Well, with less than a week to go in 2018 and a number of factors (primarily work) not working in my favor, I think it’s safe to go ahead a kick off my annual fishing recap. Over the years I have taken to spreading the recap out over several posts and so it is with the 2018 version.

Leading it off today is a look at the overall numbers. More specific breakdowns are headed your way over the next several days delving into locations, lures and partners.

How it all began, February 27, 2018 with ice visible at top of the photo 

Grand Totals (bass fishing only)
19 outings (37 outings in 2017)
78.00 hours fishing (135.50 in 2017)
216 bass (416 bass in 2017)
2.77 bass/hour (3.08 bass/hour in 2017)
Comments: After posting a personal best of 416 bass last year I was pretty certain that 2018 would show a considerable decrease. In 2017, the first year of having my own blog, the aim was to hit the water pretty hard and I did. This year, on the other hand, was quite busy with the real stuff that I do like being a husband, father and co-breadwinner. Any time that I can get out to the fishing holes is a winner and I was quite pleased with the amount that I was able to get away. In addition, I was happy with the quantity of bass that entered the log during those hours on the water. Quality bass were elusive, however. More on that in a bit.

2/27/18 at 10:06am First bass of the year

First Bass/Last Bass
February 27 – Private strip mine 10:06am 15” 1-7 Rapala Shad Rap
November 24 – Private strip mine 1:58pm 15.5” 1-12 Jig & Craw
Comments: Couldn’t duplicate the 2017 bookends as I led off last year with a crazy 6-2 bass and wrapped it up in solid fashion with a 2-4. A 270 day season for 2018 was pretty cool though as the February open water start was quite out of the ordinary. It did fall just a few days short of the 273 day span enjoyed in 2017 but I just couldn’t extend it even though there was still some open water this week.

11/24/18 at 1:58pm Last bass of the year

Monthly Breakdown
February – 1 trip, 7 bass, Top Day Weight (2/27) = 7-3
March – 1 trip, 3 bass, none 12” or better
April – 3 trips, 82 bass, Top Day Weight (4/13) = 10-4
May – 3 trips (1 bass trip), 3 bass, Top Day Weight (5/28 – 1 bass) = 1-5
June – 2 trips, 27 bass, Top Day Weight (6/17) = 6-8
July – 4 trips, 15 bass, Top Day Weight (7/28 – 3 bass) = 3-5
August – no outings
September – 2 trips, 44 bass, Top Day Weight (9/23) = 12-7
October – 4 trips, 30 bass, Top Day Weight (10/18) = 6-2
November – 1 trip, 5 bass, Top Day Weight (11/24 – 3 bass) = 5-2
Comments: I was pretty hyped after open water in February allowed me to fool enough decent bass to fill my Top 5 limit on the first outing of the year. Pretty slim pickens after that with the exception of some solid batches of walk-in strip mine bass in April and September. October was also a good time with a pair of visits to Lake Storey and some really good fish from a fishing partner. Those highlights to come as recap week continues.

9/23/18 Top Bass 4-8 Knox County public strip pit

Top 5 Weight
15-9 (4-8,3-2,3-0,2-9,2-6)
Comments: If I had to pick one downside of my 2018 results it would have to be my inability to fool many quality bass. My struggle in finding those big bites resulted in my consecutive 20-pound Top 5 string coming to an end. Since the inception of our Top 5 project back in 2014 I had been able to fool at least 20 pounds each year. Just one of those things that wasn’t meant to be as I fished hard, chased ‘em where some quality fish swim and fished clean in not losing any good fish that I had on the line. Wait ‘til next year though…

Folks, we’ve only scratched the surface as I dig indulging in my penchant for stats. Back tomorrow with a look at location. Talk to you later. Troy

No need for much introduction, did that yesterday for Part I of the lure portion of the 2017 wrap-up. My standard go to baits and one newcomer that made a big splash (actually several big splashes).

New addition for 2017 Whopper Plopper 90 (I Know It color)

2017 Whopper Plopper Top Bass (see below)

Propbaits
Whopper Plopper 90 (I Know It) – 11 bass
Top Bass: 20.5” 4-7 July 17 Little John Conservation Club
Comments: I am not a $12.99 per bait price range kind of guy, no matter how catchy the name is. You see, there’s two ends to this fishing thing, one is the lure on the end of the line, the other is the angler on the end of the rod and I rarely see a need to spend that sort of cash on the latest rage when I’ve got a lifetime of experience with lures that have worked for years. But, I had a gift certificate and Whopper Ploppers were on sale so I now have several in the tacklebox. And I’ll be darned if this crazy new bait didn’t produce a 4-7 for its first bass after ten minutes of casting. Perhaps a lure that truly catches fish and not fishermen, more field testing to come in 2018.

Jig & Pig (black & blue), a legend and I am too cheap to replace this chewed up version as obviously it works

2017 Top Jig Bass, first catch of 2017, believe it or not (see below)

Jigs
Strike King Rattlin’ Jig (black/blue) with #11 Uncle Josh trailer (black/blue) – 15 bass
Top Bass: 22.5” 6-2 March 4 Little John Conservation Club
Comments: If you are throwing a jig, you’ve gotta start with good, old black and blue and what a way to start 2017 with a 6-2 taking the bait for my first bass of the year. On the downside, I failed to fool a larger bass the rest of the year. On the upside, who cares? I’m sure other colors work just fine but the bass haven’t let me down on this old favorite yet.

Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad)

2017 Top Lipless Crankbait Bass (see below)

Lipless Crankbaits
Strike King Red Eye Shad – 27 bass (sexy shad – 26 bass, orange craw – 1 bass)
Top Bass: 16” 1-15 March 26 Little John Conservation Club
Comments: This bait is a favorite and produces throughout most of the year and surprisingly well in colder water as it is generally worked at a decent clip. Therefore, it is right up my alley although I do try and slow it down early in the year. 2017 was a down year for these baits, however, as the early buzzbait bite got me sidetracked.

Classic “Blue Glimmer” bait, possibly an antique but still getting it done

2017 Top Spinnerbait Bass (see below)

Spinnerbaits
Booyah, Stanley Vibra Shaft Blue Glimmer, Teminator – 41 bass
Top Bass: 16” 2-1 April 8 Knox County, IL public strip mine
Comments: Seems like the good, old spinnerbait has kind of fallen out of vogue if you read the major publications. I do have a couple of those subscriptions but either did not get the memo or just too set in my ways to ditch this favorite. Perhaps I will be on the leading edge of a spinnerbait revival after this post hits the internet. Okay, maybe not but I’ll keep tossing these things around as I will never get tired of running one parallel to a laydown and waiting for it to get heavy.

Strike King KVD Rattling Squarebill (sexy shad)

2017 Top Crankbait Bass (see below)

Crankbaits
Strike King Rattling Squarebill, Mann’s Baby 1-, Rapala Shad Rap – 66 bass
Top Bass: 18” 3-8 September 2 Knox County, IL public strip mine
Comments: Yet another type of bait that generally lets me fish fast and the models I use also keep me relatively shallow (eight feet or less). Too slow and I get antsy, too deep and I lose my edge so the crankbaits noted above represent my confidence baits and they came through yet again with a decent haul.

Senko wacky rig

2017 Top Senko Bass (see below)

Plastic Worms
Senko wacky rig (weighted and unweighted), Senko Texas rig – 103 bass
Top Bass: 22” 5-11 August 21 Little John Conservation Club Senko wacky rig
Comments: Since I first plunged into the odd looking world of the wacky rig back in 2005, I’ve always had a Senko on a pole when I hit the water. And this year it paid off again with the highlight being an “Eclipse Day” beast that established a new personal Senko best just before a storm rolled in and sent me packing. If you aren’t fishing wacky, you are missing out on some serious action.

Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad)

2017 Top Buzzbait Bass (see below)

Buzzbaits
Booyah Buzz – 134 bass
Top Bass: 22” 5-9 April 25 Little John Conservation Club
Comments: Can you say addictive? Buzzbait bassing kicked into gear on April 25 last year and once it got going, I wore it out. The buzzbait Top Bass of 2017 was my second catch of the year on the bait and fell one ounce shy of tying my buzzbait personal best. Lots of decent bass in the haul including a second five-pounder and a Top 5 of 18-6 on the lure. And I lost a pair at the boat that were at least four-pounders, scout’s honor.  Literally and figuratively, a blast.

So, there you have it on the lures. The next piece of the series will take a look at location, headed your way soon, hope you’ll tune in. Talk to you later. Troy

For a number of years I submitted a series of fishing wrap-up posts over the winter. These posts served multiple purposes. They recapped the previous year, fueled the fire for the new one, gave me a stat fix and fed my writing habit.

Well, here we go again as I’m bringing back a look back. This time around, the series appears a little later than previous years and even comes after adding some 2018 bass to the log. It doesn’t look like I’ll be back on the water for a while though, so instead of fishing reports you get a recap. You see, I just got around to the 2017 data entry from my fishing log this week, and as a result, I’m kind of fired up to share the numbers, pics and some thoughts. And once I get a blog idea in my head, well, it usually finds its way onto the web.

2017  Bass #2 (first is pictured a little below) – March 26 Little John Conservation Club 15.5″ 1-12 Jig & Pig

Part I of the series will take a general look at the numbers, while subsequent posts will delve into lures, locations, partners and a countdown.

Let the stats, pics and two cents begin.

2017 Bass #59 – May 13 Knox County, IL public strip mine 17.5″ 3-5 Senko weighted wacky rig

Grand Totals (bass fishing only)
135.50 hours fishing
418 bass
3.08 bass/hour
Comments: I knew I caught a load of bass this year but got lazy on transferring the log data into the database and spreadsheets so I really had no idea where I was at until running the totals this week. It turns out that I established a new yearly personal best with the 416 bass, easily outdistancing my 2013 mark of 345 bass. Kind of wish I had paid closer attention as the year unfolded, could have had some exciting blog countdown going. It is worth noting, however, that the 345 bass in 2013 came in only 91.25 hours of bass fishing for a better rate of 3.78 bass/hour.

2017 Bass #1 is also 2017 Top Bass, are you kidding me? March 4 Little John Conservation Club 22.5″ 6-2 Jig & Pig

First Bass/Last Bass
March 4 – Little John Conservation Club 22.5” 6-2 Jig & Pig
December 2 – Little John Conservation Club 17” 2-4 Rapala Shad Rap
Comments: Gotta say that the 6-pound first bass of the year was pretty nuts. The only fish I caught that day and wound up being the largest catch of the year as none of the 417 to follow could measure up. A few five-pounders came close with the best being 5-11 but was technically all downhill after that first catch. The December bookend did turn out to be a decent catch as well at 2-4 and was the only fish landed on the finale. A pair of one fish days to start and finish the season but when they add up to eight and a half pounds I’m fine with the results. Not sure if a 273 day season is a record but has to be awful close if not.

2017 Bass #416 – December 2 Little John Conservation Club 17″ 2-4 Rapala Shad Rap

Top 5 Weight
26-13 (6-2,5-11,5-9,5-0,4-7)
Comments: The 2017 total establishes a new personal Top 5 best going back to the kickoff of the project in 2014 and likely my all-time mark though I have yet to do the research to make it official. My previous Top 5 best was 22-12 in 2015 so got a pretty substantial boost, just over four pounds. Included in my creel was my first ever six-pounder although not a personal best as I do have one over seven in the ledger.

2017 Bass #182 – July 23 a cool 50th birthday gift from Little John Conservation Club 19″ 3-8 Buzzbait 

Based on these numbers, I’d have to say that 2017 was my best year ever when it comes to bass fishing. Pretty cool to coincide with the introduction of my own website back on May 1. I did hit it a little harder in an effort to provide plenty of fishing content but even so, I must say that the bass sure helped me out and even made me feel kind of smart every now and then.

Plenty more stats where these came from over the next week or so to fill my self-imposed blogging quota and keep me outdoor occupied until I get another shot to actually get outdoors. Talk to your later. Troy