Month: July 2022

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Summer has been tough on the Top 5 as we have been a month without any submissions. But as we head into August, we are back with a couple July entries. In addition, we have a new wrinkle with the angler comments on one catch coming in the form of a poem.

Weight: 1-10 (15”)
Angler: John Kirkemo
Date: July 26
Weather: Some clouds, some sun. Cool temperatures. Light wind
Water Temp: N/A
Location: Lake Storey
Lure: Wacky worm
Top 5 Weight: 15-11 (4-2,3-5,2-14,2-11,2-11)
Angler Comments:

Tuesday, I fished but didn’t expect too much
Because of the intensive heat and such

I was casting to structure along the shore
Twenty, thirty casts or more

Time went by without a bite
Would I get one before day became night?

But all of sudden in 3 feet of water
Fishing got a wee bit hotter

My rod was bent by an aggressive fish
I had finally got the fisherman’s wish

After a while the fish was in the boat
Which had managed to remain afloat

After photos and extensive measurement
I released the fish to his element

Editor’s Note: Bravo!

Weight: 3-1
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: July 30
Location: Snakeden Hollow
Lure: Topwater Popper
Top 5 Weight: 17-12 (5-4,3-9,3-3,3-1,2-11) culls a 2-11

Good to get back on track with a Monday update and here’s hoping we fare better in August than we did in July. We were out there catching plenty of fish though, just not finding any bass that would boost our weights. August is always a tough month, but I have confidence that our crew can find some quality bites.

And, John, how are you at haiku?

Good luck in August
Hope we all can boost our creels
For many updates

Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – July 18, 2012

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Ever get your camels confused? Read on for an explanation

Today’s flashback focuses on a Snakeden Hollow lake that did not exist back in 1990 when the site opened for public access. Although I roamed and fished Snakeden before it became public, I do not recall what the lake area looked like all those years ago. Perhaps it was just a depression hidden amongst the abundant weed growth before upkeep took an upswing. Construction of a series of earthen dams on the site have converted several of these marshes and potholes into viable fisheries over the years.

I first fished the spot on June 11, 2010, as curiosity and the heat got the best of me on one of my hikes. Looking back on a June 13, 2010, blog entry, my initial visit started as follows:

“The temperature and hauling half a dozen rods (in a handy rod holder) along with way too much tackle worked up a sweat in a hurry. Therefore, I stopped earlier than planned at a lake I hadn’t fished before. A bass blew up my Zara Spook twice on the first cast without eating it and I landed my largest fish of the day on my third cast with the Spook.”

July 18, 2012 original log entry

Since I caught a bass on that June 2010 day, the lake needed a name. As it had a visible hump, I elected to incorrectly call it “Bactrian Lake” as I got my camels mixed up (Dromedary is the one-humped ungulate). By the time that I fished it on this 2012 trip, I had realized my error and renamed it “Dromedary Lake.”

Dromedary Lake winning lure

The lake has been a productive spot over the years, but today’s flashback outing was the best overall day I’ve had on the body of water.

Date: July 18, 2012
Time: 7:15am-10:15am
Totals: 13 bass
Weather: Sunny/windy
Lures: Zara Spook (black shore minnow) – 9 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- Crankbait (rainbow) – 2 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 2-13 Zara Spook
Top 5 Weight: 11-1 (2-13,2-9,2-6,1-13,1-8)

 

Turns out that several years later I would drag a boat to the lake and discover that there was a second hump after all. Too late to change names again at that point, so the lake will forever be known as Dromedary Lake. Talk to you later. Troy

Trip Tunes – July 17

Posted on by Troy Jackson

The result of high gas prices has been a focus on the Hennepin Canal as opposed to my old Knox County strip mine ground. In fact, since April 15, all but one outing has been on the historic waterway (also hit a southern Illinois spot in June but that was on my employer’s dime while returning from a work assignment).

The Hennepin Canal trips have been a success, but they have put a damper on my Trip Tunes feature. For instance, my most recent visit covered a whole fifteen miles round trip. Quite different than the timeframe of just over a two hour round trip to the strip mines. Less time in the cab, means less tunes on the ride and no chance to accumulate the customary Top 10 Trip Tune list. Instead, we get a Top 3 Trip Tune list from my July 17 outing.

As detailed in an earlier post, my July 17 trip featured the goal of landing a bass with an old reel given to me by my friend, Matt Reynolds (aka Hack). Fittingly, the three tunes below showed up in back-to-back-to-back fashion over two stations on the ride home. They took me back to the days when Hack, the Junk brothers (John and Mark) and myself used to run around.

3. Stand Up – Mel McDaniel (1985)
Mel McDaniel always struck me as an artist who flew under the radar despite having a successful run of hit songs in the 1980s. And it was in the late 80’s when Hack and I took in a McDaniel concert at the Knox County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Illinois. Those outdoor concerts were always a treat with grandstand seating and a basic stage set up on a dirt track. If my memory serves me correctly, a band named Sidewinder was the opening act. Seems like they got a fair amount of local airplay with a couple cuts, “Whiskey and Water” and “Memphis.” Try as I might though, I have yet to come across any references on the internet, so maybe my mind is fading.

2. Feels So Right – Alabama (1981)
Speaking of outdoor concerts, Hack and I took in multiple Alabama concerts in the 90s with the Junk brothers. Ranging from the Illinois State Fair in Springfield (with my brother, Brent, along for the show) all the way to the June Jam in Fort Payne, Alabama, home of the band. The greatest country band of all-time always put on an impressive show. We had every Alabama release on cassette back in those days (later CDs) and I recall kicking back in college with Hack and listening to our latest Alabama purchases start to finish.

1. Paradise City – Guns N’ Roses (1987)
In terms of albums that rock from start to finish, Appetite for Destruction, is one of the best. These guys had it dialed in with perhaps the greatest debut album of all-time. It features a killer collection of sound and subject matter that is dead-on rock and roll excess and success. Armed with a boom box cassette player and as much Milwaukee’s Best as we could afford, me, Hack, the Junk brothers, and other friends darn near wore out this cassette around raging campfires at Knox College’s Green Oaks field station. I’m not sure the other guys were quite as enthused about the band, but I suspect that they still recall those nights and know the words to most of the album.

Good songs that take me back to good times with good friends. And how fitting that this trio of tunes hit the airwaves on the short drive home from a fishing trip that had me reminiscing. Talk to you later. Troy

Thoughts at 55

Posted on by Troy Jackson

So, this is an outdoor page and there will be a bit of outdoors in today’s post, but I also like to wander. And since it’s my blog, well…

Going back to 2011, I’ve done an annual birthday blog post of “Thoughts at…”, so here we go again with a ramble on “55” covering my hobbies and passions.

Sports

Growing up a Dallas Cowboys fan, this guy was the Top #55

How about the day I was born in Cubs history via their portion of the boxscore below? This was the second game of a doubleheader, remember those? Looks like Banks had a dinger. With Dad being a lifelong Cubs fan, there is some speculation that his first kid could easily have wound up as Ernie Jackson. Nice, but I’m fine with the way it turned out.

 

Music

I’m a huge music fan so how about the Billboard #1 chart topper every eleven years since July 23, 1967 (55 is evenly divisible by 11, thus my breakdown)
#1 Song on July 23
2022 “As It Was” – Harry Styles
2011 “Party Rock Anthem” – LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock
2000 “Bent” – Matchbox Twenty
1989 “Toy Soldiers” – Martika
1978 “Shadow Dancing” – Andy Gibb
1967 “Windy” – The Association

Proof that I am getting old, music ain’t what it used to be. I like the entries for 1967, 1978 and 2000. Just listened to the 2011 and 2022 cuts for the first time and not real keen on the 1989 tune.

Not a number one but a Sammy Hagar classic is certainly worth a mention

Fishing

Did you know that Kevin VanDam (KVD), arguably the best bass fisherman of all-time, was also born in 1967? During a previous blogging gig, I received a couple lures from a reader with a humorous KVD reference.

And finally, my 55th bass of 2022 turned out to be a good one.

2022 Bass #55 on April 23 weighing 3-2 from the Hennepin Canal (currently at 265 total bass for the year and looking to add a few more on my birthday)

So, I guess it is official. I am now closer to sixty than fifty.

Weird.

Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – July 8, 2017

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Fun to look back at an adventure with Dad and my boys via the original post from 2017.

 

After three and a half hours of “high impact” bass fishing last Saturday, Dad and I relocated, regrouped, and reloaded our tackle in preparation of playing fishing guide to the pair of wild anglers in the shots that follow. Gramaw brought my boys, Jayce, and Zac, out to Little John Conservation Club for a ride in Papa’s “big boat” looking for a few panfish. Of course, the fish they reel in are only part of the big adventure when these two guys show up.

It took a little time and a little distance on the lake before both boys get on the board with a couple decent bluegill on good old waxworms hung from a bobber.

With the formality of landing a handful of fish out of the way, it was time to get a little closer to the world that those fish call home. The back of Dad’s bass boat rides much closer to the surface than our little johnboat and, well, the proximity of the water quickly proved to be too much to resist.

After a bit over an hour of trolling, splashing around and roughly double digits for the bluegill haul, we proceeded to spend nearly as much time out of the boat while fooling around at the boat launch. I’ve always shook my head and chuckled as it never fails that when you are ready to trailer your boat, somebody or several somebodies show up to make things more interesting. I’m a bank angler too, so I get it, but sometimes it gets a little dicey dodging bodies and attempting to show some courtesy while sharing space on those specific spots on the water. On this day, we were those folks and luckily no one else showed up to launch a boat.

I shot a few final pics and video while removing our catch from the livewell in the parking area. Lots of excited fish splashing and three generations of Jackson boys laughing and admiring the results of an enjoyable couple of hours at the lake before we released our catch to be caught again.

And finally, do you think fifteen poles are suitable for a morning on the water? It’s how this bunch rolls.

P.S. Dad and I got a couple good ones as well.

8:39am Dad’s Top Bass at 3-5 (20″) on a Senko wacky rig

8:11am My Top Bass at 5-0 (21.5″) on a buzzbait

Talk to you later. Troy

A Fish Story 30 Years in the Making

Posted on by Troy Jackson

As an aspiring YouTube sensation (sounds good, right), I check out what other anglers are doing on their channels. One item that I frequently notice is the good, old, “links in the description below” reference somewhere in their clip that details the equipment used for reeling in their catches. Time will tell if this fish story makes a YouTube appearance, so I am going to provide my “description below” in a blog post just in case.

Reel – Shimano Lexica LX-100

Rod – 7’0” Shakespeare Excursion Medium Heavy Action

Lure – Heddon Zara Spook in the natural frog pattern

Rest of the Story

Many anglers looking at the above details would scratch their heads wondering who in the heck fishes with this gear and why?

Well, since you asked…I set out for the Hennepin Canal last Sunday to make a “fish story”.

Once upon a time, my longtime friend, Matt Reynolds (aka Hack), purchased a baitcasting reel. The best he could recall, the purchase was made somewhere around 1993. As he had not used the reel for decades, he asked if I would be interested in adding it to my tackle. While he lives in the southeast, he has family back in my old neck of the woods and it made its way back last Thanksgiving. Being prone to dragging my feet, I finally reached out last Saturday and was able to make a pickup. Later that evening, I spooled it up with ten-pound Trilene (didn’t have any twelve-pound on hand) and it was ready to go.

Having damaged a rod tip recently, I was in the market for a replacement and found a couple bargains at the local department store. The Shakespeare models met my three primary qualifications for a casting rod: cheap, at least 6’6”, and one-piece. You can have your $300 rods and I suppose there are some benefits. But with these marked down from $22.26 to $15.00, I could have bought twenty of them for the same investment. I only bought two, however, and just like that I had a new rod and reel combo for a whopping fifteen bucks.

Being summer, there was no doubt what lure was going to land the first bass with the “new” reel. Hack and I had spent a fair amount of time in the 80s and 90s tossing around a Heddon Zara Spook topwater with solid results and some quality bass. In those days, at a spot called Ponder’s Pond, the natural frog pattern was a winner, prompting Hack to give it a nickname. Thereafter, it became known as “The Pickle”, a term of endearment in reference to its gherkin-like look.

My first cast with “The Pickle” at The Hennepin Canal was met with a light strike but the fish failed to hook up. While it would have made a good fish story to land a bass on the first cast, I wasn’t too disappointed. Fishing the warm, partly cloudy July evening on the shallow waters of The Canal, I was confident that sooner or later the Spook would produce. About fifteen minutes later, a solid blast by another bass with bad aim reinforced my outlook. Although I should have tossed a Senko into the boil created by the strike, a Spook bass was my goal, and I ran it by the area again to see if the bass was still interested. It was not and I set the Spook aside for a bit as I waited to reach another promising stretch of water.

That promising stretch of water wound up a winner with a quality bass weighing in at 2-6.

Couldn’t have written it up any better than the way it went down. And it sure won’t be the last bass that I land with that near thirty-year-old reel that looks and works like brand new.

I fished for another forty-five minutes or so with a couple other lures, but nothing was going to top the “fish story”. And on the way home, I got another bonus with a trio of tunes on the radio that took me back to running around with Hack and the Junk brothers all those years ago. Stay tuned for an abbreviated and overdue “Trip Tunes” post. Talk to you later. Troy

Saturday Flashback – July 6, 2012

Posted on by Troy Jackson

There’s more to a fishing trip than just the casts and catches. In the case of the trip Julie and I took to Emiquon on July 6, 2012, there was plenty to tell from before, during and after the adventure. Read on for the rest of the story as detailed in an original blog entry from July 16, 2012, entitled “One Hot Fishing Date”.

The July 6 visit to The Emiquon Preserve featured a guest angler in the person of my wife, Julie. It marked the first time that we were able to share a boat since May 6, 2010, when I took her fishing at Emiquon for a sort of Mother’s Day gift (kind of an early Father’s Day gift to myself as well). She outfished me on that outing 11 to 8 and I often joke about not taking someone fishing again if they outdo me. As you can see, that is only said for effect as just over two years later she got to tag along again. Truthfully, I’d enjoy her company anytime, but it is a near impossibility for both parents to get away from four kids ranging in age from one to eight. You got the results from the trip in an earlier post but here’s a second batch of thoughts and pictures for a wrap up.

Logistics – How did we pull this trip off? On Friday, our van and our baby, Zac, went to my folks here in Galesburg in exchange for Dad’s truck. Me, Helena, and Carly drove it while Julie and Jayce followed in our truck to Canton for an overnight for all of us with Julie’s mom and stepdad. The kids stayed while Julie and I left for Emiquon at about 5:00am and returned around 2:30pm. Julie and the girls then brought her mom’s car to Galesburg while I brought Jayce in Dad’s truck to leave our truck in Canton to help haul some items home from a weekend trip to Quincy. Our truck was returned on Sunday and traded for the car while I had already taken Dad’s truck back to exchange for our van and our baby on Saturday night. Piece of cake.

Tunes – Me and my girls (Helena age 8 and Carly age 6) had an enjoyable time on our drive to Canton with some classic rock radio surfing. I was enthused as my favorite Bob Dylan tune, “Tangled Up in Blue,” kicked off the trip but even more tickled by Carly’s reaction, “Oh, this is my favorite.” Helena then did a solid version of the chorus of Foreigner’s “Cold as Ice” while learning on the fly. When I informed my crew that Steely Dan performed “Reelin’ in The Years,” Carly blurted out, “He’s my favorite singer!” Occasionally I lost control of the airwaves upon stumbling upon some teeny bopper tune where the girls would sing right along having learned the words to the tunes via the P.A. system at the local pool.

Professional Overrun (aka backlash) – By the way, I did get clearance from Julie to share this item and the above photo, hence there will be no backlash of a different sort that would potentially be much more difficult to clear up. Anyway, Julie inquired about a baitcasting lesson to enhance her angling skills beyond her spinning rig. I provided a brief primer and a casting demonstration but in hindsight should’ve selected a combo with a better magnetic braking system on the reel paired with a more forgiving action on the rod. It didn’t work out so well and she opted to wait for another day to try again. I’m thinking casting plugs in the backyard.

Bass Thumb – This affliction is the norm at Emiquon, and this trip was no exception. However, I got an extra dose beyond my catch as I pitched in lipping and unhooking all of Julie’s bass as well. She is certainly capable of managing the task herself but for me it was part gentleman, part guide. For Julie, who hijacked my rough draft of this posting, she inquired, “Is that angler’s chivalry?”

Rambling Guide – About midway through our trip, Julie said to me, “You’d make a good fishing show host as you are always talking.” She also mentioned that some anglers may be leery of taking their wife fishing for fear of conversation spooking the fish. I informed her that I was chatty due to being nervous under the pressure of putting my client on some fish. Fortunately, the Emiquon bass were listening as my running commentary was all about them and their ability to make a memorable day for a fisherman, and more importantly in this case, a fisherwoman.

We had a great day and have the pictures and stories to prove it. Not everyone would’ve braved the heat advisory conditions and consequently they would’ve missed another productive day on The Emiquon Preserve. Even so, I will admit that it did cross my mind that the only things missing from the photo of Julie and I are a pair of those corny old “I’m with Stupid” t-shirts.

And that folks, is the rest of the story. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – July 6, 2012

Posted on by Troy Jackson

With four kids from ages one to eight back in the summer of 2012, there wasn’t a whole lot of date nights. However, Julie and I did manage a fishing date as described below in excerpts from the original July 10, 2012 blog entry.

As the saying goes, “Beggars can’t be choosers.” So, despite the recent run of 100 degree plus temperatures it was an opportunity to fish, and I wasn’t about to pass it up due to something called a “heat advisory.” To be honest, I’m always more concerned about the wind when planning a trip to Emiquon. All was well and I was happy to have the company of a fellow fishing fool. Here’s the first of a two-part fishing report detailing how it all worked out.

6:13am Julie on the board with our first catch

Date: July 6, 2012
Location: The Emiquon Preserve
Time: 6:10am-12:25 pm
Weather: Sunny/calm
Air Temp: 80-100F
Water Temp: 90F
Totals: 40 bass (Troy – 26 Julie – 14)
Lures: Booyah Counter Strike Spinnerbait (snow white) – 15 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (copper shad) – 12 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 10 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (red crawfish) – 2 bass, 5” Yamasenko weighted wacky rig (rainbow trout) – 1 bass
Top Bass: Troy 2-5 Booyah Counter Strike Spinnerbait (snow white)
Weight (Top 5): 10-9 (2-5, 2-2, 2-2, 2-0, 2-0)

 

Notes & Nonsense

“Helter Skelter in a summer swelter” (quick, name the tune and artist) – I’ve written in the past about Emiquon’s propensity for giving up numbers in the right place at the right time. We hit those windows/spots a pair of times as follows: 6:13am-8:01am produced 23 of our bass and 10:46am-12:22pm produced another 15 bass. That left two bass landed in the gap in these times as we explored a stretch that had produced just a month earlier. Despite similar structure, schools of baitfish and a variety of presentations, the bass just wouldn’t cooperate. Eventually, we wound up back near where we had started in time for the bass in the area to turn on once again.

Hot Seats and More – The calm and balmy conditions made any exposed surfaces of the boat painful to touch. Boat cushions were a must and we even had to put on gloves to load the boat into the back of the truck. Our granola bars were a mess and once the water bottles came out of the cooler, they were nearly instantaneously lukewarm. The truck read 109 when we got in and went as high as 112 before gradually decreasing during the ride. The bank in Lewistown read 108 and while probably a bit of a stretch, does pinpoint accuracy really matter when it’s just plain hot?

100 Degree Bass – A little after noon I told Julie that we needed one more bass just to say we caught one in hundred-degree weather. At 12:22pm I reeled in the fish pictured above to get my wish and then we called it quits a few casts later. My original plan was to fish until 1:00pm but I was satisfied with our effort and results a half hour short of the target. Apparently, Julie was as well for she did not debate the decision and after the work of loading our gear we were even more convinced that we’d done the right thing.

As always with an Emiquon trip, I could go on and on…

And I will go on and on, with a bonus Flashback Saturday post featuring some more notes from this outing. Talk to you later. Troy

New Gear Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Since we do not have a Top 5 Update for this week, I am instead substituting a post about new gear. Some of the items may seem less than exciting to many folks but they mean the world to me due to my penchant for record keeping.

First up, I had to replace my tape measure as the tag end of the old red one broke on a recent trip, resulting in the entire tape retracting into the casing. My Boga Grip does have a rusty old tape attached in case of emergency although I have seen enough bass that I really don’t need a tape other than to be “official.” Over the years, I have chosen a cloth tape rather than metal to avoid them rusting out. I grab these from the sewing aisle of the local department store, and they work great. While I am not a tailor, I do hang around with many seamstresses (Julie, Mom, mother-in-law Penny and my girls) so I do know my way around that section.

A more familiar section in stores are the tackle aisles which I visit every time I frequent an establishment that carries fishing stuff. Recently, I was on the road in Tennessee for work and stopped by a retailer to pick up some bottled water and grub. Dropping by the outdoor section of the Mount Union, TN location of a major chain I spied a batch of 5” Yamasenko worms in the natural shad color. This is the greatest Senko color of all-time but has disappeared from anywhere I have shopped in person for many years. I was so happy to see the color that I bought them all (luckily only three packs left on the peg). I gave one to Jayce and kept the other two for myself.

I tell you, another item that is hard to find is a wire bound, landscape-oriented batch of 4” x 6’ ruled index cards. This setup has been my go-to notebook for a fishing log since 2013. Going into 2022, I knew that I would need a new log if I were to land roughly 250 bass and as of June I was headed in the right direction. After scouring every department store, office supply store, and drug store I could find without success, I had to break down and order online. I opted to order the three-pack as that should keep me going for a while. My current log dates to March 7, 2020, and I have one page remaining (roughly fifteen fish per page) as I submit this post. All told, the current log contains data on nearly 1,000 bass and a handful of other catches. Looks like I won’t need to go on the hunt for a log for a while based on my fishing skills, fishing holes and catch rates.

One of the tapes has already been put into use. One of the notebooks will get dropped into the tacklebag before next week. One of the Senkos hit the water yesteday but came up empty despite being the best color ever. But yesterday, it didn’t really matter what I threw on The Canal as the bass were just not in the mood. That’s another story for next month’s July “Prowl the Canal” series. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – July 7, 1987

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Well, here we are at the mid-point of the final year of “Friday Flashback”. Week twenty-one of the forty-one week stroll down Memory Lane. Lots of fish and favorite fishing holes, fishing partners and fishing lures have found their way into the project over the years and today’s post covers all the above.

The spot was affectionately known as “The Ponderosa” and was the site of several fishing trips with my three amigos back between 1987 and 1989. As best I can recall, my buddy, Matt Reynolds, was the ringleader in gaining access to Ponder’s Pond, outside of Knoxville, Illinois. Along with Matt, the Junk brothers, John and Mark, also joined forces in pursuit of some solid bass. The pond was just the right size for a couple hours to get away and the Ponder family had a johnboat along the shore for use. Of course, before launching, it was wise to give it a shake while upside down to rid it of any snakes that took a liking to the cover it provided. However, I seem to remember a mouse going for a ride with us at one point.

The crew circa 1991 – Mark Junk, John Junk, Troy Jackson and Matt Reynolds

Winning Ponder’s lures – Sidewinder Worm, Triple Ripple Worm, Spinnerbait and Zara Spook

Beyond the Who’s Who of anglers, an old school collection of lures proved to be successful on the pond. As noted in the log entry for the July 7, 1987 trip, winners were the Bass Pro Shops Triple Ripple Worm and a classic white tandem spinnerbait. A look at the record book below also shows that the Zara Spook was quite effective in fooling some good bass. The natural frog pattern brings back memories as it became nicknamed “The Pickle” upon endearing itself with its effectiveness. I still have a “Pickle” in my tacklebox, but the original was accidentally launched into a cornfield near the southeast corner or Ponder’s Pond, never to be found.

Zara Spook in the natural frog pattern, aka “The Pickle”

The pond seemed to have a feast or famine personality in terms of landing quality fish. If the first few bass you landed were small ones, it often set the tone for the rest of the trip. In contrast, if you caught a large bass early in an outing, you likely would see some more before the trip was over.

Ponder’s Pond Top 10 Bass list

Only a handful of pictures of those bass reside in my photo album but a picture of the pond remains fresh in my mind. A branch breaking the surface along the dam just out from the “ramp” could hold a good fish when bumping around with a Sidewinder worm. Didn’t matter what color as long as it was black or purple. Some evening shade from overhanging trees along the west bank and a laydown were ideal for a white spinnerbait. A shallow finger to the southwest with a tree was a prime spot for “The Pickle” as was the southeast point. The east bank dotted with lilypads also set up well for various presentations as you finished your initial lap and “pondered” making a second pass.

One of my favorites from a series of action shots snapped by an old friend, Matt Reynolds

Great times with great friends and some darn good fish in those early days of trying to be bassmasters. Often, the trip was wrapped up at a couple other watering holes, The East End and The Green Diamond taverns as they were kind of on the way home. Some of those memories are a little fuzzy. Talk to you later. Troy