I gave The Canal a break and headed down to Knox County for an afternoon/evening hike on the strip mines. Feeling spry, I elected to hit several lakes that I had not fished since 2021 which required considerable foot travel to chase those bass.

5:56pm – Top Bass Runner-Up at 1-5 (14″) on a swimbait

Stats
Date: September 7
Location: Knox County public strip pits (4 lakes)
Time: 1:30pm-7:35pm (5.00 hours fishing)
Totals: 45 bass, 1 crappie
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 64-55F
Lures: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 18 bass, 3.75” Strike King Rage Swimmer Swimbait (pro blue/red pearl) with a Twist Lock Flashy Swimmer jighead – 16 bass and 1 crappie, 5” Yamamoto Senko (natural shad or blue pearl/silver flake) – 8 bass, Rebel Pop-R (purple shad) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 1-6 Senko
Top 5 Weight: 6-5 (1-6,1-5,1-4,1-4,1-2)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Twin Lake – Back in April 2014, I landed a 4-6 bass from this spot but the largest catch since has been a 1-10 among 167 total bass going back to 2013. So, I have been pursuing another big bass in this lake for ten years and still can’t find one. This outing once again produced numbers with twenty-one bass but the only “keepers” came in right around a pound. Now the question is, do I continue to visit this spot or invest my time on better water?

A bonus “accident” crappie at 0-15 (12.5″) on a swimbait

Horseshoe Lake – A pair of quality catches continue to convince me to make a return to this spot. Brent posted a 3-13 and a 3-8 during 2014 to put this lake on the radar. Like Twin Lake, we have not caught anything worth a darn since. That trend continued this afternoon as I landed ten bass with all falling under twelve inches.

With my daughter in the NIU Huskie Marching Band and performing at the game, I will always remember right where I was when this went final.

Cottonwood Lake – This lake is loaded with small bass, but I still hold out hope that some of them will grow up. Over the years, I have recorded fifty bass from this lake but only nine have been “keepers” and the Top Bass weighing a mere 1-1. This outing produced five more bass between nine and ten inches. But the highlight of this stop was following the Northern Illinois-Notre Dame football matchup. My daughter, Carly, is a member of the NIU Marching Huskie Band and was onsite in South Bend, IN and got to perform on the field. She also witnessed an impressive upset that will be talked about for a long time. My cell reception was spotty, so it kept me on edge waiting to see the result of what was the game winning field goal attempt.

7:03pm – Top Bass at 1-6 (14″) on a Senko

Strip Mine Lake – My finale for the evening was a spot where I have not invested much time fishing over the years. My previous Top Bass among the seventeen bass caught in my brief stops is a 1-15 but I did observe another angler with a five-pounder earlier this year. My results on this day were nine bass (and a quality crappie) in just under two hours of fishing including seven “keepers” but a Top Bass of only 1-6. Encouraging, but tough, steep bank access makes the lake a challenge. Unlike the other three lakes on this trip, I am eager to give it another shot before the year is out.

Plenty of steps and most of them aren’t particularly easy

Wear and Tear – Each year, I intend to get in better shape so that these strip mine hikes aren’t quite so taxing. Yet again, I failed to do so just like every other year going back to 2019. I pushed my hike well off the beaten path and wound up with two sore heels, a twinge in my right knee, and a sore back. And it did not take long for an ongoing case of “caster’s elbow” to start nagging my right elbow. In the middle of the night a cramp flared up in my left calf but fortunately I was able to move around and fend off a full-blown instance.

 

In the end, a particularly good haul in terms of quantity but could not find the big bites. Was it worth the effort and the sore muscles? Well, I was back for more the following afternoon. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

The Labor Day holiday afforded me a chance to get away for my September kickoff of what I view as the home stretch of the 2024 fishing year. Read on for the results and stay tuned for plenty more fishing on an expanded collection of waters over the next couple of months.

8:20am – Top Bass at 1-14 (15.5″) on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: September 2
Location: Hennepin Canal (2 pools)
Time: 6:55am-11:05am
Totals: 13 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 52-72F
Lures: 3.8” Keitech Swing Impact Fat Swimbait (electric blue and chartreuse) with a Twist Lock Flashy Swimmer jighead – 5 bass, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 4 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 3 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) – 1 bass
Top 5 Weight: 7-8 (1-14,1-11,1-7,1-4,1-4)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Taking Notes – I encountered two other boats with three total anglers as I rowed around this morning. A pair in one boat reported less than double digit catches and no quality fish. In contrast, a lone angler that I spoke with around 7:30am stated that he had landed and released his five bass “limit. He added that all were between fifteen and eighteen inches and all on a buzzbait. By the end of my morning, I finished somewhere in between the two reports but I must say it was encouraging to hear of quality bass in the pools.

A decent “one that got away” just left me with a pile of weeds at the boat

Two That Got Away – Not long after I spoke with the angler who had his limit, I got my best bite of the morning on a buzzbait. I was unable to keep the bass out of the subsurface weeds but got it to the boat along with a mass of weeds as I observed it still thrashing under its accompanying vegetation. Unfortunately, one of the thrashes was the bass coming unbuttoned as all I wound up with was a buzzbait and several pounds of salad. Later, I had a heavy hookup on a swimbait but never got a look at the fish before it let go of the lure.

A new Species as it looks like someone emptied the fish bowl in The Canal

 

New Trick – Once the sun gets above the tree line in the morning, the topwater bite typically subsides and on this morning, it wasn’t really fierce anyway. Limping along to the home stretch, I had eight bass in three hours. For a change of pace, I decided to try my luck with a swimbait, as I have long thought that I needed to invest more time on the presentation. As an added wrinkle, I had recently picked up a swimbait jighead that featured an underspin spinner. Much of The Canal that I have fished this year features murky water so I figured that the extra flash could hold added appeal. I was pleased with the results as I landed five bass in just under an hour.

9:41am – Top Bass Runner-Up at 1-11 on a frog

Top 5 Update – One of the pools that I fished already had a Top 5 weight of 10-2 so my primary aim was to boost the 9-5 Top 5 Weight from the second pool. My two Top Bass of the day weighing in at 1-14 and 1-11 did the trick in pushing my weight for the pool to 10-3.

 

Decent numbers, just enough quality bites to hit my Top 5 goal, and positive feedback from a fellow angler all made for a successful outing on The Canal. September always raises those first thoughts that time is running out on another year of fishing. While I try to push into November, these next couple of months just seem to speed by and limited daylight after the workday ends also get me anxious to get in as many casts as I can. Time to invest in a few vacation days to supplement the weekends. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

This outing covered three pools with the first featuring dingy water and uncooperative bass. After an hour without a bass, I shifted to Plan B and moved to cleaner water. Read on to see if that proved to be a good decision.

8:58am – Top Bass Runner Up at 2-4 on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: August 25
Location: Hennepin Canal (three pools)
Time: 6:20am-12:10pm (4.50 hours fishing)
Totals: 12 bass, 1 green sunfish
Weather: Mostly cloudy to sunny/breezy, 71-87F
Lures: Big Bite Baits Suicide Buzz (citrus shad) – 8 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 3 bass, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
Top 5 Weight: 10-3 (2-12,2-4,1-12,1-12,1-11)

Winning Lures

Notes and Nonsense

First Stop (6:20am-7:20am) – As noted in my intro, zero bass prompted me to head for clearer water. The results on this first stop were a disappointment as I only needed a boost of two ounces to reach my goal of a ten-pound Top 5 on the stretch. My initial weight of 9-14 consisted of bass weighing 2-8,2-2,1-14,1-13,1-9 meaning that a 1-11 would have pushed me to ten pounds. No go, so I have my sights set on one more visit in the fall to get the job done.

Bonus species on a Senko, green sunfish (possibly bluegill hybrid)

Traversing a tube

Second Stop (8:10am-10:25am) – On the heels of the earlier shutout, I landed a bass on my first cast at my next spot. The immediate feedback was followed by eight more bass in just over two hours. All the fish were “keepers” (12” or better and all released) and a Top Bass weighing 2-12 bested my previous Top Bass on the pool which stood at 2-9. The solid quality bite ousted four of my previous Top Bass from the pool and boosted my all-time weight from 8-5 to 10-2. Mission accomplished in checking off another stretch with a double-digit Top 5 Weight. Adding to the fun was the fact that all were caught on topwater lures (buzzbait and frog). The odd thing about the results is that I had fished the same stretch in July and never had a single bite. Five other anglers were also shutout on the pool that day. Fishing is weird.

9:31am – Top Bass at 2-12 on a buzzbait

Third Stop (10:55am-12:10pm) – Feeling good about the way the morning had turned around, I decided to linger on The Canal a while longer even though the favorable cloud cover had dissipated. Full sun had an adverse effect on the bite in the clear water conditions, but I did manage to land three bass and had two others come loose on the way to the boat.

 

A tough start but a solid finish thanks to a change of scenery. In the end, the bass helped me meet all my daily fishing goals. Goal number one took over an hour, but I was not shut out. Goal number two consists of landing five keepers to establish a daily Top 5. In an odd occurrence, all twelve of my bass were keepers. Goal number three is to post a double-digit Top 5 for the day and this trip resulted in a weight of 10-3. Those bass are out there on The Canal no matter where you go. Some days you just must move around to find where they are in a biting mood. Talk to you later. Troy

Having passed the mid-point of summer, the shortening of the evenings is becoming noticeable. With my workday ending at 5:00pm, the shorter days also influence weeknight trips to The Canal. In such instances, I tend to opt for a bike ride over launching the boat for various reasons. Read on for an explanation and the results of the latest ride.

Stats
Date: August 14
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 6:40pm-8:10pm
Totals: 1 bass
Weather: Overcast/calm, 78F
Lures: Big Bite Baits Suicide Buzz (citrus shad) – 1 bass

Winning lure

Notes and Nonsense

Bike Over Boat – Generally speaking, when I elect to take my boat on The Canal, I like to have a window of three hours or more to fish. It takes more effort to load, launch, row, and reload that it does to pack and pedal, so I like to make it worth my while. In addition, I like to cover a lot of water and rowing a boat takes some time as when you row out from your launch point, you eventually must row back. So, with roughly an hour and a half to fish on this evening, I chose the bike.

On the Beaten Path – When I am on two wheels instead of two oars, I typically select stretches of The Canal that have ample bank access. That can also equate to plenty of fellow anglers but with a mile or more of bank available there is enough water for everyone to spread out. Surprisingly on this trip, I had the whole pool to myself. Well, that is unless you count mosquitoes. Beyond this evening, I hadn’t had much trouble with the blood suckers as the gnats had taken over the pest role this year.

7:42pm – The lone bass of the evening was a good one weighing in at 2-12 (18.5″) on a buzzbait

One Fish On, One Ounce Off – My struggles on this stretch continued as I managed to land a lone bass. The upside was that it was a quality fish weighing 2-12 which was one ounce shy of tying the pool record from July 2, 2021. That pool record was only the twelfth bass that I had ever caught from The Canal. The 2-12 from this outing represented Bass #778 from the old waterway. A darn good fishing hole, and I have my sights on hitting the 1,000 bass mark next year.

Top 5 Quest – While my lone bite came up shy of my Top Bass for the pool, it was big enough to provide the boost I was seeking. My Top 5 weight increased from 8-9 to 10-4 so check off another spot with a Top 5 Weight of double digits.

Sure, I would have liked to have more than one bass in the log from an evening bike ride, but I can’t complain when it’s a good one. A few days later, I was able to get back in the boat and chase the bass on another stretch that lacked a couple solid bites of another double digit Top 5. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy