Our 2024 Top 5 kicked off with two entries last week consisting of a pair of February catches. This week features a solid March start as a couple more Top 5 veterans get on the board with a handful of bass.

Weight: 4-6
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: March 3
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Chatterbait

Weight: 3-10
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: March 3
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Chatterbait

Weight: 2-6
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: March 3
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Strike King Red Eye Shad
Top 5 Weight: 10-6 (4-6,3-10,2-6)

Weight: 1-8
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: March 3
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 64F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad trailer (pro blue)
Structure: Submerged log

Weight: 1-7
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: March 3
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 64F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad trailer (pro blue)
Structure: Submerged log

Weight: 1-5
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: March 3
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 64F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Strike King Red Eye Shad (red craw)
Structure: Point

Weight: 1-2
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: March 3
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 64F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Strike King Red Eye Shad (red craw)
Structure: Riprap
Top 5 Weight: 5-6 (1-8,1-7,1-5,1-2)

Another solid start for our defending champion and it sure feels good for me to get on the board. The weather looks to be above normal throughout the week so the fish should only get more active. Here’s hoping that some anglers are active, and the catching continues. Talk to you later. Troy

2023 marked the tenth year of the Top 5 project. Eighty-eight more bass joined the ledger including Bass #1000 from our crew, fittingly caught by Jim Junk, our three-time defending champ. In addition to the 2023 final stats that were posted last month, I also like to provide an annual update of the all-time numbers. So, here we go.
(Note: the stats for this post only include bass submissions, not additional species).

Jim Junk with Top 5 Bass entry #1000 caught on April 9, 2023

Group Totals = 1056 bass
2014 = 154
2015 = 106
2016 = 136
2017 = 79
2018 = 116
2019 = 95
2020 = 90
2021 = 92
2022 = 100
2023 = 88

Submissions by month (2014-2023)
250 April (43/33/31/11/12/14/25/14/35/32)
176 May (27/23/19/13/24/12/18/13/7/20)
140 June (34/14/15/1/10/14/17/10/16/9)
121 March (13/11/34/10/0/8/4/19/15/7)
101 July (18/11/8/11/8/11/10/12/2/10)
71 September (6/4/6/6/16/9/6/10/5/3)
67 October (4/5/4/8/24/8/2/3/6/3)
40 August (1/3/1/4/4/7/3/4/11/2)
36 November (6/0/4/0/8/9/4/2/3/0)
33 February (2/2/7/13/5/0/0/2/0/2)
13 December (0/0/7/1/0/2/3/0/0)
8 January (0/0/0/1/5/1/1/0/0/0)

Top 10 Top 5 Monthly Weights (group total)
37-9 May 2014
29-8 June 2014
29-7 March 2016
29-2 April 2014
28-10 April 2022
28-9 October 2018
28-7 December 2016
27-14 April 2015
27-12 March 2015
27-11 July 2014

Top 5 Weights by Month (group total)
January (2018) = 13-5 (3-15, 2-7, 2-6, 2-6, 2-3)
February (2016) = 22-9 (6-7,4-15,4-10,4-1,2-8)
March (2016) = 29-7 (6-5,6-1,5-14,5-10,5-9)
April (2014) = 29-2 (8-0, 5-11, 5-10, 4-15. 4-14)
May (2014) = 37-9 (9-4, 8-10, 8-8, 6-1, 5-2)
June (2014) = 29-8 (6-11, 6-4, 5-10, 5-8, 5-7)
July (2014) = 27-11 (6-6, 6-0, 5-5, 5-0, 5-0)
August (2019) = 19-4 (4-14,4-10,4-6,2-14,2-8)
September (2019) = 24-5 (5-3,5-0,5-0,4-12,4-6)
October (2018) = 28-9 (6-3,5-14,5-10,5-10,5-4)
November (2018) = 26-1 (7-2,6-12,4-3,4-0,4-0)
December (2016) = 28-7 (7-7,6-5,5-13,4-11,4-3)

Monthly Top Bass
January
3-15 Mark Balbinot 1/27/18 Crankbait
February
6-7 Mike Overturf 2/27/16 Plastic Worm
March
7-0 Randy Sampson Sr. 3/22/15 Jig
April
8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14 Crankbait
May
9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
June
6-11 Ty Hartlipp 6/11/14 Topwater Frog
July
6-6 Jake Bresson 7/11/14 Plastic Worm
August
6-8 Gary Le 8/16/14 Swimbait
September
6-0 Austin Chapman 9/19/15 Jig
October
7-4 Mark Balbinot 10/29/17 Jig
November
7-2 Mark Balbinot 11/23/18 Underspin
December
7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16 Underspin

Public vs. Private Water (2014-2023)
Public = 774 bass (92/52/95/42/92/68/63/87/98/85)

Public Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
32-2,31-7,30-5,27-7,24-5,25-4,25-13,26-4,28-10,26-8 (2023)

Private = 265 bass (53/48/39/37/24/27/27/5/2/3)

Private Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
8-10,30-0,32-13,33-14,31-9,24-3,30-5,13-3,2-7,8-4 (2023)

Undisclosed = 17 bass (9/6/2/0/0/0/0/0/0/0)

Boat vs. Bank (2014-2023)
Boat = 556 bass (90/63/103/68/55/33/26/28/55/35)

Boat Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
30-7,31-7,32-13,33-14,31-9,25-4,21-4,18-6,17-9,21-14 (2023)

Bank = 494 bass (64/43/27/11/61/62/64/64/45/53)

Bank Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
40-14,27-6,27-12,20-14,24-2,25-7,30-6,26-4,28-10,26-0 (2023)

Undisclosed = 6 bass

The Baits (44 undisclosed)
291 Plastic Worms (Top Bass 6-8 Mark Balbinot 11/20/16)
118 Spinnerbaits (6-14 Chris Schwarz 3/25/20)
120 Lipless Crankbaits (6-3 Mark Balbinot 10/20/18) – moved up
86 Crankbaits (8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14)
79 Chatterbaits (5-15 Jim Junk 6/22/20)
66 Jigs (9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14)
37 Jerkbaits (5-10 Ty Hartlipp 6/5/14)
34 Buzzbaits (5-9 Troy Jackson 4/25/17)
33 Swimbaits (8-10 Gary Le 5/4/14)
30 Creature Baits (6-15 Mark Balbinot 5/13/17) -moved u
29 Swim Jigs (6-13 Jake Bresson 4/9/15)
14 Underspins (Top Bass 7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16)
14 Topwater Frogs (6-11 Ty Hartlipp 6/11/14)
12 Tubes (Top Bass 5-0 Jake Bresson 4/28/15)
10 Grubs (Top Bass 7-0 Chris Schwarz 11/28/20)
9 Propbaits (6-2 Jake Bresson 5/1/15)
8 Livebait (5-14 Jim Junk 7/4/14)
8 Poppers (3-1 Troy Jackson 9/25/01)
6 Stickbaits (6-6 Mark Balbinot 8/27/17)
5 Ultralights (3-1 Paul Kessler 10/12/17)
2 Inline Spinners (5-2 Jake Bresson 9/17/17)
1 Blade Baits (5-3 Mark Balbinot 11/16/19)

Top 10 Top 5 Bass
9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
8-10 Gary Le 5/4/14 Swimbait
8-8 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14 Crankbait
7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16 Underspin
7-4 Mark Balbinot 10/29/17 Jig
7-2 Mark Balbinot 11/23/18 Underspin
7-0 Randy Sampson Sr. 3/22/15 Jig
7-0 Chris Schwarz 11/28/20 Grub
6-15 Mark Balbinot 5/13/17 Creature Bait

The 20-Pound Club * = 2023 entry
33-14 Mark Balbinot 2017 (7-4,6-15,6-13,6-8,6-6)
32-13 Jake Bresson 2014 (9-4, 8-8, 6-6, 4-10, 4-1)
32-13 Mark Balbinot 2016 (7-7,6-8,6-5,6-5,6-4)
32-0 Gary Le 2014 (8-10,6-8,5-12,5-10, 5-8)
31-9 Mark Balbinot 2018 (7-2,6-12,6-3,5-14,5-10)
30-5 Chris Schwarz (7-0,6-14,5-12,5-7,5-4)
29-7 Austin Chapman 2015 (6-4,6-2,6-0,5-14,5-3)
27-13 Jim Junk 2022 (6-9,6-0,5-12,5-1,4-7)
27-12 Jake Bresson 2015 (6-13,6-2,5-5,5-0,4-8)
27-6 Randy Sampson Sr 2015 (7-0,6-1,4-13,4-12,4-12)
27-6 Jake Bresson 2016 (6-3,5-13,5-4,5-2,5-0)
26-13 Troy Jackson 2017 (6-2,5-11,5-9,5-0,4-7)
26-4 Austin Chapman 2016 (5-14,5-10,5-2,4-14,4-12)
26-1 Brice Wangler 2014 (5-11, 5-5, 5-2, 5-0, 4-15)
26-0 Jim Junk 2021 (6-0,5-5,5-3,5-2,4-6)
25-13 Jim Junk 2020 (5-15,5-5,4-15,4-14,4-12)
*25-9 Jim Junk 2023 (5-9,5-5,5-1,4-14,4-12)
25-8 Brice Wangler 2015 (5-7,5-4,5-2,4-14,4-13)
25-4 Mark Balbinot 2019 (5-5,5-3,5-1,4-14,4-13)
24-14 Ty Hartlipp 2014 (6-11, 5-10, 5-5, 4-0, 3-4)
24-14 Jim Junk 2019 (5-3,5-1,5-0,4-14,4-12)
24-9 Terry Isbell 2014 (5-8,5-4,5-2,4-8,4-3)
23-12 Jake Bresson 2017 (5-4,5-2,5-2,4-3,4-1)
23-11 Randy Sampson Sr. 2017 (6-0,4-14,4-12,4-11,3-6)
23-8 Jim Junk 2018 (5-4,5-2,4-9,4-5,4-4)
22-15 Adam Bean 2015 (5-13,4-9,4-6,4-2,4-1)
22-13 Mike Mooney 2014 (6-4, 5-7, 4-3, 3-9, 3-6)
22-12 Troy Jackson 2015 (5-13,4-13,4-10,3-12,3-12)
21-8 Randy Sampson Sr. 2016 (5-12,5-8,4-11,3-1,2-8)
*21-10 Troy Jackson (5-3,4-10,4-2,4-1,3-10)
21-7 Brice Wangler 2016 (4-8,4-7,4-4,4-2,4-2)
21-3 Troy Jackson 2016 (5-9,5-4,3-9,3-7,3-6)
20-15 Chris Schwarz 2018 (4-11,4-11,4-8,4-0,3-1)
20-14 Troy Jackson 2014 (4-13, 4-6, 4-2, 4-1, 3-8)
20-12 Chris Schwarz 2019 (5-3,5-0,3-11,3-10,3-4)
20-9 Austin Chapman 2014 (4-15, 4-4,4-0,3-13,3-9)
20-1 Bruce Zilkowski 2014 (4-11,4-3,4-0,3-12,3-7)
20-0 Troy Jackson 2021 (4-10,4-4,4-3,3-9,3-6)

And just for fun…
All-Time Weights (30-pound minimum “career” mark)
(Note: not all anglers have participated each year)
200-6 Troy Jackson
(20-14,22-12,21-3,26-13,15-9,14-4,18-12,20-0,18-9,21-10)
194-12 Jim Junk
(11-7,16-5,13-7,23-8,24-14,25-13,26-0,27-13,25-9)
123-8 Mark Balbinot
(33-14,32-13,31-9,25-4)
150-8 Brent Jackson
(18-7,6-10,13-2,10-2,19-2,13-7,13-3,18-11,18-9,19-3)
111-11 Jake Bresson
(32-13,27-12,27-6,23-12)
76-4 Austin Chapman
(20-9,29-7,26-4)
73-0 Brice Wangler
(26-1,25-8,21-7)
72-15 Bruce Zilkowski
(20-1,17-0,17-14,18-0)
72-10 Randy Sampson, Sr.
(27-6,21-8,23-12)
72-0 Chris Schwarz
(20-15,20-12,30-5)
66-12 Paul Kessler
(18-6,17-6,16-6,14-10)
45-11 Mike Mooney
(22-13,4-9,18-5)
44-6 John Kirkemo
(10-8,6-14,8-0,11-14,7-2)

I have been slacking on the blog for various reasons during the “off season” but intend to be back with more stats from 2023 as well as our first Top 5 entry for 2024. Stay tuned as we head into a new year on the water and revisit the highlights of the previous year. Talk to you later. Troy

It has been a little lean on Top 5 Updates this fall. Quality fish have been caught but it gets tough to give a solid limit a boost as it takes a really good fish. Well, Brent got one of those this past weekend. Not only did it set a new mark for his Top Bass of 2023, it also breaks the mark for the largest bass from the public strip pit where it was landed (beating his 4-4 from last month). He got another solid bass that fell just short of upgrading his weight but warranted inclusion in today’s update. Similarly, I fooled one that didn’t increase my weight but set a new mark for the body of water where it was landed.

Weight: 4-7
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: October 22
Location: Public strip pit
Lure: Spinnerbait

Weight: 3-2
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: October 22
Location: Public strip pit
Lure: Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 19-3 (4-7,4-4,3-11,3-8,3-5) culls 3-3

Weight: 3-10 (19″)
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: October 20
Weather: Sunny/windy, 60F air temp
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: War Eagle Spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) with BPS twin tail trailer (Houdini)
Structure: Fallen trees
Angler Comments: Although it does not give my Top 5 a boost, this fish ties for my fifth largest bass of the year. Better yet, it establishes my new Top Bass for the Hennepin Canal beating a pair at 3-6.
Top 5 Weight: 21-10 (5-3,4-10,4-2,4-1,3-10)

There you go, don’t put those poles away quite yet. Hoping to take at least one more shot before it is all said and done as I always shoot for a November bass. Not sure if Brent is done either, so stay tuned. Talk to you later. Troy

It was nice to get back on the water after a three-week hiatus for various reasons. My latest trip to the strip mines was productive and included the quality catch below. While it came up short of giving my weight a boost, any bass in the three-pound range is a winner.

Weight: 3-0
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: September 3
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 84F
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Lure: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (red flake/chartreuse tail)
Structure: Weed pocket
Angler Comments: This was a fun catch as it reinforced the effectiveness of the Senko as a follow-up lure for a missed strike. Even if the missed strike was on the Senko. In this case, I lifted the Senko clear of the water as I reached a weed edge in preparation for the next cast. As I did so, a fish took a swipe at the lure, resulting in a large boil on the surface. I quickly made my next cast several feet past the ripples into an open water area and the rest is history.
Top 5 Weight: 21-10 (5-3,4-10,4-2,4-1,3-10)

September has started off unseasonably hot, but it looks like there is a bit of a cool down coming mid-week. This is certainly a welcome change for fishing hikes and I hope to get in another shot or two before the public strip mines close in the next four to six weeks. A full fishing report from this September 3 trip is in the works as are some future fishing plans. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

August can be a struggle as the dog days sometimes make for a tough bite. However, this past weekend was a far cry from a heatwave, and the bass were quite cooperative. Among the multitude of bass Brent and I fooled on separate trips were a couple personal lake records and Brent’s Top Bass of 2023.

Weight: 3-11
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: August 12
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Lure: Rapala Skitter Pop
Editor’s Note: This fish represents Brent’s Top Bass of 2023 and sets his new Top Bass mark for the lake, besting a 3-8 from 2021. With the 3-11 leading the way, Brent posted a daily Top 5 of 11-10 from the thirteen bass he landed in just under three hours of fishing.
Top 5 Weight: 16-12 (3-11,3-8,3-5,3-3,3-1) culls a 2-15

Weight: 3-10
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: August 13
Weather: Partly cloudy/calm, 65F
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Lure: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red)
Structure: Weed bed
Angler Comments: While this catch only boosted my 2023 total by one ounce, it established a new personal best on the lake. Brent owns the lake record at 5-4 but I was elated to catch a quality fish as my previous best on the spot was only 1-14.
Top 5 Weight: 21-10 (5-3,4-10,4-2,4-1,3-10) culls a 3-9

Two more solid submissions from a productive weekend that found Brent and me fooling nearly one hundred bass combined. But those are fish stories for an upcoming post (I also owe a Canal report). Talk to you later. Troy