It's been awhile

[Steve81]

Hey folks! It's been quite awhile since I have posted or even been on UB. Not that I ever really spent a ton of time on here but I was normally pretty consistent with my lingering and occasional postings. However, 2021 was a hectic year for me. Myself and the family moved to southern Illinois (Scott AFB) and between my work schedule and my wife's, I have hardly been on the water. My YouTube activity reflected that as well. I went from putting out at least 60 videos in 2020 to just 6 in 2021! Then when i finally take some time to spend a week in MN to do some fishing, my cameras crapped out on me! The fishing was incredible though.

At the beginning of October, I deployed to the middle east and will be here until April or so. I've been working my butt off and have lost 30 pounds since I got here. Before anyone goes congratulating me, it should be said that I am still a chunky dude. Now I'm just a slightly less chunky dude.

When I do get home, I plan to do much more fishing. I entered the Illini BFL's for the 2022 season. That will be my first time fishing any BFL. Really looking forward to that. By all accounts, bass fishing in IL is a grind. So much so that I am told that if you manage to weigh in at least one bass per event, you are all most certainly guaranteed a spot at the regional. It's been a long time since I have lived somewhere that you have to fish so hard to just catch a limit every day. It will be painful but I know its going to help build me as an angler.

Lastly, I 100% plan to spend more time on UB in 2022. It's always a pleasure coming here and seeing how everyone interacts and helps each other. I am a member of other fishing forums as well and while they are each great in their own way, UB is the only one I come to that isn't filled with a bunch of negative people. People here either want to learn or want to help. And I'm here for every bit of that!

[Capt. BassinLou]

Welcome back Steve81, good seeing you again.

[D.W. Verts]

Hey Steve. I fished a tournament on the Kaskaskia once, and had three for 7-11. I won the tournament, and was told my bass were "big". I got beat for big bass by one ounce with as 2-11... Good luck with your year.

Check out our new "UB members gone wild on YouTube" (or something like that) topic. Some of us dove in head first this past year. Me, I fell in butt first and sank very quickly.

Dale

[Donald Garner]

Steve, tks for the update I've been wondering if you got deployed or not.  Best wishes on a Safe Deployment.  Tks for your Service to our Great Nation 

Holler at us when you get the chance.

[caddyjoe77]

Hey Steve! First, stay safe.

Secondly, you are in my old stomping grounds.  Kincaid can be good Carlyle can be ok but i have never had major success there except white bass in the fall.  Lake of Egypt is awesome!  Washington County lake has some studs!!  Crab orchard can be good too, especially in the spring. 

I probably still have some waypoints from there and I can snap some pics for you of areas where I have caught them. 

[Steve81]

Hey Steve. I fished a tournament on the Kaskaskia once, and had three for 7-11. I won the tournament, and was told my bass were "big". I got beat for big bass by one ounce with as 2-11... Good luck with your year.

Check out our new "UB members gone wild on YouTube" (or something like that) topic. Some of us dove in head first this past year. Me, I fell in butt first and sank very quickly.

Dale

I have had some folks tell me that there used to be some bass tournaments on that river before but it sounds like they don't exist anymore. I'm told that river has been overtaken by asian carp and everything else has suffered. That being said, I haven't checked it out myself to confirm it.

To be honest, I'm hoping to get over to LOZ more than anything. I've only been there once before and that was during an awful cold front in February a few years ago. Now that I am only 3ish hours from it, I intend to get way more familiar with the lake. Although, I have been warned by many folks that I want avoid the place from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

[Steve81]

Hey Steve! First, stay safe.

Secondly, you are in my old stomping grounds.  Kincaid can be good Carlyle can be ok but i have never had major success there except white bass in the fall.  Lake of Egypt is awesome!  Washington County lake has some studs!!  Crab orchard can be good too, especially in the spring. 

I probably still have some waypoints from there and I can snap some pics for you of areas where I have caught them.

I got out on Crab Orchard in April and didn't catch a thing. Granted, I was only out there for 3-4 hours before I broke a trolling motor prop blade. It was a neat looking lake, though.

I took the wife and kids on a crappie trip for our lone trip to Carlyle. This was during the end of the crappie spawn so I would say that this was in mid-May? It took us all day to find them but when we did, we found some TANKS! The local bass guys tell me that its not much of a bass lake anymore. As long as the crappie fishing is good, I'll be ok with that.

I haven't made it to the rest of the lakes you mentioned but I hear a lot of good things about Egypt. And Kincaid sounds great for both bass and crappie.

[Princeton_Man]

Great to see you're still around! Looking forward to seeing your reports from the BFL. Stay safe!

[D.W. Verts]

Well, if you make it over here give me a shout. And the LOZ can get stupid rough ANY time during the warm months. That's when you go up river, where the boats shrink, generally, to less than thirty feet long.

Dale

[caddyjoe77]

you should take a trip to Table Rock too -- Skip LOZ. 

IMO, LOZ isnt nearly the place it once was.  Wizard and DW are the resident experts there.

Dont forget Kentucky Lake -- it :might" be in a down cycle (asian carp) but i have also seen some bags recently. 

Pickwick, Wilson, Wheeler, and Guntersville are not much farther. 

[Steve81]

Well, if you make it over here give me a shout. And the LOZ can get stupid rough ANY time during the warm months. That's when you go up river, where the boats shrink, generally, to less than thirty feet long.

Dale

You bet! I want to put in the time there simply because it is such a massive lake that gets a lot of pressure yet still has seasonal migrations that or more textbook. It's been a long time since I have been around anything like that. I've been fishing natural, grass lakes with little to no shad for the last nearly 10 years. While I grew up around rocky, shad lakes, it's almost like I forgot how to fish them.

[Steve81]

you should take a trip to Table Rock too -- Skip LOZ. 

IMO, LOZ isnt nearly the place it once was.  Wizard and DW are the resident experts there.

Dont forget Kentucky Lake -- it :might" be in a down cycle (asian carp) but i have also seen some bags recently. 

Pickwick, Wilson, Wheeler, and Guntersville are not much farther.

Oh Table Rock is on the list for sure! In 2023, I plan to fish the BFL's in MO. I would have done that this year but I won't be home in time for the season.