For my third consecutive day on The Canal, I set aside my quest to establish a ten-pound Top 5 Weight on any of the stretches that was lacking. Instead, I opted for a slightly shorter drive to take a shot at a spot that already featured a double-digit Top 5 Weight of 10-2. The aim was the same: find the bites to boost my weight. But in this case they would all be icing on the cake and there was an ample bump on this outing.

11:42am – Top Bass weighing 3-9 (20″) on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: August 30
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 10:15am-2:15pm (with a 15-minute rain delay)
Totals: 13 bass
Weather: Overcast/breezy/rain
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (black) – 8 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with BPS double tail grub trailer (Houdini) – 2 bass, Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (snow white shad) with BPS double tail grub trailer (Houdini) – 2 bass, 5” Yamamoto Yamasenko wacky rig (cream white) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-9 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 13-1 (3-9,3-2,2-3,2-2,2-1)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Observation and Destination – Many times when I travel east to fish stretches of The Canal further from my local spots, I take the “scenic” route on the way home. I drive along and across the old waterway to get a look at the water conditions. In doing so this year, it became apparent that the aquatic vegetation had been treated as shoreline vegetation and lily pad patches were nearly non-existent east of Geneseo. This new look prompted me to take a trip to an area that I had not visited in nearly two years.

12:03pm – Top Bass #2 weighing 3-2 (18.5″) on a buzzbait

Presentation – The lack of shoreline weed cover exposed numerous open water wood targets that were formerly under or surrounded by vegetation. Rather than having to rely on a topwater frog, the logs and brush now set up well for a spinnerbait approach. In addition, instead of only being able to run a buzzbait along weed edges, I could now retrieve it directly along and over the cover. These two approaches produced twelve of my thirteen catches on this outing. And the lone outlier was caught on Senko wacky rig follow-up cast after a bass had a swing and miss on a spinnerbait.

1:06pm – Top Bass #3 weighing 2-3 (16″) on a buzzbait

Highlights – The daily Top 5 Weight of 13-1 for this outing established a new best day on The Canal topping a 12 -1 from March 22, 2026. The 3-9 from this trip represents the Top Bass on this stretch and the 3-2 equaled the previous best. The 3-9 bass also gave my 2026 Top 5 a boost to 17-15 as it culled a 3-2. In addition, three of the day’s catches (3-9,3-2,2-3) helped to bump my all-time total on this stretch from 10-2 to 14-4.

1:30-1:45pm rain delay

Lowlights – While I landed five bass in the two-and three-pound range, there were also several missed strikes and a breakoff on a hookset. Four missed strikes on a buzzbait included three that were substantial blow-ups. I also saw the flash of a fish that swung and missed on a spinnerbait that was in the two-pound range. Had I landed those fish, who knows how high the daily Top 5 could have been. Oh yeah, I also sat out a fifteen-minute rain delay without a lure in the water.

 

It was one of those days when things just fell into place. A midday buzzbait bite is not a common occurrence, but The Canal is not a common fishing hole. Overcast conditions (with some rain), shallow water, and ample targets made it worth a shot. That’s fishing and it is rewarding when you have them figured out for a few hours. I have a backlog of Canal fishing reports to submit. Stay tuned for the ups and downs in my pursuit for double-digit Top 5 marks on the handful of spots that need a few more quality bites. Talk to you later. Troy