A couple vacation days found me back on the strip mines for a second day battling the ridiculously strong winds. The morning was manageable in the little johnboat but in the afternoon I resorted to hiking. Read on for the results and my mindset in finding some bites under the crazy conditions as gusts were hitting forty miles an hour.

Starting lineup

Stats
Date: May 16
Location: Knox County public strip pits (2 lakes)
Time: 8:05am-10:20am, 2:25pm-4:25pm
Totals: 17 bass
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 69-83F
Lures Whopper Plopper 110 (bone) – 9 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (redear) – 3 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram) – 3 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass, 7” Berkley Power Worm (blue fleck firetail) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-13 (Whopper Plopper)
Top 5 Weight: 9-15 (3-13,1-14,1-12,1-5,1-3)

Only one tick on this trip

Tune of the Trip
Another One Bites the Dust – Queen (1980)
Selected because the 3-13 on this outing knocked out a 3-10 to boost the all-time Top 5 for one of the lakes to an impressive weight of 22-9.

Notes and Nonsense

8:06am – Top Bass #3 at 1-12 (15.5″) on a Spro Flappin Frog (redear)

Presentation 1 – Spro Flappin Frog (redear)
The previous day, on similar water with similar conditions, the topwater frog was a winner. Sure enough, my third cast of the morning to a weedy point got me on the board. Unfortunately, the rest of the bite was not fast and furious with only two more frog bass in the next two hours.

10:06am – Top Bass #2 at 1-14 (18″) on a Texas rigged Berkley Power Worm (blue fleck firetail)

Presentation 2 – Texas rigged 7” Berkley Power Worm (blue fleck firetail)
As I was winding up at my first stop, I elected to slow down my presentation around a beaver lodge and other scattered wood adjacent to a deep weed edge. I wound up with two bites. The first one stole the back end of my worm and missed getting hooked. The aim of the second bite was true and wound up being my Top Bass of the morning at 1-14.

Crazy wind

Midday Break – Tiring of fighting the wind in the boat, I packed up and took a drive around Little John Conservation Club making a few casts in one lake without success. From there I decided to switch approaches and hike into a productive public strip pit. But first I ate a sandwich and took about a forty-minute nap in my truck. I was hoping no one would drive by and wonder if I was deceased but all was okay I guess, as no one bothered.

2:36pm – Top Bass at 3-13 (20″) on a Whopper Plopper (bone)

Presentation 3 – Whopper Plopper 110 (bone)
Refreshed on the heels of the nap, I made the five-minute walk to my next fishing hole. The crazy wind was just pounding a point with a near direct hit which can bode well for a bass in the area. Such wind can stack up the food chain as well as create a mudline in the water that serves as an ambush point. These factors prompted me to try a Whopper Plopper as it creates a noticeable commotion even in very choppy water. The ideal set up worked out just like the magazines said it should to the tune of a nearly four-pound bass.

4:20pm – Top Bass #5 at 1-3 (14″) on a weighted Senko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram)

Presentation 4 – 5” Yamasenko weighted wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram)
I finished off my day near the same point where I had landed the 3-13 earlier. When I could not repeat the big bite with the Whopper Plopper, I opted for something different and deeper to finish the day. The wind factor dictated a change to my Senko wacky worm presentation. With the normal octopus hook, the worm barely sinks as the wind catches the line and basically pushes the worm along at or just below the surface. With the jighead, the worm sinks and goes down to the fish as opposed to the earlier topwater presentation attempting to bring the fish up to the surface. The change-up fooled three bass in five minutes including a 1-3 before it was time to hit the road.

Winning lures

Two days of rowing and walking had me wore out, so I elected to sleep in on Saturday. But on Sunday I was back on the water with Brent to do some exploring. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Thursday, May 15 was the Illinois High School Association’s bass fishing regional on Snakeden Hollow’s Lake McMaster. I was interested in watching the weigh-in, so I took a day off work to fish in the area during the morning and observe in the afternoon. The wind was terrible, but fishing is better than a day at work, right.

Starting lineup

Stats
Date: May 15
Location: Knox County public strip pits (2 lakes)
Time: 9:50am-12:05pm, 12:15pm-1:15pm (3.25 hours fishing)
Totals: 14 bass
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 79-89F
Lures Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red or redear) – 13 bass, 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (blue pear/black hologram)- 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-4 (Frog)
Top 5 Weight: 8-10 (2-4,1-12,1-12,1-10,1-4)

10:04am – First Bass at 1-12 (16″) on a frog

Tune of the Trip
“What’s Up?” – Four Non Blondes (1993)

11:28am – Top Bass at 2-4 (17″) on a frog

Notes and Nonsense

Wind – I selected a pair of lakes that I felt would be sheltered from the predicted winds from the south and southwest. Gusts were forecast up to forty-seven miles per hour and the wind speeds in general were pushing twenty miles per hour. The weather folks were right on the money as it was ridiculous. My first lake was manageable, but after an hour on lake two I loaded up and headed to the launch site a bit earlier than planned.

IHSA Regional Results – Just for fun I had a weight of 8-10

IHSA Bass Tourney – I thought the weigh-in was to commence at 3:00pm, but when I arrived at 1:50pm, boats were loading, and a couple teams had already weighed in. I felt for the anglers and drivers as Lake McMaster sits high with few places to escape the wind no matter the direction. There were big time whitecaps, and I am still amazed that the canopies set up for the weigh-in area withstood the onslaught. You sure had to hold on to your hat and the officials were having quite a time keeping a grip on the scoresheets. Final results had one of the Princeville teams on top with 10.58 pounds and the Big Bass of the tournament was a 4.02 caught by a Farmington angler.

Respool your line before it gets this low (read on below)

Frog Fails – A Spro Flappin Frog topwater lure was the winner for the day in landing thirteen of my fourteen bass. However, the success did not come without some frustration. No fault of the frog or the bass as the issues arose due to lazy angling. I had intended to replace my braided line (green) as my spool was low, and a long cast would result in casting past a knot attached to the previous batch of braid (yellow). That was potentially a breakoff waiting to happen, so I stripped off all the green line. I am not sure how old the yellow line was, but I lost two frogs (and bass) on hooksets as the line broke and I was eventually down to my final frog. The amount of yellow line was also such that long casts would reveal the original monofilament backing (see above pic). Lesson learned, replace your line when you notice an issue, don’t be lazy or press your luck.

Winning lures

Don’t Be Chicken – As noted, the above situation had me down to my final frog. This resulted in growing too timid on my hooksets which likely contributed to losing several bass that spit the lure on the way to the boat. Frog fishing is prone to lost bass by its nature as the bass are often striking the lure through some slop (surface weeds) instead of more open water. This factor can mean that their aim isn’t true, the weeds get in the way of hook penetration, and timing on the hookset can be tough. The lesson here is don’t get yourself into a situation where you are “being chicken fishing a frog.” Frog fishing requires a firm hookset and steady pressure once the bass is hooked to get them moving out of the weeds and headed for the boat. I took the long way home making two tackle shop stops to get four more frogs and new braided line.

Restocked and ready for action

 

Conditions were challenging but the bass came through for a successful day. More numbers to report on the day but I have already rambled enough for today’s report, and I was back on the water again the following day. Perhaps I will compose a follow-up post with further details at another time. In the meantime, stay tuned for a stellar Top 5 Update headed your way tomorrow. Talk to you later. Troy

For the third time in a week, I chased bass on the same stretch of The Canal in search of a big enough bite to push my Top 5 for the spot into double-digits. I guess the third time was a charm as a good one cooperated. Read on for the rest of the story.

Starting lineup

Stats
Date: May 10
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 9:15am-12:30pm
Totals: 4 bass
Weather: Sunny/windy, 64-75F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with twin tail trailer – 2 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 2-6 Frog
Top 4 Weight (only four at 12” or better): 5-13 (2-6,1-7,1-3,0-13)

Tune of the Trip
“Why Can’t We Be Friends” – War (1975)

10:46am – First bass, not much but darn glad to get it

Notes and Nonsense

Slow Start – For the first hour and a half, I made a lot of quality casts to a lot of quality spots and wound up with absolutely zero bites. I’ve done this long enough to know that the bites will come, but I will admit that the confidence wavers a bit and thoughts of getting shut out dance in my head. You’ve just got to keep casting, maybe change things up a bit and hang in there. That approach paid off with four bites in the next hour.

11:25am – First frog bass of the year at 1-7 (14″)

Frog Time – Two quick bites on the spinnerbait were encouraging but they came at the end of my “spinnerbait water”, meaning a stretch filled with a lot of fallen trees. Next up, was a length of weedy bank bordered by riprap and nearly devoid of any wood. For me, on The Canal, this means frog. Warming weather, increasing weeds, and spawning panfish will get some bass prowling the area and a topwater frog is a good presentation to get their attention. Two more bass joined my creel courtesy of the frog including the Top Bass of the trip at 2-6.

11:50am – Top Bass at 2-6 (18″) on a frog

Top 5 Quest – The spot that I chose on this outing had an all-time Top 5 weight of 9-3 so I needed a thirteen-ounce boost to reach double-digits. The 2-6 knocked a 1-7 out of the creel for a fifteen-ounce boost. Mission accomplished as I can check off another stretch in reaching a Top 5 weight of 10-2.

Winning lures

I sure didn’t knock ‘em dead as The Canal bass are being stubborn for me this year. However, I got the one bite that I was seeking and then elected to shift my focus to the strip mines for my next outing. Stay tuned for the Trip Tunes from this Canal trip and the report from the strip mines. Talk to you later. Troy

Prior to this outing, I had been off the water for three weeks and had not fished on The Canal since March 30. I was hoping that the bass would miss me and show up in great numbers and impressive size. Those hopes did not materialize but there’s always a fish story so read on.

2:24pm – Top Bass (tie) at 1-8 (14.5″) on a chatterbait

Stats
Date: May 3
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 1:25pm-6:45pm
Totals: 8 bass
Weather: Overcast/windy, 58F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with a BPS Speed Shad trailer (pro blue) – 8 bass
Top Bass: 1-8 Chatterbait (three different fish)
Top 5 Weight: 7-3 (1-8,1-8,1-8,1-7,1-4)

Starting lineup

Tune of the Trip
Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas (1976)

3:58pm – Top Bass (tie) at 1-8 (15.5″) on a chatterbait

Notes and Nonsense

Float Trip – For this outing, I elected to do a “float trip” like Dad, Uncle Dick, and Brent were known to do on a Henderson County creek many years ago. In this case, Julie and Jayce dropped off the van at my downstream take-out area. They then rode with me upstream in the truck, dropped me and the boat, and headed back to the van. Five hours, five miles, and eight bass later, I was back at my truck.

Deer Discovery – Four hours through my float/row, I had struggled to land a mere half dozen bass and found myself in search of the nearest “bathroom.” Seclusion was found on the wild side of an unusually wide part of The Canal under some overhanging limbs next to a large fallen tree. As I stood in the back of the boat an odd-looking branch caught my eye on the other side of the tree trunk . My brain took a few seconds to register that it was an antler and not a branch at all. After completing my initial task, I rowed around the tree to find a deer skull. I would have taken it home and given it to Dad at some point, but it still had about a foot of decaying vertebrae attached, making it a little ripe. I left it in place and if I am back in the future, I will take another look. I doubt anyone else will grab it as it sits near the bank on an expansive flat with about a foot of water.

Winning lure

One Trick Pony – My starting lineup consisted of a lipless crankbait, a spinnerbait, a wacky rigged Senko, and a chatterbait. I gave the spinnerbait and chatterbait ample casts, invested a fair amount of time with the lipless crank, and only made a few casts to specific targets with the Senko. In addition, I tried a Whopper Plopper due to some topwater catches reported by local anglers. In the end, the only lure that I needed was the chatterbait as it fooled all eight bass.

6:43pm – Top Bass (tie) at 1-8 (15.5″) on a chatterbait

It’s always good to get out casting but I will say that the results were a far cry from my expectations. Both in terms of quantity and quality. But it didn’t take me long to give the bass another shot as I was able to get back on the water the next day. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy