Month: October 2020

Much More Than Fishing

Posted on by Troy Jackson

At some point, most folks come to realize that a fishing trip ain’t just about the catch. I’ve always enjoyed the peripherals of outdoor adventures over the years whether fishing or trapping. Things like observing nature, shooting the breeze on the ride, razzing each other over breakfast, stopping for a treat on the way home and so on. Of course, as I have put a few more years behind me and added a wife and family to the equation, the outdoor perspective has continued to evolve. Earlier this week, the stars were aligned allowing for me, my son Jayce and Papa to get outdoors for some quality time. Here are some tunes, tales and treats with a handful of bass for icing on the cake.

I like my tunes on the ride and Jayce is developing a pretty solid appreciation and recognition of my 70s and 80s musical stomping grounds. Our mission during the commute time was to select the favorite jam that we heard while surfing the FM dial.

Top Tunes
Jayce – “Smooth Criminal”, Michael Jackson (1988)
Dad – “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, Alice Cooper (1973)
Papa – no selection as we were too busy telling stories for the radio

I call this “Pass the bass” but, of course, it’s a lot more than that

Old Tales
Having fished together for so many years, me and Dad naturally have quite a collection of stories. Throw in a couple lifetimes in Knox County and, well, Jayce got an earful.

Muskie Mania
So, Jayce mentioned wanting to muskie fish…
Me: “One time me and Papa fished Lake Storey and I fished for muskie while he fished for bass.”
Papa: “Tell Jayce how that turned out.”
Me: “I caught nothing, never even saw a muskie while Papa caught 25 bass.”
Papa: “Best Lake Storey bass fishing day ever.”

Missing Metropolis
Me: “There used to be a town here. It was called Appleton.”

Coonhunting
Papa (east of Appleton): “Me and my dad used to coon hunt over there, drove that lane back into the timber.”
Papa: (east of Victoria): “Used to coonhunt over that way with a guy named ‘Stew’, think he had a relative who lived there.”

Old Fish Story
Me: “Papa caught a good one right here one time.”
Papa: “That’s the one that swam under the boat and jumped out of the water behind us.”

Older Fish Stories
Papa: “I saw Uncle Frank hook a northern here at Little John a long time ago.
Me: “I saw Uncle Brent catch one in the 80s, last one I’ve seen out here.”

One of the new tales related below

New Tales
Of course, new stories arise from every trip and we certainly managed a few on our outing. I can imagine Jayce telling his siblings on our next visit to Little John and who knows, maybe one day relating the adventures to his kids, nephews or nieces.
Each tale could begin something like this:
“One time, me, Dad and Papa were out here fishing…”
AND
“We caught a praying mantis out of the water in a dipnet.”
“I first learned how to drive a foot controlled trolling motor.”
“I got a bass stuck in the dipnet, he was hanging by his lip and Papa had to get him out.”
“I got to ride in the boat or stand in the back of the truck as we drove through Little John.”
“Every time I went to grab the gate key from Papa he would drop it before I could grab it.”
“If you look real hard you can see a Senko worm up there about twenty feet high in that tree.”

Oh yeah, we also caught some bass but I’ll save that for Part II of the report.

In closing, I would also like to thank our “Sponsors” on this trip.
HyVee Gas, Mountain Dew, Little Debbie, Oreos, Taco Bell, Culver’s, Yamamoto Lures and Bass Tracker (circa 1987) – sure would be nice if they actually gave us free stuff.

Almost home and too big to carry into the house these days.

Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – October 8, 2010

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Today’s flashback revisits a crazy place called Emiquon. My rough draft of this post began as an essay on how the elements of a fairytale pertained to that old fishing hole. You know, occurs in the past, an enchanted place, heroes and villains, make believe (or actually believe it or not in this case) and so on. However, I put that one on the shelf as it was worthy of some more work and research. Instead, I am going with the original report from a trip that took place a long time ago on a fishing hole far, far away…

Originally posted 10-10-10

Last Friday offered up an ideal day to pay an overdue visit to The Emiquon Preserve with unseasonably warm temperatures and winds forecast in the single digits. Launching and parking were a bit less spacious but with an October crowd of half a dozen and dry conditions all was just fine. Here’s a look at how we fared.

Date: October 8, 2010
Time: 11:05am-6:05pm
Location: The Emiquon Preserve
Weather: Sunny/windy
Air Temp: 65-75F
H20 Temp: Not available
Results: 23 bass, (Dad – 12 bass, Troy – 11 bass)
Lures: Vicious Fishing Muskrat (watermelon seed or green pumpkin) – 16 bass, Strike King Pro Series Model 5 crankbait (sexy shad) – 3 bass, Yum Wooly Curltail (green pumpkin) – 3 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (chartreuse sexy shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass – Troy 1-15 Yum Wooly Curltail (our first bass of the day)
Top Five Weight: 9-4 (1-15, 1-14, 1-14, 1-14, 1-11)

11:41am – First bass and Top Bass at 15″ and 1-15 

Notes and Nonsense
Guessing Game – The temporary ramp is about a mile south of the former access so it ruled out a lengthy run north to our normal stomping grounds. On the bright side it kind of forced our hand in regards to exploring some new water. One drawback is not having a true depthfinder. But we spent many years using an oar, the anchor or a lure so we weren’t exactly in unfamiliar territory.

Pattern – Our best results came while casting Muskrats tight to weed edges near, but not on, ditch edges. The key was having room to crawl the baits out of the weeds and along the short four to six foot deep ledges before hitting the twelve to fifteen foot deep ditches. If the border of the weed edges sat right on the dropoff it was no good.

12:45pm – Dad on the board via a Muskrat as included in pic

Observing Others – Another pair of anglers appeared to be having some success running lipless crankbaits through the scattered weeds as we witnessed several catches from fairly close. About fifty feet close, in fact. We were once again left perplexed as the boat came from about half a mile away to fish right where we’d been anchored during their entire approach. On the other hand, we had the decency to keep our distance from another boat that was nailing some fish with an undetermined lure (I need to start packing some binoculars) about a quarter mile away. However, you can bet that we will be all over that spot if it is vacant on a return trip.

Lost Fish – Dad got me by one bass although it would have been no contest were it not for some hook problems. For whatever reason he was having difficulty keeping fish on as he lost roughly half dozen at boatside that just let go. I only lost one fish as I busted off my last Wooly Curltail on a short hookset.

2:09pm – Dad’s Top Bass at 1-11

Lost Lure – I also lost a Strike King Pro Series Model 6 crankbait to a bush although I gave it a valiant rescue effort with my lure retriever. I can’t recall the last time the retriever let me down but the line appeared to be wrapped in some branches above the lure preventing me from knocking it free. Unfortunately, I did not have a replacement for the crankbait which had caught three bass off the spot in the previous ten minutes.

Bad Timing – My Bass Pro Shops order showed up at home while we were on the water. Therefore, I had only one Wooly Curltail and it landed three of my first six bass before busting off as noted above. I also had a few new “secret weapons” in the order that will now have to wait for another day. But I only have myself to blame as the order was placed using a gift card received from my wife for my birthday on July 23. I can’t wait for the East Peoria store which also reminds me that I need to start saving some money (yeah right).

2:24pm – Top Bass Runner-up at 15″ and 1-14 on a Muskrat

Overall, I’d have to say that the day was pretty much what I’d expected. Twenty three bass with nearly all between thirteen and fifteen inches, a lot of time spent trolling on the expanse of water and no mistakes by any lunkers seems to be par for the course these days. What a difference a year makes as 366 days prior, my brother, Brent, and I reeled in 154 bass. It’s got me wondering if you can actually refer to something that happened only a year ago as “the good old days.”

Ten years of water have passed under the bridge, so to speak. And the water has changed dramatically at Emiquon rendering it a mere shell of its former self. Perhaps that is a topic for another day. For today, it is simply time to remember what certainly qualifies as the good old days on a fishing hole that was like no other. Talk to you later. Troy

Strip Mine Report – September 28

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Some of my public strip mine fishing holes have a limited window of opportunity. In this case, access ended on September 28 so I invested a vacation day for the 2020 farewell visit. I was hoping for a good parting shot but I had concerns that a significant cold front might have the bass in a less than cooperative mood. Read on for the outcome.

Stats
Date: September 28, 2020
Location: Knox County, IL public strip mines (6 lakes)
Time: 10:35am-4:55pm (4.75 hours fishing)
Weather: Partly cloudy to overcast/breezy to windy/brief rain
Air Temp: 54-57F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 43 bass
Lures: Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 25 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (Never Fail) – 8 bass, Chatterbait (bluegill) with Zako trailer (smoke) – 7 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (parakeet) – 3 bass
Top 5 Weight: 8-5 (2-12,1-7,1-7,1-6,1-5)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Cold Front/Crunch Time – As noted in the intro, this was the final day for fishing on the site and I always like to get one last chance at the bass. Of course, you can’t control the weather and I highly prize my vacation days so it was do or die regardless of the prevailing weather conditions. The area offers plenty of smallish bodies of water that make for a fun approach of spot hopping. If they aren’t biting in one spot it ain’t far to new water for another try.

10:36am – First cast, first bass

First Cast Bass – It sure didn’t take long to get some feedback from the bass as my first two casts resulted in catches. I was certainly pleased but admittedly a bit surprised although the narrow cut I chose for my initial casts has the “like shooting fish in a barrel” potential. It features a trough where the bass pretty much have to stack up as the remainder of the lake is quite shallow. I call the spot “Beamon Lake” in honor of the longtime world record long jumper, Bob Beamon. In low water years, the spot is so narrow that he could probably clear it in a leap.

50 Bass Day? – After two bass on my first two casts, my outlook on the day improved considerably almost to the point of getting a little cocky. While only two casts into my day, I was pretty certain that I had lucked into my goal of finding my fall feeding frenzy bite. Two bass in two minutes and roughly six more hours to roam had me shooting for a 50 bass day. Although I ultimately fell short of that number, no complaints. I definitely could have lingered on a couple spots that were cranking out some 10-12” fish but opted for a shot at some larger bass and eventually found a few.

My ancient floppy hat nearly met an untimely demise

Close Call – Near the end of my day, I ditched my hat on a particularly long stretch of walking between fishing holes as I started to work up a sweat. Instead of on my head, I put my hat in my hand along with my collection of half a dozen rods and reels. After a few casts at my destination, I figured that I’d better put my hat back on as I’m a little lacking on hair up top. However, my old floppy hat was not among my rods and backpack in the shoreline weeds. Nope, it was somewhere in the waist high grass over the last quarter mile or so of hiked ground. Fortunately, after only a few minutes of backtracking I found my lucky lid. I was quite grateful as not only did it save me some sunburnt scalp but it will also allow me to give the old cap a more fitting farewell someday.

2:38pm – Top Bass (tie) at 16″ and 2-1 on a chatterbait with a tip of the cap to some serious wind

Top Bass – The top three fish on the day came from my next to last stop on the hike. Historically, this spot has been my best producer of quality bass. I call it “2×4 Lake” in honor of a pair of four pounders caught back in 2013 on my first ever visit to the lake. The following spring I fooled another four-pounder from the spot but elected to stick with my original name as what sense does “3×4 Lake” make?

 

The epitome of a grand finale as the gates closed on this batch of fishing holes. It takes some work putting in four miles of hiking but I truly enjoy this type of fishing as much as any other approach. This makes eight years of exploring and I still learn something new every time out. The ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, small bites and big bites always keep me looking forward to the next chance to visit. Only 179 days until the April 2, 2021 opening day. Got it marked on my calendar but plenty of other fishing holes out there in the meantime. Talk to you later. Troy

Lake McMaster Report – September 26

Posted on by Troy Jackson

As part of the “Snakeden at 30” celebration I had it in mind to get back on “The Big Lake”, Lake McMaster, for the first time since 2013. While it is less tiring and more comfortable to launch and fish from the “big boat”, I still prefer prowling the walk-in interior fishing holes thus the long stretch without a visit. So, here’s how it went down as Brent and I ditched the boots and bikes, borrowed Dad’s Bass Tracker and got it done.

11:58am – First bass, no shutout, hoping they get bigger

Stats

Date: September 26, 2020
Location: Lake McMaster (Snakeden Hollow) – Knox County, IL
Time: 11:35am-6:35pm
Weather: Partly cloudy/very windy
Air Temp: 68-77F
Water Temp: 69-71F
Totals: 14 bass
Lures: Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (smoke) – 10 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- Crankbait (Parakeet) – 2 bass, KVD Strike King Rattling Squarebill Crankbait (sexy shad) – 1 bass, Strike King Pro Model Series 5 Crankbait (sexy shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-12 Senko
Top 5 Weight: 5-14 (1-12,1-4,1-0,1-0,0-14)

Notes and Nonsense (song title version)

The Weight (The Band, 1968) – I thought it would be fun to bring back an old feature that we used to enjoy on some fishing trips. The guess the final weight game came with the added visual of writing it down on paper. I will admit that I borrowed the latter aspect from Bassmaster as it plays well for social media and a blog. The concept is to see who is closest with their prediction for the weight of our combined Top 5 bass (both of us contribute to the one final weight total). Brent was the winner although we fell a pound short of his guess. I ended up guessing a bit higher than my original thought as the sunny day in an earlier forecast had changed to overcast/partly cloudy. However, it also changed to very…

Windy (The Association, 1967) – While some surface chop on clear water can serve to make the bass a little less spooky, the winds on this trip were way overboard. I have no idea what the gusts were and overall it was a sustained wind the entire time. Even as we left at dark, the wind was still howling. The only breaks on the day were a short stretch of timbered bank on the southwest shore and part of the dam on the main body of the lake. Beyond that sixty minutes or so of casting, we took a beating. Truthfully, it would have been a better day for bank fishing and hiking but we were on a mission.

Did I mention it was windy?

Only the top color and hook combination was a winner

It’s In the Way That You Use It (Eric Clapton, 1986) – No matter when, where or how I fished my Senko wacky rig, the bass showed no interest. The above picture shows each of my efforts as I changed from weighted to weightless and ran through a batch of colors, all without a bite. I even fished a similar color to Brent’s and wound up outfished 10-0 on the Senko. Now, I’m used to getting outfished by him and frequently it involves a spinnerbait. But a Senko shutout on Lake McMaster still has me scratching my head. My best guess is that I needed to slow down more and let the Senko sink as fishing too fast is one of my bad habits. Or maybe as Dad would say, “You weren’t holding your mouth right.”

Fly Like an Eagle (Steve Miller Band, 1976) – this one took off before a close-up

Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper, 1984) – We weren’t sure about our boat lights so the plan was to be back at the ramp at sunset which was 6:47pm or so. A glance at the ramp showed one trailer besides ours left in the lot and as we rounded a nearby point we spotted a boat at the dock. Perfect timing as the other anglers were taking out, right? Nope, it was a pair of night anglers just launching and seconds later a second truck and trailer pulled into the on deck circle. So we opted to troll over to the overflow on the dam so I could snap a few pics for the blog. And believe it or not, a third truck and trailer pulled up to get in line to launch. No big deal, no hurry to get home but I swear it rarely fails that the ramp suddenly becomes a popular place whenever we show up to launch or load.

 

A bit of a struggle versus conditions and bass but mission accomplished and fun to visit an old fishing hole. While the lake is still quite clear, it has gotten noticeably murkier over the last 30 years. While quality bites were in short supply, I’m sure there are still plenty of good fish that call McMaster home. While I was soundly outfished, it is always good to share a trip with my brother and he’s a darn good angler, no shame in being taught a lesson. Time will tell if we are able to get in another tag team effort on the bass before the poles are put away. Another solo trip is in the books, however, so stay tuned for the fishing report from a productive strip mine hike. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – September 29, 2010

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Original log entry from September 29, 2010

Ten years ago this week, Dad and I hit up Lake Storey for some bass fishing on his birthday. Below is the original fishing report from our day on the water, a solid fall drawdown outing.

Originally Posted 9-30-10
It always brings a smile to hear someone groan that fishing at Lake Storey is “a waste of time” or gripe that “there’s no fish in there.” There have been days when I’ve felt their pain, but in the end, I know better. This highly pressured body of water can no doubt be a tough nut to crack but that makes it all the more rewarding on a day like yesterday.

Date: September 29, 2010
Location: Lake Storey
Time: 8:55am-3:40pm
Air Temp: 60-74F
Totals: 16 bass (Dad 9, Troy 7)
Lures: Mann’s Baby 1- (unknown) – 4 bass, Quad Shad spinnerbait (white) – 4 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (natural shad or smoke with large black flake) – 4 bass, Bomber Flat A (honey shad or baby bass) – 3 bass, Vicious Muskrat (green pumpkin) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-11 (Troy – Quad Shad spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight: 10-3 (3-11, 2-2, 1-8, 1-7, 1-7)

8:55am – Dad with a first cast bass before I ever got in the boat

Notes and Nonsense

No Jinx – After getting the boat in the water I had to make a restroom stop in the bushes before starting the day. Upon returning to the boat, Dad already had me down one to nothing without ever leaving the bank. His Senko produced a bass on his very first cast of the day along a laydown. We’ve long viewed this as a bad omen but Dad went on to prove that such superstitions are unfounded. Then again, perhaps it was simply negated by his lucky buckeye.

Variety – Unlike the Senko domination at Lake McMaster, Lake Storey required a more varied arsenal. On one hand, I don’t really care how we catch the bass as long as we catch them. But, on the other hand, the change of pace was certainly fun as each lure has its own merits along with an entirely different feel in regards to presentation and strikes.

12:05pm – Top Bass at 19.5″ and 3-11 on a spinnerbait

Redefining Shallow – A lunchtime gamble turned a fair day into a good day with six bass along a couple hundred yard stretch of shallow, windblown bank. I’d pulled this stunt one other time back on November 1, 2008 and figured the conditions made it worth another try. We hit isolated pieces of cover including cinder blocks, logs and chunk rock along an extended flat sometimes having to make multiple casts or change angles to get bit. A key to the pattern was schools of baitfish that would scatter as a crankbait or spinnerbait landed within mere inches of the shoreline.

Super shallow wood chunk where I caught our Top Bass, its a wonder his back wasn’t sunburned

Top Bass – A prime example of this shallow water pattern was my 3-11 taken off a chunk of wood (beyond my right shoulder in photo above) in what couldn’t have been more than 6-8” of water. While this was the desired result it still had us shaking our heads in disbelief as it was amazing that the bass’ back wasn’t protruding above the surface.

Fun to take a visitor for a boat ride and introduce him to a Lake Storey bass

Guest Angler – My little guy, Jayce (age 16 months), joined us for a boat ride and got to check out a bass we’d briefly stashed in the livewell for him. The only thing was the poor kid had to wear a pink lifejacket but such is the price of having a pair of older sisters. Regardless, he still seemed to enjoy the ride as he took in the scenery and gnawed on some French fries while rather immobilized by the bulky flotation device.

Same fella, nine years later with a Lake Storey catch of his own and minus the pink life jacket

Happy Birthday – Although my annual birthday outing never materialized back in July, I was happy to share the boat with Dad on his birthday. The kids made him some creative cards and we went with the standard gift of fishing stuff. The lures provided immediate reward as he landed a 1-7 on a Vicious Muskrat and his first cast bass came on one of his new Senkos. He also outfished me nine to seven as I decided to give him all the good spots being it was his day.

Good old Lake Storey with Dad, one of many memories dating back to the 1970s. Crappies on the Gapen Fishie lure, a tall tale about tobacco juice enhancing the bite, a day of dueling muskies, the one-eyed bass record, a jaw-dropping walleye, a bass out of the top of an exposed stump, a crappie tip from an old-timer at Al’s Sporting Goods, catching bass on picnic tables…Talk to you later. Troy