In an effort to get a fishing fix, I like to do the weekend pre-dawn lake arrival at Lost Grove Lake. Only about a 25 minute drive from home it sets up nicely for a few hours on the water while the kids hopefully sleep in a bit and give Julie a little peace. Not so much this time around as she texted me on my drive to inform that our youngest, Zac, was already up and rearing to go. Best laid plans foiled but too late to turn back.

Stats
Date: September 30, 2017
Location: Lost Grove Lake – Scott County, IA
Time: 6:25am-9:25am
Weather: Sunny/breezy to windy
Air Temp: 45-58F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 9 bass
Lures:
Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad) – 4 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (bleeding shad) – 3 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (crystal grey ghost) – 2 bass
Top 5 Weight: 2-14 (1-15,0-15)

Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (crystal grey ghost) lead off with the first bass of the day (see below)

6:43am Short fish but shutout averted and definite room for improvement

Notes & Nonsense

Bad Aim – My first bass came on the Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait and was on the small side so I swung it into the boat, sat my pole aside and began my regular routine of unhooking, measuring and releasing. As I turned to place the fish back into the lake, I spied the last eye of my pole sticking above the surface of the water. Apparently, I missed the boat when sitting my pole aside and dropped it overboard instead. Fortunately, the area was very shallow and time will tell if there are any lasting effects in the waterlogged reel. One positive side note was that the water was much warmer than the 45 degree air temperature so it was actually kind of pleasant holding a warm handle and reel with my rather numb fingers.

7:30am Top Bass 16″ 1-15 Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad), my second largest at the site, trailing a 2-3

First Cast Bass – One item in a Bass Pro Shops order received a few days prior was a Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait in the sexy shad color. On this day I substituted it for the natural pumpkinseed pattern that normally resides in my starting lineup for Lost Grove. About 30 minutes into the trip, I reached an area where the squarebill has been effective so it was time for the sexy shad debut. My first cast with the lure was a bit errant and a little closer to some shallow weeds than I’d intended prompting me to say aloud, “Dang, too close.” Luckily, it did not hang in the weeds and about three cranks of the reel handle later my Top Bass of the trip proved me wrong. Always cool when a lure change produces immediate positive results; makes for a good fish story and makes you feel like you know what you’re doing (even with a less than pinpoint cast).

7:52am the other “keeper” 13″ 0-15 Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad)

Continued Success – The initial success of the sexy shad squarebill was not it’s only highlight of the day. I also employed it while working over the dropoff adjacent to an appealing piece of shallow structure. From a topo map I have, I was aware of some manmade structure placed in the general area but running without a depthfinder can make for some trial and error in locating such fish attractors. Back to back casts in the suspected area each produced a bass and a third one came onboard about five minutes later. Not sure if I found the structures or not and really kind of hope I didn’t as this would be a bonus spot instead. Perhaps at a later date I can determine the answer if/when I get another portable depthfinder (last one fell in a puddle in the bottom of the boat and was ruined last year).

Topwater bite still hanging in there with Booyah Buzz Buzzbait with new bleeding shad pattern skirt

Buzzbait Bite – As the weather cools, my buzzbait bite will inevitably fade to the point where I will put it away in favor of other presentations. But not quite ready to call it a year on the buzzer quite yet as it was still going strong with three more bass to round out my day. Nothing big but there’s always that potential and that’s what will keep me casting these baits for as long as the bass will provide some positive feedback.

Another solid day for me on Lost Grove and will say that it has been a fun second year of exploring the spot. I have learned a fair amount about the area along with landing some better quality fish who seem to be growing up on the young lake in good fashion. Time will tell if I get back out there again this year as the days are getting shorter thus eliminating the post workday window. In addition, the available days to get on the water are also diminishing and as a result I may take the shots I have remaining on bodies of water with better “trophy” potential.

Lake Storey report to come and hopefully some other fishing stuff as time permits. Talk to you later. Troy

The Fall drawdown on my lifelong “home” lake and fishing with my brother, Brent, meant it was gonna be a good day whether the fish were biting or not. And after a bit of a slow start, they sure were.

Stats
Date: September 17, 2017
Location: Lake Storey
Time: 6:45am-1:30pm
Weather: Overcast to sunny/breezy
Air Temp: 72-76F
Water Temp: 75-76F
Totals: 27 bass, 1 muskie (Troy – 18 bass, 1 muskie Brent – 9 bass)
Lures (Troy)
Mann’s Baby 1- Crankbait (Tennessee Shad) – 15 bass, 1 muskie
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (chartreuse shad) – 2 bass
Terminator Spinnerbait (firetiger) – 1 bass
Lures (Brent)
Mann’s Baby 1- (red/yellow) – 5 bass
Spinnerbait (white or brown/orange) – 4 bass
Top 5 Weight (combined): 8-3 (2-9,1-11,1-6,1-5,1-4)

10:02am 12.5″ 1-4 Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

Notes & Nonsense

Slow Start, Strong Finish
6:45am-9:19am = 4 bass
9:20am-10:55am = 13 bass, 1 muskie
10:56am-11:56am = 2 bass (back to back casts)
11:57am-1:30pm = 8 bass

10:11am 14″ 1-6 Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

The Spots – Several reliable spots proved tough over the course of the day with only 4 bass coming on about eight targets ranging from specific pieces of structure to lengthy stretches of bank. However, one other stretch that can waver in terms of consistency turned out to be the big winner. A couple scattered bites got our attention followed up by a lure change after a lull and we were onto the bite we were after. We worked the area over thoroughly and the reward was 13 bass and a muskie in an hour and a half, all of them on the Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait.

9:47am Muskie “accident” 29″ Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

Close Quarters – Just prior to the Baby 1- bass flurry I landed a muskie that hit the same lure right next to the boat. It suddenly appeared in the stained water as I was ending my retrieve with maybe ten feet of line beyond my rod tip. As quick as the strike occurred it is still interesting how things kind of happen in slow motion for that split second. In this case, I was able to recognize what was going down, set the hook, get my thumb in gear to put my baitcaster in free spool while also maintaining enough pressure to avoid a backlash and let the fish run long enough to give me some more room to have some control. A solid job on the net from Brent and we had a bonus species in the boat. At 29”, not a trophy by any stretch, but always cool and really kind of lucky as if it were much bigger it may have jerked the rod right out of my hand or likely broke me off on the strike.

11:21am 17″ 2-9 Emiquon Special spinnerbait (note the back injury on this fish)

11:23am 14″ 1-11 Emiquon Special spinnerbait

Emiquon Special – Brent’s legendary spinnerbait (another story) added yet another tale to its exploits. Originally casting a white spinnerbait, Brent got snagged on some brush and I employed my lure retriever to rescue the lure. I told him I was not responsible for any abrasions on his line after the save and unbeknownst to me he elected to retie but switched to the legend. Next thing I know, he’s reeling in our Top Bass (2-9) from a log on the very first cast. We were still laughing at the good fortune when his second cast with the bait produced our Top 5 runner-up at 1-11 from the same spot. While he would only land one more bass on the lure the rest of the day, the back to back bass made for a story that will certainly be told each time we cast to that log in the future.

Winning Lures – Emiquon Special and Mann’s Baby 1- 

Prediction vs. Results – During a visit the previous day with my brother-in-law, I mentioned the upcoming Lake Storey outing noting that a six or eight bass day would be a reasonable outcome as those bass can be a bit hard to fool at times. Our haul of 27 definitely shattered that prediction but every once in a while you get it right. The mid-morning flurry certainly beefed up our totals but the back to back bass and three others in four minutes off of a solid piece of structure were also quite rewarding.

12:15pm 13″ 1-5 Emiquon Special spinnerbait

Nothing trophy size given up by our old friend this time around but wouldn’t change a thing about our visit. Plain and simple, the bass here aren’t real easy to fool. Even after close to 35 years on the chase, I still get a charge out of fooling any of them regardless of size. For my money, there is more of a sense of accomplishment when landing these fish than anywhere else I make my casts. Talk to you later. Troy

Five years ago today on the water produced the following fish story, selfishly one of my favorites. As such I can’t resist going back in time today with a revisit of the original blog posting from 2012.

It was the worst of times; it was the best of times.

First things first before any lit teachers, scholars or aficionados elect to point out any perceived potential incongruity between my title and tease. I do indeed know that my title borrows from Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities) while my tease reworks some Tolstoy (War and Peace). I just thought that they were both well suited for what’s headed your way today. And while I know enough to be dangerous about each book, I will fully admit that I have read neither novel, nor do I have any desire to read them in the future. Okay, enough education/trivia/nonsense, on to my own classic tale, a literal, not figurative, fish story.

The One That Got Away – If you happened to catch my Lake Storey Report entry last Thursday, you are aware that I lost the biggest muskie me and my brother, Brent, had ever battled. Right around lunchtime the fish hit a Strike King KVD Rattling Squarebill crankbait about three cranks into a retrieve in maybe three feet of water. The first thing my brain processed was that I’d snagged a big old carp until the fish surfaced and more than got our attention. I fought the biggest muskie we’d ever seen for several minutes with Brent having to duck my line and me walking from front to back to front to middle of the boat as the beast made line striping runs and one spectacular water clearing leap while giving my six foot rod spooled with twelve pound monofilament all it could handle. Following the leap the fish was actually headed away from us with the line wrapped around its body and coming out from beneath a thrashing tail. Somehow it rolled or turned and everything got back to some semblance of normal and the still excitable fish came boatside. I mistakenly advised my net man to hold off on attempting a dip as the fish certainly exceeded the normal size of catch for our tool. Bad, bad move on my part as a subsequent headshake must have been just enough to cut the line and our fish was gone. I was pretty bummed but occasionally able to still cling to the hope that something good was still to come.

Moral Victory – I tried not to beat myself up too bad but told Brent that it was difficult to quell the sick feeling that kept cropping up in my stomach for the next couple hours (the scenario still plays out in my mind). I was proud though upon asking him if I swore after losing the fish and he said he didn’t think so; I didn’t think so either but it was all kind of a blur. I’m not really a profanity fan but would certainly excuse a spate of colorful language from a fellow (or even a lady) under the circumstances and would not pass judgment. I was also proud that I kept my composure in light of the fact that we had an audience of five within earshot including a little guy who had come down near water’s edge from a nearby walking path with his parents. And not that there’s anything wrong with tears, but I also didn’t cry; wanted to, but toughed it out.

   

Karma –At one point I pondered aloud to Brent about karma and what the fishing gods might have in store for the rest of our day. As we kept moving and casting, I offered that I would take a six pound bass to soothe the punch in the gut of the lost fish. Brent responded, “That’s right, you’ve never caught a six pounder” in recalling that my personal best jumps from a 5-15 runner up to a 7-3 Top Bass. I also reminded him that he’d only barely joined the six pound club (in a good way) with his Top Bass of 6-15.

Ah yes, the old fish stories, a little good natured ribbing and the next cast all help to facilitate the healing process. I was far from over it, but could feel tinges of the way that time does its thing. Sure there’s a whole list of things in my life that are a lot more important than some feisty, powerful, toothy, four foot fish but it sure would’ve made a sweet picture before it was released to maybe get fooled again someday (when it grew up a little bit).

Now, I don’t know what I deserve or what I don’t, if anything at all. But I play by the rules, respect the hobby and the quarry and relish the time on the water when flying solo or joining forces with fishing partners young and not so young. It’s hard not to sound overly dramatic but I’ve been around for forty five years and that fish literally represented the fish of a lifetime. I’m pretty sure that more than a few fellow anglers can relate; a tough pill to swallow that could really ruin your day, you’ve got to just keep casting and that’s what we did.

Second Chance – Not more than a couple casts after lamenting to Brent that the big old muskie sure would’ve made a nice blog picture, my Booyah Counterstrike spinnerbait stopped dead in a spot featuring a small stump and a couple fallen trees in about four foot of water. I hollered to Brent, “Got a second chance!” while also adding, “If he gets anywhere near the boat take a shot and if we get him, we get it, if we don’t, we don’t.” Well, the muskie wasn’t listening initially as he made a run under the boat prompting me to dunk my rod in the water to keep the line from hitting the underside. I could actually hear the fish splashing on the surface on the opposite side of the boat, behind me, but didn’t dare look as I was concentrating on the rod, waiting for the fish to move and hoping it was towards my end of the boat and deep enough to stay out of the trolling motor. The muskie cooperated on both accounts, came within reach and Brent did an excellent job of putting him in the net. I’m far from Mr. Excitement but let out an involuntary, excited and relieved, “Yes!!!” and did some kind of double fist pump that would have perhaps even impressed some of today’s exceedingly celebratory athletes. As Brent shot a few quick photos prior to the release I commented that I hoped they worked out alright as I was shaking. Looks like me, the photographer and the fish all did just fine with the latter leaving my release, swimming back into the stained water and fading from sight.

Date: September 16, 2012
Location: Lake Storey (no further specifics on either fish, sorry)
Time: 2:31pm
Lure: Booyah Counterstrike spinnerbait (snow white)
Length: 43” (originally thought 44.5” until reviewing photos, hey I was excited)
Weight: 19 pounds 8 ounces
Perhaps my most important detail: Released (voluntarily, unlike his counterpart)

Well, there you have it, maybe a bit longwinded but nowhere near the Dickens novel or Tolstoy tome referenced above. Try as we may, “the one that got away” is a recurring fishing staple for those of us who have invested our time and effort in pursuing this wonderful hobby. I’m sure we’ve all been there; you get over it, move on, find another one that doesn’t “get away”, life gets better and the old fish story is retold with a little less heartbreak as time and tales go by. I’m a very pleased to have the photos and memories of a new personal best muskie yet can’t help but wonder…

For in true “one that got away” fashion, Brent mentioned, “I think the other one was bigger.”

Of course, I think so too.

As dedicated anglers know, a full day of fishing may only be punctuated by a few scattered batches of catching (and nearly catching). But within those few minutes can lie a tale to last a lifetime. Talk to you later. Troy

The three youngest kids took my folks up on an overnight visit and we had nothing going at home so it was off to Iowa after work to chase bass across the river for the first time since late July.

Stats
Date: September 8, 2017
Location: Lost Grove Lake, IA
Time: 6:16pm-7:46pm
Weather: Sunny/calm to windy
Air Temp: 74-68F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 4 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (sexy shad) – 4 bass
Weight (two bass at 12” or better): 3-0 (1-14,1-2)

6:32pm 13″ 1-2 Buzzbait crummy pic but solid start with two bass on the board just over 15 minutes into casting

Notes & Nonsense

Plan of Attack – Knowing I only had maybe an hour and a half to fish, there was no exploring or experimenting this time around. Nope, hit all the spots with fast moving baits – a couple crankbait spots, a few Senko pitches at specific targets and otherwise a steady dose of buzzbait on proven areas.

Crankbait Results – I hit my two best crankbait stretches and never got a strike. Weapons of choice were a Mann’s Baby 1- (copper) and Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill (natural pumpkinseed). Although no takers on this outing, I do look forward to nailing some over the next several weeks as fall cranking is a favorite, and successful approach.

Senko Results – I pitched the Senko into a handful of targets along with using it as a follow-up bait on a couple missed buzzbait strikes. My targets produced a pair of hookups but both threw the bait before reaching the boat, tough break but good to see the spots come through (neither was a “keeper” at least).

Actually a pic from last week’s outing after a bass knocked off my buzzbait skirt on a strike, the skirt pictured was the winner today

Buzzbait Results – Not quite 30 minutes in, I had three bass on the buzzbait and was feeling pretty good about my prospects for the rest of the short outing. All three of these bass came from banks that were sheltered from the direct sunlight and my home stretch would feature similar conditions once the sun descended behind a slight ridge. All in all, things were setting up pretty well.

Foiled Again – The 2017 weather on my Lost Grove outings has not fully cooperated ranging from too much sun to a scary storm showing up in a hurry. This time around I plucked a 1-14 from some partially submerged brush on the buzzbait as I began my run through several money spots on the homestretch. The photo below shows a light ripple on the water in the background, which was just about right for presentation and boat control. By the time I got this bass photographed and logged, the wind kicked up to near whitecap magnitude blowing me in the opposite direction of the ramp. Boat control was shot and buzzbait commotion was negated by the increased wave action. I got a couple missed strikes but no more hookups and wound up with a disappointing stretch run as the darned weather turned on me again.

7:16pm Top Bass 15″ 1-14 Buzzbait  all was falling into place until the wind kicked up and ruined the topwater bite

Even so, I felt it was a decent sort of abbreviated outing, especially as I came very close to just staying home for a nap on the couch instead as I’d been beat all week. Can’t catch ‘em at home so glad I went, posting my third largest Lost Grove bass to date with the day’s Top Bass. Also got some GoPro footage as the camera seems to be back in working order after an odd hiccup (or operator error) and a shout out to an unnamed Good Samaritan who helped me lug my boat back to the truck at the end of my day. One more trip in the books from today so look to have a report and some other items from the outing on the way. Talk to you later. Troy

The follow-up trip to Eclipse Day produced a slew of bass but nothing big to show for it. In fact, my one “keeper” on the rain shortened, one hour, Eclipse outing outweighed the Top 5 for this trip all by itself. But hey, anytime you can post 43 bass with most of them on a buzzbait, now that’s a blast. In lieu of a batch of lunkers to report, I’m going to pull out an old stunt and use some Pop/Rock music to help convey my day on the water.  First the bass and the data, then we jam.

  

7:07am 14″ 1-8 First Bass and Top Bass Buzzbait                                       7:27am 13″ 0-15 Buzzbait      

Stats
Date: August 22, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL strip mines (3 lakes)
Time: 6:25am-3:00pm (6.0 hours fishing, rest walking or driving)
Weather: Mostly cloudy/very windy
Air Temp: 66F-76F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 43 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (Snow White shad) – 34 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 4 bass
5” Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 3 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (copper) – 1 bass
Zoom Baby Brush Hog (green pumpkin) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-8 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 5-7 (1-8,1-1,1-0,0-15,0-15)

Rest of the Top 5 (left to right): 0-15 (8:51am Buzzbait), 1-0 (9:41am Baby 1-) and 1-1 (11:08am Buzzbait)

Notes & Nonsense

“Take It To The Limit” (Eagles – 1975) – Went for a change of scenery “one more time” on this outing and every time I pull this stunt I wind up beat and wonder if it’s the last time. And I’m not just talking fishing results as this type of adventure provides a real workout. Forgive me for being a little vague but this bright idea involves hauling a boat into fishing holes that are a long ways from the truck, we’re talking potential miles for a round trip.

“This Night Won’t Last Forever” (Michael Johnson – 1979) – So this is where the whole music oriented concept originated for this report. I’m just killing them on a buzzbait and all of a sudden realize that a slightly altered version of this cut is going through my head. Substitute “bite” for night and it goes a little something like this: “I know this bite won’t last forever, I know the sun is gonna shine sometime.” For the first time in a while I got what I was after as the clouds were my friend.  The result was an all-day buzzbait buffet, first buzzbait catch at 7:07am and last buzzbait bass at 2:12pm, truly an expanded window.

“Lovely Day” (Bill Withers – 1977)
When the forecast calls for cloudy skies,
A cool breeze puts heat behind,
The thought of buzzbait bassin’ time,
Is foremost on my mind.
“And I know it’s gonna be a lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day…”
Yep, my own version of those lyrics were a significant part of my mental soundtrack as well. Maybe I ain’t right, but a lifetime in front of a radio has provided lyrics for every occasion and this one was spot on. If you dig tunes and topwater fishing, you know where I’m coming from.

“Lights Out” (Peter Wolf – 1984) – The former J.Geils Band lead singer summed up the fishing action quite nicely: “Blast, blast, blast.” Literally and figuratively, as topwater fishing appeals to the visual, auditory and tactile senses in an addictive fashion all in a split second of entertaining bass fishing action.  (Note: this Wolf tune is not to be confused with the video where he hops all the way through the song, that one is “Come As You Are”, quite interesting.)

“I Missed Again” (Phil Collins – 1981) – As the wind picked up, the buzzbait was still getting plenty of attention but I’d have to say that the surface chop made for a diminished success rate as at least a dozen bass came up short in their efforts.  Cue up the former Genesis singer with a classic early MTV bit of video entertainment as he croons, “Oh, did I miss again, I think I missed again” on behalf of those bass. In one case, a missed strike knocked the lure a foot above the surface, can’t recall ever seeing that one before. While it may have been wise to adjust my presentation to the changing conditions, I still had plenty of others displaying better aim, thus I kept right on buzzing as my primary approach.

The Jackson 5 – Lest anyone think that I am a sort of one hit wonder in lure selection most days, I did make a few changeups when cover and instinct dictated. Two bass on the Senko in two minutes around a lone bit of bankside standing timber was one case. In addition, I did add a few by lipless and shallow cranking in a couple spots that produced in the past. Overall, I landed bass on five different baits although the buzzbait was far and away the star of the group, the Michael of my tackle box on this day.

  

Left to right: Buzzbait (Michael), Red Eye Shad (Jackie), Baby 1- (Tito)

 

Left to right: Baby Brush Hog (Marlon) and Senko wacky rig (Jermaine)

“Hurt So Bad” (Linda Ronstadt – 1980) – Okay, so here’s the rundown on a fishing trip beat down. Both knees from hauling stuff and logging several miles of strip mine trekking (fortunately most was old roadways). Right shoulder from casting and lower back from hauling and sitting in an eight foot johnboat for about an eight hour day. Left elbow from a tumble as I also stand in that boat a lot even though not the wisest idea and several fingers just because they are getting old, ache and don’t work as well as they used to.

“Hurts So Good” (John Cougar – 1982) – But here I am a couple days later and those aches and pains are nearly a thing of the past and I’m well on the road to convincing myself that I need to try this stunt again. You know, the positives of a 43 bass day will still eventually outweigh the negative physical effects as the hours and days roll by. And don’t forget one other physical malady that is more of a badge of honor than a source of pain, good old bass thumb.

Thanks for tuning in and tune in again tomorrow for a blogging retrospective covering the last 15 years. Talk to you later. Troy