Keeping up with my 2026 goal to hit Lake Storey at least once a month from March through October, I was able to work in my April outing last weekend. For years, I have primarily fished the lake in the fall but after the results on this trip, it seems like I have been missing out.

10:49am – Top Bass #3 weighng 2-5 (16.5″) on a chatterbait

Stats
Date: April 25
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 9:55am-3:55pm
Totals: 24 bass
Weather: Sunny/windy, 60-71F
Water temperature: Not available
Lure: Z-Man Chatterbait (white) with BPS Speed Shad trailer (sight fish) – 24 bass
Top Bass: 4-5 Chatterbait
Top 5 Weight: 12-6 (4-5,2-12,2-5,1-11,1-5)

Starting lineup

Tune of the Trip
“I said, rock, rock ‘til you drop, rock, rock never stop”
Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop) – Def Leppard (1983)
On this day, I found a productive bite when targeting spots on the lake that featured rocky cover. Rockpiles, riprap shoreline, gravel bottoms, and areas with scattered debris were winners.

12:43pm – Top Bass weighing 4-5 (20″) on a chatterbait

Notes and Nonsense

Fellow Anglers – Not surprisingly, the lake was a popular place on a pleasant Saturday morning and afternoon. On the water, I spotted one other boat and a flotilla of close to a dozen kayaks. Among the latter, only a couple were fishing. And I wasn’t the only angler catching as I saw the boater land a few crappie, one bank angler real in a big carp, and another bank angler releasing a quality catfish.

Winning lure as the chatterbait once again lands every fish on this outing and 76 of 76 bass in 2026

Talking the Talk – Last week I was texting fishing stuff with my friend, John Kirkemo, as we are wont to do. One of his texts noted that he had to replace one of his favorite lures, a Rapala Floating Minnow, as the plastic lip had fallen out of the balsa bait while fighting a fish. As I like talking fishing, I offered up a trio of my top fishing tips that would later come into play on my Lake Storey outing. Those tips were as follows:
1. Check your line regularly and when in doubt, retie.
2. Never wonder if you should make some casts to a spot, just do it.
3. Always pack along spares of your favorite lures.

2:27pm – Top Bass #2 weighing 2-12 (17.5″) on a chatterbait

Walking the Walk – On this trip, I put each of the above tips to work. In one instance, they all took place within a few minutes as noted below.
1. After catching a bass, I checked my line and found a few worn spots, so I retied.
2. After retying, and reluctant to fight the wind, I debated whether to row over to a piece of offshore cover. But, when in doubt, check it out, so I moved to the spot.
3. On my first cast to the target, I had a strike, set the hook, and broke off my highly productive chatterbait. It was a clean break, so the issue was not the knot, and my thoughts point towards a toothy muskie. Fortunately, I had plenty of identical spare chatterbaits and had another one tied on in less than a minute.
I then rowed back to the target and made two more casts. While retrieving the second cast, I observed a shad shoot out of the water nearby indicating that it was likely fleeing a predator. As a result, I made a follow-up cast in the vicinity and was rewarded with a bass weighing 1-5.

Always pack a spare of your favorite lure

I led off today’s post mentioning my general aim for Lake Storey but there are other goals and milestones on the radar for 2026. As such, I have a supplemental post covering additional aspects of this outing coming your way next. Talk to you later. Troy

This outing marked three consecutive days of fishing on The Canal. Each was a brief outing although I intended to stick around longer on this hike. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans as a thunderstorm showed up over an hour earlier than forecast. I got back to my truck in the nick of time as the clouds opened up with a heavy downpour just before noon.

Stats
Date: April 13
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 9:05am-11:50am
Totals: 5 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy to overcast/windy
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad trailer (sight fish) – 5 bass
Top Bass: 2-1 Chatterbait
Top 4 Weight (only 4 bass at 12” or better): 6-4 (2-1,2-0,1-2,1-1)

Starting lineup

Tune of the Trip
“Yeah, you go back, Jack, do it again, wheel turnin’ ‘round and ‘round.”
Do It Again – Steely Dan (1972)
Early season fishing has been like the proverbial “broken record” with the same lure in the same spots racking up some quality catches. But to use another adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, so I went back and did it again.

The chattebait continues to get it done, catching all fifty-two of my bass in 2026

Discards after my retying routine to start every day on the water

Notes and Nonsense

Retie and Recheck – Prior to my first casts when I arrive, I strip off several feet of line and clip it past the kink created by the top eye on my rod during the time my poles have sat idle. Then I run several feet of the remaining line through my fingers to check for any abrasions and retie my lures. In addition, I check my line after each catch and periodically when running it through any sort or potentially abrasive cover such as rocks, wood, or vegetation. When in doubt, retie. You will never regret investing those few extra seconds to prevent wondering “what if” should you break off a fish.

10:19am – Top Bass of the trip at 2-1 (16.5″) on a chatterbait

Angler Tips – I encountered a fellow angler on my hike who passed on a few fish stories, pics, and a couple tips. He mentioned landing some four to five-pounders recently and I had to ask, “On The Canal?” As he began to answer, I said that all I was seeking was a “Yes or No” as I was not looking for any specific spots. I just wanted confirmation that such fish still swim in that old water. Turns out they were not from The Canal but from a local, public, off the beaten path fishing hole. He also offered me a tip on a scaled down lure that is successful on The Canal and even gave me a couple to try. You can’t beat that and I will give the lures a shot. But I was a little unsure on the directions to his hotspot so I’m not sure if that will come into play. I am a little reluctant to hop on somebody’s spot, even if they are willing to share insider information. Besides, I have ample water to fish and some milestones on those spots that are in my sights.

A telltale sign that the bass are in the mood to create some more bass

Spawning Tales/Tails – The angler above also noted observing some bass with beat up, bloody tails. I shared that I had also caught a pair with the same look over the weekend. In addition, I had spooked a half dozen bass along the shoreline on this outing as they darted of bare spots on the bottom. All the above points to the bass’ thoughts turning to making more bass in the shallow, warming water of The Canal.

11:38am – Top Bass Ruuner-up of the trip at 2-0 (16″) on a chatterbait

So, the Canal continues to produce what I categorize as “good ones” with a pair of bass at two pounds or better on this trip. However, I have yet to reach the three-pound mark on a catch this year. I know they are in there and the time is approaching to employ one of my favorite techniques to fool some, topwater fishing. Hopefully, it won’t be long although this morning’s cold front thirty-degree temperatures are a letdown after seventies earlier this week. And yep, it is the weekend, go figure. Talk to you later. Troy

This trip tested the approach that “the best time to go fishing is anytime you can”, as the forecast for rain and blustery conditions weren’t the most appealing. But hey, I’ve been rained on before, and the fish don’t care as they are already wet.

4:28pm – Top Bass at 2-5 (16.5″) on a chatterbait

Stats
Date: April 11
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 3:15pm-5:30pm
Totals: 7 bass
Weather: Overcast/windy/light rain, 60-56F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad trailer (sight fish) – 7 bass
Top Bass: 2-5 Chatterbait
Top 5 Weight: 9-7 (2-5,2-3,1-12,1-11,1-8)

Winning lure is once again this battered chatterbait

Tune of the Trip
“It’s the same old, same old situation”
Same Ol’ Situation – Motley Crue (1989)
With the seven bass on this outing, the chatterbait extends its string by catching the first thirty-nine bass of this year. It is an oddity but not entirely surprising with seven of my nine outings of 2026 being on the same stretch of water.

5:12pm – Top Bass Runner-up at 2-3 (16″) on a chatterbait

Notes and Nonsense

3:52pm – Two views of a bass with a deformed or injured lower lip

A Look at Lips – There’s more to catching a fish for me than just set the hook, reel it in, unhook, and release. Of course, there is the documentation via a log entry, perhaps a picture, and in more recent years, video. But beyond those aspects, I take a good look at the fish as you will find that not all bass look the same. In the instance of the fish above, the lower jaw came to a pronounced point with a knob rather than the normal more rounded shape as shown in the photo below. The best that I can find online is that the characteristic may arise genetically or from an injury. Either way, it is an interesting feature, and I take pride in giving my catches a closer look to spot such a variation. On the flipside, I have wondered if bass think we all look alike. I hope not after all of the effort to introduce myself to thousands of bass on a couple hundred lakes over the years.

Example of a bass with a normal uniform, rounded lower lip

The tale of the scale as it read 2.30 on the bass caught and weighed in the video below

Guesstimation – When I catch a decent bass, I often try to employ my “built-in” scale to estimate a weight before actually putting the fish on the scale. The clip above is an example and it turns out that I was right on the money, even though I profess an accuracy of +/- 2 ounces. I also profess that it doesn’t always work out as precisely as this catch. But therein lies the beauty of being the video and blog editor.

A good day in the rain as I nearly reached my goal of a ten-pound Top 5 for the outing. Even better, the bass were able to put me within nine ounces of the mark in just over two hours on the water. The success inspired me to hit the water again the following morning. Stay tuned for that report and talk to you later. Troy