A bountiful day with 'Green Acres'

I headed home after one of my best bass days in a couple years. I was tired, traffic was heavy and I decided to turn off the air conditioning and open the truck's windows.

All of a sudden an insect flew into my eye and created major consternation.

I stopped at one of those medical treatment facilities and asked for help. The doctor came into the tiny room, looked at me and proceeded to tell me he recognized my face from the picture in this column.

He reached out to shake my hand, and then felt the thumb on my right hand.

"You've been fishing haven't you Mr. Jackson?" he asked. "I could tell by the roughness on your thumb that may have come from lipping bass."

But I came in here for help with my eye, Doc. Suddenly, it had stopped smarting.

"You're fine and there's no charge for this visit," he said. "Just keep writing those nice columns."

So I continued my drive home thinking about the day on the water.

Now I know some of you will not believe this tale, but I spent three hours in a small boat with Mike Ventresca, otherwise known as "Green Acres," and together we caught over 70 largemouth bass.

Aside from being a wonderful cook and friend, Mike is a pretty good stick with a spinning rod, and together we had one of those rare days when almost every cast produced a fish. We managed to land four bass over five pounds, with the rest running 2-4 pounds!

Now, some of you may have seen Ventresca at America's Outdoor Show in Rosemont in January. He was the guy field dressing a white tail deer on stage and then cooking venison, beans and some other stuff for the public to sample. Those attending his demonstration went wild for the food.

Once we got into the fish-catching routine, Green Acres' true colors came through. After the 10th bass, Mike opted to rip off his T-shirt.

"I feel lots more comfortable this way," he bellowed from the back of the boat.

Ventresca stuck to his usual setup - a light spinning rod rigged with a whacky worm. I, on the other hand, had two spinning rods rigged with Little Action Mac plastic worms.

The Little Action Mac is affixed to a ball-bearing swivel, which goes to the mono. I swear on a stack of Plano tackle boxes that I have caught more big bass with this setup that any other plastic combo.

These fish were all through spawning and they apparently came off the beds with an appetite big enough to warrant one of Mike's huge lunch sandwiches. I am telling it like it was. Ventresca created a sandwich almost 8 inches tall with enough meat to feed a small village. I was only able to scarf down a quarter of this monster concoction.

"Whatsamatta, you ain't hungry?" he yelled.

I couldn't talk with my mouth filled with exotic foodstuffs.

"Whatsamatta, you don't eat dill pickles?" he continued. "Whatsamatta, you don't like the chips?"

I still couldn't answer. The last time he pulled this same kind of sandwich gig on me was when Spence Petros, Mike and I were catching bass on Lake Delevan. Thank goodness he didn't have his trusty smoker and a side of beef in the boat, or everything would have come to a screeching halt.

Our angling adventure fell right in line with what guide Spence Petros (815) 455-7770 has been accomplishing on Lake Geneva. His daily catches will be revealed in a future column, and when you read his daily results your eyes may stand a chance of falling out of your head.

Anyway, back to Green Acres. (Petros gave Mike that nickname because Ventresca has a mini-farm in McHenry straight out of the old Green Acres television show).

The overall bass picture is quite rosy as this is being written. I have been receiving lots of reports of good bass catches in water running 4-9 feet deep. The fish are very aggressive and will chase plastic lures as well as live bait.

I'm seriously resting my arms now because any moment Green Acres will call and demand I show up at his homestead, either to slop the hogs or fish the slop on his special lake.

Outdoors notesWhile the arrival of summer will come later this month, we can celebrate the annual arrival in Illinois of Free Fishing Days this weekend.In this state, and others around the country, anyone will be able to drop a line without having to buy a fishing license, trout stamp, or Lake Michigan salmon stamp. Free Fishing Days is not a permanent or month-long event, but it runs four days from Friday through Monday.And Free Fishing Days in Illinois comes just in time for those who haven't sampled the great salmon and perch fishing. Lake Michigan: The king, steelhead, and coho bite is good now off Waukegan and Northpoint. Don't forget the excellent perch angling happening on the far south side at 95th street, 79th street, Montrose Harbor and Waukegan.Fox Chain: Pistakee Lake has become quite a fooler now with good walleye catches reported from trollers. The Spring Lake Channel has some muskie action, as well as Bluff Lake. White bass decent in Petite Lake.Fox River: High water has brought smallmouth closer to shore and can be found in areas where there are deadfall treesGeneva Lake: Guide Spence Petros (815-455-7770) reports excellent catches of both largemouth and smallmouth bass on drop-shot rigs.Mike Jackson can be reached via e-mail at angler88@att.net. His radio program is broadcast from 6-7 a.m. Sunday on WSBC, AM-1240.