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

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

You know all of that stuff that you learned during your formal education that you never really get to use?

Well, a blog can do wonders for bringing some of that good, old useless knowledge to the surface as one ponders a post.

“PB” was always a fun bit of trivia when it came to the Periodic Table of Elements as it strangely represented the abbreviation for lead. But, if you were a fellow with two years of high school Latin and two more semesters in college, well, it made perfect sense. Lead is plumbum, of course. (Shout out to Mrs. Buck and Professor Vander Muelen) And sticking to Latin and Chemistry, as for the “J” in today’s title, there is no J in Latin thus not surprising that the letter does not appear in the Periodic Table.

Okay, enough showing off as the acronym, “PB”, stands for “Personal Best” and can be applied in a number of pursuits, generally in athletics. Today it is being used in the world of bass fishing and pertains to the fish landed in the video below by my boy, Jayce, on Cinco de Mayo.

 

Obviously, I dig this video as it is not only an admirable catch but it also brings to mind a couple other thoughts as I watch it again. I’ve marked these items with arrows in the snapshot below taken from the video right as Jayce’s Senko splashed down.

First up, I nearly blurted out that I didn’t think Jayce’s cast was long enough to fool a fish. Luckily, the bass struck immediately and saved me from the documented embarrassment of not minding my own business and just letting the boy fish without unnecessarily critiquing such details. He got it in the water which means he got it right.

The second item concerns the lure on the end of my pole at the lower right of the pic. For what it’s worth, it’s a Whopper Plopper as I was dinking around hoping to show Jayce the thrilling blast of a topwater strike. After Jayce’s catch I put it away and stuck to observing and filming in between some bluegill casts. As I watched and listened to his increasing confidence I knew that it was not the time to risk lucking into a bass that would possibly knock him off of the Top Bass throne. It was his day and he was putting on a good show, he didn’t need a cameo from some old wannabe bass fisherman.

Grand totals on the day saw Jayce nab six bass with a Top 5 Weight of 7-8 and a couple bonus crappie. As for me, I’ve never been more content to leave the lake without a bass, perfectly satisfied with eight bluegill in between playing fan, fishing guide, videographer and best of all, Dad. Talk to you later. Troy

I have scoured the internet on several occasions in search of an old advertisement that offered up the tagline “there’s big fish in Iowa” or something quite similar. I want to say that it was a tourism spot but could very well have been pitching a product of some sort.

Just don’t know.

What I do know is that I’ve had some difficulty finding those big fish so it is not only the advertisement search that has proven elusive. I’ve only been fishing Iowa waters since June 2016 and exclusively on the relatively new Lost Grove Lake so my attempts have been rather limited. To date, my personal best Iowa bass is a 2-3 from June 2017 among the 106 bass in the log from just under 40 hours of casting in The Hawkeye State.

The clip below represents the Top Iowa Bass for 2018, not a particularly impressive specimen but worthy of a video highlight nonetheless.

 

Even though I have yet to fool anything real special on Lost Grove, I still plan on giving it another shot in 2019. The proximity of a 25-minute drive makes it a good after work weekday trip once the summer days get long. A couple evening hours hits the spot and I do know that some good ones do indeed prowl that water. I’ve seen a couple on internet reports as well as several firsthand swimming in the waters.

But the toughest one to take was a 4-pounder that a fellow nabbed from the bank within a cast of my boat and right where I was headed. Tough luck for me as he simply got there first. Initially a little bummed, I took a mental step back, congratulated him on the catch and even assisted him by loaning my pliers and snapping a couple pics for him with his phone.

Best of all, that fish is still swimming, right alongside my 2-3 Iowa personal best as they were both caught in the same area. And as both were fooled in 2017, they’ll have two more years of growing under their belts for 2019 (yes, I do know bass do not wear belts). Talk to you later. Troy