Top 5 Trip Tunes – May 18

Posted on by Troy Jackson

No Top 5 Update this week, so playing catch up on some Top 5 Trip Tunes.

5. Hearts – Marty Balin (1981)
This late member of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship scored a pair of solo Top 40 hits in the 1980s with this tune reaching #8 on the charts. Not only is it a great song but a couple aspects apply to my mental musical lists. It makes the list of my telephone call tunes as it begins with “Is everything all right? I just called to say how lost I feel without you.” In addition, it is a body part song and begs the question of the most frequent body part in hit song titles. Is it “heart” or “eyes?”

4. Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride) – Don Felder (1981)
The one-time Eagles guitarist contributed this title track to the 1981 animated film of the same name, not to be confused with the Sammy Hagar “Heavy Metal” tune that was also included in the film. And speaking of the film, I don’t think that I have ever seen the entire thing. Seems like I attended a midnight showing and maybe caught parts of it on HBO or Cinemax during those old free weekends. From the mixed reviews, I probably won’t add it to my must-see list.

3. I Missed Again – Phil Collins (1981)
It is 1981 and Phil Collins, Genesis, and MTV are about to explode onto the scene. What a great time to be a teenager and a music fan. Granted, Colins and Genesis had been around for quite some time, but they were about to go from cult following to the top of the charts. And you’ve got to love horns in a song with Phil Collins’ imitations being a classic piece of music video history.

2. Silver, Blue & Gold – Bad Company (1976)
Among my mental musical lists are the Top 5/Top 10 rankings among an artist’s catalog. When it comes to Bad Company, this one tops my list. In addition, there are the lists of songs with a color in the title. Well, how about one that overachieves with three colors? And on that mental list it remains tied with “Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer” recorded by Johnny Russell. Feel free to chime in with others and I can add them to my list.

1. Somebody to Love – Queen (1976)
Queen is one of my favorite bands of all-time and this tune is one of my favorites from their impressive and entertaining catalog. Like many of their songs, the amount of stuff going on in these five minutes is an audio treat. Over the last fifty years, I’ve had several “Wow, I’ve never noticed that before” moments. Little bits of percussion, succinct shots of background vocals, hand claps, and cheers to name a few. What a fun song, I could listen to it all day long.

Hope you don’t mind the occasional tangents as there are more on the way. Talk to you later. Troy

Hennepin Canal Report – June 7

Posted on by Troy Jackson

While my quest for double-digit Top 5 limits on The Canal is ongoing, I gave it a break on this trip. Instead, I hit a spot that I hadn’t fished for two years in search of seven bass that would push my all-time total on the stretch to one hundred bass. The results ended up being what I would call a classic fish story.

7:40am – Bass #94 on a buzzbait, and yes, they all count, no matter how “big”

Stats
Date: June 7
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 7:30am-9:55am
Totals: 7 bass
Weather: Hazy/calm, 63-70F
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 6 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-4 Senko
Top 4 Weight (only four bass at 12” or better): 7-1 (3-4,1-9,1-4,1-0)

Starting lineup

Tune of the Trip
Bye Bye Love – The Cars (1978)
With the haze from the ongoing Canadian wildfires, the lyric “It’s an orangy sky” comes to mind. In the day, you can look at the orange sun obscured in the haze, while at night the moon reflects a similar hue.

Notes and Nonsense

Background – Being a stat guy, I am always looking to pursue some “milestones.” Coming into this trip, I spent just under thirty hours on this pool and landed 93 bass. Top Bass consisted of a pair weighing in at 2-12. And the Top 5 for the stretch sat at 12-8 so I had not invested any time on this water since July 2023. So, I set out in pursuit of seven bass and any boost to my Top 5 weight would simply be a bonus.

9:31am – Bass #97 on a buzzbait and Top Bass Runner-up for the trip at 1-9 (15.5″)

Fellow Anglers – My launch was slightly delayed after an informative and enjoyable conversation with a knowledgeable angler in the parking area. Shortly after launching I gave a wave to a shore angler who showed up as I drifted down the waterway. Midway down the stretch, I chatted with a Canal regular as he stopped his pedaling to catch up on our fish stories. Not long after, I spoke briefly with a father-son fishing duo as they made their hike along the towpath headed back to their vehicle. Good chats along the way and the shore angler took time to comment later in the day on social media.

Results – I had two bass in the first half hour before a lengthy drought of over seventy minutes. Being up against a time limit to head to Galesburg and watch the Cubs with Dad, I admit that I was a bit worried. However, four bass in the next thirty-five minutes had me one bass away from my goal and roughly forty-five minutes left of fishing.

9:55am – Bass #100 on a Senko, Top Bass of the trip and Top Bass all-time for the pool at 3-4 (19″)

Bass #100 – At 9:55am, I hit a spot with a pocket of the deepest, clearest water on the pool. The area also featured a dense, expansive weed mat with a fair current making a direct hit. Up to that point, I had relied exclusively on a buzzbait and frog, but this spot set up well for the Senko wacky rig. I cast my Senko to the weed edge and let it sink with the current towards the weed mat. Since the Senko was a light color, I could see it fluttering down and shortly it was being pushed to my left, typical of a panfish nibbling at the bait. As the panfish lost interest (or was perhaps scared away) and the Senko began to drift back to the right, the wacky rig disappeared. At the same time, a tug on the line triggered my brain to set the hook and the fight was on. After a couple dives and briefly hanging in some subsurface weeds, I lipped Bass #100.

Winning lures

A True Fish Story – Bass #100 was a quality fish. In fact, it set a new Top Bass mark for this pool knocking out a pair at 2-12 (5/27/2022 and 9/20/2022). Bass #100 was caught on the only cast that I made with a Senko. After catching Bass #100, I called it a morning and made the eighteen-minute row back to the truck without a single cast. Sure, I could’ve kept casting for Bass #101 and beyond but those will have to wait for another day as I was more than satisfied with my last cast of the morning.

Mission accomplished. Talk to you later. Troy

Hennepin Canal Report – June 5

Posted on by Troy Jackson

I altered my work schedule on June 5 to get out a couple hours early to put in a full evening on The Canal. The aim was to celebrate the fourth anniversary of my first Canal catch with some more bass from the same spot. Unfortunately, not many bass were in a festive sort of mood.

June 5, 2021 flashback photo of my first bass caught on The Canal

Stats
Date: June 5
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 4:30pm-8:15pm
Totals: 2 bass
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy, 72F
Lures: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (leopard) – 1 bass, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-3 Frog
Top 2 Weight (only two bass at 12” or better): 2-2 (1-3,0-15)

Starting lineup

7:34pm – Took a while but mission accomplished with an anniversary bass at 1-3 (13″) on a frog

Tune of the Trip
Happy Anniversary – Little River Band (1977)
Revisiting the spot where I caught my first Canal bass seemed like a good idea, but it turns out that I should have “celebrated” somewhere else.

8:06pm – Second and final bass of the evening at 0-15 (13.5″) on a buzzbait

Notes and Nonsense

Fizzled Festivity – Three hours into casting, I was seriously concerned that no bass were going to show up for our reunion of sorts. Up to that point, I had gotten four strikes on a frog but failed to get any of those fish into the boat. Two were only briefly hooked after the topwater explosions and the other two came unbuttoned midway to the boat. With about forty minutes of fishing remaining, I avoided the shutout with a frog bass and managed to eke out one more on a buzzbait about ten minutes before ending my evening.

Cottowood fuzz is terrible in some spots

The Fuzz – The stretch I chose to fish was ugly with cottonwood fuzz. In the windblown areas, the surface was a nasty, white, slimy mess. This resulted in numerous backlashes, abrupt endings to many casts, and frequent attention to the gobs of gunk on my line, lures, level wind, and spool. There is no way to rid your gear of this stuff when it is wet, so you must grin and bear it or find some water with less cottonwood congestion. Mother Nature just doing its thing, I guess, but an annual bane for anglers.

An errant cast also produced what we call a “log salmon”

Winning lures

In the end, I was able to celebrate the date with a couple fish and always good to get on the water and take my shot. A recent conversation with Dad featured one of those old fishing adages that we dredge up from time to time that summed up this trip. Such an evening reinforces why our hobby is called “fishing” instead of “catching.” Talk to you later. Troy

Did I mention that the cottonwood fuzz was ugly?

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

June is off to a solid start with a pair of bass via two of the usual suspects from a couple of their regular stomping grounds. And no matter how you rig it (wacky style or Texas-rigged), the Senko is a winner.

Weight: 3-4
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: June 7
Weather: Hazy/calm, 72F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram)
Structure: Drop
Angler Comments: My lone cast of the day with a Senko came up a winner. It was also my final cast of the trip. The rest of the story is headed your way in an upcoming fishing report.
Top 5 Weight: 17-3 (4-14,3-13,3-4,2-11,2-9) culls 2-6

Weight: 4-0
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: June 7
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Texas rigged Senko
Structure: Stump
Angler Comments: Totaled three bass with one worth weighing. 4-0 on a Texas rigged Senko on a stump in flooded timber.
Top 5 Weight: 22-9 (5-7,4-15,4-7,4-0,3-15) culls 3-13

For any Illinois readers out there, don’t forget that next week features a series of Free Fishing Days from June 13-16. Good luck and talk to you later. Troy

Hennepin Canal Report – May 31

Posted on by Troy Jackson

I was able to work in a trip on the last day of May and chose a stretch of The Canal that needed a boost to reach a double-digit Top 5 weight. Prior to the trip my all-time Top 5 for the stretch sat at 7-7, so it would take a good fish or two to reach the ten-pound mark.

Stats
Date: May 31
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 7:25am-10:40am
Totals: 6 bass
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy, 63-74F
Lures: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (redear) – 3 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) – 2 bass, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-10 Buzzbait
Top 3 Weight (only three bass at 12” or better): 4-9 (1-10,1-8,1-7)

Starting Lineup

Tune of the Trip
Dirty Water – The Standells (1965)
I couldn’t get this song out of my head as cast after cast landed in the dingy water. Like last year, The Canal gets increasingly stained as I head east.

7:36am – Top Bass #3 at 1-7 (14.5″) on a frog

Notes and Nonsense

Pros – This section of The Canal has more exposure to wind than many other stretches due to sparser tree lines on some portions. As such, this morning worked out well in terms of not having to fight any wind. Conditions featured only a light breeze which made for less attention to boat control. This generally results in more casts, more precision in those casts, and the opportunity to slow down my presentations if I choose. Each of these factors are favorable but rarely are fishing conditions “perfect.”

9:03am – Top Bass #2 at 1-8 (14″) on a spinnerbait

Cons – While I did not have to fight the wind, there were several other challenges. The cottonwood trees that line The Canal are having a banner year in terms of distributing “fuzz” which gets stuck to your line and lures. It is nearly impossible to remove and adversely effects casting. The water clarity was also lacking making it tougher to locate targets and to avoid lures fouling in the weeds. Beyond the water, the gnats were out in full force and the poison ivy has taken over the banks, including my makeshift boat ramp.

10:14 – Top Bass at 1-10 (15.5″) on a buzzbait

Lure Selection – Three bass on the frog in the first thirty minutes had me thinking that I was onto something but then the frog bite shut down. I shifted to a spinnerbait amidst the abundant wood targets but could only muster two bites. To finish the morning, I swung for the fences with a buzzbait hoping for a big bite or two but only fooled a lone bass for my Top Bass of the trip at 1-10.

Winning lures

Top 5 Update – I did not find the bites that I needed to reach the double-digit mark. In landing the 1-10 and 1-8, I was able to cull a 1-4 and a 1-3 but the boost was only eleven ounces. This pushed the Top 5 on this stretch to 8-2 meaning that a return trip will be required.

Lost & Found on The Canal – These “chip clips” seem to disappear from my house but found one on The Canal although it was a litle sprung. 

Overall, a tough morning on the water as I fell short of my goal. However, I have plenty of other missions to accomplish on The Canal and I have been able to work on those in June. Stay tuned as I have some catching up to do on the fishing reports. Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Stats

Posted on by Troy Jackson

A new month means a look at the Top 5 Stats for the year.

Bass Totals (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted)

2025 Totals
March = 10 bass
April = 16 bass
May = 22 bass

Top 5 Weight by Month
March = 11-3 (2-15,2-8,1-15,1-15,1-14)
April = 18-9 (4-14,4-10,3-13,2-14,2-6)
May = 22-9 (5-7,4-15,4-7,3-15,3-13)

Boat vs. Bank
Boat = 22 bass
Bank = 26 bass

Boat vs. Bank Weight
Boat = 12-14 (3-1,2-9.2-8,2-6,2-6)
Bank = 24-5 (5-7,4-15,4-14,4-10,4-7)

Public vs. Private
Public = 46 bass
Private = 2 bass

Public vs. Private Top 5 Weight
Public = 24-5 (5-7,4-15,4-14,4-10,4-7)
Private = 6-11 (3-13,2-14)

The Baits
Chatterbait = 9 bass (Top Bass 4-14 Chatterbait)
Jerkbait = 9 bass (Top Bass 2-8 John Kirkemo)
Lipless Crankbait = 7 bass (Top Bass 4-10 Brent Jackson)
Frog = 6 bass (Top Bass 3-1 Brent Jackson)
Plastic Worm = 6 bass (Top Bass 4-15 Jim Junk)
Underspin = 4 bass (Top Bass 5-7 Jim Junk)
Popper = 2 bass (Top Bass 2-4 Brent Jackson)
Swimbait = 2 bass (Top Bass 3-13 Jim Junk)
Grub = 1 bass (Top Bass 2-2 Troy Jackson)
Propbait = 1 bass (Top Bass 3-13 Troy Jackson)
Spinnerbait = 1 bass (Top Bass 1-8 Troy Jackson)

Monthly Top Bass
March
2-15 Jim Junk
April
4-14 Troy Jackson
May
5-7 Jim Junk

2024 Top 10 Bass
5-7 Jim Junk 5/17
4-15 Jim Junk 5/25
4-14 Troy Jackson 4/19
4-10 Brent Jackson 4/6
4-7 Jim Junk 5/30
3-15 Jim Junk 5/2
3-13 Jim Junk 4/6
3-13 Troy Jackson 5/16
3-10 Jim Junk 5/30
3-3 Jim Junk 5/30

Angler Weights
Jim Junk 22-9 (5-7,4-15,4-7,3-15,3-13)
Troy Jackson 16-5 (4-14,3-13,2-11,2-9.2-6)
Brent Jackson 14-13 (4-10,3-1,2-8,2-6,2-4)
John Kirkemo 9-10 (2-8,2-4,1-14,1-10,1-6)

Other Species

Walleye
Brent Jackson 1-6 (1-6)

Almost halfway to one hundred submissions and our first twenty-pound limit of the year is in the books. 2025 has been a solid year and plenty of fishing remains. Good luck out there and send your submissions to troy@troyjacksonoutdoors.com if you want to join the crew. Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

We have our first twenty-pound limit as Jim Junk finished the month of May with a flurry of quality bass. Read on for the details on his latest submissions.

Weight: 4-15
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: May 25
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Texas rigged Senko
Structure: Dense weed bed
Angler Comments: The first one, 4-15, came from dense weeds that were all very close to the surface. Saw him take the bait and a good fight ensued before landing.

Weight: 2-9
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: May 25
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Texas rigged Senko
Structure: Pocket in weed bed
Angler Comments: The second one, 2-9, hit in a small pocket in the weeds.

Weight: 3-3
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: May 30
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Texas rigged Senko

Weight: 3-10
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: May 30
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Texas rigged Senko

Weight: 4-7
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: May 30
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Texas rigged Senko
Angler Comments: Came after work and fished for a little over three hours. Same scenario as last report. One came with fifteen mile per hour wind at my back, one throwing into the wind, and the last one after the wind calmed down.
Top 5 Weight: 22-9 (5-7,4-15,4-7,3-15,3-13) culls 2-15, 2-14

That is one impressive batch of bass and congratulations to Jim on hitting the coveted twenty-pound mark. Next up is a rundown of the current Top 5 stats as we begin a new month. Talk to you later. Troy

Strip Mine Report – May 25

Posted on by Troy Jackson

I made two Sunday stops on the Knox County strip mines, starting with Brent and finishing with a solo shot. A fast start did not translate into a strong finish, but we got a few decent ones while the early morning bite was on.

Stats
Date: May 25
Location: Knox County public strip pits (3 lakes)
Time: 6:30am-11:50am (4.00 hours fishing)
Totals: 23 bass (Troy – 14, Brent – 9) NOTE: I fished an extra 90 minutes
Weather: Overcast/windy, 53-56F
Lures: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (redear or leopard) – 14 bass, Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) – 5 bass, Whopper Plopper 110 (bone) – 3 bass, 5” Yamasenko weighted wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-9 Troy (Frog), 2-8 Brent (Frog)
Top 5 Weight: 9-11 (2-9,2-8,2-0,1-5,1-5)

Troy starting lineup, all produced except the lipless crankbait

Tune of the Trip
Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N’ Roses (1987)
As we near June, the hike to some of the walk-in strip mines gets more interesting. Taller weeds, abundant thistles, ample ticks, and hidden gullies make for tough decisions when choosing a destination.

7:00am – Top Bass at 2-9 (17.5″) on a frog, edging out Brent’s Top Bass by one ounce

Sent Brent a screenshot of my weight as proof that I had an official 2-9 compared to his 2-8

Notes and Nonsense

Chilling Out – At 6:30am, it sure did not feel like Memorial Day weekend and my fingers were bordering on numb. Overcast skies and wind resulted in the “feels like” temperature reading at 47 degrees. And it never got noticeably warmer. Brent commented that when the wind hit the water surface just right it would cause a warm blast as the water was warmer than the air. This year continues to be odd in terms of weather.

Stop One – My first cast bass of the morning resulted in a bass which is sometimes seen as a bad omen. After all, the bass/cast percentage will certainly not remain one hundred percent. For the next thirty minutes or so, the bite stayed hot, but I only landed one other bass from a total of seven strikes on the frog. Such is frog fishing though as hooksets and the aim of the bass can suffer in weedy water. Brent had better hookup success in landing four bass on the frog in addition to fooling five others on a chatterbait.

7:20am – Brent’s Top Bass at 2-8 on a frog

Stop Two – After hitting a pair of lakes, Brent called it a morning while I stuck around as I had some time before heading to my folks to catch the Cubs 12:40pm start. I ditched the boat in favor of a five-minute walk to a productive lake. The lake is odd, however, as there is an incredible amount of little bass mixed in with the occasional quality catch. As I write this report, my largemouth bass total for the year stands at 132 bass and exactly half of them (66 bass) have come from this lake. Unfortunately, only three of the bass have been “keepers” at 12” or better. Those three bass weighed in at 4-14(20.5”), 3-13 (20”), and 1-3(14”). Every other bass measured between 7.5” to 11.5”. Over the last dozen years, Brent and I have posted an impressive all-time Top 5 from the lake of 22-9 (5-4,4-14,4-10,4-0,3-13). But we’ve had to weed through several hundred small bass along the way.

While this trip did not live up to the quality we were looking for, we did land a decent number of bass. The day ended on a good note as the Cubs staged an exciting comeback to defeat the Reds 11-8. Dad and I were a little frustrated at times, but we hung in there. I had to laugh though as Mom said that if I hadn’t come to watch the game with them, Dad likely would have had enough and turned them off after the first few innings. I suppose being a Cubs fan will never be easy. Stay tuned for an impressive Top 5 Update tomorrow and talk to you later. Troy

Hennepin Canal Report – May 24

Posted on by Troy Jackson

A couple hours were available for a Saturday evening getaway, so I packed up my bike and a couple poles and hit The Canal. Turns out, I only needed one pole and one lure as I only caught one bass. But it was a good one and an important one. Read on for the result and reason.

Stats
Date: May 24
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 3:10pm-4:40pm
Totals: 1 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy/breezy, 70F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (redear) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-11 Frog

Winning lure

Tune of the Trip
“Why Can’t We Be Friends” – War (1975)
I thought conditions were ripe for a good frog bite, but the bass weren’t very friendly to me as I only fooled one.

Notes and Nonsense

Milestones – On the spot I chose for this outing, I was sitting at 99 total bass since I started fishing The Canal back in June 2021. Well, I only got one bite, but it was what I needed to reach a milestone. At 100 bass, this stretch is my second most productive length of the Canal. Another section sits at 192 bass, which represents a target for a future visit in search of eight more bass. An even bigger target looms on the horizon as my all-time total on The Canal sits at 873 bass. Time will tell if I can reach 1,000 bass before the year ends.

3:40pm – Top Bass at 2-11 on a frog and Bass #100 for this stretch of The Canal

Almost Famous – I crossed paths with a young angler as I pedaled back to my truck. He was casting a spinnerbait and had yet to fool one but had a few stories about his catches on The Canal. I mentioned that I had a blog and did some YouTube stuff on occasion. He replied, “So you’re famous!” I laughed and said, “Not quite.” I showed him a picture of the 2-11 and told him that I caught it on a topwater frog. He was impressed and we shared a couple more tales before I headed back to my truck. As I didn’t have any blog cards in my tacklebag, I grabbed a batch from my truck and pedaled back to give him a few. I happened to have a brand-new spare frog, too. When I left, the boy was tying it on to give it a go. Just another reason to have a spare productive lure. Here’s hoping he had a blast.

That’s about all there is to say about a one bass outing. Next up, a strip mine report and another impressive Monday Top 5 Update is in the works. Talk to you later. Troy

Strip Mine Report – May 18

Posted on by Troy Jackson

On this outing, Brent and I took a bike ride through some old stomping grounds that we’ve been exploring for thirty-five years. As such, this fishing report includes a bit of reminiscing. Read on for the numbers, notes and nostalgia.

Starting lineup – Troy

Stats
Date: May 18
Location: Knox County public strip pits (3 lakes)
Time: 6:45am-10:30am (2.75 hours fishing)
Totals: 23 bass (Brent – 13, Troy – 10)
Weather: Sunny/windy
Lures: Mann’s Chug n’ Spit – 13 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (various colors) – 7 bass, Lunker Hunt Finesse Swimbait (smokin shad or perfect pumpkin) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 2-4 Brent (Popper), 2-2 Troy (Swimbait)
Top 5 Weight: 8-2 (2-4,2-2,1-7,1-4,1-1)

Troy’s winning lures

Tune of the Trip
Have A Drink on Me – AC/DC (1980)
I recently got a new tacklebag that has a sleeve for a drink. This allowed me to pack two bottles of water, one in the bag and one on my bike. Brent left his drink in his truck, so the spare came in handy.

September 25, 2006 – Strip mine smallmouth, our quest on this trip

6:48am – Found the smallmouth although rather small at the start

7:17am – Getting bigger with a 1-7 on a popper

Notes and Nonsense

Smallmouth Mission – For years, I have read reports about anglers reeling in some smallmouth bass from a few ponds scattered about the Knox County public strip pits. Back in September 2006, I made a point to give one of them a try and reeled in seven small smallies. Fast forward nearly twenty years and I was on a small mouth hunt again, with Brent in tow. Well, we found them again, albeit in a completely different spot than my 2006 trip. For me, little changed as I landed six small smallies. Brent, on the other hand, set a new family smallmouth record with a 2-4 (besting my 2-0 from 2021).

Before Picture – Brent from March 30, 2004 with a bass on one of the lakes we fished on this outing, notice the terrrain is highly navigable

After Picture – roughly the same backdrop where the above pic was taken, much has changed in twenty-one years as you can’t even get to the water

Changes – I made my first casts in one of these lakes over thirty years ago. Prior to this trip, my last visit was in August 2011. Over those years, the access to the bank on this lake has changed dramatically. In the 1990s, you could walk right up to the bank on the entire lake and cast without obstruction. Today, the lake is surrounded by a combination of dense brush, trees, and reeds. There are very few access points, and they take some effort to reach. And once you get near the bank, casting is whole other adventure. Luckily, I pack a spinning rod as it was impossible to make a decent cast with a baitcaster.

7:39am – Brent with Top Bass of the outing, a 2-4 smallmouth on a popper

9:53am – Top largemouth bass of the outing at 2-2 on a Ned Rig

Top Bass – Brent had the smallmouth touch in finding the prime spot on one of the lakes along with selecting an effective presentation with his topwater popper. He landed the Top smallie at 2-4, added a 1-7, and fooled a third “keeper” at 1-1 on another lake. I managed to take the largemouth crown for the day with a 2-2 and also posted a 1-4 to round out our overall mixed bag Top 5.

Brent’s winnng lure, a Mann’s Chug N’ Spit

Decent numbers but eighteen of the twenty-three bass came in the first hour and a half and were mostly small smallmouth from a single lake. Beyond those fish, it was a tough bite while biking and hiking. Access from the bank has grown tough on many lakes due to abundant shoreline reeds and expansive shallow vegetation. It was worth a shot though and we found what we were seeking in the smallmouth bass.

More reports to come so stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy