Having passed the mid-point of summer, the shortening of the evenings is becoming noticeable. With my workday ending at 5:00pm, the shorter days also influence weeknight trips to The Canal. In such instances, I tend to opt for a bike ride over launching the boat for various reasons. Read on for an explanation and the results of the latest ride.
Stats
Date: August 14
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 6:40pm-8:10pm
Totals: 1 bass
Weather: Overcast/calm, 78F
Lures: Big Bite Baits Suicide Buzz (citrus shad) – 1 bass
Winning lure
Notes and Nonsense
Bike Over Boat – Generally speaking, when I elect to take my boat on The Canal, I like to have a window of three hours or more to fish. It takes more effort to load, launch, row, and reload that it does to pack and pedal, so I like to make it worth my while. In addition, I like to cover a lot of water and rowing a boat takes some time as when you row out from your launch point, you eventually must row back. So, with roughly an hour and a half to fish on this evening, I chose the bike.
On the Beaten Path – When I am on two wheels instead of two oars, I typically select stretches of The Canal that have ample bank access. That can also equate to plenty of fellow anglers but with a mile or more of bank available there is enough water for everyone to spread out. Surprisingly on this trip, I had the whole pool to myself. Well, that is unless you count mosquitoes. Beyond this evening, I hadn’t had much trouble with the blood suckers as the gnats had taken over the pest role this year.
7:42pm – The lone bass of the evening was a good one weighing in at 2-12 (18.5″) on a buzzbait
One Fish On, One Ounce Off – My struggles on this stretch continued as I managed to land a lone bass. The upside was that it was a quality fish weighing 2-12 which was one ounce shy of tying the pool record from July 2, 2021. That pool record was only the twelfth bass that I had ever caught from The Canal. The 2-12 from this outing represented Bass #778 from the old waterway. A darn good fishing hole, and I have my sights on hitting the 1,000 bass mark next year.
Top 5 Quest – While my lone bite came up shy of my Top Bass for the pool, it was big enough to provide the boost I was seeking. My Top 5 weight increased from 8-9 to 10-4 so check off another spot with a Top 5 Weight of double digits.
Sure, I would have liked to have more than one bass in the log from an evening bike ride, but I can’t complain when it’s a good one. A few days later, I was able to get back in the boat and chase the bass on another stretch that lacked a couple solid bites of another double digit Top 5. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy