The Canal offers dozens of potential spots so it can be tough to decide on a destination when I get a chance to hit the water. Things like the amount of time available to fish, the time of year, and the urge to explore are factors that can influence my decision. On this outing, I had about a three-hour window with drive included so a spot close to home was the first item to consider. Beyond that, I had four other factors that came into play. Read on for those considerations and the results of my choice.

11:06am – First bass at 1-1 (13″) on a chatterbait

Stats
Date: April 27
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 10:20am-12:20pm
Totals: 2 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with a Zoom Z Swimbait trailer (electric blue chartreuse) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 1-2
Top 2 Weight (only two bass at 12” or better): 2-3

Winning Lure

Notes and Nonsense

Everyone knows it’s windy, every single day that I get to fish

Factor One: Wind – The wind has been brutal this year and this day was no different. For a guy rowing around in an eight-foot johnboat, it can be a source of frustration. I chose this stretch of The Canal as it provided substantial wind break for wind from the south southwest. My choice was a winner as I barely noticed the wind other than one short stretch where the cover on the southern bank grew sparse. The wind did shift to more directly from the west at the end of the trip and was beneficial in heading back to the lot. In fact, the wind gusts exceeded the modest canal current and actually pushed me upstream.

Subsurface weeds are abundant and will soon take over much of the surface of this pool

Factor Two: Weeds – By mid-May, this stretch will be so choked with weeds that it is a chore to even row a boat through the surface mats. Therefore, I figured that if I was going to get to it before the weeds took over, this was a good opportunity. In addition, lure presentation is pretty much limited to topwater frogs once the aquatic vegetation takes hold. Frogs are an exciting presentation, but I don’t like to put all my eggs in one basket as would be the case for most of this stretch of water in a couple of weeks.

A look at the less than impressive all-time Top 5 for this pool

Factor Three: Weight – In previous posts, I have noted that a goal is to post a Top 5 for each pool on The Canal. Expanding on that goal is striving to push that Top 5 mark to double digits. For the stretch I chose, I had already established a Top 5 mark during a pair of 2022 visits (May 1 and July 13). However, that Top 5 weight of only 6-8 left much to be desired. I decided that a return visit was the ticket to find the bites needed for the three and a half pounds required to reach the ten-pound goal. Not even close though as I could not muster a bite to boost my weight at all.

Worth a shot but no luck, won’t be long though…

Factor Four: Topwater – Shallow water, warming weather, and emerging vegetation had me looking to get my first topwater bass of 2024 in the log. By mid-April, topwater offerings begin to come into play and with the shallow waters of The Canal, those bass are often ahead of schedule for such a bite. In fact, on my April 15 outing I had spoken to a couple of anglers in a boat who noted a few topwater catches and stated that the water was “really warm.” They didn’t specify how warm it was, but the feedback prompted me to tie on a Whopper Plopper for this trip. Apparently, the bass on this stretch did not get the memo as I got zero response. However, the lack of success will not discourage me as I know it is just a matter of time.

11:50am – Second bass at 1-2 (14.5″) on a chatterbait

In the end, I was disappointed in my results but not in my reasons for selecting my destination. As I often say, “That’s fishing.” The stretches that connect to this spot have quality fish, but they have yet to show in my three visits to this area. I am torn on whether it is worth another visit this year. On one hand, I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder. On the other hand, I have several uncharted stretches on my list in need of an initial Top 5. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

I had a couple evening hours free and decided to take a drive to The Canal for a quick hit to try my luck.

Stats
Date: April 15
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 6:10pm-7:40pm
Totals: 2 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with a BPS Speed Shad trailer (pro blue) – 1 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (red craw) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-3
Top 1 Weight (only one bass at 12” or better): 1-3

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Bike Back in Business – I barely even promote myself let alone have any advertisers. But I would like to give a shout out to Wright Cycles in Moline for getting me back on the bicycle by fixing a flat tire. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of a timeframe when I pulled into the lot but the fellow on duty said to bring it on in and he’d see if he could get it repaired on the spot. And that’s exactly what he did. An added bonus was talking fishing as he performed the repair and then for several minutes afterwards.

6:54pm – First bass at 11.5″ on a lipless crankbait (catch video below)

Unpleasant conditions with stained water and abundant floating debris

Ugly Water – I had not been on this stretch for nearly a month and I was surprised at how nasty the water looked. In mid-April, it already had ugly chunks of vegetation floating down with the light current. Much of the crud was right in range of my casting and made for some frustrating fouled lures. As this report is a bit tardy, I will add that I drove by on my way back from an April 27 outing and the water looked much cleaner as I took a brief glimpse from the road.

Harmless little guy, prefer them over ticks any day

7:15pm – Top Bass at 1-3 (13″) on a chatterbait

Hand Fishing – At a former job, I worked with a couple people who would engage in handfishing. This involves wrangling large catfish out of holes or strategically placed structures by letting them chomp down on your hand when it is stuck in the fish’s mouth. No thanks, those people were crazy, although good guys. However, on this outing, I got about as close as I’ll ever get when my first bass went flying as I lifted it out of the water. It flopped down the bank and promptly wedged headfirst in between some chunk rocks. Wanting to avoid the shutout, I had no choice but to go after it. As the video below shows, I was successful.

A pair of bass in an hour and a half was not up to my expectations but at least not shut out. I am still waiting for The Canal bass to come to life and deal me a winning hand with a combination of quantity and quality. 2024 has been tough on both accounts. As always, I’ll keep on casting. Talk to you later. Troy

Thanks to a late flurry of bites during an April Fool’s Day outing, the first substantial strip mine hike of the year was a success (twenty-one bass in just over four hours of casting). And just shy of two weeks later, I was back at it again with my brother, Brent, along to up our odds. Read on to see how we fared.

11:35am – first bass is small but dwarfs my partner in the distance

Stats
Date: April 13
Location: Knox County public strip pits (7 lakes)
Time: 11:25am-7:15pm (6.00 hours fishing)
Totals: 65 bass, 6 crappie, 1 bluegill, 1 green sunfish
Weather: Sunny/windy, 64-74F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures (Troy): Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with a BPS Speed Shad trailer (pro blue) – 16 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 11 bass, Lunker Hunt Finesse Swimbait (smokin shad) – 9 bass, Rapala Shad Rap (blue) – 6 bass, 5” Yamamoto Senko (blue pearl/silver flake) – 1 bass
Lures (Brent): Jerkbait – 11 bass, Ned Rig – 9 bass, Lipless Crankbait – 2 bass
Top Bass: 2-4 Brent (Jerkbait)
Top 5 Weight (combined): 7-11 (2-4,1-10,1-6,1-4,1-3)

Brent winning lures

Troy Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Guesstimates – When I fish with Brent, I like to record our predictions prior to any lures hitting the water. We jot these down without discussion and it is always fun to see how we compare. On this outing, our guesses were darn near identical on Top 5 Weight and Top Bass but drastically different on the total bass we thought we’d catch. I often share these numbers with my friend John Kirkemo as the day begins and the conversation is noted below. Turns out, I was right on the money with the small bass assessment and nailed the total for my bass. However, the intent is to predict our combined total, so I was well short of our sixty-five bass result.

12:15pm – Top Bass at 2-4 on a jerkbait

Late Lunch Break – Around 3:30pm, Brent and I returned to our trucks to regroup, have a sandwich, and plan the remainder of our day. Part one of our hike resulted in thirty-one bass. Part two of the trip aimed at an uncharted passage that would offer a shot at four lakes that I do not fish on a regular basis. The hike to the lakes was not as taxing as anticipated, but we did discover that an “unknown” lake proved to be too shallow to support a fish population. Brent fished for another hour and a half while I decided to ride it out until about 7:15pm. In the end, we ended up with thirty-four more bass and I wound up with quite a hike back to the truck. It’s a lot of fun fishing your way out from your starting point but bear in mind that you also must walk back.

Senko Season (check video) – As we near mid-April, I begin to consider expanding my lure offerings to what I l consider my Top Lure of all-time, the Senko wacky rig. By this time of the year, we are typically moving out of what I call the “spring cold water” period of the year. Once the water temperatures start to warm and the bass’ thoughts turn to boosting energy to make more bass, the Senko wacky rig starts to shine. From here through October, I’ll have one ready to go nearly every time I hit the water. With one small wacky rig bass on this outing, the Senko season is officially underway.

1:23pm – Top Bass Runner-up at 1-10 on a jerkbait

Quantity Over Quality – With above average temperatures and some time to get on the water, the year is off to a roaring start. Well, at least in terms of quantity. The forty-three bass that I fooled on this outing brings my 2024 total to 103 bass. Compared to the last two years, I am well ahead of previous totals. In 2023, I reached the century mark on May 14 and in 2022 it was May 25. Those two years saw a total of over 1,000 bass (2023 = 468 and 2022 = 553), so here’s hoping that I can stay on a solid bite and eventually fool some “good ones” as the year progresses. While numbers are high in 2024, size is lacking with a Top Bass of 2-6 representing my lone bass at or above two pounds. But the waters that I am fishing have quality bass so if I keep on casting, I figure that the bigger bites will come along.

7:15pm – Last bass, still small, lots of steps and a lot of other small bass in between

Another successful outing as the bass continue to get more active. Having spent six hours casting on this day as well as having a fishing partner for the bulk of the trip, one post doesn’t suffice. Stay tuned for another batch of notes coming soon. Talk to you later. Troy

A bass on March 3 got the year off to an early start and my good fortune continued throughout the rest of the month with ample opportunities to get on the water. By the end of March, I had forty bass in the log. In comparison, l had only six bass in March 2022 and one in March 2023. In those two previous years, I ended up with 553 bass and 468 bass, respectively. There’s no way to tell what the remainder of 2024 holds in store but I’m well ahead of the last two productive years. And April kicked off with a solid April Fool’s Day bite as detailed below.

3:02pm Top Bass at 1-11 (15″) on a Shad Rap

Stats
Date: April 1
Location: Knox County public strip pits (9 lakes)
Time: 11:00am-4:40pm (4.25 hours fishing)
Totals: 21 bass
Weather: Overcast/very windy, 51-56F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Rapala Shad Rap (blue) – 10 bass, Lunker Hunt Finesse Swimbait (smokin shad) aka “Ned Rig” – 7 bass, Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with a BPS Speed Shad trailer (pro blue) – 4 bass
Top Bass: 1-11 (Shad Rap)
Top 5 Weight: 6-1 (1-11,1-8,1-0,1-0,0-14)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Adages for April – There’s an old saying that “wind from the east, fish bite the least.” Well, on this day, the wind was howling from the east along with intermittent “April showers” as the wrong month came “in like a lion.” But having invested a vacation day for an April Fool’s outing, I was committed to fishing come “heck or high water.” In doing so, I followed my best piece of fishing advice that “the best time to go fishing is anytime you can.”

Walk Don’t Row – On days when the wind gets ridiculous, I prefer to get out for a hike rather than trying to row a boat around the lakes. It just gets too tough and frustrating fighting the wind all day and I don’t really like to anchor. Instead, by walking, I can stay put on the bank, use the wind to my favor in casting or positioning the fish, and invest as much time as I wish working over appealing areas.

My quality rainsuit was in Galesburg so I had to make a last-minute purchase. I didn’t want to invest too much money and I got what I paid for. Of course, a hike in the strip mines gives your gear (and your body) a workout.

Saved the Best for Last – My first two hours and forty-five minutes produced a grand total of seven bass on seven bodies of water. Four of those came in fifteen minutes from a spot known for small fish where I stopped just to see if I could at least land a few. In contrast to the slow start, my last hour and a half resulted in fourteen bass on two lakes. I found a sharp drop off a short ledge that was being hit by the wind and had some brush near where my retrieve would end. A classic cold-water crankbait, the Rapala Shad Rap, was the ticket as the spot gave up six bass. It was a textbook setup with the added feedback of two bass hitting right as I paused the bait near the end of the retrieve. It sure is fun when the bass bite in a scenario just like they should.

With another twenty-one bass, the early season totals are as good as they’ve ever been. However, I still can’t find any big bites as my 2024 Top Bass sits at 2-6 and is my only two-pounder of the year. The waters that I have fished this year have quality bass, so I’ll keep the confidence up and keep on casting. And on the next trip, I also fished with a partner to up the odds. Stay tuned for that report and talk to you later. Troy