Got my first May fishing trip in the log last weekend. As usual I faced the dilemma of which location(s) to hit and in the end my choices were both hit and miss.
6:56am First bass 13″ 0-15 Senko , quick results, will the success continue?
Stats
Date: May 13, 2017
Locations: Little John (private) and IRAP (public)-Knox Co.
Time: 6:45am-12:05pm (4 hours fishing, the rest walking/relocating)
Weather: Sunny/calm-windy
Air Temp: 55F-75F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 17 bass
Lures:
Senko weighted wacky rig (green pumpkin/black flake) – 15 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
3/8 oz. Fish Head Underspin (white) with 4” Keitech Swing Impact (electric shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-5 Senko
Weight (only 4 at 12″ or better): 6-11 (3-5,1-9,0-15,0-14)
8:20am 12.5″ 0-14, only buzzbait bass as I cannot replicate the late April buzzbait bite
Notes & Nonsense
Rough Start – I wound up making my first cast about 45 minutes later than expected. Reason one was my fault as 4:30am didn’t work out and it was rise and shine at about 5:00am instead. Reason two was a road block on my normal route causing an off the beaten path, guesstimate of a re-route that worked out relatively effectively but still caused an unexpected delay. And then once I got on the water at Little John Conservation Club I could only manage four bass in a couple hours of casting.
IRAP Saves the Day – I figured things could only get better with a change of scenery so I headed to the IRAP ground east of Victoria, IL and was rewarded with thirteen bass in an hour and a half, twelve coming from one lake in only 45 minutes of fishing. Several were on back to back casts and even logged two within the same minute (10:36am). The downside of this dozen was that only one topped 11” but at least the oddball of the bunch was a pretty good one.
10:41am Top Bass 17.5″ 3-5 Senko, same lake where I fooled a 3-6 on April 8. May have to do some forensic photo analysis to see if it’s the same fish. Actually have some stories like that stashed away for another day.
Top Bass – The feeding frenzy noted above featured eight bass in ten minutes all while standing on one spot on the bank. As the fish were all between 7.5”-10” I was on the verge of relocating to another lake in search of a bigger bite. Before doing so, however, I changed the direction of my casting a bit further down the bank to my right and was immediately rewarded with a heavier bite resulting in Top Bass for the day at 3-5. Hoping to duplicate my success I later moved a bit farther down the bank but wasn’t meant to be as I only fooled three more dinks.
11:40am 15″ 1-9 Underspin, turned out to be my last bite as the final chapter of this trip did not work out as planned (see next photo and paragraph).
Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area – much needed project but sure never saw it coming.
Rough Finish – IRAP features at least a couple dozen walk-in only lakes and after hitting two of my favorites I wavered on hiking deeper into the ground which would mean a longer walk back to the truck, tough call. After logging over five tiring miles on my previous visit I decided against the extra exercise and opted to drive to Mautino State Fish and Wildlife Area about 40 minutes to the northeast where I could finish my day casting from the boat. Just my luck, the gate was closed just past the first lake on the site prohibiting access to my best spots so I decided to just call it a day. Much needed road repair looks to be the reason and I sure hope they are actually in the process of doing the job and not just planning it. The road sure wasn’t going to get any worse so I’m gonna be a little angry if they drag their feet and lock me out while nothing improves. But this is Illinois, not holding my breath…
May gets kind of crazy so not sure if I will get back on the water before we head into school break and the unofficial start of summer. However, I have been known to find some other rambles to fill blog space even if I’m not fishing. Talk to you later. Troy