Once upon a time, me and my girlfriend could pretty much pack up the truck and go whenever we wanted. Perhaps it would take a vacation day or two from work but there were plenty of those to go around with the jobs we had at the time. And considering we were kid free it sure made the packing and the planning just a tad bit easier too.

Kind of hard to remember that lifestyle twenty years, a marriage and four kids later. All good though, been a wild ride and kind of funny how you shift gears, get more responsible and become parents.

But that’s all another story. The happily ever after part that’s still being written.

20 years later and I’ve still got the hat, the sweatshirt and most importantly, the girl (Julie’s still got that camping chair too).

Instead, we’re going back to 1999 today at Morrison-Rockwood Park in Whiteside County, Illinois. Julie and I selected the location for a late summer camping trip and chose to bring Dad’s boat in tow to try our luck on the site’s Lake Carlton.

Chivalry is not dead when a fellow buys a fishing license for that special lady.

From the pics below, you can see who the winning angler was during some exploration of the lake. Yep, the wannabe bass fishing guy was outfished by his companion two to zero. I used to joke that if someone caught more fish than I did on a trip that I wouldn’t take them anymore. Not entirely true, of course. In fact, when you get outdone on the water by your girlfriend that should serve as a hint that perhaps you have found a keeper. Took me two more years to pop the question but obviously glad I did all of these years later.

 

Speaking of all of these years later, we should actually try to go fishing again sometime. Anybody up for taking care of a batch of kids? Talk to you later. Troy

Emiquon and a connection got me and my fish on the March 2010 issue, a 2020 Friday Flashback for next spring

Back in April 2010, I got an opportunity to go public with my writing habit upon joining as a blogger on the Prairie State Outdoors (PSO) website. That gig lasted roughly a year and 169 posts before I moved on to Heartland Outdoors for six years and nearly 600 posts. Anyway, as my “pro” career was launched (made a whole $50 once) I decided to come out with guns blazing which included some catching up on fish stories from the previous year. And this tale was a pretty good one if I say so myself.

Originally Posted 4-21-10 as “A Needle In A Haystack”

On September 2, 2009 as Dad and I rolled down Illinois Route 97 en route to Emiquon he asked, “Would you rather catch one hundred small bass or just one big one?”

Good question considering that during an abbreviated first visit in April, I’d somehow managed to not catch a single bass while being battered by wind and waves for roughly an hour. Although I eventually came to terms with the humbling and humiliating episode, it did leave a bruise on my ego that lasted for a bit. So, while I thought that I’d learned a lesson in overconfidence, my response to his question indicated otherwise as I replied, “Why not both?” Well, if it wasn’t for sunset, my wish might just have come true.

About three hours into our trip (5:45pm) I landed a 23.5” bass that tipped the scales at 7-3 . Somehow or another, this large bass just happened to beat the multitude of naïve 12-15” bass to my lure. I don’t know the odds, but after several other fruitful days at Emiquon following this trip, it seems like one in a million. In other words, while I’d like to take credit for making some kind of crucial decision, in the end it was just one lucky cast. My new Top Bass eclipsed my old personal best of 5-15 caught at Emstrom’s Pond on February 18, 2002.

A year one Emiquon trophy and still my personal best 

The fish hit on a Rapala DT6 crankbait (parrot) in a spot where we’d already hauled in well over a dozen bass. Upon setting the hook I told Dad, “This is a good one” although I really didn’t know just how good even after a brief glimpse and a powerful run that stripped line from my reel. Then the monster surfaced and truly got our attention. A few seconds later, Dad had the Boga grip firmly clamped on its lip and hoisted it into the boat as I began to celebrate. While I didn’t “go Ike” (referring to Michael Iaconelli, 2003 Bassmaster Classic champ renowned for his boisterous vocal outbursts), I certainly can’t recall being that excited by a fish for a long time. As I measured the length and fumbled around for my scale we gave our customary estimates on the weight. My guess was 6-14 while Dad said, “I think it’s gonna go seven.” Not too bad considering that we just don’t see bass like that every day, particularly on the end of our line. After the weigh in and a few more celebratory utterances of disbelief (no expletives included even in my euphoric state), Dad snapped a couple photos and the fish was released to fight again.

Original log entry detailing a portion of a pretty special day on Emiquon with Dad 

In the aftermath, a few different trains of thought came up in conversation. Dad asked if I’d thought about keeping it and getting it mounted and I must say that it never crossed my mind. Ten years ago, possibly, twenty years ago, probably, but not today (and it’s not just because I’m broke). Not that there is anything wrong with keeping a fish that size, it’s just more rewarding for me to watch it swim away. Besides, now I know where this fish lives and who can tell what it might weigh if I fool it again this year. If you’re interested, just head out from the boat ramp and take a left (north). That’s all you get from me unless we’re fishing together. Then I’ll put you right on the spot and let fate and the thousands of other bass decide if anyone catches it. And that’s another thing that’s changed over the years, it really wouldn’t matter who caught it as I’d just like to be there to share in the excitement one way or another.

I also said to Dad, “I’m sending this one in.” I e-mailed a photo to PSO (note: now defunct) and got it posted on the weekly fishing report (9-3-09) along with the basic details of the catch. In addition, I sent the photo and tale to another site that I visit regularly, Larry’s Fishing Hole (sadly also defunct), and he elected to add it to his fishing report for September 10th. It’s been fun sharing my good fortune and engaging in the age old fishing tradition of bragging even if it is now via cyberspace instead of having a Polaroid in the stack of photos on the counter of the local baitshop.

Finally, I pondered where the bass would rank in relation to the birth weight of each of my kids. However, the best I could do was speculating as after three children the details all kind of run together. I figure that as long as I know when their birthdays are its all good. After doing the necessary research (I asked Julie), the tale of the tape is as follows: Helena (7-4) Bass (7-3) Jayce (7-2) Carly (6-13).

Funny thing is another of the forty two bass we landed was likely more significant than my new personal best. As we completed a rather unsuccessful drift through a promising looking area, Dad hooked into one of the many cookie cutter foot long fish that call Emiquon home. Assessing the conditions where he’d caught this fish, Dad proposed revisiting a nearby spot that was quite similar. We ended up sitting a cast away from a narrow brushy chute that the wind was blowing directly into and started catching bass after bass. And after weeding out some of the smaller ones we wound up with something special. But had it not been for the final bass of our initial drift and some expert analysis on Dad’s part, I’d likely have one less long winded fish story.

As we drove home following the rewarding day on the water, I forgave Emiquon. But I couldn’t resist feigning some disappointment when stating, “I’ve still never caught a six pounder.” Maybe this year. (Note: didn’t actually get that six until 2017)

Okay, one more pic, will be tough to top this one even if I get lucky and fool a bigger fish someday

I’ve said it before but it is worth repeating that I am glad that I took up documenting outdoor adventures. It’s always fun to look back and read the details that otherwise would be lost over time. And those parts are just as important, if not more, than the catches, even when one of them is your Personal Best. Talk to you later. Troy

Today’s Emiquon Flashback was the second of a four-part fishing report from a May 5, 2011 trip with my brother, Brent. I suppose it seems a bit over the top to craft four postings from one six hour fishing trip but Emiquon was that kind of place back in those early years.

Originally Posted 5-16-11

Looks like its “All You Can Eat” for the bass that call Emiquon home.

While some things have changed since Emiquon was opened to anglers back in April of 2009, the bass continue to display an aggressive disposition. And although outings may not produce the quantities they used to, the quality continues to impress. These bass are stout, well fed and show no signs of slowing down.

Brent and I both marveled at the distended bellies on the bass we landed on our latest trip. Repeatedly we were left shaking our heads stating, “Look at the gut on this thing.” We’re strictly catch and release on our bass but I must admit being tempted to take one home just to do some dissection. Of course, we didn’t have one make the grade anyway as Emiquon regulations specify a daily limit of one largemouth with an 18” minimum length. The best we could do was 17” and I truthfully would have only taken photos home no matter the size of our Top Bass.

No matter how you shot the pics, the bass were flat out healthy

Looking at my log entries dating back to 1987, the weight of 17” bass is clustered between 2-0 and 2-4. Our 17” Emiquon specimen tipped the scales at 2-12 and while it represents only one data point, I don’t think it’s a fluke. Our three 16” fish came in at 2-3, 2-3 and 2-5 compared to my log data averaging right around 1-15 and we also had a 15” at 2-1 compared to about 1-10. Granted this is rather unscientific and contains innumerable variables in the sampling methods and locations but I’d still put the health of the individuals in Emiquon’s bass population up against those on any other public body of water I’ve ever fished. Regardless of the length, you just don’t see scrawny bass.

Getting back to my dissection comment, we left without a solid answer on what they were eating other than spinnerbaits, which was working out just fine. Back in 2009 I wrote a piece on Emiquon that included the following observation; “A handful that I examined also had fish tails emerging from their throats yet were still in pursuit of another meal.” This time around we spotted neither tails nor the telltale antennae indicative of a crawdad dinner but whatever is on the menu it certainly seems like there’s plenty to go around.

Here’s another incredible bit of data as I weigh all bass 12″ or better and 35 of our 36 catches met that criteria.                           Folks, that is not normal.

From what I understand, over the last several years management decisions and Mother Nature have totally altered the population dynamics and species structure of the old fishing hole. Unfortunately, for us anglers, the management strategy was never really geared towards being one of the best fisheries around. But for a time, and for my money, once upon a time, it sure was. Talk to you later. Troy

McDonough County’s Spring Lake, not to be confused with similarly named Tazewell County fishing hole

Today’s flashback features a rather lengthy excerpt from the original September 5, 2009 post entitled “Just Like Riding A Bike.”

Thirty minutes into my return to bass fishing on August 16th, my old hobby indeed felt just like riding a bike. McDonough County’s Spring Lake had already given me three bass with a combined weight of 7-12 and I was back in business after a somewhat self-imposed hiatus to get my fishing mind right. My brother and fishing partner, Brent, then responded with a trio of his own that tipped the scales at 4-14. Barely an hour into our trip we had nearly thirteen pounds of bass (all released of course). An impressive start and little did we know that we both had yet to land our largest bass of the trip.

6:28am 18.5″ 2-15 on a Rapala DT6 crankbait (parrot)

Our immediate success was gratifying and I mentioned to Brent that our good fortune made me feel like laughing out loud. That would be “lol” in today’s “textspeak” or whatever it’s called as I don’t partake in one of technology’s latest rages. Paired with another comment we’d shared during the feeding frenzy (more on this later), it got me thinking about some of the peculiarities of the English language. Upon returning home, I pondered how I could relate our fishing adventure by enlisting the aid of figures of speech. Being a creature of habit, I often resort to such verbal tactics anyway but I thought perhaps this would be a chance to take it to another level while still being careful not to go overboard. All in all, it seemed like a perfect fit as fishing has contributed many phrases to our language that can be variously referred to as sayings, adages, clichés, idioms or old saws. One can “take the bait”, be “caught hook, line and sinker” or rue “the one that got away.” So, without further ado, I’ll give it my best shot as we get down to brass tacks.

6:41am 19.5″ 3-11 on Rapala DT6 crankbait (parrot)

“A sight for sore eyes” – It was exciting to get back on the water to harass some bass and while I had actually seen the lake before this outing, it had been many years ago and only during a short hike along the dam area while not armed with a fishing pole. I’d also checked out some internet info and a relatively crude map in a publication I own along with soliciting some input from Brent who had spent the previous day on the lake. Upon getting out on the water I was pleasantly surprised with some relatively good water depth close to shore and ample structure in the form of fallen trees, points, riprap and duck blinds. An added bonus was the nearly complete absence of aquatic vegetation. Granted, this can work both ways, but in the midst of summer it was a welcome change as many of our area lakes become choked with shallow weeds. And things worked out well as we were able to spend more time removing largemouth bass from our hooks instead of what we grew up referring to as “moss bass.”

6:44am 16″ 2-0 Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (grey ghost)

“The early bird gets the worm” – Brent and I launched the boat and made our first casts right around 6:10 am and had a bass in the boat seven minutes later. When Brent hooked a 1-14 at 7:14 am it marked our sixth bass in just over an hour on the water. The next hour or so produced three more and at 9:36am Brent reeled in a short fish that would turn out to be our last catch of the day. During the final two and a half hours, the Spring Lake bass threw a shutout but it wasn’t too hard to swallow after catching lightning in a bottle to start our day.

7:14am 15″ 1-14 Spinnerbait (yellow/white)

“Some things never change” – Consulting my fishing log it appeared that the last time Brent and I shared a boat was July 31, 2005. That’s quite a span between trips considering the amount of time we used to spend fishing together back in the day. But as we all know too well, time flies as evidenced by the fact that in the interim Brent got married and we combined for three kids. Despite such life altering changes, there we were once again with Brent tossing a spinnerbait while I relied on a crankbait just as my 2005 log entry had also recorded. And both times we each were catching bass proving that there is indeed more than one way to skin a cat.

“You should’ve been here tomorrow” – This was the other comment (besides lol) that got me thinking about the English language and was derived from the fishing standard of a frustrated angler being informed by a local that he “should’ve been here yesterday.” My misuse of the saying, while not grammatically correct, did have a purpose. Brent and Dad had fished the lake the previous day with limited success as they eked out three small bass during four early morning hours on the water.

7:24am 20″ 3-12 Rapala DT6 (parrot)

My botched take on this saying represents a figure of speech known as a malapropism. Perhaps some of you may remember Norm Crosby, a comedian who made a living out of butchering the English language and is regarded as the “Master of the Malaprop.” As a kid I recall him hosting a game show called “Liar’s Club” in the 70’s where a trio of celebrities described an unusual object for a contestant who had to decide which story was actually the truth. Anyway, while I’m off on a tangent I thought that I might as well pass along a handful of examples that I found amusing while researching malapropisms.

“It’s not the heat, it’s the humility.” – Yogi Berra
“I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family.” – George W. Bush
“I might just fade into Bolivian, you know what I mean.” – Mike Tyson
“I am not going to make a skeptical out of my boxing career.” – Tonya Harding
“Vagrant disregard for the law” or “patience is a virgin” – Archie Bunker

8:18am 18.5″ 3-12 Spinnerbait (yellow/white)

“Right place at the right time” – Although Dad and Brent’s outing didn’t provide much in the way of a fish story, Dad did relate an interesting anecdote from his trip to Spring Lake. After calling it a day and visiting the campsite where Brent, Kim and Brady were staying, Dad hit the road headed for home. As he exited the park onto a county road, he spied a young man pushing a bicycle down the shoulder. Dad opted to take the Good Samaritan route despite not knowing what you might encounter these days. It turned out that the fellow was a Western Illinois University student who had the misfortune of a broken chain while out for some exercise. He was grateful for the lift to the bike shop in Macomb as it is a rather substantial walk from Spring Lake. I guess timing is everything with the guy being lucky that the fish weren’t biting as Dad quite likely would have still been in a boat on the water as opposed to his truck on the road.

“Better lucky than good” vs. “Practice makes perfect” – I hope that our success was more directly a result of the latter of this pair of sayings. We’ve been at this for a while and have no doubt refined our techniques over the years. The fish will often tell you what they want (or don’t) but it’s up to the angler to discern a pattern after taking into account a handful of variables. Weather, season, forage and structure are among the factors that must be assessed. Experience is also an indispensable tool and this time around we happened to start out in the right spots with the right presentations. Could we repeat the performance on a future trip? I’d like to think so; perhaps that’s a future fish story.

9:30am 17″ 2-6 Rapala DT6 (parrot)

”If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” or “What a difference a day makes” – A return trip after a tough day certainly gives credence to this adage. I must admit a bit of pessimism upon hearing that Brent and Dad had struggled during their day on the water. I’m as confident in their abilities as my own so it didn’t bode well when I got wind of their fishing report. There was even brief consideration of a trip to nearby Lake Argyle but fortunately we stuck to our guns. How easy it would have been to simply write off Spring Lake as a bad fishing hole after one trying experience. Such is fishing; that’s why it’s not called “catching.”

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” – Our success came by taking our time and thoroughly working over pieces of structure that we felt should hold a bass. Points, fallen trees and duck blinds with some proximity to deeper water was the pattern of the morning. A quality bite on crankbaits and a spinnerbait left little reason to experiment with some of our other “go to” lures such as the Senko or Baby Brush Hog. In the end, we combined for eleven bass with a tie for Top Bass honors as we each hauled in a 3-12. Our five heaviest bass combined for an impressive weight of 16-8, well over a three pound average per bass. Nine of our eleven bass exceeded twelve inches with weights as follows; Troy (3-12, 3-11, 2-15, 2-6, 1-2) and Brent (3-12, 2-0, 1-14, 1-0). The lure breakdown consisted of a Rapala DT6 (parrot – 4 bass), Mann’s Baby 1- (grey ghost – 4) and a tandem spinnerbait (white/yellow – 3).

Original log entry from an entertaining and productive day on some new water

I did work a Baby Brush Hog around several logs to no avail and remarkably never even picked up my Senko wacky rig. But then again, you’ve got to dance with who brung you. We did experience the customary “one that got away” as Brent had a bass in the two pound range toss his spinnerbait after being hooked. The only concern was being shut out during the final two and a half hours but a fair amount of that time was spent exploring the southern bank which I found much less appealing. We also may have gotten a bit complacent but based on my year of futility any more bass would certainly have been icing on the cake.

Whew, hope you hung in there through that lengthy and wandering fishing tome. I won’t keep you any longer today as I’m sure you’ve got bigger fish to fry. Talk to you later. Troy

August 6, 1999 – Our 2019 Top 5 leader, Jim Junk, with an 8-1  Lake Bracken Spillway carp 

These flashbacks are always fun for me as while I have had the posts for the year lined up since February, I never really know where they will end up until I get around to writing them. In today’s case, I’m typing at about 8:30pm Thursday night on the deck with the Cubs leading the Reds on the radio.

A relaxing summer night just like today’s shots from 20 years ago. And the adventures with these friends and this fishing hole both go back even further.

August 6, 1999 – Mark Junk with a 5-10 carp

I’ve run around with some combination of the Junk brothers dating back to the early 80s. Kind of cool to say you’ve been friends with somebody for close to 40 years. In the case of the Junks in today’s flashback we’re talking Mark and Jim. These guys had it dialed in that night relegating me to photographer and eventually, 20 years later, documentarian.

August 6, 1999 – Mark with a 6-8 carp and note the cooler in the background, fluid intake is important in the summer and we definitely stayed “hydrated” back in those days

Mark left quite a mark on the basketball record books of Galesburg High School and Knox College during the 80s and early 90s. With today’s featured catches and more than a few others he also made a splash in my family and friends fishing record book.

August 6, 1999 – Jim with a 5-3 carp

Jim has made more than a few appearances on the blog via the Top 5 with his bassing success. For today’s haul though, it is fun to step back in time to get a glimpse of him fooling some other species.

August 6, 1999 – Jim with a bonus 3-8 catfish

My history with the fishing hole, Lake Bracken, and more specifically “The Spillway”, goes back even farther than my association with the Junks. The best estimate would be a 1978 or 1979 visit to “The Spillway” with some Little League teammates that indeed got me hooked.

As the saying goes, “the rest is history”, a whole bunch of it. But I’ll let you go for now with the latest in the 2019 Friday Flashback series. Plenty more to go as I’ve got one for every Friday through November so make sure you stop by as we’ll have a few more guests along the way. Talk to you later. Troy