Month: August 2019

Lake George Report – August 4

Posted on by Troy Jackson

 

Forgot I had an old topo map, lot of good it did me in the basement

Seems like about every year I get around to writing one of these blog entries.

Yep, the dreaded shutout.

It is what it is and I tell it like it is. Never claimed to be a better fisherman than anybody else, just like to fish and tell. And if you fish, you should tell the bad with the good.

So, here we go with the scant details, some notes and a little bonus reminiscing in advance of tomorrow’s weekly Friday Flashback.

61-mile roundtrip and 38 minutes ramp to driveway, a lesser commute than my Knox County dwelling days

Stats

Date: August 4, 2019
Location: Lake George – Rock Island County, IL
Time: 6:30pm-8:00pm
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy
Air Temp: 88F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 0 bass

Notes and Nonsense

Scenery – Lake George is a nice looking lake with an abundance of attractive shoreline cover, good water clarity and very few weeds. I took a couple shots in order to have something from the day to offer in lieu of zero bass. Also spotted an attractive young lady on one of those paddleboard things. May have to get me one of those (paddleboard) as they evidently get the paddler in some darn good shape.

Nice two lane boat ramp on east side of lake near one of the campgrounds

Excuses – Too hot, too deep too quick, too sunny, too long away to remember much about the lake, too much forage…too bad I failed to figure anything out.

Been a while, July 1997 and May 2000 but actually fooled a couple fish all those years ago

Flashback Logs – As noted by the original log entries and the database above, I did manage to fool a few bass at Lake George back in the day. Both were part of camping trips in 1997 and 2000 with my girlfriend and we’re still going strong headed towards wedding anniversary number seventeen.

July 8, 1997 camping trip on Lake George

Flashback Pics – Now I know the weekly flashback is on Friday but couldn’t resist a few bonus shots of the 1997 Lake George camping trip with Julie. Kind of fun as I just fished out of that very same boat last weekend and noteworthy that my camping buddy still looks the same just over 22 years later. Her companion, well…

July 9, 1997 – peaceful outdoor dining, who knew we’d one day share the picnic table with four kids?

Thanks for hanging in there for the more or less annual “shutout” report. Friday Flashback up next and hopefully I will break the shutout streak when I have another chance to hit the water. Talk to you later. Troy

Lake Storey Report – August 3

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Took most of the morning to warm up but then got hot in a hurry

After not being in the boat together for a long time, Dad and I wound up on the water for back to back weekends with a trip to Lake Storey last Saturday. Normally not a summer destination, I’d been intrigued after a few recent jogs around the fishing hole as well as the success of my boy Jayce during a quick visit a week prior. Thus, we decided to battle the weeds and green water in hopes of also battling a few bass.

6:34am – One brave bass bites a bulky bait, basic bass behavior

Stats

Date: August 3, 2019
Location: Lake Storey – Knox County, IL
Time: 5:40am-11:40am
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy
Air Temp: 64-84F
Water Temp: 79-81F
Totals: 8 bass, 1 bluegill (Troy – 8 bass, Dad – 1 bluegill)
Lures:
Strike King KVD 2.5 Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad) – 3 bass
5” Yamasenko weighted wacky rig (watermelon/crème laminate) – 2 bass
Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (bluegill) – 2 bass
Rapala DT10 crankbait (parrot) – 1 bass
Rebel Ghost Minnow – 1 bluegill
Top Bass: 1-12
Top 5 Weight (only 3 at 12” or better): 3-11 (1-12,1-1,0-14)

Dad on the board with a feisty bluegill 

Notes and Nonsense

Front Ended? – For the second time in two weeks at Lake Storey, one angler came up bassless. In both cases, it sure wasn’t for lack of effort. And I can speak to one of the instances firsthand as my boy, Jayce, got me 4-0 during our couple hours on the water in late July. On that outing I was even up front on the trolling motor which is generally seen as advantage. Same spot for this outing and just one of those odd situations as Dad noted that he didn’t feel slighted on our targeted areas just couldn’t muster one of our target species although a bust off on a hookset left us to wonder.

8:24am (12.5″ 0-14) & 8:59am (13″ 1-1) trying to scrape out a Top 5 but only got a Top 3 at the end of the day

Snags – Beyond that busted bite that Dad experienced we did have a handful of snagged lures along the way but only lost one other bait. An errant cast of my Senko drilled it into a nasty stand of poison ivy where it became lodged. Rather than going all the way in after it I elected to clip the line as me and poison ivy have a long, ugly history. I did go in to retrieve a crankbait snagged at water’s edge to find that one treble was hooked into some old snagged fishing line, typically impossible to dislodge unless within reach.

Tech Break – Dad says “That’s not you, that’s me???” when I asked him to snap a pic of a catch

Top Bass – Prior to the last couple weeks it had been quite a few years since I had fished Lake Storey at full pool, instead opting for visits during the annual fall drawdown. As such there was a lot more fishable structure that was in the water as opposed to high and dry. Problem was, the abundance of shoreline vegetation made a lot of the brush and laydowns tough to fish. However, one particular piece of structure, a stump, sits deep enough to be submerged beyond the weedline and invisible to anglers not intimately familiar with the lake. I mentioned to Dad, “there’s a stump over there” as I cast my crankbait to find that there was also our Top Bass “over there.”

9:16am – Top Bass 15″ and 1-12 on squarebill crankbait 

Tiny Bass – There’s a baseball saying that “it looks like a line drive in the boxscore” when describing a blooper, Texas Leaguer, swinging bunt or seeing eye groundball that results in a hit. Such can also apply to catching a less than impressive bass as it still counts as a bass recorded in the log and the totals. As long as the angler is wise enough not to report the specific details or shoot a photo, nobody knows the difference. Well, I guess I suffer from some combination of not that wise and easily amused so what you see is what I catch.

10:56am – Last bass 6.5″, called it a day about 45 minutes later figuring we couldn’t outdo this one with a smaller catch

Nothing much to brag about but enough to keep us interested, actually a respectable quantity for us on a dog day Lake Storey trip. Definitely could have caught more and likely heavier on some of our strip mine water but there’s something to be said for a challenge. And Lake Storey always provides just that. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – August 2, 1999

Posted on by Troy Jackson

“Very superstitious…” – Superstition, Stevie Wonder (1972)

August 2, 1999 – Little John Conservation Club 20.5″ and 3-11 on a spinnerbait

Kind of fun when the lead pic is from exactly 20 years ago today.

And kind of weird when you look at the person in the mirror and ponder just how much superstition effects your routines and decisions. I suspect that for most of us it isn’t a question of “whether” but “how much.”

Participating in sports in my younger days, I employed “routines” aimed at repetition or consistency that were really just thinly veiled superstitions. Stand in the same spot on deck, three dribbles before a free throw, glove in the same place on the bench, that sort of thing.

Comfort type behavior, same applies to fishing, just have a look at today’s three fishing pictures from the summer of 1999. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

 

June 25, 1999 – 19.5″ and 3-3 spinnerbait and July 27, 1999 – 20″ 3-4 Zara Spook both from Little John

According to the old photo albums, the Bass Pro Shops shirt actually made its fishing trip shirt debut in 1995. And it came direct from Outdoor World when Brent and I made the nine hour pilgrimage to Springfield, MO back in 1992, a time when there was only one Bass Pro Shops.

As far as the original floppy hat, it broke onto the scene in 1999 and came from the Gurnee Mills Bass Pro Shops location. My girlfriend and I made that trek back in the day and me, her and the hat are still together over 20 years later. (Note: that would be Julie, now my wife, just to avoid any sort of weird, lurid confusion on the girlfriend thing).

Cool thing about the hat is that I had to bust it back out just last weekend as Floppy Hat V2.0 was in my truck at the local service station. Nabbed a near four-pounder on that trip, my largest bass of 2019, so maybe there truly is something to the whole superstition, good luck thing after all.

Just for fun, here is the old log entry from August 2, 1999

“Very superstitious, nothing more to say…”

Well, at least for today although I do have a whole pile of notes and a few old posts on the role of superstition in fishing. Some other time.

For now, give yourself a little escape and a smile today by clicking below. One fantastic, groovy cut written by a musical genius, performed by an eclectic, hip collection of players for an enthusiastic bunch of listeners (especially the youngster at the 4:10 mark). Trust me, you will not be disappointed, everything music should be.

Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Stats

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Eleven more bass join during the month of July to bring our 2019 total to 60. And what’s pretty cool about those catches is that they came from six different Top 5 anglers. The more, the merrier, as the saying goes. And how about a new Top Bass for the year from our Top 5 leader, Jim Junk.

2019 Totals (* = new record)
January = 1 bass
February = no submissions
March = 8 bass
April = 14 bass
May = 12 bass
June = 14 bass
July = 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)
June = 19-15 (4-3,4-1,4-1,3-15,3-11)
July = 13-15 (5-3,3-14,1-15,1-8,1-7)

Boat vs. Bank
Boat = 17 bass
Bank = 43 bass

Boat vs. Bank Weight (* = new record)
Boat = 14-0 (3-14,3-11,2-4,2-4,1-15)
Bank = 22-6 (5-3,4-8,4-2,4-6,4-3)

Public vs. Private
Public = 47 bass
Private = 13 bass

Public vs. Private Top 5 Weight
Public = 22-6 (5-3,4-8,4-6,4-2,4-3)
Private = 15-11 (3-14,3-10,3-2,2-10,2-7)

The Baits (* = new record)
Plastic Worm = 22 bass (Top Bass 4-3 Jim Junk)
Chatterbait = 11 bass (Top Bass 5-3 Jim Junk)
Lipless Crankbaits = 7 bass (Top Bass 4-8 Jim Junk)
Spinnerbaits = 8 bass (Top Bass 3-10 Chris Schwarz)
Buzzbait = 3 bass (Top Bass 2-4 Troy Jackson)
Jigs = 3 bass (Top Bass 2-10 Troy Jackson)
Crankbait = 2 bass (Top Bass 3-11 Chris Schwarz)
Underspin = 2 bass (Top Bass 4-6 Jim Junk)
Livebait = 1 bass (Top Bass 4-1 Jim Junk)
Topwater Frog = 1 bass (Top Bass 1-1 Landon Hannam)

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
June
4-3 Jim Junk
July
5-3 Jim Junk

Top 10 Bass (* = new Top 10 all-time)
5-3 Jim Junk 7/28
4-8 Jim Junk 3/28
4-6 Jim Junk 5/14
4-3 Jim Junk 6/14
4-2 Jim Junk 3/30
4-1 Jim Junk 3/31
4-1 Jim Junk 4/10
4-1 Jim Junk 4/13
4-1 Jim Junk 6/20
4-1 Jim Junk 6/28

Angler Weights
Jim Junk 22-6 (5-3,4-8,4-6,4-2,4-3)
Chris Schwarz 15-8 (3-11,3-10,3-2,2-10,2-7)
Troy Jackson 13-3 (3-14,2-10,2-4,2-4,2-3)
Brent Jackson 6-9 (1-12,1-10,1-2,1-1,1-0)
Landon Hannam 4-7 (1-4,1-2,1-1,1-0)
Terry Jackson 3-13 (1-15,1-1,0-13)
Jayce Jackson 2-13 (1-8,1-5)
John Kirkemo 2-12 (1-7,1-5)

Other Species
Bluegill 1-8 Teagan Mills 6/2/19 Private pond
Channel Catfish 13-0 Teagan Mills 4/20/19 Private Pond
Catfish 6-9 Chris Schwarz 6/12/19 Spring Lake – McDonough County
Catfish 34-35” Chris Schwarz 6/2/19 Spring Lake – McDonough County
Muskellunge 6-4 Chris Schwarz 6/28/19 Lake Storey

Always interesting to see what August holds in store as it is typically a down month in terms of contributions. The lingering “dog days” can have an effect and anglers with a full creel often find it to be a tall order to cull some of their catches. Including myself, most of us still have plenty of room for a 2019 boost. Here’s hoping some of us have an opportunity to get it done. And if you have any July stragglers, go ahead and send ‘em my way. Talk to you later. Troy