“Ooo, have another hit…of fresh air.”

Fresh Air – Quicksilver Messenger Service (1970)

Phipps Prairie Park in Silvis, IL with Carly – April 29, 2018

It’s been a long winter and we’ve still got a ways to go. Already a heaping helping of all that the season has to offer with piles of snow, record low temps, ice storms and several cancelled school days. I’ve certainly had enough and eagerly await spring.

Today’s picture epitomizes that season. A little green starting to line the forest trail for hikers clad in comfy sweatshirts and old pairs of tennis shoes. And yes, one of these hikers is actually wearing two different shoes courtesy of a creek crossing that was only 50% successful. Fortunately, her sister was willing to part with a dry shoe in exchange for one that wasn’t.

In this shot, Carly and I are bringing up the rear of a family hike through a postage stamp sort of park mere minutes’ drive from home. The spot is called Phipps Prairie Park and it’s tucked into a corner between the hustle and bustle of Avenue of The Cities and Illinois Route 5 (before it turns into John Deere Road). A cool little parcel of green space featuring a picnic shelter, playground and hiking trails. An ideal spot to pack along your family, a picnic basket and your field guides for a bite to eat, a little exercise and some outdoor education.

In regards to the latter of those items, I need to break out some more of the field guides in 2019 for a Jackson family version of a Bio Blitz. Most of them have been tucked away for too long in a box in the basement, certainly the last place a field guide should reside. Really kind of shameful for a guy with a biology degree.

So here’s to some more family time outdoors in 2019 with field guides in hand. Time to get back to the days when a likely answer to the question “What is your favorite book?” would be the Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers.

C’mon spring. Talk to you later. Troy

“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

“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

“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