Part II of the lure recap features the heavy hitters that landed 411 of the 466 bass in 2023.
Buzzbaits – 25 bass vs. 76 bass in 2023
Booyah Buzzbait (black or white)
Top Bass: 3-2 Hennepin Canal – May 25
Top 5 Weight: 10-7 (3-2,2-7,1-11,1-10,1-9)
Comments: All but three of my buzzbait bass came from The Canal, including the Top 5 Buzzbait Bass of the year. The Canal is a perfect fit for a buzzbait with abundant weed edges and nearly all the water less than five feet in depth.
Topwater Frog – 25 bass vs. 1 bass in 2023
Spro Flappin Frog 65 (albino, killer gill, natural red)
Top Bass: 4-1 Knox County public strip pit – July 24
Top 5 2023: 15-7 (4-1,3-10,3-2,2-6,2-4)
Comments: After struggling to get dialed into a solid topwater frog bite for years, I finally found a frog to my liking. The Spro Flappin Frog combined the castability and commotion that I have been seeking and caught a good batch of quality bass up to four pounds. While the larger catches came on the strip mines, The Canal bass also showed an interest that has been lacking on my other frog presentations over the last two years.
Crankbaits – 28 bass vs. 61 bass in 2023
Rapala Shad Rap (blue), Mann’s Baby 1- (red craw or grey ghost), Strike King Rattling Squarebill (sexy shad)
Top Bass: 1-7 Hennepin Canal – October 15
Top 5 Weight: 6-6 (1-7,1-6,1-4,1-3,1-2)
Comments: While crankbaits did not fool any large bass, they were effective when and where I chose to cast them. From April to October and on The Canal, the strip mines, and Lake Storey, crankbaits came through. Twenty of the bass fell for a Mann’s Baby 1-, a super shallow bait with a wide wobble that shines when worked around shoreline riprap or shallow rockpiles.
Chatterbait – 33 bass vs. 26 bass in 2023
Z Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with various trailers
Top Bass: 2-8 Lake Storey – October 12
Top 5 Weight: 9-11 (2-8,2-2,1-13,1-12,1-8)
Comments: I have never given chatterbaits the shot that they deserve despite glowing reports from other anglers. Well, this fall, I decided to buy in and started by buying a brand new chatterbait in the sexy shad pattern and adding a Bass Pro Shops Speed Shad trailer. This represented a departure from the half dozen other chatterbaits in my tackle that I typically threw paired with a Yamamoto Zako trailer. Between October 12 and October 22, I managed to rack up thirty-three bass on The Canal and Lake Storey. The coolest catches came from the latter fishing hole in a spot that I typically do not visit but caught my attention as it was being hit with a stiff wind. Five bass in about twenty minutes of hitting shoreline indentations while blowing around a broad point made me a believer. I am interested in seeing what 2024 has in store for my new find.
Propbait – 46 bass vs. 29 bass in 2023
Whopper Plopper 110 (bone)
Top Bass: 4-10 Knox County public strip pit – May 6
Top 5 Weight: 17-0 (4-10,4-2,3-1,2-11,2-8)
Comments: My second year of casting the Whopper Plopper focused exclusively on the 110 model in the bone pattern. I find this size to be not too big (size 130), and not too small (size 90), but the proverbial “just right.” The Whopper Plopper has been a nice topwater companion to the buzzbait as it allows for variations in retrieve due to being a floating bait.
Spinnerbaits – 63 bass vs. 254 bass in 2023
War Eagle (white/chartreuse), Berkley Power Blade (coleslaw)
Top Bass: 3-10 Hennepin Canal – October 22
Top 5 Weight: 15-5 (3-10,3-7,2-14,2-12,2-10)
Comments: Several factors contributed to the significant decline in spinnerbait bass from last year. And all revolved around the Hennepin Canal. Factor one involved spending fewer hours on The Canal where spinnerbaits have been my Top Lure. Factor two, was expanding my Canal prowls to include stretches of water that I had not fished previously. While each of these new stretches offered plenty of appealing spinnerbait targets, a final factor came into play. The bass just weren’t as cooperative on The Canal in 2023 when offered a spinnerbait. Perhaps the word is out to avoid the guy in the little boat.
Plastic Worms – 191 bass vs. 81 bass in 2023
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (various colors), Yum 7.5” Ribbontail Worm (plum), 7” Berkley Power Worm (blue fleck firetail), Bass Pro Shops Stik-O (candy corn)
Top Bass: 3-9 Knox County private strip pit – May 20
Top 5 Weight: 16-1 (3-9,3-4,3-2,3-2,3-0)
Comments: After a down year in 2022, the plastic worm returned to familiar ground as Top Lure for 2023. The boost came almost exclusively due to increased hours prowling the strip mines where the wacky rig shines. Plastic worm referred primarily to the Senko wacky rig as the presentation racked up 177 bass, while a similar Bass Pro Shops Stik-O added one other wacky bass. Summertime did see the return of an old friend in the form of Texas rigged offerings that fooled 13 bass.
And there you have it, a complete statistical breakdown of the tools from my tacklebags that fooled the fish. Many variables come into play when selecting what to cast to the bass. Factors such as weather, water, structure, season, and time of day are significant but don’t discount experience and confidence when it comes to making your choices. It all boils down to getting out there and getting on the water. Talk to you later. Troy