It’s time for the annual Top 5 all-time record book look as the 2020 version is already off and running. This post and another tomorrow will get us up to speed as I suspect that our regular Monday Top 5 Updates may be on hold for a while as winter decided to arrive this past weekend. As we await some further 2020 additions, here’s a look at the numbers from the six year history of the Top 5.
In 2019 we fell just short of 100 bass as our participants submitted 95 bass along the way. This batch brought the all-time total to 686 bass submitted. 2019 also marked the second year of a Top 5 expansion to include other species but only five fish were added to the “Other Species” portion of the record book (3 catfish, a bluegill and a muskie). We’ll kick things off there before moving on to the bass breakdown.
Other Species All-Time Records
Bluegill
1-8 Teagan Mills 6/2/19 Private pond
Channel Catfish
13-0 Teagan Mills (2019)
13-0 Teagan Mills (2018)
8-2 (25”) Chris Schwarz (2018)
6-9 Chris Schwarz (2019)
34-35” Chris Schwarz (2019)
Green Sunfish
0-13 Jayce Jackson (2017)
Muskie
131” Jake Bresson (47”,31”,29”24” – 2017) on Rapala X-Rap
*70+” John Kirkemo (40”, 30+” – 2018)
29” Troy Jackson (2017) on Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait
6-4 Chris Schwarz (2019)
Northern Pike
167.25” Jake Bresson (37.0”,35.25”,33.5”,32.0”,29.5” – 2017)
Rainbow Trout
22” John Kirkemo (11”,11” – 2018)
Walleye
118” Jake Bresson (26.5”,26.0”,25.5”,20”,20” – 2017) on Rapala X-Rap or jig & minnow
Moving on to the bass, let’s take a look at how our fish stack up with respect to the calendar. Six years, 34 different anglers and 686 bass (all but 22 from Illinois waters) make up the all-time record book. Here we go.
Group Totals = 686 bass
2014 = 154
2015 = 106
2016 = 136
2017 = 79
2018 = 116
2019 = 95 (Knox, Warren, Fulton and McDonough Counties)
Submissions by month (2014-2019) * = new record
144 April (43/33/31/11/12/14)
118 May (27/23/19/13/24/12)
88 June (34/14/15/1/10/14)
76 March (13/11/34/10/0/8)
67 July (18/11/8/11/8/11)
53 October (4/5/4/8/24/8)
47 September (6/4/6/6/16/9)
29 February (2/2/7/13/5/0)
27 November (6/0/4/0/8/*9)
20 August (1/3/1/4/4/*7)
10 December (0/0/7/1/0/2)
7 January (0/0/0/1/5/1)
Comments: While Spring continues to rule the day in terms of submissions, it was fun to see an uptick of summer bass in 2019. Among the summer entries was a record breaking bunch of bass in August, easily our leanest warm weather month of the year. November also saw a record number of submissions as a couple anglers kept up the late season casting.
Top 10 Top 5 Monthly Weights (group total)
37-9 May 2014
29-8 June 2014
29-7 March 2016
29-2 April 2014
28-9 October 2018
28-7 December 2016
27-14 April 2015
27-12 March 2015
27-11 July 2014
27-10 April 2016
Comments: Takes nearly 28 pounds of combined weight from our anglers to crack the Top 10 all-time which is getting to be pretty tall order as we kick off our seventh year.
Top 5 Weights per Month (group total) * = new record
January (2018) = 13-5 (3-15, 2-7, 2-6, 2-6, 2-3)
February (2016) = 22-9 (6-7,4-15,4-10,4-1,2-8)
March (2016) = 29-7 (6-5,6-1,5-14,5-10,5-9)
April (2014) = 29-2 (8-0, 5-11, 5-10, 4-15. 4-14)
May (2014) = 37-9 (9-4, 8-10, 8-8, 6-1, 5-2)
June (2014) = 29-8 (6-11, 6-4, 5-10, 5-8, 5-7)
July (2014) = 27-11 (6-6, 6-0, 5-5, 5-0, 5-0)
*August (2019) = 19-4 (4-14,4-10,4-6,2-14,2-8) old mark 18-9 in 2017
*September (2019) = 24-5 (5-3,5-0,5-0,4-12,4-6) old mark 23-8 in 2018
October (2018) = 28-9 (6-3,5-14,5-10,5-10,5-4) old mark 26-11 in 2017
November (2018) = 26-1 (7-2,6-12,4-3,4-0,4-0) old mark 24-9 in 2016
December (2016) = 28-7 (7-7,6-5,5-13,4-11,4-3)
Comments: Thanks to a first full limit, August sets a new record while the September total is bested for the third year in a row.
Monthly Top Bass
January
3-15 Mark Balbinot 1/27/18 Crankbait
February
6-7 Mike Overturf 2/27/16 Plastic Worm
March
7-0 Randy Sampson Sr. 3/22/15 Jig
April
8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14 Crankbait
May
9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
June
6-11 Ty Hartlipp 6/11/14 Topwater Frog
July
6-6 Jake Bresson 7/11/14 Plastic Worm
August
6-8 Gary Le 8/16/14 Swimbait
September
6-0 Austin Chapman 9/19/15 Jig
October
7-4 Mark Balbinot 10/29/17 Jig
November
7-2 Mark Balbinot 11/23/18 Underspin
December
7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16 Underspin
Comments: It’s going to take quite a catch for an angler to unseat one of our current monthly Top Bass. Sharpen up those augers as the January weight is the lightest of the bunch but still a tall order.
This will put a wrap on Part I of the Top 5 record book update. Plenty more to come tomorrow with a look at the how, what and who. Talk to you later. Troy