Trip number two of the year was another strip mine hike with my brother, Brent. Our first outing was a tough bite and came up shy of a Top 5 for the day with only four “keepers” and a low total weight of 4-5. This trip was also a tough bite with only four “keepers” but a considerably better total weight. Read on for all the details.

Stats
Date: April 3, 2022
Location: Knox County, IL public strip pits (5 lakes)
Time: 11:15am-5:00pm (4.75 hours fishing)
Weather: Sunny to overcast/breezy
Air Temp: 47-56F
Water Temp: not available
Totals: 5 bass (Troy – 3, Brent – 2)
Lures: Jig & Pig/plastic (black/blue) – 4 bass, Rapala Shad Rap (shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-9 Jig & plastic
Top 5 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 9-6 (3-9,2-11,2-0,1-2)

2:50pm Top Bass 3-9 (18.5″) on a jig & plastic (black/blue)

Notes and Nonsense

Conditions – Recent rains had the ground quite saturated but the lack of terrestrial weeds in the early spring still made for easy walking. The lakes were full, the water was surprisingly clear, and the aquatic vegetation was just beginning to take hold. The air temperatures were comfortable, wind was limited to a breeze and the sun was out in full force most of the day. Two out of three ain’t bad in regard to the weather aspect as some cloud cover is always welcome when fishing these waters. No complaints, we gave it a go with a variety of presentations but just couldn’t get much going.

Forage Find – Shortly after Brent landed our Top Bass, I spotted the remains of a crawdad near the bank. I couldn’t help but notice that the coloration of the pincers were quite like the offerings that landed our top four bass. I guess there is something to be said for matching the forage available to fool a few fish.

Record Book Update

In an earlier preview of this trip entitled “Record Book Roundup”, I provided data on the lakes we intended to target. We wound up with three catches that made solid upgrades as detailed below.

Maiden Lake (2013-present)
Top Bass: 4-0 Brent Jackson 4/2/21 Crankbait
Best Top 5 Day: 5-12 (4-0,1-12) 4/2/21 with Brent 1.00 hours
All-Time Top 5 Weight: 11-10 (4-0,2-5,1-14,1-12,1-11)
UPDATE: added a 3-9 to boost our All-Time Top 5 Weight
NEW All-Time Top 5 Weight: 13-8 (4-0,3-9,2-5,1-14,1-12) culls a 1-11

2X4 Lake (2013-present)
Top Bass: 4-3 Troy Jackson 9/29/13 Stickbait
Best Top 5 Day: 11-7 (4-2,3-0,1-9,1-7,1-5) 4/12/14 with Brent 1.50 hours
All-Time Top 5 Weight: 19-12 (4-3,4-2,4-0,4-0,3-7)
UPDATE: no new additions

Kentucky Lake (2013-present)
Top Bass: 2-8 Troy Jackson 9/26/21 Spinnerbait
Best Top 5 Day: 7-10 (2-5,1-9,1-7,1-4,1-1) 9/29/13 with Brent 0.75 hours
All-Time Top 5 Weight: 10-0 (2-8,2-3,2-1,1-13,1-7)
UPDATE: added a 2-0 to boost our All-Time Top 5 Weight
NEW All-Time Top 5 Weight: 10-9 (2-8,2-3,2-1,2-0,1-13) culls a 1-7

Molar Lake (2013-present)
Top Bass: 3-5 Troy Jackson 9/29/13 Jerkbait
Best Top 5 Day: 5-8 (3-5,1-4,0-15) 9/29/13 with Brent 0.75 hours
All-Time Top 5 Weight: 12-0 (3-5,3-2,2-0,1-13,1-12)
UPDATE: added a 2-11 to boost our All-Time Top 5 Weight
NEW All-Time Top 5 Weight: 12-15 (3-5,3-2,2-11,2-0,1-13) culls a 1-12

 

A pleasant day but a tough bite on an early April strip mine prowl. The recent cool and rainy conditions seemed to have the bass in a less than cooperative mood. But if we were only going to eke out five bites, it’s cool when three of them are “good ones” (see Friday Flashback here) and give a boost to the record book. Stay tuned for the latest Friday Flashback and a Trip Tunes post from this outing is in the works. Talk to you later. Troy

I have stated many times that my annual fishing goal is to start with a March bass and end with a November bass. The first half of the goal was accomplished on March 20, and I set out on November 17 in search of the bookend bass. Details below on how it turned out.

Stats

Date: November 17, 2021
Location: Little John Conservation Club (3 lakes)
Time: 10:20am-4:00pm (3.5 hours fishing)
Weather: Overcast/windy/light rain
Air Temp: 47-48F (felt like 41F per weather app)
Water Temp: no reading
Totals: 3 bass
Lures: Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass, War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) – 1 bass, Rapala Shad Rap (shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-7 (Spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight (only 2 bass at 12” or better): 3-6 (2-7,0-15)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

Plan – Having a few vacation days remaining for the year, I opted to invest one on a day with forecast high temps in the mid-50s. The only problem was that the high occurred somewhere around 3:00am and then proceeded to drop from there. In addition, the wind was substantial and the mid-morning end to rain showers continued to be pushed further out past noon. Let’s just say it was less than ideal conditions but at this time of the year, you get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.

10:29am – Mission accomplished on a lipless crankbait

Bass #1 – Catching only three bass, I figure that I might as well provide details on all of them as they are likely my final three bass of 2021. Nine minutes into my morning, armed with a Red Eye Shad, I had my November bass in hand. While I was confident that I could fool at least one bass in the cold front conditions, it sure felt good to get an early catch and achieve my goal.

1:42pm – Top Bass at 2-7 on a spinnerbait

Bass #2 – After an hour and half and one bass on my first stop, I sat in my truck with froze toes and pondered my next move. Stop number two was a shallower spot with a fair amount of wood cover and expanses of submerged vegetation in three to seven foot of water. A reliable collection isolated laydowns in a shallow bay was once again a winner as it produced my best bass of the trip, a healthy 2-7 on a spinnerbait.

3:39pm – mystery solved, barely

Bass #3 – With about an hour of daylight and maybe 30 minutes of energy and cold tolerance remaining in this fifty-something angler, I decided to do a little exploring. First, I took a walk around a small lake to investigate access due to some landscaping over the last several years. All looked well but I moved on without making a cast, opting instead to check out one more lake. My final stop has intrigued me for decades as I have driven past hundreds of times wondering, “does that spot support any bass”, “how deep is the water” and “is there any significant structure”? The answers as follow: Yes, roughly eight feet and not really.

Another good year of fishing, time to ride off into the sunset for 2021

All’s well that ends well. And I suspect that this is indeed the end of casting for 2021. It’s been a great year with ample opportunities to get on the water and good results in terms of both quantity and quality. Stay tuned for a follow-up post with some peripheral stuff from this latest outing. In addition, there’s plenty more outdoor and fishing related content to come here on the blog as we near the end of the year. Talk to you later. Troy

What is it like to spend nine and a half hours on your favorite lake?

Well, if you elect to tag along here on the blog. I’m going to run it down for you with the regular stats and a chronology of the catches.

Stats

Date: October 14, 2021
Location: Lake Storey – Knox County, IL
Time: 7:20am-4:50pm
Weather: Overcast/rainy/breezy to sunny/breezy
Air Temp: 57-70F
Water Temp: 67F
Totals: 8 bass
Lures: Strike King Rattling Squarebill Crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 4 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with twin tail trailer – 2 bass, Berkley Havoc Pit Boss (green pumpkin) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 2-3 Squarebill crankbait
Top 5 Weight: 7-5 (2-3,2-0,1-2,1-0,1-0)

Chronology

7:21am – Bass #1 (12.5″ and 1-0)

7:21am – The second cast of the day produces the first bass of the day on a spinnerbait. If you have fished Lake Storey, perhaps you know the log across from the boat ramp. It’s been a spinnerbait winner many times and had my hopes high in the dingy water resulting from a substantial amount of recent rain.

10:23am – Bass #2 (15.5″ and 2-0)

10:23am – Bass number two hits the two-pound mark, once again on a spinnerbait off some sunken trees. However, it took me over three hours and most of the lake to get the bite. Numerous good spots had let me down and I had wandered to spots further than my normal rounds. My early high hopes were trending back to my initial outlook of a tough bite in the stained water but it was good to get bit “uplake.”

11:07am – Bass #3 (13.5″ and 1-2)

11:07am – Not nearly as long a wait between bites and wood in the water comes through again. This time it requires slowing down with a Texas rigged Yum Crawdad bounced through some brush. I don’t slow down much and must admit it was kind of fun to find success on a different approach.

12:19pm – Bass#4 (17″ and 2-3)

12:19pm – The Top Bass of the morning comes on a crankbait cast to a submerged rockpile near a main lake point. This spot gets a look during every visit and if you bang a crankbait around it enough you can often get a bite. The timing was fun also as I had just finished an on the water chat with my friend, John Kirkemo, and he trolled back over to shoot a few pics.

12:31pm – Shortly after recording my Top Bass and chatting with John, I fired another cast to the rockpile and was rewarded with a second bass from the structure. This one was smaller than his fellow resident and at 11.5” narrowly missed being my fifth “keeper.”

2:15pm – Fishing a submerged stump for the second time produced my sixth bass of the day. However, this one kind of surprised me as I had cast nearly twenty feet past the stump so as not to land on top of the structure and then planned to work my bait into the prime spot. My Yum Crawdad never made it to the stump as the bass hit almost as soon as my cast entered the water. Another short one but a bonus open water fish from an intentional off target cast that produced before it was intended.

3:30pm – Bass#7 (13″ and 1-0)

3:30pm – Time was running out on finding a fifth “keeper” to round out my regular goal of a Top 5 of bass at 12” or better. While an early morning pass along the dam did not produce, the afternoon stop proved to be a winner on a crankbait. The 13” bass came in right at one pound to complete my Top 5.

3:46pm – Continuing my pass along the dam, I caught my final bass of a long day. It was short and no help to my weight, but any bite is a good bite on Lake Storey as those bass can be tough to fool. It was also satisfying to still be dialed in after a long day on the water.

Winning Lures

Could I catch more bass somewhere else? Sure.

Would I catch more quality bass on my other fishing holes? Most likely.

But I have a long-standing affliction with what I still call my “home lake” even though it requires a bit more of a drive than it once did. There’s something satisfying about fooling those wary bass along with the focus, perseverance and execution required to do so. This likely completes my 2021 Lake Storey visits but myself and my fishing partners did alright, and I think we came out on top in our efforts. Beyond the catches there is always more to report so stay tuned for the “extras” from this latest trip coming to the blog next week. Talk to you later. Troy

Still trying to play catch up with the fishing reports due to a combination of being busy with work and striving to get in my final fishing trips of the year. Today, we take another look at The Canal via the combined reports from September.

Jayce joined up on 9/6 but even two lures in the water only resulted in one total bass

Stats
Date: September 6, 18 & 25, 2021
Location: Hennepin Canal – Henry County, IL
Time: 5.50 hours total (2 mornings, one evening)
Weather: Sunny/breezy each day
Totals: 7 bass (9/6 – 1 bass, 9/18 – 3 bass, 9/25 – 3 bass)
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (green pumpkin/white crème laminate) – 4 bass, Rebel Pop’R Zell Rowland Model – 2 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (red craw) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-1 (Pop’R)
Top 5 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 8-14 (3-1,2-11,2-3,0-15)

Had to get new boots for my son, Jayce, same size as mine.

Notes and Nonsense

September 6 – For a change, I was able to convince some company to join me on a prowl as my oldest boy, Jayce, came along for a scenic bike ride. Unfortunately, a bit of exercise was what this trip was all about as we only got one bite. It was also too bad that it was my bite instead of Jayce’s but a quality fish at 2-3 on a Senko wacky rig.

A disappointing small bass day on 9/18

September 18 – A cool, pleasant mid-September morning would rank as one of my favorite times to fish. However, this morning was not one of the favorite times for the fish to bite. Two stops resulted in a disappointing haul of three small bass between eight and nine inches. Just one of those days that make no sense when you can’t figure out those fish.

September 25 at 6:30am, first cast bass at 2-11

September 25 at 6:34am, second cast bass at 3-1

September 25 – The bass redeemed themselves from the previous week as I had a couple early morning hours to get away. My first two casts resulted in two quality bass that totaled nearly six pounds (2-11 and 3-1). The cool thing was that the bass bit on an old topwater popper known as the Pop’R. It’s always rewarding when a plan comes together as in this case, I chose the lure as I wanted something that caused a commotion and stayed right in the bass’ face. The right lure at the right time got the job done.

Rebel Pop’R Zell Rowland Model, fun to put an old lure to work and land a couple good ones 

Some ups and downs on The Canal for the month but a few more quality catches added to the 2021 Hennepin haul. It’s been a fun few months of exploring and I hope to make a few more casts on the waterway before the fishing year ends. However, it is my understanding that the leaves on the water become a hindrance as they begin to fall. Only one way to find out. Talk to you later. Troy

For quite a few years, I used to do a series similar to Bassmaster’s “Day on the Lake” where I would log the details of every fish caught by me and my fishing partner that day. I then shifted gears to a similar project that I called “Lake Lowdown”, and last year I missed compiling such a post altogether. Well, the concept returned on this trip to Lake Storey minus any sort of fancy name.

Stats

Date: September 27, 2021
Location: Lake Storey – Knox County, IL
Time: 6:35am-1:50pm
Weather: Sunny/windy
Air Temp: 65-86F
Water Temp: 70F
Totals: 18 bass (Troy = 10 bass, Brent = 8 bass)
Lures: Emiquon Special Spinnerbait – 5 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) – 5 bass, Strike King Rattling Squarebill Crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 3 bass, Bomber Flat A crankbait – 3 bass, Berkley Havoc Pit Boss (green pumpkin) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 2-14 Pit Boss
Top 5 Weight: 8-13 (2-14,2-7,1-4,1-2,1-2)

The Starting Lineup for the morning

Chronology of the Catch – a slideshow below of every bass from #1 through #18

 

Notes and Nonsense

Picnic Fishing – While I do not condone vandalism, submerged picnic tables have been a winner on Lake Storey. Quite a few years ago, Dad reeled in several bass from one that has since been removed. However, there is one that remains hidden until the full extent of a drawdown is in effect. On this day, about six inches of the beams of the legs was visible and right on time, a bass that called it home took a liking to my spinnerbait.

Close Call – It has been quite a few years since we have hooked an “accident” with teeth. Lake Storey contains some quality walleye and a few muskies that are downright scary and occasionally, one takes a liking to our bass lures (truly, if it is in the water, they are kind of every species lures). Brent had a muskie strike near boatside and had it briefly hooked before it came undone. His estimate was upper 20s to low 30s in length and unfortunate that it let go as it is always a treat to get one in the boat.

Last trip a rock, this trip a sock

For My Next Trick – On the previous trip to Lake Storey in September, I somehow managed to “catch” a rock. It had me scratching my head as I reeled it in and we had a laugh once it was “landed.” This time around, I wound up reeling in a sock. Not quite as exciting as the fight was more like a leaf and not particularly heavy. Once again, we had a laugh and I mentioned to Brent that at least it didn’t have a foot in it. He agreed saying that it would cause undue hassle as there would likely be some paperwork involved with the authorities. Jokingly (sort of), I said perhaps I would be better off in such a case to just throw it back. We also landed some decent logs.

Best logs of the day, at least they didn’t claim any lures

Another enjoyable day fishing the fall drawdown and a decent haul in fooling a good batch of those wary Lake Storey bass. I am hoping to get one more shot at them before the year is done but time will tell. And time is also a factor in my efforts to post another “Prowl the Canal” update along with the latest Top 5 Update courtesy of Brent chasing Snakeden bass before the gates are locked in mid-October. Talk to you later. Troy