Our Top 5 leader is back with a trio of quality strip mine bass, and I found a couple good bites on the Hennepin Canal. While none of our catches boosted our totals, it sure is good to have a handful of November bass for another Top 5 Update.

Weight: 4-6
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: November 5
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Chatterbait
Structure: Submerged weeds on flats

Weight: 4-0
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: November 5
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Chatterbait
Structure: Submerged weeds on flats

Weight: 3-1
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: November 5
Location: Banner Marsh
Lure: Chatterbait
Structure: Submerged weeds on flats
Angler Comments: Glad to get some hungry November bass.
Top 5 Weight: 27-13 (6-9,6-0,5-12,5-1,4-7)

Weight: 2-8
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: November 6
Weather: Sunny/windy, 60F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Special K Spinnerbait (chartreuse) with Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer (watermelon seed)
Structure: Open water/drop

Weight: 2-3
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: November 6
Weather: Sunny/windy, 60F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Special K Spinnerbait (chartreuse) with Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer (watermelon seed)
Structure: Dropoff
Angler Comments: It is getting to be that time of the year when I wonder if it is my last time on the water. Good to get a quality bite among those bonus November bass.
Top 5 Weight: 16-10 (3-10,3-5,3-5,3-4,3-2)

Sure can’t beat the warm weather this late in the year and happy to have it relate to some good bites. Looks like the weather isn’t going to be so friendly as we head into next weekend so get out there if you can during the week. Talk to you later. Troy

Did somebody say, “Don’t put your poles away just yet?” Well, several of us took that advice and hit the water with October drawing to a close. Three anglers, three waters, and six submissions make for a quality late season update this week.

Length: 12”
Angler: John Kirkemo
Date: October 26
Weather: Partly cloudy, gusty northwest wind, air temp 60s
Water Temp: Unknown
Location: Devils Kitchen Lake, Makanda, IL
Lure: Four-inch floating Rapala (black/silver)
Structure: Open water

Length: Less than12”
Angler: John Kirkemo
Date: October 26
Weather: Partly cloudy, gusty northwest wind, air temp 60s
Water Temp: Unknown
Location: Devils Kitchen Lake, Makanda, IL
Lure: Seps Colorado Pro Flasher with a No. 2 Roy Self brass colored spoon with mirrored red head
Structure: Open water
Angler Comments: These are hatchery raised fish recently released during the fall trout season. Fish were active on the surface often jumping several feet in the air. The twelve-inch trout was taken casting the Rapala in open water. The smaller trout was caught trolling the Roy Self spoon
Top 5 Length: ~48” (12”,12”,12”, <12”)

Weight: 1-10
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: October 29
Weather: Sunny/breezy
Location: Lake Storey
Lure: Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 18-9 (5-4,3-9,3-8,3-3,3-1)

Weight: 1-13
Angler: John Kirkemo
Date: October 30
Weather: Overcast skies, light breeze from the east, air temps 50s
Water Temp: 55F
Location: Lake Storey, Galesburg, IL
Lure: Spinnerbait
Structure: About five yards off the dam
Angler Comments: The fish hit the lure near the boat in deep water. Only one other smaller bass caught in 3.5 hours of fishing.
Top 5 Weight: 15-11 (4-2,3-5,2-14,2-11,2-11)

Weight: 2-3 (18”)
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: October 30
Weather: Overcast/breezy, 60F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (bleeding shad) with Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer (root beer pepper green)
Structure: Log
Angler Comments: No wonder this one hit my lure as it looked like it was starving. Long but scrawny, it should have been pushing three pounds. It wasn’t, but still a good fish.

Weight: 2-4 (17.5”)
Angler: Troy Jackson
Date: October 30
Weather: Overcast/breezy, 60F
Location: Hennepin Canal
Lure: Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (bleeding shad) with Zoom Creepy Crawler trailer (root beer pepper green)
Structure: Logs
Angler Comments: This one hit right next to the boat with about two feet of line out. I had to disengage the spool to make landing the bass more manageable.
Top 5 Weight: 16-10 (3-10,3-5,3-5,3-4,3-2)

It’s always cool to see a species beyond our bass make an appearance. And while our bass did not give us a boost, we are getting to that “icing on the cake” period headed into the last two months of the year. I don’t know about anybody else, but I have my sights on my annual goal of a November bass (or more) before I call it quits. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Here’s another quality strip mine bass from Brent for this week’s update as those Knox County fishing holes near the end of angler access for 2022.

Weight: 3-8
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: September 23
Location: Snakeden Hollow
Lure: Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 18-9 (5-4,3-9,3-8,3-3,3-1) culls 2-15

A good-looking catch boots Brent’s last two-pounder and pushes him closer to the coveted twenty-pound mark. It will take a four-and-a-half-pounder to get him to twenty. They are out there but they don’t come easy. Overall, we are at ninety-one bass, a solid year but a tall order to get us to the one hundred bass mark for 2022. But fall can be a time when some big bass let their guard down so don’t put those poles away just yet. Talk to you later. Troy

Good to see another bass for a Monday update, and always cool when it comes from an interesting local water, Snakeden Hollow’s Lake McMaster. The clear waters can be a challenge so fooling a “keeper” is always satisfying.

Weight: 1-5 (15”)
Angler: John Kirkemo
Date: September 6
Weather: Sun and clouds
Water Temp: 77-78F
Location: Lake McMaster
Lure: Wacky worm
Structure: Shoreline wood and aquatic vegetation
Angler Comments: Early morning fishing produced four or five bass, but this one was the biggest. The rest were all under twelve inches.
Top 5 Weight: 15-11 (4-2,3-5,2-14,2-11,2-11)

John’s fish pushes our 2022 total to 88 bass. I am hoping that we see a few more in September as several of our Top 5 crew have plans to hit the water in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned for those fishing reports as well as the Top 5 updates if we fool any good ones. Talk to you later. Troy