I grew up in Galesburg, Illinois and developed a fondness for chasing bass on Lake Storey just north of town a long time ago. This time of year, it calls me back to match wits with the bass during the annual “fall” drawdown that typically starts just after the Labor Day holiday. The lake gets plenty of pressure throughout the year, making for some educated bass and a fun challenge. Read on to see who came out ahead on my recent visit.

Thanks, John, for the leftover breakfast from our trip to The Rock the previous morning

Stats

Date: September 18
Time: 8:05am-3:50pm
Totals: 18 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy to sunny/windy 66-83F
Water Temperature: 74-75F
Lures: Strike King Special K Spinnerbait (bleeding shiner) with Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer (root beer/pepper/green) – 7 bass, War Eagle spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) – 5 bass, Strike King Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad) – 3 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait – 2 bass, Lunkerhunt topwater frog – 1 bass
Top Bass:2-12 Topwater Frog
Top 5 Weight: 9-4 (2-12,2-3,1-8,1-7,1-6)

Winning Lures (one other noted later in post)

Notes and Nonsense

Those Dam Bass – During the summer of 2021, my son, Jayce, joined me and his Uncle Brent for a couple of hours of bass fishing on Lake Storey. He and Brent came through with a pair of bass along the dam. Of course, we had fun with these catches, referring to them as some “nice dam bass.” Well, on this day I was fortunate to start out my morning with another Dam bass.

Top Bass (see below)

Bookend Top Bass – My first bass of the day came at 8:27am after about twenty minutes of casting and weighed 2-3. A solid start had me optimistic on my prospects for a good day. And while it would be a good day, I couldn’t outdo that first bass until my final bass of the day at 2:43pm came in at 2-12.

My Special K spinnerbait bit the dust but went out a hero as it landed a bass as the blade arm broke off

Targets and Angles – I’ve fished Lake Storey for a long time and have a customary batch of targets that I hit as I make my way around the lake. For one spot, I always have a Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait at the ready. Roughly three hours into my trip, I reached the spot and made my first few casts of the day with the Baby 1-. Right on cue, a fourteen-inch bass that weighed in at 1-2 took the bait. Ten minutes later, on the same spot, I employed another favorite Lake Storey trick as I switched lures and hit the spot from the opposite direction after drifting past. In this case, a spinnerbait retrieved past the structure fooled another “keeper” at twelve inches and 0-12. While not the largest bass, I sure dig the feedback when all those years of experience pay off.

Amy day that I can land eighteen bass on Lake Storey is a winner. Per my data going back to 1997, my Lake Storey catch rate is 1.02 bass/hour. On this trip, my catch rate jumped to 2.32 bass/hour.

As I have noted previously, my daily goals on a fishing trip are as follows:

1. Don’t get shutout – twenty-two minutes in I had achieved that goal
2. Land a Top 5 (five bass at 12” or better) – completed at the four-hour mark
3. Post a ten-pound Top 5 – missed it by twelve ounces but had one fish break off on a hookset and a two-pounder come off at the boat. I have no guess on the size off the first missed fish but the second may have boosted my total by the twelve ounces that I was lacking.

No matter on the ones that got away, as I fished hard and found what the bass would bite. In fact, my final bite (and Top Bass) came on a topwater frog which is a seldom used presentation for me, particularly at Lake Storey. I had to pat myself on the back for that decision as I had a weedy stretch that made any other presentation frustrating and ineffective. Setting aside my stubborn streak, I picked up my frog rod and was rewarded with a good fish. Perhaps there is a lesson there.

 

Ideally, I would like to hit Lake Storey one more time in 2022, but weekend free time will be limited during the remainder of my fishing year. At least I have The Canal close to home. And I still have several more fishing reports to pass along so stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy