I had not made a cast on The Canal for seventy-eight days when I set out on the morning of October 5. Instead, my time on the water had focused on the strip mines and more recently, Lake Storey. Read on for the report as The Canal drew a crowd of people on this day but not too many bass.

Starting Lineup

Stats
Date: October 5
Location: Hennepin Canal (two pools)
Time: 7:30am-10:50am
Totals: 3 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy/breezy, 61-75F
Lures: Booyah Buzzbait (black) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 2-6 Buzzbait
Top 2 Weight (only two bass at 12” or better): 4-4 (2-6,1-14)

7:53am – Top Bass Runner-up at 1-14 (16″) on a buzzbait

Tune/Lyric of the Trip
“But man, I still think them cats are crazy.”
The Boys (and Girls) Are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy (1976)
My choice of destination was several miles east of the Colona finish line for the Hennepin 100, a hundred-mile ultramarathon. An admirable feat as those guys and gals are a different breed and a couple of the folks I observed were pretty spent but continuing to move ahead. I chatted briefly with a few and wished them good luck on the home stretch. I found it amusing though as one of the fellows told me that I was the one who needed luck as he said that he had never been particularly impressed with the bite on The Canal.

Hennepin 100 Finish Line in Colona, IL

Hennepin Hundreds – One of these days, I should try and figure out an estimate of how many miles I have rowed on The Canal. Most of my outings cover several miles as I row out from my launch and then must row back to the truck. I did a downstream float trip once which was cool as it eliminated the need to row back upstream. Otherwise, the dilemma is how far to fish away from the truck knowing that I will have to row all the way back. Anyway, I pulled up a map and my estimate for this row was just over four miles. Like the Hennepin 100 runners/walkers, I have covered one hundred miles (and more). Of course, I have done so over several years, not all at once. By the way, the winner of the race covered 100 miles in just under fourteen hours. Yes, “them cats are crazy.”

8:04 am – Top Bass at 2-6 (17.5″) on a buzzbait

Top 5 Results – I fished two pools and caught all three bass on the first stop before rowing through a tube and failing to get a bite on the other side. Two of my three bites were “keepers” (12” or better) and provided a boost to my Top 5 for the pool. Prior to the trip my Top 5 on the stretch sat at 11-0. Landing bass weighing 2-6 and 1-14 bumped up my weight to 11-13.

Winning lure

I had not fished this area in over a year as I had already achieved my goal of posting a ten-pound Top 5 during the summer of 2024. As a result, I have chosen to spend my time on The Canal on stretches where I have yet to hit the double-digit mark. The tough part is that I now must drive quite a ways to the east to find a pool that is lacking. We’ll see if The Canal comes into play as the year winds down and I chase my goal of ending the year with a November bass. But I am getting ahead of myself as there are plenty of October bass to report from two recent trips to Lake Storey. Talk to you later. Troy

Trip number five of my weekly visits to Lake Storey found that the drawdown had finally been implemented. I was starting to worry that the City of Galesburg had opted to skip it, so I was pleased to see those bare banks again for another fall. Time to see if some bass will let their guard down.

The lighter water line indicates the drop in the lake level from the drawdown

Stats
Date: September 29
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 7:50am-3:05pm
Totals: 7 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 58-85F
Water temperature: 73-75F
Lures: War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) – 5 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 3-12 (Red Eye Shad)
Top 5 Weight: 11-5 (3-12,2-6,2-3,1-9,1-7)

Starting lineup

Tune of the Trip
Fresh Air – Quicksilver Messenger Service (1970)
“Ooo, have another hit of fresh air, ooo, have another hit.”
I heard this song on the drive down to the lake and found it apt as fresh air is always a hit when you spend your workdays cooped up in an office.

12:07pm – Top Bass #3 at 2-3 (16.5″) on a lipless crankbait 

3:05pm – Top Bass #2 at 2-6 (17″) on a spinnerbait

A Dam Struggle – During the drawdown, trailered boats must launch at the west ramp as the east ramp becomes high and dry. In proximity to the west ramp is the dam featuring a hundred yards or so of riprap (chunks and slabs of rock). Typically, I can run a crankbait parallel to the dam while deflecting off the still submerged rocks and fool a few. Not so much this year with only one catch in five visits (and a couple of the trips I have fished the dam both on the way out in the morning and on the way back in the afternoon). Brent did land two bass along the dam on a chatterbait on September 22 so perhaps I need to shift gears.

Also caught a sock, fortunately it did not include a foot

If it Looks Nice, Hit it Twice – I have a rather extensive list of targets on my hitlist at Lake Storey. If time and circumstances permit, there are several that I like to fish twice over the course of a day. In the case of this outing, a reliable log did not produce a bite early in the day. About seven hours later, I returned to the spot and wound up landing my final bass of the day weighing 2-6. The catch was just what I needed to bump my Top 5 Weight for the outing into double-digits.

9:19am – Top Bass at 3-12 (20.5″) on a lipless crankbait

Top Bass – As I fought the largest bass of the day, I thought that I may have a four-pounder. Upon dipping and lipping the bass, I still thought that I may have a four-pounder, The scale told the tale and absolutely no disappointment to record a weight of 3-12. It ranks as my third largest Lake Storey bass of all-time and at 20.5” in length it equals a 9/30/2007 catch that weighed 4-8 (my Top Lake Storey Bass of all-time). And it boosted my all-time Lake Storey Top 5 Weight to 19-10 (4-8,4-0,3-12,3-11,3-11) as it culled a 3-11.

Bigfoot evidence?

Same structure prior to the drawdown

Winning lures

Not a lot of bites but several good ones. The 11-5 Top 5 Weight for the day is my best of the year on Lake Storey and my sixth best of all-time on the old fishing hole (Best Top 5 Weight is 14-5 from 9/30/2007). The past month has produced a batch of quality bites on that old lake, and I was back at it again for more as October arrived. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Late September found me back on Lake Storey looking for a drawdown but no such case. No matter, as those bass are still in there, they just have more places to hide. And on this trip I had Brent along to increase our chances of finding them.

Stats
Date: September 22
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 6:55am-2:55pm
Totals: 11 bass, 1 channel catfish (Brent – 8 bass, 1 catfish/Troy – 3 bass)
Weather: Partly cloudy/breezy to windy, 62-77F
Water temperature: 74-76F
Lures (Brent): Squarebill Crankbait (sexy shad) – 4 bass, Chatterbait (sexy shad) – 2 bass, Spinnerbait (green/white) – 2 bass, 1 catfish
Lures (Troy) War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) – 2 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass (Brent): 2-8 (Crankbait)
Top Bass (Troy): 1-15 (Spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight (combined): 10-5 (2-8,2-0,1-15,1-15,1-15)

Tune of the Trip
Driver’s Seat – Sniff N’ the Tears (1978)
“Just take your place in the driver’s seat.”
With two anglers in the boat, you must decide on who runs the trolling motor at the front of the boat. Typically, this is an advantage, but we do try to share the water as best we can. I ceded control to Brent as I had already fished the lake several times. In addition, it gives me a break and saves a little wear and tear on my back and heels which often holler at me after seven or eight hours standing in a boat.

10:55am – Brent with an “accident” weighing 3-4 and caught on a spinnerbait

Bonus Catch – The morning bite was tough, so when Brent’s pole bent hard on a hookset at 10:55am, it certainly got our attention. Whatever was on the other end was putting up a solid fight and when Brent saw a flash that was a bit more streamlined than a bass, he thought that he may have a muskie. To our surprise as he brought the fish to the surface and I grabbed the dipnet, he had a solid looking catfish rolling around and trying to destroy his spinnerbait. Neither of us could recall the last time we had a catfish “accident” while bass fishing but if you have a lure in the water, anything can happen.

Winning Lures

Full House – At 11:04am, I landed only my second bass of the outing, weighing in at 1-15 on a spinnerbait. Brent already had three in the boat, weighing 1-15, 1-15 and 1-5. Being a stat and logbook guy, I observed that we needed another weighing 1-5 to have a “full house” of bass. And just like that, Brent landed our next bass at 11:44am that tipped the scales at 1-5.

Full House of Bass

7:17am – Weighing 1-5 (13.5″) on a chatterbait

7:21am – Weighing 1-15 (16.5″) on a chatterbait

9:32am – Weighing 1-15 (16″) on a spinnerbait

11:04am – Weighing 1-15 (15″) on a spinnerbait

11:44am – Weighing 1-5 (14″) on a crankbait

Wildlife Bonanza – Having grown up in an outdoor oriented family, we have our eyes and ears open as we work the water. On this occasion, we had a Lake Storey first in seeing and hearing a trio of otters. While these fish eaters can do a number on a lake or pond, they were interesting to observe. In terms of other mammals, we spotted a groundhog and for birds, a regular visitor in an osprey along with several great blue herons, a few cormorants, and an egret. Apart from the groundhog, all these critters like to fish as well.

12:08pm – Top Bass of the day at 2-8 (17″) on a crankbait

2:50pm – Top Bass Runner-Up of the day at 2-0 (16.5″) on a spinnerbait

Red Eye Gamble – As the day was winding down, I requested that my driver make a pass through one more area. The pocket had produced each of my other days on the lake but had let us down earlier in the morning. On a side note, Brent had picked me up a spare Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crankbait at Bass Pro Shops a few days prior as I had lost one on my September 15 Lake Storey outing. I told him that I was so confident that we could land a bass in the requested pocket that I would give him back the Red Eye Shad for his own tacklebag if the spot let us down. He adeptly drove us around the area and at 1:57pm my prediction came through as I boated a 1-6 on a spinnerbait. My gamble paid off, and I did not have to give up the new lure which was still in the packaging. I will add that he had refused to take payment for the purchase anyway, so I would not have been out financially if the spot let us down. But that’s not the point, it’s more about predicting a catch.

The Stakes

The Save at 1:57pm

Brent soundly trounced me to the tune of eight bass (and a catfish) to three bass on our way to a double-digit Top 5. One can cite the front-end advantage, but I had plenty of shots at productive spots. Just wasn’t my day to have them dialed in and the fact is that he is a darned good angler. Stay tuned as I am not done chasing those Lake Storey bass quite yet and I am still holding out for the fall drawdown.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

The drawdown has arrived!

Talk to you later. Troy

With the calendar running out on fishing access to most of the Knox County public strip mines, I elected to give a few one more shot. With a limited timeframe and tough walking in waist high weeds, I opted not to stray too far off the beaten path. Enough bass were biting to keep me interested but quality bites were lacking.

10:11am – Top Bass at 1-8 (14.5″) on a Senko wacky rig

Stats
Date: September 21
Location: Knox County public strip pits (3 lakes)
Time: 8:15am-11:45am
Totals: 16 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy/calm, 64-74F
Lures: 7″ Berkley Power Worm (tequila sunrise) on an Owner 3/16 oz. Shaky Head – 8 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram flake) – 6 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 1 bass, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-8 Senko
Top 4 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 5-4 (1-8,1-6,1-5,1-1)

Winning lures (minus the shaky head)

Tune of the Trip
High and Dry – Def Leppard (1981)
A lack of rain resulted in water levels lower than I have ever seen on this site. I was hoping the relative absence of shallow water might stack a few good bass on the drops and in the troughs. No such luck or maybe the little ones found my lures before the big ones got a chance.

Lack of Quality – I spent half of my time on a single lake and walked most of the shoreline as it was entirely accessible at such a low pool. I named the spot Maiden Lake many years ago as it was the first spot that I ever fished on the property. Over the years, I have landed 218 bass from the lake but only fourteen of those bass have met or exceeded twelve inches. Not a good percentage of “keepers” although my Top 5 Weight sits at a solid 16-10 (4-14,3-13,3-10,2-7,1-14). Throw in Brent’s “keepers” and our combined Top 5 tips the scales at an impressive 22-9 (5-4,4-14,4-10,4-0,3-13). So, the lake is worth a shot but all I got on this morning was a dozen bass from 7.5”-11”.

10:30am – Top Bass Runner-Up at 1-6 (14.5″) on a Senko wacky rig

Final Four – Having had my fill of short bass, I opted to try two other lakes in the vicinity and landed four bass in just over an hour of casting. All four were “keepers” and saved the day even though I still fell one bass shy of a Top 5. Three of the bass came on a Senko wacky rig presented to bass that I could see from my elevated perch on the bank. In these instances, I cast the lure well away from the fish with the intent of the distant splash getting their attention but not spooking them. I then reel/drag the lure into proximity and let it flutter down through the water column where it is often more than the bass can resist. The fourth “keeper” blasted a topwater frog which was rewarding as the surface bite will begin to fade as we head into October.

Lots of steps for some small bass

Good to take one more shot at the strip mines where even a short outing can rack up some exercise. Sure, I was a bit sore the next day but with my thoughts turning to the annual Lake Storey fall drawdown, I was back on the water. This time with Brent along for the ride. Stay tuned for that fish story and talk to you later. Troy