November 24, 2006 – Bass #2000

What follows is an original post detailing how it all went down to end the 2006 fishing year and the “Quest for Bass #2000”.

On November 24th at 8:13am bass #2000 came ashore with my jig and pig planted firmly in its jaw. It marked the end of my recent quest and turned out to be my final bass of 2006. I’m okay with that as there were times that my confidence was shaky as I pursued those last few bass. But thanks to some unseasonably warm weather and a prime piece of structure, everything worked out just fine. For this article, I’ll take a closer look at the final push for #2000.

Bass #1 of “the computer age” made its way into the database on March 21, 1997, at 5:04pm. It fell to a blue glimmer spinnerbait on Duck/Deer Lake at Little John and measured eleven inches in length. By November 22, 2006, I had spent over 900 hours chasing bass and stood five fish shy of 2000. Fortunately, me and my girls were headed for Buckheart to celebrate Thanksgiving, the weather forecast was favorable, and I had permission to fish.

On the morning of November 23rd, I spent a fair amount of time wandering around a good-sized strip pit before settling on an area that featured a lengthy stretch of bank containing numerous beaver lodges, probably my favorite piece of structure. After losing a small northern pike on a dew worm hung from a bobber, bass #1996 inhaled my jig and pig as I hopped it around some debris on the bottom. I was unable to fool any others on the lake and was blanked on a smaller pond nearby. While fishing I crossed paths with my brother-in-law, David, who was goose hunting and he suggested that I try a spot where we had success earlier this fall.

November 23, 2006 – Bass #1998 at 2-15 on a jig and pig

His advice produced three bass in less than fifteen minutes. All the fish hit my Rattlin’ Jig (black/blue) with a #11 pork frog (blue) as I worked a beaver lodge. The second of the three fish joined the record book at a respectable 2-15. Another half hour on the lake failed to produce a bite and I headed for Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn’t help but wonder if fate would be so unkind as to leave me one bass shy of my goal. However, I still held out hope that I could entice one more bite the following day.

I reached the beaver lodge at 8:12 am on the 24th and quickly retied my jig and pig as I eagerly awaited my first cast. I didn’t have to wait long as only seconds after my jig hit the bottom, I felt the familiar tap of a hungry bass. I reared back to hammer the hooks home on #2000…and missed. In the seconds that followed I felt the despair of potentially missing my shot, possibly uttered a few uncharacteristic and colorful words and began to reel in my lure for another cast. To my surprise, a bass suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slammed the jig as it rode inches below the surface. I’m not sure exactly what happened next, but I would have to give the bass credit for hooking itself as I think I kind of went on autopilot before winding up with a firm grip on the lip of #2000.

Looking at my watch, I recorded the time at 8:13am. I proceeded to measure the length of the bass and it was documented at 13 inches. Having met my 12-inch minimum criteria for a weight measurement I reached for my scale despite already knowing the result before making it official. I’ve seen a few bass in my day and can usually give a reasonable, fairly unbiased estimate. In this instance, I was right on the money. The fish weighed in at 13 ounces. You see if I had to pick a favorite number, it would be 13, which I would admit to inheriting from Dad. It’s on my license plate and Dad’s. He sported the number on various athletic jerseys over the years, as did I when it was available. Therefore, it seemed fitting that my quest would end upon landing a 13-inch, 13-ounce bass at 13 minutes after eight o’clock in the morning.

After snapping a couple of photos of what would coincidentally be (believe it or not) my 113th 13-inch bass, I decided to work the area for a few more minutes. I managed to get one more bite but busted off on the hookset despite retying after #2000. Following a few more half-hearted casts I decided to head back to the guesthouse. I’d spent fifteen minutes on the lake and left satisfied upon having reached my goal. The 2006 season had been good to me, and I didn’t care if I had to wait until 2007 to begin the pursuit of my 3000th bass.

Another shot of Bass #2000, complete with the beaver lodge in the background

Well, the pursuit of the 3000th bass is well in the rearview mirror as I presently sit 112 bass away from #6000. But that’s a chase for 2022 as there’s more Friday Flashback and plenty of other stuff before we bid farewell to 2021. Talk to you later. Troy

One of the regular stops for me and my brother on some of our public strip mine hikes is a spot we call “2X4 Lake.” It doesn’t have a real name, so we made one up after a 2013 trip when it gave up two four-pound bass in the span of ten minutes.

Well, quite a few years prior to that pair, Brent and I completed the same four-pound feat on good, old Emstrom’s Pond. If you’ve followed the Friday Flashback posts over the last four years, perhaps you’ve heard of the legendary fishing hole. No matter that it took us just a bit more than ten minutes to land this duo, it’s always cool to catch multiple high-quality bass on one outing.

Original log entry from November 14, 2001

November 14, 2001 at 11:45am, Brent strikes first with a four-pounder

November 14, 2001 at 12:45pm, I manage to match the day’s Top Bass

Brent struck first with an even four-pounder at 11:45am and I was able to follow up with a fish of identical weight at 12:45pm. Both bass fell to black and blue jigs, classic cold water, big bass baits. Such a presentation was a winner on that old pond over the years as we compiled quite a list of good fish bouncing those jigs around The Beaver Lodge and a couple other spots. In fact, the 2001 bite on the jig (and another surprising lure) was not quite done after this trip. But those are tales for future Fridays as we head down the home stretch of this year’s Friday Flashback.

Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Short and sweet this week with another look at the pursuit of bass #2000 that began in 1997. Below is a portion of a 2006 post detailing the quest.

Originally posted 10-29-06

October 30 – I was able to squeeze in just under four hours at Little John as the weather took a positive turn pushing temperatures up near 70 degrees. I thought about inviting Dad but figured that any bass he caught would be detrimental to my cause. Actually, I’m sort of joking, as he was aware that I was fishing but had already had his outdoor fix taking care of some preseason trapping preparations. Seven bass chipped away at the goal leaving me six bass short with November and December looming on the horizon. Two of my fish joined the record book with a 1-10 from Muskrat Lake and a 1-11 from Club Lake. Both bass hit a Mann’s Baby 1- (rainbow).

3:00pm – Bass #1990 at 15″ and 1-10 on a crankbait

While my confidence is a bit shaken, I haven’t yet given up hope on landing number 2,000. I’m open for suggestions if anyone can get me access to a “can’t miss” fishing hole, watch my kids, bring on some unseasonably warm weather and find me an excuse to call in sick to work. If I don’t make it, I can console myself with the fact that I would have never even gotten close had I not had a chance to fish the Buckheart strip mines, which have considerably boosted my totals. Then again, if I would have listened and followed through over the years when told, “You’ve got to get down here and fish Buckheart,” I might be shooting for 4,000 instead. Ten fishing seasons is a long time considering I’m only six bass short. I’ve busted off or lost many more than six in that time or passed up bass fishing in pursuit of other species.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20. Perhaps, I’ll blame Ben Franklin as he is often cited as proposing Daylight Savings Time for the United States.  Although an inventor, he did not actually invent the practice that ultimately cost me an extra hour of fishing on October 30th and will cost me an hour every day for the rest of the year. Sure enough, in 2007 DST is going to be expanded.

4:51pm – Bass #1994 at 15″ and 1-11 on a crankbait

After this outing, I was a mere six bass short of my target of catching bass #2000. But time and bites were fleeting as November arrived leaving me to wonder if I would get a chance to find and fool those half dozen bass. Stay tuned as Friday Flashback continues into November and December. Talk to you later. Troy

As the 2006 fishing season was nearing the end, I was in search of what I called “Bass #2000”. This quest began at the outset of the 1997 season, shortly after I obtained my first personal computer. With the computer available for data entry, I decided a return to meticulous record keeping for my fishing was in order. So, from March 21, 1997, up until this October 17, 2006 trip, I had landed 1,971 bass. Therefore, going into this Lake Bracken outing, I needed 29 bass to reach the 2,000 bass mark. On the heels of that somewhat rambling intro, let’s flash back.

3:03pm – 15″ and 1-10 on a Rapala DT6 crankbait

Originally posted 11-4-06 as part of “Quest for 2000”

October 17 – Though the weather wasn’t exactly stellar, I had an opportunity to get on the water for an afternoon and chose Lake Bracken for my destination. As luck would have it, 29 bass were landed in just over four hours on the water. However, my celebration would have to wait as Dad landed seventeen of the bass. My twelve bass put me within seventeen of the goal but the likelihood of more fishing trips with favorable conditions seemed slim at best for the remainder of the year. I did manage to land Top Bass of the day with a 2-13 on a Senko (watermelon) as well as a 1-10 on a Rapala DT 6 crankbait (parrot). Dad also posted a pair of record book entries with a 1-12 and a 1-11 on a Senko (black). Senkos caught most of our fish though we did have some success with crankbaits and a Mepps.

1-11 on a Senko wacky rig

1-12 on a Senko wacky rig

Stats

Date: October 17, 2006
Location: Lake Bracken – Knox County, IL
Time: 1:10pm-5:25pm
Weather: Overcast/breezy
Air Temp: 54F
Water Temp: 56F
Totals: 29 bass (Dad – 17, Troy – 12)
Lures: Senko wacky rig (watermelon or black) – 20 bass, Mepps – 4 bass, 4- crankbait (firetiger) – 2 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait – 1 bass, Rapala DT6 crankbait (parrot) – 1 bass, Blue Glimmer spinnerbait – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-13 (Troy – Senko)
Top 5 Weight: 8-15 (2-13,1-12,1-11,1-10,1-1)

3:57pm Top Bass at 19″ and 2-13 on a Senko wacky rig

A good day on the water even though I fell short in my search for the 29 bass needed to reach 2000. However, Friday Flashback isn’t quite done for the year. Just saying. Talk to you later. Troy

Ah, yes, the good old Lake Bracken spillway back in the early days of access and carp chasing. We’ve been here before in Friday Flashback but there’s always plenty to write about when reminiscing.

For starters, these shots are from back in the thermal and flannel days. Not a bad fall look even today as far as my limited fashion sense goes. Practical for the cool fall days and a rustic, somewhat rugged look perfectly suited for outdoor adventure.

Throw in a Galesburg Silver Streak baseball cap and a wad of Red Man or Levi Garrett in the cheek for good measure (can you still say “Red Man” these days?). Yes, I guess once upon a time I thought I was a baseball player. Don’t know the last time I tried to hit or throw a baseball and grateful that I eventually kicked the chew habit sometime in the mid-90s.

As far as the catch, those carp were a blast in The Spillway although they could be kind of strange at times. Some days they were on fire, others it seemed like there was nobody home. Some days only one person caught them and other days several anglers got a piece of the action. I also don’t know how they replenished in that small pool as it did not appear that we were repeatedly catching the same fish. In fact, the specimens here are unique and look like what are called “mirror carp” as the scales are not uniform but rather irregular.

Fun pics for me to pull out of the album for a flashback but I wish I could recall who had tagged along to serve as the photographer. Likely, it was either my brother, Brent, or one of the Junk brothers (John or Mark) as we spent more than a few days down there trying to tempt those bugle mouths. But since the only pics from the outing are me, I would guess it wasn’t Brent as he generally outfishes me. The Junk brothers on the other hand…just kidding (sort of).

Talk to you later. Troy