August can be a tough time to cull for various reasons. The dog days can do a number on both angler and bass, back to school (at least in my world) can move fishing down the priority list and if you are already having a good year of fishing, it can just plain be a tall order to replace one in your creel. All of the above applied when assessing my odds for a bump in weight but I still managed to get one that added over two pounds to my 2017 Top 5.

Weight: 5-11
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: August 21
Location: Knox County Strip Mine
Lure: 5″ Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (pumpkin with black flake)
Structure: Overhanging bushes
Angler Comments: My first Eclipse Day bass was a winner and just in time as I only got one more in an hour of casting before the weather got real ugly and sent me packing.
Top 5 Weight: 26-13 (6-2,5-11,5-9,5-0,4-7) culls 3-8

My good fortune continues to push me farther into uncharted territory as my previous best Top 5 on record was 22-12 back in 2015. Since kicking off this project in 2014 I have somehow managed at least a 20-pound limit each year along with setting a new personal best each successive year. This one may be tough to top so here’s to finding a few more before 2017 is all said and done to really give me something to shoot for in the future. Hope anyone out there gets some time on the water as we head into another shot at the fall feeding frenzy and send them my way when you fool them. Talk to you later. Troy