While this was a good fish, a look at the log indicates that it otherwise wasn’t a very productive outing. In fact, I only managed one other short bass during three hours on the water. Oh well, if I am only going to fool a couple bass it sure is nice when one of them tops the four-pound mark.

Talk to you later. Troy

Strip Mine Report – May 27

Posted on by Troy Jackson

2019 is off to a slow fishing start with a slew of responsibilities and an abundance of rainy weather keeping me from getting on the water. The former I can handle no problem, got more important things to do as a husband and parent. The latter, well, I have grown weary of the nearly constant rain this month. Can’t control the weather though and certainly understand that lack of fishing is a mere inconvenience compared to the rain related hardships faced by many in the area.

Weather was a big theme on this day as noted in this video intro and recap of the trip

Stats

Date: May 27, 2019
Location: Knox County, IL private strip mines (2 lakes)
Time: 11:45am-2:20pm
Weather: Partly cloudy to overcast/breezy to windy
Air Temp: 74F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 9 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad or bleeding shad) – 6 bass
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (watermelon/crème laminate) – 2 bass
Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (bluegill) with twin tail trailer (salt and pepper) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-4
Top 5 Weight (only 2 at 12” or better): 3-5 (2-4,1-1)

Winning lures of the outing, some true favorites

Notes and Nonsense

MVP – West Central Illinois is saturated and finally forced my hand to drop a few dollars on a new pair of boots. Blaine’s Farm & Fleet came through with a reasonable price, just hope these will last me as long as my old Northerners. Their decade plus term of service was admirable but too many ripped up patches would have left me with wet socks on this outing. The new boots get my vote as most valuable piece of equipment on this trip.

Video clip I call “Boots and Bookend Bad Weather”

“And I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain?” – Who’ll Stop the Rain – Credence Clearwater Revival (1970)
Torrential rains greeted me on the way to the fishing hole despite only a 40% chance per the forecast. I actually pulled over at the Pilot gas station outside Woodhull and waited for 15 minutes pondering just going back home. Glad I stuck it out for a few hours on the water and got my May bass. Oh yeah, on the way home it was raining so hard as I neared Galva that it was tough to see. It never ends…storming again as I type this, in fact.

Workout – The soggy conditions had me concerned about reaching my fishing holes without getting stuck or tearing up the lane I looked to traverse. My concerns were correct as I stopped part way in to inspect on foot and elected to pull the boat out and drag it the rest of the way rather than risk it. Getting a bit more challenging to pull this stunt as the years add up but you gotta do what you gotta do when you have a chance to do it.

First May bass of 2019 and Top Bass of the day

May Bass – After a shutout and one missed buzzbait strike on an extremely weed choked lake I switched to Plan B. Water conditions were quite pleasant on my second stop and only a few casts after launching I had a long overdue May bass in hand. Icing on the cake was a Top Bass of 2-4 for a bit of a boost to my 2019 creel. Missed a couple others on a buzzbait that would have helped also but such is fishing, just happy to get out.

The other “keeper” on the day 13.5″ and 1-1, got some interesting video to come on this greedy catch

Overall, a successful storm shortened outing and great to fool a few of my favorite fish while getting reacquainted with the Senko and buzzbait (both bites are in gear so give ‘em a go). Also had some interesting strikes and catches caught on the GoPro which I always find fun. Looking to pass along those items after the latest Friday Flashback. Good luck if you get out, send me those Top 5 fish and talk to you later. Troy