Once upon a time, I lived at Lake Bracken, a country club located south of Galesburg, IL. It was quite the luxury to have a 170-ish acre lake literally in my backyard and The Spillway just a few minutes’ drive down the road.

In the case of today’s flashback, I actually took my shot at both the lake and The Spillway on the same day.

July 1996 – Lake Bracken 3-8 bass on Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

For the lake portion of the trip, Dad brought out the Bass Tracker to chase some bass. This trip took place during that unexplained period where I seem to have failed to keep a log. Therefore, the only documentation from the outing is the picture above. Apparently, we only landed one quality bass worth a picture although I suspect we caught some other fish. I still hold out hope that there is a missing fishing log tucked away somewhere but the odds are slim.

July 1996 – Lake Bracken Spillway 5-12 Carp

The latter portion of the day consisted of a visit to The Spillway, a location that has already appeared in several Friday Flashbacks. Once again, no log means that the only evidence is a pair of carp pics. I cannot recall who I was fishing with that afternoon, but it seems that my photographer got shut out.

July 1996 – Lake Bracken Spillway 6-9 Carp

In terms of the photos, these were taken with the old Minolta Disk camera meaning there were no do overs. An unfortunate aspect in retrospect. For one, the lighting on the carp shots leave much to be desired, certainly worth a re-shoot in today’s world of instant digital feedback. Regarding the bass photo, perhaps I would’ve considered putting on a shirt for a better shot. Much younger and a less self-conscious back in those days, I guess. While I did slim down a couple years ago, I think my topless pics are a thing of the past. Especially after this whole pandemic thing got me rather lazy and as a result, rather large around the mid-section.

Need to work on that. Perhaps an uptick in strip mine walks and canal bike rides could kill two birds with one stone. Talk to you later. Troy

Time flies when you’re catching bass as do the many other happenings and events over the last 35 years. But since this is generally an outdoor blog, we’ll stick to the “fish stories” behind the pics and the years in between.

Waters – All of the catches in today’s post came from Knox County. Our pair of 2021 catches came from Snakeden Hollow, Brent’s 1986 bass called Lake Storey home, and my 1986 catch came from a pond located southeast of Victoria. The latter was owned by Les Vicary, who passed away in 2019. It was the lone time that I fished the pond after Dad had gained access from Mr. Vicary via a work connection through their employers, Dick Blick and Consolidated Freightways, respectively. That pond is located less than a mile from my strip mine stomping grounds and I occasionally cruise by the property and reminisce.

Wardrobe – The fashion statement of a couple teenage boys in the 80s were what we called baseball “sleeves.” Over the years, we collected quite a rainbow of colors for various local teams. In 2021, we both showed up with Nike t-shirts although I am personally not a fan. I think I found the shirt somewhere over the years and it makes for good fishing attire.

Watercraft – Separated by many years, that is indeed the same boat in the 1986 Lake Storey picture and the 2021 Snakeden photo. We’ve rowed many a mile, caught plenty of fish and made a boatload of memories in that old 8-foot johnboat.

Worms – Two of the four bass in the pictures were caught on plastic worms, my 1986 fish and Brent’s 2021. Mine came on a Mister Twister Curly Tail fished Texas rigged. In fact, it was one of the earliest bass that I ever caught on such a setup. The bass at the pond were quite cooperative so I figured it was an ideal classroom to work on such a presentation. Brent’s bass came on a more modern rage, a wacky rigged Senko, one of our top offerings. Still hard to beat the old plastic worm.

Technology – We’ve come a long way as the 1986 shots were taken with a disc camera while the 2021 pics were taken with a “phone.” Also cool is the fact that there is video of the recent catches courtesy of a GoPro. While these anglers are arguably not as polished as the legendary fishing host, Virgil Ward, the video quality of those little cameras leaves the 80s in the dust.

Each of the topics above could fill a series of blog postings on their own but I try not to get too carried away on the Friday Flashbacks. Perhaps another day. Talk to you later. Troy

An evening walk through Snakeden was my kick off to official summer 10 years ago this week.

Originally Posted 6-24-11

Hello, my name is Troy and it’s been thirty-three days since my last bass.

Life’s busy.
.
My last bass came on May 19. In the meantime my family has enjoyed at least a half dozen doctor visits (all simply checkups), two visits apiece to the eye doctor and dentist, pre-school graduation, a week of Girl Scout day camp, a bridging ceremony for Daisies and Brownies, weekly story time at the local library, three birthday parties, a wiener roast, a tumbling review, a magic show, an afternoon at the pool, an abbreviated camping weekend and I’m sure several other things that I’ve forgotten. In addition, there’s always laundry, meals, dishes, groceries and so on. But it sure beats work and often leaves me wondering how there’s any time left for a job anyway. Somehow, I also manage to find time to blog or at least live vicariously through the fish stories of others on the website.

However, I did manage to kick off our strange early summer with a solo walk-in trip at Snakeden Hollow. Quantity was good as I just wanted to get back on track, but quality wasn’t so great. But as always, I shoot some pictures to accompany the words.

Stats

Date: June 21, 2011
Location: Snakeden Hollow – various lakes
Time: 5:10pm-9:35pm (3.5 hours fishing, the rest walking)
Weather: Partly cloudy to rainy to sunny/very windy
Air Temp: 80-85F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 24 bass
Lures: 5” Yamasenko (natural shad) wacky rig – 15 bass, Yum Wooly Curltail (green pumpkin) – 5 bass, Zara Spook (black shore minnow) – 3 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (autumn sunfish) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-15
Weight (only 4 bass > 12”): 5-6 (1-15, 1-4, 1-2, 1-1)

Chronology

4:55pm to 5:10pm – Walking to my first stop

5:38pm – first bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

5:10pm to 5:55pm – Fished a nameless lake and landed my first fish on my somewhat new Cherrywood rod while tossing a Mann’s Baby 1-crankbait at 5:38pm.

6:00pm to 6:30pm – Tried my luck on a couple other nameless lakes with a Spook and the crankbait but wind and extensive vegetation eventually sent me packing to a more secluded pothole.

6:46pm – Piedmont Lake bass, ten years later the fishing hole is completely dried up

6:35pm to 7:05pm – A small body of water I call Piedmont Lake gives up a trio of bass in the one-pound range on a Yum Wooly Curltail grub.

7:39pm – a good cold water lure, the Wooly Curltail, also fools summer bass 

7:15pm to 7:45pm – The Wooly Curltail produces a pair of short fish in a narrow cut at a spot known as Finger Lake.

8:20pm – Top Bass at 1-15

8:00pm to 8:45pm – Following a weedy walk I arrive at a numbers lake that I call Upper Twin Lake. Right on cue the short bass start nailing my Senko wacky rig as I get a hit on nearly every cast. Some hook up and some don’t but a decent fish eventually beats the little ones to the bait and takes Top Bass at 1-15. It’s the second largest bass ever caught on the lake trailing a mysterious 5-2 from 1995 that keeps me coming back. Before leaving the spot, I try a Spook hoping to fool something a little bigger and get four hits on my first cast without hooking up. Several casts later one of the miniature bass goes airborne on a missed strike and I eventually wind up with one short bass before starting the long trek to the truck.

8:59pm – Zara Spook catch as daylight fades

8:57 pm to 9:05pm – I can’t resist one more stop at the channel on Finger Lake as the daylight fades. It’s perfect for the Spook and I’m instantly rewarded with a pair of fish to end the night.

9:07pm to 9:35pm – Snakeden Hollow is a sizeable piece of property with only peripheral access so you can wind up a long way from your vehicle. Such was the case on this outing as beyond a few stops to swat mosquitoes or switch hands with some of my gear, it took nearly a half hour to get back to the truck.

Many fish were like this one as a 5″ Senko was a hit with 7″-8″ bass

In the end it was rewarding to land a couple dozen bass although they were vastly outnumbered by mosquito bites. Upon checking last night, I had seventeen welts on my right arm from elbow to wrist and fourteen on the left. I also had about half a dozen good ones on my neck and a real nice one on top of my left ear. I’m not a big fan of bug spray but my stubbornness may likely give way to common sense should I pull this stunt again. I do have a fondness for bugs, but mosquitoes try my patience. Fortunately, the early night fireworks of thousands of lightning bugs eased the constant harassment of the bloodsuckers. On that topic I was also lucky to avoid any ticks despite wading through some serious weeds a few times.

I need to get back out there as my lone Snakeden hike this year was back in March. Maybe one of these days, stay tuned. Talk to you later. Troy

May 24, 1991 – Dad on a Snakeden hike 

Today’s flashback is actually drawn from a pair of visits to Snakeden Hollow with vastly different approaches to chasing some bass. First up is a walk-in trip with Dad back on May 24, 1991. At the time, Dad was in his late forties while I was in my mid-twenties. I invited him along on one of my strip mine adventures and we racked up more than a few miles and reeled in more than a few bass. At the time, Dad had also come out of retirement to play a season of softball with me and my brother, Brent, and we had a game that evening. That combo of activity prompted Dad to “retire” from any future strip mine hikes and he also hung up the cleats after the softball season.

Over the years, there have been many more trips to Snakeden with Dad, but they have been spent on Lake McMaster while casting from the luxury of a Bass Tracker. Twenty years after the walk-in trip was one such outing as detailed in the original blog post below.

Originally Posted 5-20-11

Following a somewhat self-inflicted hiatus, it was time to see if I had my sea legs back.
Dad and I hit Snakeden’s Lake McMaster yesterday for some overdue bass fishing. In fishing report terms, I would describe bass as “fair on soft plastics.” However, I have the liberty of getting a bit more long winded, so here we go.

Stats
Date: May 19, 2011
Location: Lake McMaster – Snakeden Hollow
Time: 9:50am-3:20pm
Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy/breezy
Air Temp: 55F-72F
Water Temp: not available (wiring problems)
Totals: 13 bass, 1 crappie (Dad – 10 bass, Troy – 3 bass, 1 crappie)
Lures: 5” Yamasenko (natural shad) wacky rig – 12 bass, Vicious Muskrat (green pumpkin) with ¼ oz bullet weight (brass) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-9 (Dad)
Weight (4 bass > 12”) – 5 lbs. 5 oz (1-9, 1-6, 1-6, 1-0)

Chronology

9:40 am– Arriving at the lake we are caught off guard by ten other trailers in the parking lot and another boat launching in our wake. I can’t recall ever seeing that many boats on the water, but I hope it means that the bass are biting.

9:50 am – Strangely enough as I mentioned in a posting last Friday, the kiss of death is a bass on your first cast. I pull this stunt on a point just west of the ramp but lose the pound and a half fish at the boat. I’m hoping the quick release fends off bad luck as it doesn’t technically count as catch in my book. I’m wrong.

9:58 am– The 9.9 motor is being stubborn, so we loiter within spitting distance of the ramp for a while where Dad gets us on the board with a 1-0 on a Senko (pictured above).

10:42 am – Shortly after arriving at one of our best areas, Dad’s Senko comes through again.

11:05 am – I’m off the snide with a 1-6 on a Senko and breathing a sigh of relief that I won’t get shut out on such a beautiful day.

11:29 am – Dad picks up what will be Top Bass with a 1-9, once again on the Senko, the only lure he’ll need all day.

12:34 pm – Dad misses a short bass, but it comes back into view right near the boat prompting him to drop his Senko in front of its nose. We get an awesome bird’s eye view as the bass flares its gills to inhale the lure a second time and remains hooked.

1:22 pm – My second fish of the day gives me the species title as a fifteen-ounce crappie likes my Senko, a photo worthy accident for me.

2:22 pm – The One That Got Away on this trip belongs to Dad and likely would have tipped the scales in the two-and-a-half-pound range. Usually, these bass can be as large as you want but the gin clear water at this lake keeps you pretty honest if you’re not fishing alone. The clear water is also cool because I was able to give Dad play by play from my angle as I commented “Here comes a good one” followed by “He just took your bait.” While this one did get briefly hooked, I have sometimes been guilty of jumping the gun and pulling the lure away from the fish in anticipation of an impending strike.

2:26 pm – It only takes four and a half hours to land my second bass, a short fish on the Muskrat. It’s a textbook bite as the bass hits just after I’d bounced the bait over a log in about ten foot of water and is the lone fish caught on something other than the Senko.

3:01 pm – My final fish hits a Senko pitched into a hole in the moss over a spawning bed. The lure hit in the back of the hole and fell under the canopy in front with the bass in pursuit. It was impossible to tell if the fish had the bait or not, but I figured it was worth a hookset. The resultant splash and resistance showed that I made the right decision. The fish was released to resume its biological duty but not before getting a picture for the blog.

3:33 pm – We did make a few casts beyond 3:20pm as we waited our turn to trailer the boat. Dad made the time count as the point west of the ramp came through yet again and gave him a commanding ten to three margin of victory, but who’s keeping score anyway?

For some final comments we did see plenty of crappies in the shallows, I talked to some walleye anglers who saw a fish in the 27” range and muskies failed to make an appearance for us this time around. We also lost over half a dozen bass that just didn’t stay hooked for whatever reason. But fishing is always interesting as Dad and I threw the same Senko around most of the day and his outperformed mine ten to two. Perhaps it was his bait spray that he referred to as “lotion” at one point or maybe his plain hook was more appealing than my red hook. It was just all part of the fun during a great day to be on the water. If anyone out there reading was on Lake McMaster too, drop us a comment about how you fared. Don’t worry, I can take it as getting outfished is no disgrace even if it is by the guy in the back of the boat (especially if he’s your dad).

Dad lasted longer than me on the diamond as I gave it up before hitting my thirties. But I’m still going strong on the strip mine hikes as the mid-fifties approach. And as a duo, we’re still catching some fish from boat or bank. Talk to you later. Troy