With three kids gone all day Saturday to my folks, I had the go ahead to make it a full day chasing bass and I certainly got my money’s worth. Plenty of exercise and plenty of bass after a rough couple early morning hours made for another interesting day in West Central Illinois.
10:05am 14″ 1-4 Senko wacky rig
Stats
Date: September 9, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL private/public access strip mines (2/5 lakes)
Time: 6:16am-2:55pm (5.75 hours fishing, the rest walking or driving)
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy
Air Temp: 51F-74F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 41 bass
Lures:
5” Senko wacky rig (green pumpkin) – 33 bass
Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 4 bass
Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (sexy shad) – 1 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass
Yumbrella 3-Wire Rig (white) – 1 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- Crankbait (copper) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-5 Senko
Top 5 Weight: 7-7 (2-5,1-10,1-4,1-3,1-1)
11:36am Top Bass 17″ 2-5 Senko, from a new pothole, gotta be the biggest bass there as not a whole lot of water, a pleasant surprise
Notes & Nonsense
Slow Start – Launching at sunrise at Little John Conservation Club I had high hopes for some topwater action and several significant surface splashes on my first stop had me pretty keyed up. Never got a strike and had to resort to the Senko to eke out a couple small ones to avoid an embarrassing shutout. Lake number two was even worse with a lone short bass on the buzzbait as my only catch.
Above is what a 4 to 5-pounder striking a buzzbait at boatside looks like and as you can see my rod tip is already headed down and to the right as this fish had a full head of steam, rest of story below.
One That Got Away – The highlight and lowlight of my Little John leg was a boatside strike on the buzzbait by a bass in the 4 to 5 pound range. I know the weight because I saw it come in behind the lure and bust it about eight feet away. It was headed to my right at full throttle as I set the hook in the other direction and it was too much for my 12-pound test which snapped and lost my lunker. I checked my drag and it was acceptable, just a bad deal with the strike coming in such close quarters. Oh yeah, got those few unfortunate seconds on video with the GoPro so I get to relive it should I want to kick myself further and second guess my reaction and hookset.
12:17pm 13″ 1-3 Senko, actually spotted this fish as I was about to head to another spot and thought it was worth a try, pretty cool when you watch the fish take an interest and then you tempt it into committing
1:07pm 13.5″ 1-1 Yumbrella 3-Wire Rig, additional details on significance of this catch later this week
Strong Finish – Part Two of the day was public ground walk-in fishing, a lot of effort but also a lot of bass. Numerous bodies of water make it fun to kind of stick and move, spending about 15 minutes on a small pothole or two while investing more time on a few larger spots, including a pair of proven producers. All went according to plan and I wound up fishing a bit longer than intended as it’s tough to walk away from a good bite. It’s also a tough walk back to the truck and I was not looking forward to that part of the day for a finale.
The Cost – I took an “alternate” route back to the truck hoping to find some decent walking only to find that there is no such thing as decent walking amidst the abundant late summer weed growth. I wound up quite tired and sore and even had both hamstrings seize up on me while out for dinner with Julie and our oldest, Helena, needing their assistance in case I couldn’t walk when leaving my seat. In addition to the physical toll, this whole trip cost me a buzzbait (as noted above), a Mann’s 1- crankbait (unknowingly snagged in cattails while walking and busted off) and several Senkos (one snag and a couple operator error instances). With the Senko issues I was really worried as I was down to my last O-ring for wacky rigging and the setup was the big winner on the day. Fortunately, the last one survived and I restocked from my backup supply upon returning home.
Distance tally for this day, sure felt like a lot more as not a leisurely stroll
Got some more stuff to report on this outing but will save those items for some other posts as the week progresses. Don’t forget to check out the Facebook page or send a friend request as there’s additional outdoor items frequently posted there as well. Gotta give a shout out to my folks for keeping a bunch of the kids and to Julie for hanging with the other so that I could take another shot at some bass. It’s only September but I can already feel the clock ticking towards the end of another year on the water. Took today off and out there again somewhere so stay tuned. Talk to you later. Troy