Category: Flashbacks

Lake Lowdown Revisited

Posted on by Troy Jackson

After a lengthy hiatus, I reintroduced a project last year that I called “Lake Lowdown” to coincide with kicking off my own website (snip from the 2017 post below). As a refresher, here is a little background on the project followed by some stats to get you up to speed in advance of the 2018 version hitting the blog.

This whole thing started with my stab at fishing reports aimed at mirroring a monthly Bassmaster magazine feature entitled “Day on the Lake.” The monthly article places a pro on an unfamiliar lake and documents the highs and lows in chronological fashion as they spend seven hours on the water trying to figure things out.

From 2002 thorough 2009 I posted seven such reports featuring either Dad or my brother, Brent, as my fishing partner. Our version of these reports differ from the pros as we have fished known locations (with one exception in 2007) and I also photograph and document the details of every bass we land for usage in the final product. While I sure dig the Bassmaster version, I much prefer our reports. Not only because it’s firsthand experience but also because it’s the real deal with a couple guys in 30 or 40 year old boats using whatever fishing gear they’ve amassed since the 80’s and showing you every fish, not just the big ones thrust out at arm’s length as close to the photographer as possible (yes, I have been guilty in the past but these days I make sure to bend them elbows). I’d like to think that it is something to which more than a few fellow bass anglers can relate.

So, I brought the project back last year in conjunction with having my own blog and the 2017 outing wound up being a rousing success. However, I did note the following on the heels of the 2017 outing which took place on private waters.

In the interest of further promoting “regular guy” fishing we do probably need to pull this stunt on public water more often although the bass just don’t jump in the boat at any of our stomping grounds, still takes some work.

Well, we went “public” in 2018 as you will see in tomorrow’s report.

But for today, we take a look at a brief rundown of some of the numbers from each of our previous stabs at this project.

July 9, 2002 with Brent at Lake Bracken (private)
7.50 hours and 37 bass (Troy = 20 Brent = 17)
Top Bass: 1-9 Troy Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 5-12 (1-9,1-3,1-1,1-0,0-15)

June 13, 2003 with Dad at Lake Bracken (private)
5.25 hours and 35 bass (Troy = 19 Dad = 16)
Top Bass: 3-3 Dad Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 8-0 (3-3,2-2,1-1,0-14,0-12)

July 23, 2004 with Dad at Lake Bracken (private)
7.00 hours and 25 bass (Dad = 14 Troy = 11)
Top Bass: 1-14 Troy Buzzbait
Top 4 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 5-5 (1-14,1-8,1-0,0-15)

July 13, 2005 with Dad at Lake Bracken (private)
7.50 hours with 20 bass (Dad = 11 Troy = 9)
Top Bass: 2-7 Troy Senko wacky rig
Top 5 Weight: 6-8 (2-7,1-5,1-1,0-14,0-13)

May 9, 2007 with Dad Snakeden Hollow strip pit (public)
2.0 hours with 21 bass
Top Bass: 1-11 Dad Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 7-1 (1-11,1-10,1-8,1-3,1-1)

June 16, 2008 with Dad at Lake Bracken (private)
6.50 hours with 38 bass (Dad = 26 Troy = 12)
Top Bass: 3-7 Dad Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 14-2 (3-7,3-5,2-13,2-9,2-0)

September 21, 2009 with Dad at Lake Storey (public)
7.00 hours with 15 bass (Dad = 8 bass Troy = 7 bass)
Top Bass: 2-10 Troy Creature Bait
Top 5 Weight: 8-11 (2-10,1-10,1-10,1-9,1-4)

July 8, 2017 with Dad at Little John Conservation Club (private)
3.50 hours with 17 bass (Troy – 10 bass Dad = 7 bass)
Top Bass: 5-0 Troy Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 12-4 (5-0,3-5,1-8,1-4,1-3)

Totals
8 outings
46.25 hours
208 bass
Top Bass: 5-0 Troy 7/8/17 Buzzbait
Daily Top 5 Weight Record: 14-2 Lake Bracken 6/16/08
All-Time Top 5 Weight: 18-4 (5-0,3-7,3-5,3-5,3-3)

So there you have the basis, background and up to date recap regarding the project deemed “Lake Lowdown.” Tune in tomorrow for the 2018 version and talk to you later. Troy

 

 

Friday Flashback – October 23, 1998

Posted on by Troy Jackson

For the second consecutive Friday Flashback we revisit Knox County, Illinois’ Lake Storey.

And here’s what’s extra cool about this post.

Just a few days shy of exactly 20 years later, the same two guys featured in these flashback photos are out there again looking for a few more bites as they add to their collective stockpile of fish stories.

As we await the results of the 2018 version of a Lake Storey outing with my brother, Brent, we’ll take a look at the 1998 version as a warm-up.

When a fishing trip produces a pair of lake records that’s a solid day. Especially when you only combine for four total catches.

1:32pm (pic above) – Brent lands a 4-7 bass along a tried and true stretch or structure that consists of some shallow scattered riprap. No surprise at all that he is wielding a spinnerbait to fool a new Lake Storey bass record, eclipsing Dad’s 4-6 from 1988. The record would stand until 2007 when I was able to bump it up another ounce with a 4-8.

3:30pm (pic above) – My trusty Blue Glimmer spinnerbait crossed paths with one of the lake’s toothy residents that equaled my personal best muskie at 7-14 (33.0”), tying a 33.5” of the same weight from September 1997 at Snakeden Hollow’s Lake McMaster. This Top Muskie has been topped four times over the years with the current mark of 43.5” and 19-8 from Lake Storey in September 2012.

12:45pm (pic above) – For good measure, our third quality catch of the day was our first with a 2-0 bass also on the Blue Glimmer spinnerbait. Not a trophy or a record but a solid catch as anything at two pounds or better is a “good fish” in my book, especially on a stingy spot like Lake Storey.

A legendary lure that I simply call the “Blue Glimmer”

What’s also fun is that I remember exactly where all of our catches came from without having to peek at the log or scour the background of the photos for clues. It’s a little something that I call “piscatorial memory”, a concept long stashed away in my stack of blog posts for another day.

Original log entry complete with battle blemishes

Another fun note on this outing is a look back at the log entry as it features the splotches from the splashes of that new muskie record. While I don’t recall the specifics of the muskie decorating the notebook, an investigative eye shows the muskie data to be free of blemishes leading me to believe that the muskie was the culprit. Makes for a good piece of the story at least.

I’ll close with a final observation regarding the Lake Storey bass record as there seems to be a bit of a pattern. Looks like about every 10 years or so a new Top Bass joins the record book. Dad kicked it off in 1988, Brent upped it by an ounce on this 1998 outing, my 2007 bass came in a year ahead of schedule and here we are in 2018 with two of the Lake Storey record holders headed to the lake…

Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – October 8-21, 1998

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Once upon a time I had a lake in my backyard.

A big lake, like 170 acres big.

Also had a two man bass boat on the dock at the ready and a little something called “free time.”

And that free time allowed me to get on the water at Lake Bracken just south of Galesburg, Illinois for a series of quick afternoon/evening October 1998 trips in pursuit of my favorite species, the largemouth bass. Pretty cool in looking back that when I decided to fish it was simply a matter of hauling some gear down the hill and it was on.

Original log entries from October 8 through October 21, 1998 – quick trips of two or three hours were winners.

For the time period of 1994 through 2002 when I called the lake “home”, those bass did not disappoint. Have a look below at a batch of bass from October of 20 years ago along with some notes on the items in the periphery from my days prowling the spot in that old two man boat.

October 8, 1998 at 4:44pm 17.5″ 2 lbs 9 oz on my old faithful Blue Glimmer spinnerbait and, as usual, probably too much stuff in the boat starting with the five poles and two tacklebags.

October 8, 1998 at 6:13pm 19.5″ 3 lbs 15 oz, Blue Glimmer spinnerbait, 20 years later that lifejacket and boat cushion are still around while I passed along the boat to a young family friend many years ago.

October 14, 1998 at 5:52pm 20″ 3 lbs 15 oz, Blue Glimmer spinnerbait.

October 16, 1998 at 5:43pm 20″ 4 lbs 8 oz, Blue Glimmer spinnerbait and there was a time or two that the livewell was filled with ice and beer instead of a bass posing for a pic. Fun to see my old Shimano Fightin’ Rod on the left, a favorite pole, long gone as well after a run-in with a trunk lid.

October 21, 1998 at 2:45pm 17″ 2-7 on, you guessed it, the Blue Glimmer spinnerbait.  Shimano Fightin’ Rod in view again, log book hiding underneath and a look at one of my maps that I made back in the day. Still got those maps stashed away in the event I ever get another shot at the one-time “home lake.”

As always, fun for me to look back at the fish, the gear and the logs to remember stuff that would otherwise be forgotten.  All told I spent close to 30 years chasing fish at the lake.  Starting around 1978 as the guest of a Little League teammate, through the 80s as part of our family membership, into the 90s and 2000s as a homeowner and concluding in 2008 as Dad’s guest before he gave up his membership as well.  Many memories and stories for another day.  Talk to you later.  Troy

Friday Flashback – October 2, 2008

Posted on by Troy Jackson

October 2, 2008 12:29pm – Solid Lake Storey Fall drawdown bass at 15″ and 1-12 

Folks, it’s Fall drawdown time at Lake Storey, an old favorite fishing hole on the outskirts of my hometown Galesburg, Illinois. Spent 47 years living in The Burg and Lake Storey played a prominent role pretty much the whole way. Camping, swimming, birthday parties, jogging, softball, picnicking, working, playing, hiking, fireworks and even a little something we used to call “parking.”

Some stories are better left untold.

But not so for fish stories, so here we go with a flashback from 2008 via some excerpts from the original fishing report.

1:20pm – 14.5″ and 1-12

Date: October 2, 2008
Location: Lake Storey – Knox County, Illinois
Time: 8:45am-3:30pm
Totals: 12 bass, 1 walleye (27” 7-14 new personal best)
Lures:
Bomber Flat A (baby bass) – 6 bass, 1 walleye
Zoom Super Hog (watermelon seed) – 5 bass
Quad Shad Spinnerbait (white) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-10 Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 8-13 (2-10,1-12,1-12,1,-9,1-2)

A Lake Storey staple, the Bomber Flat A crankbait (baby bass)

2:09pm – A welcome “accident” with a 27″ walleye weighing 7-14, a new personal best

An added bonus when pursuing bass on Lake Storey is the ever present potential for hooking a toothy fish (walleye or muskie). An “accident” can happen at any time particularly if tossing crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits or in line spinners. Dad and I were fortunate enough to land four such “accidents” during a pair of trips as we each caught a muskie and I fooled a pair of walleyes. All of the toothy fish came on Bomber Flat A crankbaits and though our muskies were quite small (20” each), they are always an exciting surprise. The walleye, on the other hand, were pretty impressive. The largest was a 27” 7-14 which set a new species record and easily eclipsed my personal best by more than five pounds.

2:55pm – Top Bass of the day at 16.5″ and 2-10

Admittedly, that walleye is what I call a fortunate “accident” while pursuing my favorite fish, the largemouth bass. I will also admit to knowing very little about walleye fishing but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and as long as you’ve got a lure in the water you just never know what might show up on the end of the line. In this case, a very solid Illinois walleye that would stand as my personal best for just over two years before another Lake Storey “accident” and a true beast. Perhaps the largest walleye ever caught in Lake Storey, but that’s another story for a future Friday Flashback (stick around until 2020 for that one). Talk to you later. Troy