Public strip mine fishing access is fading fast at my stomping grounds in favor of the waterfowl so had to get some casting in before me and my fellow anglers get cast aside.

7:39am First bass 14″ 1-7 Chatterbait

Stats
Date: October 8, 2017
Locations: Knox County, IL strip mines (2 public, 1 private lake)
Time: 7:35am-2:20pm (4.25 hours fishing, the rest walking or driving)
Weather: Sunny/breezy
Air Temp: 50-76F
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 16 bass
Lures:
Swim Jig with hammertail trailer – 4 bass
Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (rainbow) – 3 bass
Stanley Vibra Shaft spinnerbait (blue glimmer) – 3 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 2 bass
Booyah Counterstrike spinnerbait (salt & pepper) – 1 bass
Chatterbait (bluegill) with Zako trailer (smoke) – 1 bass
Rapala Shadow Rap (blue back herring) – 1 bass
Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-2 Blue Glimmer spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 8-2 (2-2,1-12,1-9,1-7,1-4)

A real Smorgasbord with my 16 bass coming on these 8 different baits, lots of one and done, a rather odd performance from the bass

Notes & Nonsense

Good Start – It took only four minutes on my first lake to get on the board with a 1-7 which was followed up twelve minutes later with a solid 2-2. An encouraging start on a lake that had produced three keepers including a 3-8 a month earlier in only 30 minutes of casting. My aim was to invest a little more time and have a closer look so it was cool that my first two bass were quality and the second was bigger than the first. I was hoping that sort of trend would continue but it did not pan out in terms of size although eleven bass in two hours was a darn good success rate.

7:51am Top Bass 16″ 2-2 Blue Glimmer spinnerbait

8:54am 13″ 1-4 Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

Top 5 – Of those first eleven bass, seven came in at 12” or better and five of those would make up my Top 5 for the day. Sure thought I would be on my way to double digits and beyond with two bass at 3-9 in less than 15 minutes of casting. As it turned out, my first two hours on the water resulted in my Top 5 and I spent the next two hours failing to catch a fish meeting the 12” mark.

Wasted Walk – I fished a spot in September that I hadn’t visited for many years and caught a couple bass while prowling a limited stretch of accessible bank. On this trip I took a second shot at the lake while fishing from my little johnboat and never had a single bite. Very disappointing to say the least as I really had high hopes on this lake as I cannot see it receiving much pressure due to a somewhat remote locale and only a few spots offering decent bank access. Turned out to be a lot of work for nothing, literally.

8:58am 15″ 1-12 Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait

9:22am 14″ 1-9 Swim Jig

Smorgasbord – It was really a kind of strange day as I could never truly get anything going in terms of getting a lure or two dialed in as my sixteen bass came on eight different lures. In fact, my first four bass all came on different baits over the course of 45 minutes on the water. The first on a chatterbait, then nothing further. Switched up to the Blue Glimmer and hooked up right away, then nothing. Same scenario with a KVD Rattling Squarebill followed by a Shadow Rap and then another lull. I then found three on the 1- and was about to relocate when I happened upon a swim jig bite for four more before the lake shut down altogether. The variety was fun but also a little frustrating as I just couldn’t find a consistent and lasting winner.

First Swim Jig bass of 2017, one of my earlier resolutions accomplished

Are you kidding me? The old Blue Glimmer spinnerbait I’d just brought back into the starting lineup bites the dust.

Lure Highs and Lows – I would say that the highpoint of my outing was fooling several on the swim jig. This neglected lure was on the list to throw in 2017 but I had never gotten around to it and really kind of tied it on as a whim to simply try and fool at least one. Wound up with four in about twenty minutes including one of my Top 5. The lowlight would be busting off the top blade on the recently resurrected Blue Glimmer spinnerbait while reeling in a short bass near the end of my day. Crazy, as I had just posted a bit about the return of this bait, opening it from a package I’d had sitting around for better than fifteen years. I’d never busted a blade off in all the years I fished these things but here in 2017, after less than a dozen catches, it was broke.

So, it’s getting to be that time where thoughts of that “last bass” begin to enter my mind. My goal every year is to start with a March bass and end with a November bass. Well, the shot at that latter bookend is only three weeks away. I am not sure what lies in store for the next month or better as much depends on weather and responsibilities but I hope to get in at least a couple more days on the water before I call it quits for 2017. As always, I’ll keep you posted. Talk to you later. Troy