With only a few morning hours available to get on the water, I didn’t want to wander too far from home. Why invest time driving when you could spend it casting. While the spot I chose already had a ten-pound Top 5 limit, it was a stretch where I’d never really had a day when I got into a batch of quality bites.

6:55am – First Bass and Top Bass #3 weighing 2-0 (16″) on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: September 27
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 6:50am-9:50am
Totals: 7 bass
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy, 53-62F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (black) – 6 bass, Spro Flappin Frog (nasty shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-4 (tie) Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 10-4 (2-4,2-4,2-0,1-15,1-13)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

History – This spot features my all-time Top Bass (tie) on the Hennepin Canal, a 3-10 caught on September 29, 2024. Beyond that fish, I’d never landed another two-pounder until fooling a 2-7 from the bank about a week prior to this outing. The latter fish kind of lit a fire to give the spot another float with the boat. Brent and I had floated it in June, but the bite proved to be quite stubborn. Anyway, coming into this outing, the pool had a Top 5 weight of 11-3, largely thanks to that quality Top Bass (3-10,2-7,1-13,1-11,1-10).

7:28am – Top Bass (tie) weighing 2-4 (16″) on a buzzbait

Fast Feedback – With bass chasing experience spanning parts of five decades, I consider myself a competent angler. Even so, confidence can still waver depending on the destination or when I find myself amid a tough bite. The former of these two aspects had me wondering about my choice of water before I even made my first cast. Fortunately, five minutes after that first cast, a quality bass busted my buzzbait and I had a two-pounder in the boat. As important as the boost to my Top 5 was the boost in my outlook.

Odd contrail/cloud formation

8:04am – Top Bass (tie) weighing 2-4 (16″) on a buzzbait

Culling – On pools where I already have a ten-pound Top 5, I have a new goal, bump any fish in the one-pound range out of my creel. In this case of this pool, that meant three two pounders to knock out the 1-13,1-11, and 1-10. Barely an hour into the morning, I met that goal as a pair of fish weighing 2-4 joined the 2-0 that I had landed to start the day. All the bites came on a buzzbait which was the bait of the day in producing six of my seven bass. The lone exception was a short fish on a topwater frog.

 

A double-digit Top 5 of 10-4 meets my top goal for a day on the water. And in only three hours of casting, that is a darn good trip for me. The three two-pounders also achieved the goal of knocking out the one-pounders in my creel for this pool. The total weight now stands at 12-9 and makes what I call a “True Ten” Top 5 of 12-9 (3-10,2-7,2-4,2-4,2-0) with each fish weighing two pounds or better. The Canal continues to prove that the bites are out there no matter where you fish, even if you start to doubt it at times. Just keep on casting. Talk to you later. Troy