Every fall, most of the Knox County public strip mines go off limits to anglers around the middle of October. That is a discussion for a separate post. For this report, we’ll stick to the home stretch approach of at least “one more visit” before we get locked out. And this visit turned out to be worth our while.

Pre-launch predictions for our combined totals

9:02am – Solid first bass at 2-6 (15.5″) on a spinnerbait and would be the eighth largest bass of the day

Stats
Date: September 24
Location: Knox County public strip mines (5 lakes)
Time: 10:05am-1:30pm (6.00 hours fishing, the rest walking)
Totals: 36 bass (Troy – 23 bass, Brent 13 bass in two less hours of fishing)
Weather: Sunny/windy, 62-77F
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (assorted colors) – 19 bass, Spinnerbait (green/white or chartreuse/white) – 14 bass, Whopper Plopper 110 (bone) – 2 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 4-4 Spinnerbait (Brent)
Top 5 Weight: 15-11 (4-4,3-2,2-15,2-12,2-10)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Rowing Role – We started our day on a lake where we could fish from our little john boat which means that somebody had to row. Rather than flip a coin or draw straws, I volunteered to provide the horsepower. I keep the boat at my house, so I get more use than Brent, who relies on his kayak when fishing from a small watercraft. As such, it was proper to take that portion of the guide role and sacrifice a few casts along the way. I suspect that it has all evened out on the oars over the years and we always have a good time no matter who is catching.

9:52am – Top Bass at 4-4 (19″), also Brent’s Top 2023 Bass and a new lake record

Lake Record – Brent’s fourth fish was a 4-4 on a spinnerbait that not only set a record for the lake we were fishing but also landed as his Top Bass for 2023 (so far). His 4-4 topped a 4-2 that I had fooled back in early May for the former lake record. Brent also landed a 3-2 (also on a spinnerbait) less than an hour later that would be our Top Bass Runner-Up for the day. Both bass gave the Top 5 all-time totals for the lake a boost. The mark now stands at 18-3 (4-4,4-2,3-7,3-4,3-2).

9:16am – My Top Bass of the day at 2-15 (17″) on a Senko wacky rig

Guide Tip – At one point, I directed Brent to a solid spinnerbait setup as I positioned the boat in the wind for a good casting angle. The spot featured a laydown in a couple of feet of water with one end sitting on the drop into an open water bowl ringed by timber on the deepest section of the lake. I commented that I had caught a couple nice fish on the log in the spring. In eight minutes, Brent proceeded to land three more “keepers” on the spot with a 3-2, 2-7, and 1-7, all on his spinnerbait.

Official Results – Weight exceeded both of our predictions, I was closest on Top Bass while Brent was closest on Total Bass guess

Afternoon Stroll – The walk-in strip mines are no walk in the park, but I was determined to give them a shot to end the day. Brent was on board as well and fished along for just over an hour. I stuck around longer and wound up with a decent quantity of eleven bass, but I could not find any quality bites with a pair at 1-4 being the best.

The Knox County strip mines have been our top producers in 2023, both in terms of numbers and size. As we head to October, it is crunch time on these waters and time will tell if we get back for another shot. Following this trip, we were able to get back on the water but opted for another favorite fall fishing destination, Lake Storey. Stay tuned for the report and talk to you later. Troy

On the heels of a Friday Lake Storey visit, I was able to make it back-to-back days on the water with a Saturday strip mine hike.

Stats
Date: September 16
Location: Knox County public strip mines (4 lakes)
Time: 10:05am-1:30pm (3.00 hours fishing, the rest walking)
Totals: 16 bass
Weather: Overcast/calm, 60-73F
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (peanut butter and jelly) – 11 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- (red craw) – 5 bass
Top Bass: 2-5 Senko
Top 5 Weight: 7-12 (2-5,2-2,1-3,1-2,1-0)

Only needed two lures to land my bass on this outing

Notes and Nonsense

Rain – A mid-morning start was later than planned due to inclement weather. As a kid, I always found the Cubs rain delays fun as they would show old World Series or All-Star Game highlight reels. For my version of the rain delay, I took a drive around to several public parking lots and reminisced of past catches and pondered visits for some future catches.

Text – Technology has had a profound effect on how I fish and document my time on the water. Such impact is fodder for a batch of blog posts but for today, text messaging gets a brief shout out. As noted in the texts above, Brent was fishing in the same vicinity doing his exploring via kayak as opposed to hiking. While it is always preferable to fish together, it is cool how texting allows us to keep tabs on each other’s results throughout the day.

11:50am – Keep moving and casting in search of a quality Top Bass

Next – The thing that I probably enjoy the most about hiking the strip mines is the abundance of fishing holes. Typically, I go in with a plan to hit four, five, maybe six different bodies of water. Many are not very large and if a half hour of time investment fails to raise much interest, it’s on to another spot in hopes that the bass will be more cooperative. On this trip, I got a bite (and miss) on my first cast at my first stop and proceeded to land four bass in the first thirty minutes. An hour later on the same lake, I had not fooled another fish. So, on to the next spots to the tune of five bass in forty-five minutes, two bass in fifteen minutes, and five bass in thirty minutes. It is always interesting to observe the mood of the bass from trip to trip on these lakes. Some days the bite is on fire and other days you would swear that a lake is the Dead Sea. That’s fishing.

Topwater Bust – My first cast of the morning got a solid, up-close blow up on a frog, but the bass came loose. Near the end of my day, I had strike on a Whopper Plopper, but the bass spit the lure as I was about ready to land it. In between, I had one other missed strike on the frog for the extent of my topwater action. The lack of strikes was disappointing as I had what I thought were solid skies for a topwater bite. I guess I just needed a breeze for a little chop on the surface to convince the bass to go for a lunchtime topwater meal. That’s fishing.

A shorter day, although longer on energy expenditure resulted in exactly the same number of bass as the previous day’s Lake Storey outing. Back-to-back totals of sixteen bass during two solid days of fishing on two places that feel like home. And before the fishing year wraps up, I hope to pay each of them at least one more visit. Talk to you later. Troy

It’s that time of year again when the decision is made to pull the plug on Lake Storey for the annual fall drawdown. This fisheries management practice drops the lake level and limits the hiding places for prey fish allowing the predator fish an increased opportunity to thin the herd. It can also reveal some secrets on the lake bottom and give anglers a shot at a quality bite as fall feeding activity kicks into gear. Last Friday, I paid a visit to my old favorite lake and had a solid day.

11:23am – First bass and a running joke with Brent and my son, Jayce (note the water retention structure in the background)

Stats
Date: September 15
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 11:15am-6:15pm
Totals: 16 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 56-74F
Water temperature: 74-76F
Lures: War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) – 8 bass, Strike King Squarebill Crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 2 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 2 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (peanut butter and jelly) – 2 bass, Strike King Rattling Pro Model Jig (green pumpkin) with plastic craw trailer – 1 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- Crankbait (red craw) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-0 Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 8-11 (2-0,1-13,1-13,1-12,1-5)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

The beat up frog was the lone lure of my offerings that failed to land a bass

Six for Seven – Being one to take too much gear, I had seven poles rigged up with what I call my “starting lineup.” I never switched from those lures, simply retying when concerned about line abrasions. Of my starting seven, only the Spro Flappin Frog 65 came up empty and not for lack of effort as I put it to use in several areas. The other six lures all caught at least one bass and made me feel like I knew what I was doing out there. I guess nearly forty years of practice comes in handy.

2:48pm – Top Bass at 2-0 (16.5″) on a spinnerbait

One That Got Away – As I worked an extended shallow flat, I spotted an upright trash barrel just under the surface. I goofed around tossing a Senko into the barrel thinking that it would make quite a story, but no one took the bait. However, a subsequent cast near the barrel resulted in something hitting my Senko like a freight train and causing the drag to scream. Unfortunately, the suddenness of the strike caught me off guard and I never got much of a hookset before the fish just let go and my Senko flew out of the water from the resultant loss of rod tension. I never saw the fish, so I have no idea what it was. My guess is a catfish as a muskie may have simply sliced the 10-pound test. I am also guessing it was not a bass as the thought of missing one of that caliber would be a bit heartbreaking.

6:11pm – Lake Storey Bass #400 (see explanation below)

Lake Storey 400 – I am a stat freak and try to consult my data prior to each trip to see what sort of milestones or targets to consider. In the case of Lake Storey, I needed sixteen bass to reach four hundred bass during what I call the “computer age” (continuous log/database dating from 1997-present). Of course, I forgot as soon as I got into my Lake Storey focused mindset and did not realize until later that I had landed exactly sixteen bass. Bass #400 came within sight of the ramp and a mere four minutes before I called it quits. In addition, it made my Top 5 for the day meaning it needed to pose for a photo. Luck was on my side all the way around.

Seven hours on Lake Storey provided plenty to blog about but I’ll save the additional notes for a separate post. I’ll close this report with a tale from a pair of fellow anglers during a brief evening chat in the ramp parking lot. A mother and young son were returning to their vehicle as I was securing the boat and asked if I had any luck. I replied that I was pleased with the outing and threw a few numbers at them. They offered up “all we caught was a shoe.” I informed them that they had outdone me on that catch as I have landed a glove and a sock over the years, but never a shoe. I told them that it will make for a good story to retell and added, “It didn’t have a foot in it, did it?” All good.

Talk to you later. Troy

This past weekend, I was able to get back on the water for the first time in three weeks. My original plan was a sunrise trip but a short, restless night and not feeling well resulted in sleeping late. The upside to a later start was that the morning dew on the weedy terrain had a chance to dry out. The downside was that the late-afternoon outing began amidst ninety-degree air temperatures. Not exactly prime time for a hike but you gotta do what you gotta do as the collection of public strip mines that I fish will shut down in four to six weeks.

5:43pm – Top Bass Runner-Up at 2-3 (17″) on a topwater frog

Stats
Date: September 3
Location: Knox County public strip mines (4 lakes)
Time: 3:35pm-7:50pm (3.75 hours fishing, the rest walking)
Totals: 17 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 91-84F
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (red flake/chartreuse tail) – 7 bass, Whopper Plopper 110 (bone) – 4 bass, 7” Berkley Power Worm (blue fleck firetail) – 3 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 2 bass, Bass Pro Shops 3” Speed Shad Swimbait (smallmouth magic) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-0 Senko
Top 5 Weight: 8-6 (3-0,2-3,1-6,0-15,0-14)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Warm, Weedy Walk – It is incredible just how much vegetation covers the terrain of my strip mine hikes. As the uneven ground rises and falls, there are hidden ruts and weedy snags aplenty. Throw in tons of spider webs and their creators along with several nasty patches of thistles and the walk can leave you wondering if this was such a good idea. An added “bonus” on this outing was balmy early September temperatures in the low nineties. But hey, at least I didn’t encounter any ticks this time around.

The Two That Got Away – I have noted before that my top goal of each outing is to post a Top 5 bass weight of double digits. On this trip I fell a bit short at 8-6 but I had the fish on to get the job done. The first of two “keepers” that got away was a fish that I would estimate in the four-pound range. It was briefly hooked on a frog during a lengthy cast and threw the lure on a leap. The second missed opportunity was a bass that I would put in the two-pound range that broke off on a hookset. This one puzzled me as I use thirty-pound braid on my frog setup, and it did not appear that my knot slipped as much as it was just a line break. Either of these bass would have given me the boost needed for double digits but as I often say, “That’s fishing.”

6:25pm – Top Bass at 3-0 (18″) on a Senko wacky rig

Top 5 Boost – I have stats on nearly every lake that I have fished going back as far as 1985 and I get a kick out of tracking the Top 5 all-time weight from each lake. My Top Bass from this outing at 3-0 earned a spot in my Top 5 from what I call Island Lake as it knocked out a 2-7 that previously held the Top Bass #5 entry. 2023 has been a phenomenal year on Island Lake as the current all-time Top 5 comes in at 18-14. That is an amazing leap from the mark of 6-11 to start the year. Top 5 tallies will be the focus of some “off season” posts as 2023 has been a very productive year for me and my fellow anglers.

Another successful trip is in the logbook as the strip mines continue to dish out a quality bite. This trip was what I considered the kickoff to fall fishing despite it not really being fall and not resembling fall weather. It also represented the start to the home stretch of the 2023 fishing year. My annual goal is to catch my final bass in November and, believe it or not, it isn’t that far away. In the interim, I hope plenty more bass join the log as plans are being made to get after them a few more times. Talk to you later. Troy