My aim is to get a fishing report out shortly after the actual outing but often easier said than done. For one thing, I have to help pay the bills and this whole entertaining blog thing ain’t what does it. For another, after that bright idea known as “Lure Lunacy”, well, I’m a little wore out. So, a bit belated, here is the latest report covering a couple hikes around the strip mines.

Stats
Date: April 4, 2020
Location: Knox County, IL strip mines (5 lakes)
Time: 2:30pm-6:35pm (3 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/breezy
Air Temp: 50-52F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 16 bass, 1 crappie
Lures: Strike King Red Eye Shad (orange craw) – 8 bass, Jig & Pig (black/blue) – 4 bass, Bomber Flat A (baby bass) – 2 bass, Blue Glimmer Spinnerbait – 2 bass
Top Bass: 1-12 (Jig & pig)
Top 5 Weight (3 at 12” or better): 4-8

2:30pm – First bass on about my third Red Eye Shad cast, small but a good sign 

NEW FEATURE: TRIP LYRIC
As I have noted before, when my mind gets to wandering I typically find a few lyrics bouncing around upstairs. Some are remnants of a tune heard earlier in the day, some just kind of show up and some pertain to the present circumstances. Often, when fishing, the lyric is of the latter persuasion. And such is the case with the lyric that kicks off a new feature that I intend to include with each fishing report going forward.

TRIP LYRIC (4/4)

“And there’s not another living soul around.” – Say You Love Me, Fleetwood Mac (1975)
I’m standing in the middle of nowhere, gazing across a deep strip mine cut to the vast expanse before me and I see absolutely no humans or any vehicles on the distant roadways. Not entirely uncommon but it seemed to have a bit more impact in light of the current state of our nation.

4:46pm – Top Bass 1-12 on a jig & pig

4:55pm Top Bass Runner-Up 1-8 Red Eye Shad

Notes and Nonsense

Smart, Dumb or Dinner? – During three visits to this area dated September 29 and 30, 2013 and April 12, 2014 I caught and released four bass at four pounds or better (two on 9/29/13 and two on 4/12/14). I haven’t caught another four pounder from this area since, over the course of 23 more visits. And we’re talking over 500 bass I’ve logged while wandering around out there in the meantime as well as a couple hundred more by my occasional fishing partners. Are the big ones getting smarter, am I only able to catch the dumb smaller ones or did somebody eat my “trophies”?

3 of the Final Four lures landed a bass, only the eventual champ missed out (too early for a good Senko bite)

Stats – Part II
Date: April 5, 2020
Location: Knox County, IL strip mines (5 lakes)
Time: 12:30pm-4:30pm (2 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/windy
Air Temp: 52-60F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 1 bass
Lures: Strike King Red Eye Shad (orange craw): 1 bass
Top Bass: none 12” or better
Top 5 Weight (none 12” or better): Zero Point Zero

TRIP LYRIC (4/5)
“Maybe we could walk around all day long, walk around all day long.” – Hurts So Good, John Cougar Mellencamp (1982)
And that’s pretty much what I did and how I felt later that evening and only one small bass for the log. The truth also hurts in not so good of a way.

Notes and Nonsense – Part II

Photo Free – Normally, I’m pretty good at snapping a batch of pics of the bass, big, small and smaller to help tell the tale, good or bad. Well, as far as fishing success, this one turned out on the bad side. So bad, in fact, that by opting to not take a photo of my first small catch, I missed any opportunity for a fish picture. Lesson learned, alhough not missing much.

Observations – Now I know several lakes not to fish anymore. Some didn’t have enough water, some may not have any fish and one may just be too far of a walk. The latter looks good. Plenty of water, some nice points, a couple rocky areas and at least one sunken tree but during a handful of visits I have never seen nor caught a bass. While completing my long, fishless, pothole peeking walk back to my truck I did startle a big coon, spooked a very large snapping turtle and discovered most of a deer skeleton. That’s about as exciting as it got.

Oh yeah, I also saw my brother, Brent, from a very safe social distance. Didn’t know he was going to be there and our contact would amount to a wave, a few texts and a phone call across a broad strip mine cut. (He fooled about a half dozen with Top Bass 1-10)

A tale of two fishing trips kind of sums up early season angling and sometimes just fishing in general. Although bummed after the second day, time (and writing) have a way of recharging the batteries. We’ll see what lies in store as our odd April moves on. Talk to you later. Troy

Interesting graffiti landmark, more in one of today’s video clips, wish I knew the story

Since I went the extra mile for this trip and a couple welcome bass it seems fitting to add some extras to the earlier report. Here’s a few more thoughts and some video shot during an hour of fishing on 11/21 before heading home.

 

Research – The internet certainly has its pros and cons, one could go on forever on that topic. But for this brief fishing excursion, cyberspace was certainly a winner as I was able to get some general input on Wichita fishing holes to help me make a decision on where to invest my limited time. All turned out just fine after some concern that I hadn’t invested enough time exploring from my living room. Once again, a double edged sword as too much info can leave you just as lost as not enough.

Lures – Nearly all of my casts were made with two lures, a Booyah Spinnerbait and a Rapala Shad Rap. Both are effective around the riprap cover and some wood where I focused nearly all of my efforts. Sure, I would have liked to have bounced a jig around but just too much trouble in the debris fields I found extending out from the bank. Call me “chicken” but I like to get my lures back which can sometimes be a challenge when casting from the bank. While bravery may have been lacking at least I was doing something right to have a pair of my casts come back with a bass attached.

Cost – You can’t really put a price on a bass in my opinion. Each catch has its merits based on things like effort, timing, location, companion and yes, even size. However, from strictly the out of stater aspect of the two bass reeled in, we’re talking about $14.60 per bass based on the $29.21 total for my five-day permit. While that may sound a bit steep I would gladly invest again. Well worth the cost for the simple fact that I don’t have to sit home and play the “What if” or “Boy, I wish I would have” game.

 

 

“They say I’m crazy but I have a good time.” – Life’s Been Good, Joe Walsh (1978) – Did you know that Joe Walsh was born in Wichita, Kansas? Well, neither did I as I’ve always associated the entertaining fellow with the state of Ohio. So, I learned something new as I put this piece together and perhaps you just did as well. If so, that is right on the money as one the goals of the blog is education. In this case, knowledge comes in the form of a potential answer to a trivia question.

November 19, 2019 at 5:37pm – Betting that this is the last bass of 2019 – Wichita, KS

And so, the firsthand fishing reports for 2019 likely come to an end. The odds are slim that I get out again but as always I’ve got more than a few blog ideas to get me through the off season. So stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

A Lake Storey fishing report in the Inbox last Friday from my friend, John Kirkemo, and a reasonable Saturday forecast made for an impromptu trip back down to Knox County’s Lake Storey to chase those wily bass. Glad I could swing it as it’s always a treat to fish my “home lake.”

Stats

Date: October 19, 2019
Location: Lake Storey – Knox County, IL
Time: 10:05am-3:35pm
Weather: Partly cloudy to overcast/breezy to calm
Air Temp: 54-60F
Water Temp: 55-56F
Totals: 10 bass
Lures: Strike King 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad) – 6 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (red crawfish) – 3 bass
Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (bluegill) w/ twin tail trailer (smoke) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-11
Top 5 Weight: 7-4 (1-11,1-9,1-8,1-4,1-4)

10:18am First bass and Top Bass 16″ 1-11 Crankbait

Notes and Nonsense

Drawdown V2.0 – An abundance of September rain negated the annual post Labor Day drawdown of Lake Storey bringing the water level back to near normal pool. Interestingly, the city opted to pull the plug a second time resulting in the lake being back to nearly full draw for this outing. I found this to be an encouraging decision as I understand that the practice of lowering the lake level has been debated at times. Here’s hoping that the annual drop continues as a fishery management tool and does not get vetoed by those who find it aesthetically unpleasant. For me, it is quite an attractive bit of added contrast between the lake surface and the changing foliage lining the bank. In addition, I find it much more appealing than the extensive beds of aquatic vegetation that ring much of the lake beginning in mid-May. And it’s good for the fishing. What’s not to like?

10:35am 15″ 1-9 Crankbait

Lonely Lake – October is an interesting time to fish as many folks either put away their gear or have other things to do. I’m not much into college football anymore so on a Saturday like this day, well, I’m not missing a thing. On this pleasant mid-October morning I arrived to a deserted boat ramp and was joined as I launched by friend and Top 5 contributor, John Kirkemo, who arrived with his boat in tow. We essentially had the lake to ourselves as I observed one other boat of crappie anglers who had launched at the other end of the lake along with a kayak angler. Shortly before 3:00pm another boat showed up and we left the lake to that angler shortly thereafter.

11:39am 14″ 1-8 Spinnerbait

Rock, Sun, Wind, Depth – A riprap bank hit by direct sun and a fair wind with deep water in close proximity is a fall winner and it came through quite well on this trip. Five of my ten bass (and another lost at boatside) came during an early and late pass along this stretch. One other shallower area with a pile of cinder blocks did give up a pair of bass and is always an interesting spot. I caught one bass on the initial pass but always make a cast back to the debris after I have drifted past, and right on cue, the first cast got me a second bass from the structure.

12:33pm 14″ 1-4 Crankbait

Wood Not so Good – Unlike my last visit in mid-September where spinnerbaits dominated the haul, the bite was lean on this outing. While I felt the water temps still held promise for the lure, the low water just left too much wood exposed or too shallow for the lure to be effective on my regular spots. No problem though, as crankbaits came through just fine.

1:34pm 13.5″ 1-4 Crankbait

It looks like the weather is going to take a dip as one would expect so this will likely be my final shot at the Lake Storey drawdown. Once again, a good challenge and I feel we turned in a respectable showing over three visits. One thing lacking, however, were teeth as we failed to turn up the accidental muskie or walleye. Maybe next year.

Next up in the “Friday Flashback” series is an entertaining 80s tale that we’ll revisit with the help of an old friend as a guest blogger. Hope you’ll stop back by to check it out. Talk to you later. Troy

Last Sunday marked the final day of 2019 access for anglers to Snakeden Hollow State Fish & Wildlife Area. The site shuts down for the waterfowl season so the birds win out over my bass (more on that some other time). Wanting one more shot, I decided to take a hike despite a recent cold front and the forecast of strong winds which can make it tough on an eight foot johnboat. The evening prior I put out a text to my brother, Brent, and he was game to give it a go as well. Read on for the results of our tag team outing.

Bundle up as this could be interesting

Stats

Date: October 13, 2019
Location: Snakeden Hollow, Knox Co. IL (4 lakes)
Time: 10:55am-5:25pm (5.25 hours fishing, the rest walking)
Weather: Sunny to overcast/very windy
Air Temp: 48-55F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 23 bass (Brent – 12, Troy – 11)
Lures
Troy: Strike King Red Eye Shad (orange craw) – 6 bass, Booyah Blade spinnerbait (snow white shad) – 2 bass, Zoom Baby Brush Hog (watermelon seed) – 2 bass, Chatterbait (bluegill) with Zako trailer (smoke) – 1 bass
Brent – Emiquon Special spinnerbait (brown/orange) 11 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (grey ghost) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 4-5 (Spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight: 11-9 (4-5,2-1,1-15,1-10,1-10)

A few of the bass that were captured on GoPro

Notes and Nonsense

Weather – The temps were in the 30s when I left home with a high of 55 predicted along with winds gusting over 20 miles per hour. Well, it all played out as predicted but with the strong wind and afternoon cloud cover it actually felt colder even though it got warmer. Trust me, it makes perfect sense if you were out there roaming around for about seven hours.

11:08am First bass – spinnerbait

12:08pm my first bass took a while to find but was sure intent on getting the lure

First Bass – It only took about 10 minutes before Brent got us on the board with his old reliable spinnerbait. That spinnerbait would go on to land all but one of his bass with the lone exception falling to a Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait while we briefly ditched the boat in favor of the bank. A reliable stretch was getting pounded by the wind making boat control impossible so we gave the oars a break and landed three bass and missed another. One of the three was my first catch of the day at 12:08 pm, roughly 70 minutes after we started casting. My lame excuse was being the designated rower (voluntarily) but really I just wasn’t getting it done and still don’t have my own version of “The Emiquon Special” spinnerbait. My boy, Jayce, does courtesy of a gift from Uncle Brent though causing me to ponder the ethics of raiding someone else’s tacklebox.

1:58pm 1-10 spinnerbait

Reunion – Choosing your spots can be tough at Snakeden as there are over a couple dozen viable fishing holes on the site. I wavered on a visit to an old favorite pondering whether it still held enough potential to justify the hiking effort. The decision turned out to be one of those “since we’re this close…” types. An hour of casting gave us two of our eventual Top 5 but just as rewarding was reliving some old tales such as “the sumac forest” and “the biggest topwater explosion ever.” Folks, we’ve got just a few fish stories between us.

2:24pm 2-1 Zoom Baby Brush Hog

 

3:12pm 1-15 Spinnerbait

4:20pm 1-10 Chatterbait

4:35pm Top Bass 4-5 Spinnerbait

Top Bass – The first time Brent and I ever fished what would eventually become Snakeden Hollow was July 1, 1987. That was three years before the ground would be open to public access. We were fortunate to get an invite from a fellow willing to take a couple teenage wannabe bass fisherman along for a visit inside a locked gate. In the 32 years since, we’ve caught more than a few bass out there including several that exceed the weight of 4-5 on Brent’s latest catch. However, his fish is hands down the coolest looking Snakeden bass I’ve ever seen. An impressive catch and in this instance, I believe that the picture indeed does the fish justice as it could easily pass for a heavier bass. Whenever I get around to a post on my favorite bass pics of all-time, this one will certainly make the list.

Kind of blew it on my GoPro footage by accidentally turning off the camera mid-catch

Another good outing with my brother and we managed a respectable haul (and a brute) in some challenging conditions. Yet again reinforcing why you don’t put those poles away to early and that the best time to go fishing is anytime you can. Which brings me to the following day and another fishing report to compile. Talk to you later. Troy

In a bold move, I dared to doubt the weatherman last Sunday and the 90-100% prediction of rain all morning, all afternoon and all evening. Call me a “fool”, but for most of my morning on some walk-in strip pits, it actually worked out just fine. And speaking of “fools”, I had so much fun with the lyrical fishing report notes last week that I am doing it again. Twice for this outing, in fact. “Fool” songs in today’s standard report and a “rain” theme for tomorrow’s extras.

Extended an invite but could not “Find Another Fool” (Quarterflash – 1982)

Ready to hike and fingers crossed as it looks like a dry window after all

Stats
Date: September 22, 2019
Location: Knox County, IL public strip mines (5 lakes)
Time: 6:15am-11:50am (4.50 hours fishing, the rest hiking)
Weather: Overcast/breezy/rain
Air Temp: 72-69F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 47 bass
Lures
Strike King Red Eye Shad (orange craw) – 22 bass
Booyah Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 12 bass
Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (snow white shad) – 11 bass
Zoom Baby Brush Hog (watermelon seed) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 1-13
Top 5 Weight: 7-12 (1-13,1-11,1-11,1-8,1-1)

7:03am First bass and 7:46am first “keeper”

Notes and Nonsense

“What a Fool Believes” – (The Doobie Brothers – 1979)
All day Saturday I checked the weather forecast only to find 100% chance of rain every hour from about 4:00am into the afternoon. Tough call but I opted to go for it and lucked into a window of mostly dry skies from my 6:15am arrival until about 10:15am. I’m glad I elected to disregard the weather app and take my chances. Oh, I still got soaked, but I already had about 40 bass in the log by that point.

 

“What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am” – (Lee Roy Parnell – 1992)
First off, that is one of those “rhetorical” questions. Anyway, I texted out an invitation on Saturday afternoon to a fellow fishing fool who politely declined as previously noted. And to tell you the truth I was beginning to wonder as well. For while the forecast had shifted towards the dry window noted above it sure was pouring on the drive down. From the I-74 Edwards River crossing until just shy of Galva on Route 17 it was raining so hard that I could barely see the road at times. Fortunately, less than 10 miles to the south there was barely any precipitation despite some ugly skies.

 

“Poor Little Fool” – (Ricky Nelson – 1958)
Actually, my Red Eye Shad fooled several poor little fools in the 6” range. That says a lot about the predatory instincts of the largemouth bass as these overachievers certainly bit off more than they could chew. One of their bigger brothers was fooled too but made a fool of me within a couple feet of the bank. Yep, the “one that got away”, more on that incident in a follow up post.

11:11am Top Bass 16″ 1-13 

“Fool If You Think It’s Over” (Chris Rea – 1978)
With a Top Bass of 1-13, the quality of my catches certainly left room for improvement. That’s been the theme for my 2019 as I just can’t find those big bites. In the case of the lakes fished on this trip, three of them had produced over half a dozen bass from 3-0 to 4-6 since 2013. But while I failed to find those quality bites again, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over and I intend to make at least a few more casts before I call it quits on 2019 fishing.

Some final totals beyond the bass (grocery shopping included that afternoon)

“Fool Hearted Memory” (George Strait – 1982)
As time passes I must admit to wrestling more and more with the decision to put these adventures behind and pursue some lower impact fishing. Throw in a saturated landscape that got even more saturated during the last hour and a half of wandering around and those thoughts crossed my mind again. But here I am several days later with the aches fading and a chance to relive the catches via blogging and editing, well, you know the rest.

Back tomorrow with Part II from a fool that doesn’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain. Fishing will do that to you. Talk to you later. Troy