Back to the strip mines as I continue to give The Canal a rest. This time, Brent and I opted for a new wrinkle on our old hikes with a “float trip” approach. Read on to see how this stunt worked out.

Pre-hike Guesses, we did not do well on the weights but far exceeded out estimates on total bass

10:16am – Top Bass at 1-14 (16.5″) on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: August 3
Location: Knox County public strip pits (3 lakes)
Time: 5:45am-11:40am (5.25 hours fishing)
Totals: 64 bass (Brent – 36 Troy – 28)
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 68-88F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures (Troy): 5” Yamamoto Senko (blue pearl/silver flake) – 11 bass, Booyah Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 9 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 7 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 1 bass,
Lures (Brent): 5” Yamamoto Senko (green pumpkin with large black flake) – 20 bass, Chug-N-Spit (black/chrome belly) – 13 bass, Spinnerbait – 3 bass
Top Bass: 1-14 Troy (Buzzbait), 1-10 Brent (Spinnerbait/Popper)
Top 5 Weight (combined): 8-6 (1-14,1-12,1-10,1-10,1-8)

Winning Lures – Brent

Winning Lures – Troy

Notes and Nonsense

The Departure – Our plan consisted of what we referred to as a land and water based “float trip.” Park one truck at the ending point and drive the other truck to a departure point and walk/fish our way through. Along the route there were seven or eight lakes to choose from and we wound up fishing three. A fourth was merely used as portage as we opted to call it a day in the oppressive heat.

So, the calculator app shows that 1.88 pounds equals 1 pound 14 ounces (.88 x 16), but my brother can tell you the same thing quicker

The Abacus – I am not too hip on current bass angler nicknames but back in the day I followed fishermen going by the monikers of “Ike”, “G-Man”, “KVD” or “The Kalamazoo Kid.” Well, after this outing I may start referring to my brother, Brent, as “The Abacus.” I currently use a pair of backup digital scales as my prime scale gave out last year due to water damage. The scales only display in decimals which requires some calculation. As far as numbers such as 1.10, 2.25 and so on, I am good. However, my brain isn’t quite as sharp when it comes to 1.34 or 2.84 and I must use the calculator app on my phone to dial in the exact ounces. Insert Brent on this trip as a solid substitute as he would tell me how many ounces before I was able to punch the numbers into my app. Granted, I did check him for accuracy, and he was right on the money every time.

8:00am – Brent Top Bass at 1-10 (14″) on a spinnerbait

The Return – After just over five hours of fishing, a mile and quarter of hiking, and a heat index exceeding ninety degrees, we were worn out. As we stood on the bank of a final lake, we elected to call it quits and head for home. We made it back to the truck soaked with sweat and with little left in the tank.

Breakdown of a morning of roughly 7,000 steps (approximately 110 steps per bass)

Crazy vs. Dumb – The final tally was sixty-four bass, a darn good morning. At one point earlier in the day, we had pondered a shot at landing one hundred. The fish were there, the energy was not. In hindsight, we nearly bit off more than we could chew and should have saved the stunt for cooler weather. I got a chuckle out of a social media comment from an angler we chatted with as we ended our day as he stated, “After you guys told me your route, I thought man these guys are crazy and weren’t playing around today.” Well, we did have a mission, and I thanked him for using the term “crazy” as Brent and I had a later conversation where we referred to our stunt as “dumb.”

 

A successful hike and another instance when I ponder how many more years I want to undertake such an adventure. One of these days, a few of these lakes may get the farewell tour. But do you know what? After I got home and had a nap, I actually thought “that wasn’t so bad.” Talk to you later. Troy