Each month, I try to go beyond the numbers with some further insights and observations from my time on The Canal. Such notes from July cover water conditions, Canal access, a nostalgic technique, and an out of the ordinary item from The Canal’s “Lost and Found.”

More water on this stretch of The Canal as last year the submerged rocks in this photo were high and dry

In contrast, the exposed bank on this stretch was under water last year

Water Levels – I have fished The Canal for just over two years and it has been interesting to explore the miles and miles of water. One observation that stands out for 2023 is the change in water levels on different stretches. I don’t know the rhyme or reason for the differing levels, but I have struggled to parlay these changes into a solid bite. On the pools that are deeper this year, I can’t find a consistent bite on the increased shoreline structure. On the low pools, I can’t find where they are hiding in the abundant vegetation. Just a strange year for me out there and beginning to think that The Canal spoiled me in previous years.

Old school pedal power as I go back to my Canal roots

Back on the Bike – My first experiences on The Canal beginning in June 2021 were either on bike or on foot. For July this year, six of my eight outings went back to my roots with pedal power. These trips were quick hits when I had less than two hours to cast. The approach was quite effective in landing two thirds of my July catches and all my July 2023 Top 5 bass.

The good, old Texas rigged plastic worm has been getting it done for a long time

Texas Time – On the previously mentioned bike rides, I invested a significant amount of time throwing a Texas rigged worm. This presentation goes back to my bass fishing roots in the early to mid-80s but has been neglected for a long time. New techniques, lures, and confidence baits have dominated my offerings instead. However, I found an area that featured a deep, clean channel and decided to break out the old setup. The bass in the area took a liking to the lure and included four over two pounds.

Instead of a lost lure, I found a prehistoric creature last month

Dimetrodon Discoveries – An occasional bonus from prowling The Canal is adding some tackle to the collection. This is particularly true when accessing the water by boat as you can pluck lost lures from trees that a bank angler cannot reach. 2023 has provided slim pickings though as shore bound anglers are either improving their casting or not fishing where I fish. My July discovery pictured above was made in a parking area rather than the trees. It was a plastic creature that I recognized as Dimetrodon from back when I was a kid and totally into dinosaurs. Upon doing a bit of research for this post though, I found that Dimetrodon was not a dinosaur but rather a “non-mammalian synapsid” that predated the dinosaurs by many millions of years. In fact, Dimetrodon became extinct roughly 40 million years before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. It was cool to discover some new information from my Canal discovery. And while it was rewarding to find that those in the know still called this creature Dimetrodon, the revelation that my childhood “dinosaur” collections weren’t quite paleontologically accurate was disappointing. Of course, some of the sets also included cavemen, which I already knew was wrong, just like Cha-Ka from the old “Land of the Lost” series.

And now, it is on to see what August holds in store as I continue to “Prowl the Canal.” Talk to you later. Troy

Lone find from the “Lost and Found” in May

Along with the stats, there are usually some other bits and pieces to report from a month of casting on The Canal as I try not to ramble too much on the specific fishing reports. So, read on for the rest of the story from a series of prowls in the merry, merry month of May.

“The one that got away” in the clip below

 

Majestic cottonwoods litter the surface of The Canal with fuzz as described below

The Fuzz – The Canal is lined with some massive cottonwood trees. The leaves, bark and twigs of these trees can be messy, but the bane of anglers is the cottony fuzz that these trees scatter in seed dispersal. The fuzz gathers on the line during the retrieve and proceeds to clump on the line ties, the hook eyes, and the spools of reels. It can be darn tough to get it completely cleaned off these spots particularly your line. This year, the fuzz appears to be a bumper crop, possibly a cyclical phenomenon where plants produce an abundance of seeds known as “masting.”

Cottonwood fuzz accumulates rapidly at this time of the year

Gnuisances – The gnats are especially irritating this year on The Canal. Up your nose, in your ears, on the inside of your glasses, and in your hat, they are everywhere. And some of them bite as evidenced by a dozen or more itchy welts on my neck, face, and ears after several outings. All part of the pursuit and while I am aware of potions, elixirs, and sprays, the smell of most of those concoctions annoy me more than the bugs. But, hey, at least it’s not mosquitoes…yet.

Weeds abound despite efforts to control, but the bass are hiding in there somewhere

 

June on The Canal is underway so stay tuned for those reports and more. Talk to you later. Troy

Trying something new with a post that delves into the details of a specific catch. I call today’s post “Big Ned,” an oxymoron with a small lure presentation fooling a large catch. Read on for the data, background, play-by-play, and video that put this bass in the log.

Tale of the Tape
April 7, 2023 at 2:49pm
Island Lake – Knox County public strip pit
1/4 oz./3” Lunker Hunt Finesse Swimbait (perfect pumpkin)
Length: 22”
Weight: 5-3

Previous lake record of 2-3 caught by Brent on April 12, 2021

The Lake
We have taken to naming the unnamed strip mine fishing holes that we have prowled for years. This one goes by Island Lake as it has an island or two in it. Prior to this catch, the lake record was a 2-3 landed by Brent on April 12, 2021. Not being one of our more frequent stops, my wanderings had only resulted in 28 bass in 4.75 hours of fishing over the last ten years.

The Lure
Brent and I elected to invest in a lightweight, low key, finesse bait on this outing, generically called a “Ned rig.” Our unassuming stubby worms, grubs, or swimbaits were fished on light jigheads and crawled or hopped slowly along the bottom in the cold-water conditions we encountered.

The Catch Chronology

7:17pm Thursday – A plan develops.

11:28am Friday – First Ned rig catch of the day.

12:06pm – Brent scores on the Ned rig

2:32pm – “Since we’re this close, I am going to give Island Lake a shot.” No luck on my first spot along the bank.

2:42pm – “Since we’re here, I’m going to fish down this finger.” Turned out to be a good decision.

2:48pm – I spot the silhouette of a large fish in roughly three feet of water.

2:49pm – I gently pitch my Ned rig out past the fish, hop it back, and then kill the retrieve about a foot in front of my target.

A puff of sediment appears as the bass nears the lure. Instinct, vision and feel all tell me that the fish has inhaled the bait and I set the hook.

The fight is on, and I quickly realize that the fish I estimated in the three-pound range is considerably larger than I thought.

As I am perched on a rise in the bank, I must now figure out how to land the bass. I plop down on my backside, slide down the slope, dangle my boots in the water, and successfully manage to grab the bass near my left knee.

 

2:50pm – I half crawl/half climb back up the bank without losing or grounding the fish and it’s time for the measurements. The bass comes in at 22” and I guesstimate it going 4-6. To my surprise the scale reads 5-3. I guess I don’t catch enough that big, so my eyeball calibration needs some more practice.

2:51pm – After a few pictures, the bass is released to grow up. With a little luck, I have just boosted the lake record by three pounds.

2:57pm – After catching my breath, bragging time is on as I shamelessly text Brent, my wife, Mom and Dad, and my friends, John, and Jim. Hey, that’s all part of the fun, right?

The thing that stinks about the catch is that my GoPro video was somehow corrupted. The original clip was fifty seconds long but for some reason I was only able to salvage thirty-four seconds of video without sound. It is what it is, I guess although no such thing as making a fishing video was possible for me until I got some technology in 2017. The salvaged clip is below and still hoping that I can find a way to recover the entire clip.

 

We’ll see how the rest of the year goes and how the GoPro holds up to determine if I revisit any more catches. Any feedback on whether you find this feature worthwhile is appreciated as well. Talk to you later. Troy

“So won’t you smile for the camera
I know they’re gonna love it”
Peg – Steely Dan (1977)

Today’s blog entry arose from a comment on one of my Facebook posts last September by a family friend (and fellow blogger), Deb McGrath.

Smile (verb) – form one’s features into a pleased, kind, or amused expression, typically with the corners of the mouth turned up and the front teeth exposed.

Physiologically, I don’t think bass are able to smile based on the definition above as their mouth is built in a frown. I also suspect that they are not amused by a hook in the lip as they shake their head during the fight to rid themselves of the annoying lure. Bass do have teeth though as evidenced by a welcome fishing affliction known as “bass thumb” that results from the scraping of sandpaper-like teeth on an angler’s thumb.

Yes, bass do have teeth

While I would say that bass don’t smile, they sure put a happy face on the anglers (as do bluegill and crappie in the slideshow below).

 

And, just for fun, to get in my music fix, here are my Top 10 Smile/Smiling songs.

10. Keep On Smiling – Wet Willie (1974)

9. You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile – Annie (1977)

8. Smile a Little Smile for Me – The Flying Machine (1969)

7. Smiling Faces Sometimes – The Undisputed Truth (1971)

6. I Can’t Smile Without You – Barry Manilow (1977)

5. Smile – Uncle Kracker (2009)

4. Make Me Smile – Chicago (1970)

3. Your Smiling Face – James Taylor (1977)

2. Illegal Smile – John Prine (1971)

1. Sara Smile – Hall & Oates (1975)

Here’s to more smiles in 2023 as spring is upon us which means that the bass bite should be kicking into gear. Talk to you later. Troy

My recent trip to Lake Storey featured a hookup with a muskie, the first one for me on the lake since 2017. It did not end well as the fish busted off at boatside a foot or two from my dipnet. Today’s post features the GoPro footage along with my assessment of the near catch. First up, some footage, followed by a description of the event, and finally some of the “what ifs” when hooking a muskie on bass fishing gear.

 

The Fight

I hadn’t hooked an “accidental” muskie at Lake Storey in five years, but such an opportunity is always in the back of the mind when casting on the old fishing hole. Well, that drought ended with a solid hookset on a Red Eye Shad that immediately registered as something heavy. The fish headed deep and while I had yet to get a visual, I suspected that it had teeth. Sure enough, a couple of explosions on the surface confirmed my suspicion. The view also confirmed that the lure was inside its mouth which spells trouble for twelve-pound monofilament line. I figured that it was just a matter time before the line would get cut so I went for a do-or-die approach to get it within net reach as soon as possible and hope I got it before it freaked out. Net in hand, I had the fish within a foot or two of potential capture when a head shake separated my lure from my line. The muskie lay near the surface just out of reach for a split-second as I made a futile stab before the fish realized it was free and disappeared with a thrash. It was exciting while it lasted but still kind of makes me sick to my stomach watching the replay in my head (and on video).

 

What If

Line – I am a monofilament guy and was casting twelve-pound test Trilene line and targeting bass. Of course, there is always a chance of hooking a toothy muskie or walleye on Lake Storey so braided line and especially a wire leader can be beneficial. I like the action of my bass lures on monofilament, so I take my chances and in this case I lost.

Drag – The fish did pull drag, so I am satisfied that the setting did not cost me this fish. At the point of the breakoff, my rod was still rather upright and absorbing much of the load from the large fish. I maintain that the weak link was the way in which the fish was hooked.

Fight – Upon seeing the fish roll, I knew I was on borrowed time since the lure was not visible on the outside off the muskie’s mouth. I took a shot at trying to get the fish within net’s reach as soon as I could knowing full well that a fresh fish could end the fight with a sudden run. I just didn’t feel that a prolonged battle would end favorably with the mono scraping around those teeth.

Net – It’s a bit of a stunt trying to guide the fish with one hand on the pole while taking aim with the dipnet with the other arm. My net was in the water within a foot or two of the fish when the line snapped. So darn close but what if I had a fellow angler in the boat? I am sure that the odds would have been better, but I probably would have instructed the netter to remain to my left in the video clip thus farther from the fish when it came loose. My plan would have remained at guiding the fish to the net and hoping it didn’t freak out at boatside.

Percentages – I have landed fifteen muskies in my life. Fourteen of the fifteen have been while fishing with ten or twelve-pound monofilament. The lone outlier was caught while actually targeting muskie with braided line and a leader. Beyond the muskies landed, I have lost three. One was short fish (mid-twenty inch) that flopped out of an inadequate dipnet. Another was the heaviest muskie that I have ever hooked that busted off at boatside when I asked my net man, Brent, to hold off for a second (bad move on my part). And of course, this fish which would’ve probably ranked third among the largest muskies I have ever hooked. That previous poor decision to have my net man wait also came into play in rushing the fish this time around as well.

The “one that got away” is a fishing standard. It happens to anyone who spends time on the water. I have been fortunate to not have too many heartbreaks that keep me up at night wondering what might have been or what should have been done differently. This one bothers me. And I’m sure it will bother me for a long time. Not only losing the fish but hoping that it will not suffer any ill effects and be able to rid itself of my Red Eye Shad in some fashion so that either myself or another fortunate angler will cross paths with the fish in the future. Talk to you later. Troy