Fall transition is in full force, both in terms of some cooler weather and those bass strapping on the feed bag as we head into the last several months of 2018. Quite a collection for this update as it was a stellar weekend.

Weight: 3-12
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: September 22
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Wacky rig
Angler Comments: Just went out for a couple hours this morning, 3-12 and 2-9.

Weight: 3-13
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: September 23
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Wacky rig
Angler Comments: Went out this morning and got a 3-13 and 3-8. Sure is hard to cull. Hope to get one or two before end of year though.
Top 5 Weight: 22-5 (5-2,4-9,4-5,4-4,4-1) no culls but a tall order to do so at this point.

Weight: 3-2 (18″)
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Knox County IL public strip pit
Lure: Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait (sexy shad)
Structure: Ledge
Angler Comments: One of those “well-placed” casts that either landed on the bass or it tracked the incoming lure like a centerfielder (up for debate on what actually occurs). Hit as soon as the lure hit the surface and the fight was on.

Weight: 4-8 (20″)
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Knox County IL private strip pit
Lure: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad)
Structure: Hump
Angler Comments: My first bass in 57 days proved to be a real winner. And also proved to be the biggest I would fool on the day. All good though as it is also my Top Bass of 2018…so far.
Top 5 Weight: 15-9 (4-8,3-2,3-0,2-9,2-6) culls 2-3 and 2-0

Weight: 2-2
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Knox County, IL public strip pit
Lure: Spinnerbait (Emiquon Special)
Structure: Point/weed edge

Weight: 2-3
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Knox County, IL public strip pit
Lure: Senko wacky rig (smoke)
Structure: Point/weed edge

Weight: 3-7
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Knox County, IL public strip pit
Lure: Spinnerbait (Emiquon Special)
Structure: Point/weed edge
Angler Comments (actually his brother’s): Brent put on a clinic over the course of about 45 minutes without ever leaving his spot at water’s edge on a proven spot. Half a dozen bass came ashore with a Top 5 in that time span of 11-8. Pretty cool to watch from my less productive spots on the same body of water.

Weight: 5-1 (22.5″)
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Knox County, IL private strip pit
Lure: Spinnerbait (Emiquon Special)
Structure: Point
Angler Comments (also his brother’s): Perfect timing for this bass to show up as I was just telling Brent that “the point over there” had produced a 5-0 and a 5-10 over the last several years. Add another five pounder to the story going forward.
Top 5 Weight: 16-1 (5-1,3-7,2-12,2-10,2-3) culls 2-2, 1-14, 1-9

Definitely happy that some old familiar faces were able to give Jim a hand on the Top 5 update this week. Speaking of that guy, he’s still knocking ‘em so definitely like to add his latest catches as I appreciate the challenge of having to fool a four plus to get a bump in weight (a little envious here by the way). And always cool to team up with my brother on some of our regular haunts as well, look for the full report as this week progresses. Talk to you later. Troy