After leaving the water two bass shy in my quest for all-time Canal Bass #1,000 the previous morning, I didn’t wait long to get back. Two bass was not a real tall order, but one wily bass and Mother Nature combined to throw a wrench into the pursuit and keep me in suspense.

5:52am – Top Bass (Canal Bass #999) weighing 2-11 (18″) on a frog

Stats
Date: July 4
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 5:40am-6:10am, 7:20am-10:50am
Totals: 9 bass
Weather: A bit of everything
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram or black) – 6 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 2-11 Frog
Top 5 Weight: 9-2 (2-11,2-2,1-10,1-6,1-5)

Winning lures

Lyric of the Trip
“Saturday, in the park, I think it was the fourth of July.”
Chicago – Saturday in the Park (1972)

Mother Nature caused a delay

Notes and Nonsense

Rain Delay – Twelve minutes into casting I landed Canal Bass #999, a solid fish weighing 2-11, on a topwater frog. Three minutes later, I had a good strike on the frog, but the result was a swing and a miss to delay Bass #1,000. Over the next fifteen minutes the storm clouds gathered while I failed to entice another bite. Wisely, I headed back in proximity to my vehicle and was within a few yards when the skies opened up. A shot at Bass #1,000 would be on hold for an hour and ten minutes as I waited out the rain.

8:06am – Top Bass Runner-Up (Canal Bass #1,001) weighing 2-2 (16″) on a frog

Anticipation – Needing only one bass after the delay, my mind drifted back to Christmas Eve nights many years ago. Lying in bed full of anticipation, wondering how it works that you fall asleep. What you naturally do every other night of the year isn’t so natural on December 24. The thought was fleeting, however, as I knew it was only a matter of time before I got another bite. I was fishing good water and with forty-plus years of practice and muscle memory, I was putting my frog right where it needed to be. At 7:25am, that spot was nearly at my feet.

7:25am – Hennepin Canal Bass #1,000 on a frog

Closeup of the catch with the exact location in the background as it hit right next to the bank

Bass #1,000 – For the milestone catch, I was working a stretch of shoreline that featured an extended surface covering of duckweed. I cast well beyond the duckweed mat, anticipating a strike as my frog neared the edge but it did not materialize. Instead, a fish knocked my frog clear of the surface within a few feet of the bank. After the frog came to rest, I gave a few more twitches and had a light pop as I lifted the lure out of the water for another cast. Knowing that I had a hot fish, I gently flicked out the frog about fifteen feet from the bank so as not to spook my quarry. Fortunately, the bass was still there and interested as it hit again so close to the bank that a successful hookset pulled the fish clear out of the water. Mission accomplished for a feat just over five years in the making.

 

With the 1,000 Canal Bass mark established, any pressure was off and seven more bass were entered into the log. Five were keepers, four contributed to a respectable Top 5 for the day of 9-2, and one topped the two-pound mark at 2-2. While I fell shy of my normal top goal of a ten-pound Top 5, I had an entirely different goal in mind and that one worked out just fine. Only 993 bass to go for 2,000 Canal Bass. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy