All of the kids went to my folks’ for the weekend so I got a shot at another unexpected fishing trip (and Julie and I actually got to go out for dinner two nights in a row, been many years).  My fishing destination was the Knox County, IL strip mines bright and early last Sunday morning to see if I could find some more bass.

Stats

Date: July 30, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL strip mines (2 private, 1 public)
Time: 5:35am-11:45am (5.25 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/breezy to windy
Air Temp: 60-78F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 12 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (chartreuse white shad) – 7 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (copper) – 2 bass
5” Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 2 bass
Zoom Baby Brush Hog (green pumpkin) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-13 Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait
Top 5 Weight: 6-8 (1-13,1-5,1-3,1-3,1-0)

Notes & Nonsense

6:35am 14.5″ 1-3 Senko                                                                                           6:44am 12.5″ 1-0 Buzzbait

On Time Arrival – My intent on these early morning outings is to get on the water right about the time that it is getting light enough to see what I’m doing.  With a drive of roughly an hour, that means getting up around 3:30am to put the finishing touches on breakfast, pack a lunch, get dressed and load the few remaining pieces of gear.  This time around I hit everything just about right and made my first cast at 5:35am.  First bass showed up twenty five minutes later on a buzzbait after my first three go to spots let me down.  The first “keeper” came aboard at the one hour mark amidst a bite that was enough to keep me interested but not the daybreak flurry I was seeking.  At times I wonder if I actually get up before the bass and if that whole early bird thing does not apply when it is man versus fish.

7:05am 14.5″ 1-3 Buzzbait                                                                                                   8:15am 15″ 1-5 Baby Brush Hog  

Plan B – By 9:10am it was time to shift gears as two typically productive lakes had failed to give up any of the big bites I was seeking on the buzzbait.  I had nine bass on several different presentations with four at 12” or better but the heaviest was only 1-5.  I still had at least a couple more hours to fish so I decided to wing it and tackle a reunion trip I’d contemplated since 2011, the last time I fished an off the beaten path, public spot that I call Locust Lake.

Locust Lake – This destination requires a portage from another body of water and upon dragging my boat to the area I was met with a frequent hint of something dead wafting through the air.  I figured it might be a dead deer or something until I caught a glimpse of Locust Lake through the surrounding reed forest.  Dead bass and bluegill littered the nasty brown water and a dying mat of slimy surface vegetation covering the majority of the lake.  Well, I’d invested about twenty minutes to get there so I decided to go ahead and explore although I didn’t hold out much hope for success.

Dead Sea Results – Rowing through the mossy surface I spooked a handful of bluegill and several bass when crossing the scattered open water areas on the lake.  And about ten minutes into casting I had a 12.5” keeper on a buzzbait.  Several minutes later I landed a second bass at 13.5” on the Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait.  But my strangest and final catch would be the best of the day at 17.5” as the crankbait came through again.  The fish was so gaunt and sickly looking though that I was truly a little hesitant to even lip the thing as it just looked nasty.  I guess it was healthy enough to eat, possibly starving, but I sure think its days are numbered.

11:27am 17.5″ 1-13 Baby 1- crankbait  – Three pics of the same fish still don’t do justice to how scrawny and sickly this bass looked.  It easily should have weighed two and a half pounds with even a modest build.  The lake facing shots serve to display a few of  the dead fish in the background as well as a look at the nasty dying weeds, pretty messed up but somehow two other bass also bit.

Theory of a Dead Lake – The area around the south bank of Locust Lake had been completely bulldozed with trees and nasty strip mine soil perched on the rim above the lake.  My guess is that whatever got stirred up in that dozing process has found its way into the lake and put a real hurting on the fish (largest dead bass was likely around four pounds, pretty sad).  If you’ve never roamed the strip mines, let me tell you, there are some pretty weird looking pieces of ground scattered around despite reclamation efforts.  I’ve long referred to them as “patches of the lunar landscape” as they are devoid of life and have a color that doesn’t resemble real dirt.  In addition, you find runoff areas that have water that don’t look like water if that makes sense.  At any rate, something ain’t right as there is a second body of water nearby that was surrounded by bulldozed terrain and, you guessed it, a bunch of dead bluegill, bass and a few walleye.  Strip mines have provided me with countless hours of outdoor enjoyment but the whole process has really done a number on some areas.

At any rate, I thought I’d get an answer on whether Locust Lake was still worth the effort but I must admit that I walked away rather confused.  Perhaps a revisit next spring may be worth a shot before the vegetation kicks into gear and to assess if cool weather has a revitalizing effect or simply finishes the job.  Stay tuned on that one I guess and tune in tomorrow for the latest monthly Top 5 stat wrap.  Talk to you later.  Troy

So, what to do to kick off my 50^th birthday in style?  Why, a fishing trip, of course.  Up at 4:15am and half a dozen bass in the log before anybody probably even got up at my house.  I could also write “before anybody even missed me” for as long as those kids have their mama around I don’t think they notice that I’m gone, even on my birthday.

Stats
Date: July 23, 2017
Location: Little John Conservation Club (2 lakes)
Time: 6:30am-12:15pm (5.25 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/breezy to windy
Air Temp: 74-86F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 11 bass
Lures:
Whopper Plopper (I Know It) – 5 bass
5” Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake) – 2 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (chartreuse white shad) – 2 bass
Zoom Baby Brush Hog (green pumpkin) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 3-8 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 8-1 (3-8,1-8,1-1,1-0,1-0)

6:33am 13″ 1-1 Whopper Plopper                                                                                   6:58am 13″ 1-0 Whopper Plopper

Notes & Nonsense

Immediate Feedback – Julie and the kids bought me a GoPro for my birthday as I must admit to being a bit entertained by a handful of fishing oriented YouTubers over the last year or so.  I’m nowhere near as hip as this bunch but do take some consolation in the fact that I was pulling a few of their stunts before they were even born or Al Gore invented the internet.  Anyway, this was the inaugural GoPro outing and believe it or not I caught a bass on my first cast of the morning, GoPro filming and everything.  Only a 10” fish but had to laugh at my good fortune despite such “luck” superstitiously being the kiss of death via a first cast bass.  The jury is still out on what will become of the GoPro footage in terms of any public display but that’s a decision and a blog entry for another time.

You Go Back, Jack, Do It Again (Steely Dan, Do It Again, 1972) – Stop number two did not live up to expectations with only three bass in just under three hours with the largest being 13” and one-pound even on the buzzbait.  The other pair came on the Senko wacky rig and I busted off a fish on a creature bait on the hookset as my knot pulled free.  Just not my day on this spot, even when I slowed down a bit.  Once again focused on force feeding a buzzbait in less than ideal conditions looking for that one bite but my stubbornness did not pay off.  The good thing was I still had at least another hour and a half before I had to head home.  The tough thing was deciding on the next fishing hole that would present the best opportunity to get something big.  I mulled it over as I rowed back to the ramp and came up with the brilliant plan to go back to the lake I’d selected to start my day.

7:23am 15″ 1-8 Whopper Plopper                                                                      10:29am 13″ 1-0 Buzzbait

That One Bite – It took me thirty minutes upon my return to lake one before I fooled my first bass of visit number two while slowing down with a Texas rigged creature bait.  Not looking like a real winning move in my choice of a return trip at that point as the sun dominated the sky and the noon hour was just around the corner.  I was desperate for cloud cover and when a lone cloud showed up between me and the sun it was time to bust out the buzzbait yet again…and it worked to the tune of a 3-8 to save the day.  Crazy thing is, it was the fourth time I had worked this particular historically productive area on this trip and the only bite it produced.  With a blend of perseverance and stubbornness I got my bite.

Top Bass 11:40am 19″ 3-8 Buzzbait                                                               New appearance of an old lure

BBH – This abbreviation found its way into the logbook again after a significant absence from being on the end of the line for a cooperative bass.  Strange how lure selection can result in lures that come and go as I get in a rut, rely heavily on comfort lures or swing for the fences with a proven big bass bait.  In this case it was a welcome and successful changeup in my choice to slow it down as the Zoom Baby Brush Hog was my Texas rig bait of choice.  I’d struggled this year to entice a bite in limited use with this general presentation while employing a Senko or Havoc Pit Boss but “rediscovered” the Brush Hog, tied it on and parlayed it into a pair of bass around some laydowns.  My game (and sometimes my downfall) is power fishing but setting the hook on those taps brought back an appreciation for the variety of approaches it takes to fool my quarry over the course of a day, a year and a lifetime of chasing the largemouth bass.

Been waiting to write a report filled with a combination of quantity and quality so, of course, that means a little longwinded on the recap.  But what else do you have to do, you’re probably supposed to be working anyway.  No need to thank me for the substantial distraction, just keep reading.  And tell your fishing buddies.  One more report to go this week in order to finally get caught up for July, been very fortunate in terms of time on the water.  Talk to you later.  Troy

My weekly Tuesday evening fishing trip took me across the river again for the first time in several weeks. Conditions were looking ideal for the buzzbait feast I’d been looking for but Mother Nature intervened just as me and the bass were getting dialed in.

Stats
Date: July 18, 2017
Location: Lost Grove Lake, IA
Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Weather: Sunny to stormy/breezy to very windy
Air Temp: 91F-74F (not a typo folks, that’s for real)
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 3 bass
Lures:
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (white chartreuse shad) – 2 bass
Strike King KVD Rattling Squarebill 1.5 Crankbait (pumpkinseed) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-11 Buzzbait (only fish at 12” or better)

6:19pm First bass, found a stretch where I could actually fish a crankbait without constant fouling in the vegetation, gotta like that.

And here’s the crankbait, my favorite squarebill model and color.

Notes & Nonsense

Forecast – I launched to sunny skies and a bit of a ripple on the surface with a storm forecast for between 7:30 and 8:00pm. Looked about right as some darker skies were looming to the south and west but the whole system just seemed stalled and had me looking at possibly being able to fish until sunset as originally planned. Didn’t quite work out that way, tell you about that shortly.

Frontal Bite – Intermittent clouds passing between me and the sun had me pretty fired up for a buzzbait bite with a larger cloud bank slowly headed my way. It was exactly what I’d been looking for to get the buzz on and with a pair of bass just past 6:30pm on the buzzer it looked like it was gonna be my day. The front was still stalled and I had two of my best topwater sections laid out before me ready for the home stretch. Did I mention it didn’t quite work out that way?

Change in the Weather – About 7:00pm, the stalled storm got unstalled in a real hurry just as I neared my much anticipated topwater spots.  In a matter of seconds the dark clouds hustled in overhead, the lake surface was churning with whitecaps and the temp plummeted (91F to 74F).  I was now in a hurry to get off the water and fortunately the gale force wind was pushing me in the general direction of the ramp, all I had to do was steer.  Had the wind been in the opposite direction I truly don’t think I could have made any headway rowing and the waves would have definitely been spraying over the front of my little johnboat.  Game over, and a little scary…then the rain started in.

6:43pm Top Bass 15.5″ 1-11 Buzzbait This one really exploded on the bait and I sure thought I had a new lake record from the strike but fell several ounces shy of the 2-4 needed though still a good fish.  Looks like a nice day behind me, huh?  Well, at that point it was, a mere twenty minutes later, not so much.  No pics of the storm as I was real content to stay in the truck.

Aftermath – Luckily there was no lightning to push my concern beyond simply getting wet. I did wind up a bit soaked by the time I had everything back in the truck but that could have been worse as well. I sat in the lot for several minutes as a heavy, sideways rain drenched the area. I was happy to be back in the truck as the storm raged away but also pretty bummed out that the conditions I’d been looking for during the last several outings lasted about twenty five minutes before the rainout sent me packing.  On a positive note, the gravel roads sure weren’t dusty on the way home.

The Catch – So headed home an hour and a half early I decided to stop by the grocery store for a 12-pack of Miller Lite, a replacement buzz of sorts. Julie and the girls had been out for dinner with a friend, Deb, and the storm chased them home early too as our daughter, Carly, is not a fan of the inclement weather. Deb asked how many I’d caught and seemed impressed when I replied, “Twelve.” Of course, I was referring to my grocery store purchase, not the bass.

Still have one more fishing report to catch up on as I went back after them the following evening. But first, got one more outdoorsman celebrating a birthday tomorrow, hope you’ll stop back by for a posting that I guess you would say has been a long time in the making. Talk to you later. Troy

Got the first opportunity of the year to team up with my brother, Brent.  We chose to hit some Knox County strip mines in hopes of fooling something big as they have produced several nice catches including a pair totaling 8-5 for me and Dad a week earlier.  I was also looking forward to Brent filling out a Top 5 limit with four fish joining a 3-2 caught back in February on his only bass outing of the year.

5:59am 1-5 Buzzbait                                                                                                7:01am 1-6 Senko

Stats
Date: July 15, 2017
Locations: Little John Conservation Club (2 lakes)
Time: 5:55am-12:15pm (5.50 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny/breezy to windy
Air Temp: 56F-82F
Water Temp: 80F
Totals: 15 bass (Brent – 10, Troy – 5)
Lures:
Senko weighted wacky rig (several colors) – 13 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad or chartreuse) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 1-6 (tie one apiece) Senko for both
Top 5 Weight: 7-3 (1-6,1-6,1-5,1-5,1-2)

Notes & Nonsense

Addictive Start – Four minutes into casting and Brent had our first bass courtesy of a buzzbait from a shallow pocket, definitely a good sign in terms of some topwater success. It took 25 more minutes for our next catch but my buzzbait bass continued to foster some high hopes despite those doggone sunny conditions.  I really knew better and even told Brent that I was potentially wasting my time sticking with a topwater bite (was also tossing a Whopper Plopper) but you know, that whole “only takes one bite” thing.  Well, I never got it this time around.  In fact, we never caught another buzzbait bass the rest of the day though I foolishly kept trying.

Old Faithful – Unlike his older brother, Brent effectively shifted gears and left the buzzbait rod on the deck in favor of a tried and true strip pit wonder, the Senko wacky rig.  Outfishing me 9 to 4 after our early buzzbait catches, he certainly made the right choice.  While his Senko did not produce any lunkers, at least he was reeling in six more fish during my three hour drought (7:09am-10:11am).

7:59am 1-5 Senko                                                                                    8:13am 1-2 Senko

Clarity – The Senko was clearly the bait of the day even in some less than ideal conditions.  My somewhat unfounded concern dealt with a decrease in water clarity.  I view the Senko as being more effective in clearer water situations, which are the norm on most of the Little John bodies of water.  However, the last two years, water clarity has been quite odd on several of the typically clear locations I fish.  I was rather confused on the cause as my 2016 season drew to a close but it sure seemed to throw the bass and yours truly out of whack.  Same thing this year, which I attribute to some pretty significant amounts of rainfall in recent weeks.  Commotion has been key to enticing some big bites but as noted in an earlier report, sunny conditions have really hurt the topwater bite.  Granted, you rarely have what one would call a “perfect” day, but conditions have been extra odd for 2017 (still somehow have managed my best Top 5 since kicking off the project, fishing is just plain weird sometimes).

11:22am 15″ 1-6 Senko                                                                                Winning Lure – Senko wacky rig

Limit – As the guy who keeps tabs on this whole Top 5 thing, I was very excited to see Brent post four more bass to his creel and fill out a limit.  Plenty of room for upgrades and for me that is so much a part of the fun.  Get those first five on the board and then start picking them off as you reel in bigger catches along the way.  Summertime can be tough but looking forward to getting back on the water at some point with Brent.  I’ve fished enough with the guy to know that it’s just a matter of time on the water to put together an impressive creel.  Could be Summer, could be Fall, but I’ve got some ideas to put us on some fish for a strong finish.

While the results did not live up to my expectations, fifteen bass was still a reasonable haul but just not many for the highlight reel, I guess.  No matter, it is always good to hang out on the water with Brent although we don’t get to do it as much as we did back in the day.  We did get to hang out around a campfire later for a while as his bunch came out to hang out with my bunch as my family was enjoying a weekend camping trip at Lake Storey near Galesburg.  Overall, a good family weekend as Mom and Dad also hung out as well.  A couple more fishing reports in the works and perhaps some camping stuff later this month as writing time permits.  Talk to you later.  Troy

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 takes 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.

Okay, with the formality of landing a few 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 seems to never fail 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.

A few final pics after removing our catch from the livewell in the parking area with lots of excited fish splashing and three generations of Jackson boys laughing and admiring the results of an enjoyable couple hours at the lake.

And finally, do you think fifteen poles are suitable for a morning on the water? It’s how this bunch rolls and from the fishing reports detailing this day, looks like it works just fine.

A trip from July 11 is already in the log and looking to hit the water again this weekend at some point. Tune in next week for the reports and don’t forget to have a look at the regular Facebook postings for plenty of outdoor notes and pics. Talk to you later. Troy