I had a couple of evening hours free last Saturday and decided to hit a strip pit to end the day as opposed to my normal morning strip mine outings. The aim was to coax some topwater bites as the day ended on a lake that features substantial surface vegetation by this time of the year. Read on for the results.

7:01pm – Top Bass #3 at 1-8 (15″) on a topwater frog

Stats
Date: June 6
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Time: 5:55pm-7:55pm
Totals: 16 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 86F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (smoke/black/copper flake/lemon tip) – 10 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (redear) – 6 bass
Top Bass: 2-2 (Senko)
Top 5 Weight: 7-10 (2-2,1-13,1-8,1-2,1-1)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Evaluate and Adapt – Over the years, this lake has produced some solid topwater catches. Along with timing this trip to coincide with the sun setting, the lake has substantial surface weed coverage which limits presentations in such areas. I figured that I had roughly two hours to fish so topwater presentations would be a good place to start. While I got quick positive feedback with two bass on a frog in the first thirteen minutes, the interest waned and it was time to shift gears to put some bass in the log.

7:27pm – Top Bass #2 weighing 1-13 (15″) on a topwater frog

Partner Presentations – Most any time that I am on the water this time of the year, I have a Senko wacky rig at the ready. And when I am throwing a topwater lure, the Senko is a must. It is a valuable follow-up bait after a missed topwater strike. If you have enough open water after a missed topwater blow up, quickly casting the Senko into the resultant boil can often lead to a hook up. That bass is still in the vicinity and a subtle injured looking meal slowly fluttering in its face can be too much to resist. Case in point, one of my catches on this outing was exactly such a scenario.

Company – A couple anglers were fishing from the bank when I arrived, and they were still casting when I left. This made one area of the lake off limits as I did not want to infringe on their territory. From long distance observation and a few colorful language outbursts, I gathered that one angler was having success on a frog with his largest catch being in the three-pound range. Good to know that my original frog plan was on target but unfortunately they beat me to one of my good spots. From a snippet of their overheard conversations, the winning lure was one of the cheap Ozark Trail frogs found at Wal-Mart. Prior to that reveal, all I had to go on was that it was an “expletive” frog.

7:37pm – Top Bass weighing 2-2 (17″) on a Senko

While my frog bite was not the hit that I’d hoped for, the Senko wacky rig picked up the slack as it shines on the strip mines. It landed the most bass as well as the largest with a long and lean two-pounder. If I were a betting man, I would have put money on the frog landing the Top Bass of the evening. But then again, I would never bet against the Senko putting fish in the boat. A good evening on the water and I was fortunate to have another trip planned for the following morning. Stay tuned for the latest from Lake Storey. Talk to you later. Troy

On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, my oldest boy, Jayce, took me up on an offer to team up on a fishing trip. We selected an off the beaten path, “secret” public strip pit from the three potential destinations that I proposed. I pondered blindfolding him to preserve the location but thought better of it. However, after our success on this outing, I am not sure that was the right decision. Read on for the results.

9:33am – Top Bass of the day weighing 2-10 (17″) on a Senko wacky rig

Stats
Date: May 24
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Time: 8:50pm-1:50pm
Totals: 53 bass (Jayce – 29, Dad – 24), 1 green sunfish (Jayce)
Weather: Sunny/windy, 61-77F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (cinnamon/purple flake/methiolate or smoke shad) – 52 bass, 1 green sunfish, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-10 Senko (Jayce)
Top 5 Weight: 10-11 (2-10.2-7,2-5,1-12,1-9)

Starting lineup – we both had a frog, a buzzbait, and a wacky rigged Senko

Notes and Nonsense

Top 5 Notes – Fifty-three bass on an outing is a lot of fish. They weren’t all “keepers”, but they all count and were all released to grow up and bite again. We did well with enough quality bites to reach the ultimate daily goal of a double-digit Top 5 with a weight of 10-12. I told Jayce that it worked out well as he landed two of our Top 5 creel (Top Bass #1 and Top Bass #5) while I landed the other three (Top Bass #2, #3, and #4). With two anglers in the boat, you can’t get a better split than that when posting a five bass limit. In addition, Jayce was able to complete his initial 2026 Top 5 as he needed three more keepers. He was able to land four bass that gave his creel a big boost from a starting weight of 2-10 (1-8,1-2) to the current mark of 8-9 (2-10,1-9,1-8,1-7,1-7).

10:46am – Top Bass Runner-up weighing 2-7 (17″) on a Senko wacky rig

Good Dad vs. Bad Dad – As result of a sunny five hours on the water, Jayce wound up with sunburn on his hands, cheeks, and nose. While discussing the outing later with me and Julie, he mentioned a bit of discomfort. This prompted me to state, “I guess that I didn’t take the best care of our kid.” Julie agreed while Jayce added, “But it was worth it, Dad.” I got a chuckle out of that assessment as I mentally ran through a personal “it was worth it” fishing list. That list included sunburns, poison ivy, bull nettles, mosquitoes, ticks, leg cramps, spoil bank tumbles, and more than a few occasions where too many “one more” casts got me home later than scheduled. If you fish, you know.

The details on this catch are described below

Speed – We got a firsthand view of some bass feeding behavior that demonstrated the predatory disposition of the largemouth bass. Jayce had several bites that I describe as topwater Senko strikes. The customary retrieve with a Senko wacky rig is to toss it out and let it flutter down through the water column with occasional twitches. One approach with the Senko is to cast it well beyond an intended target such as sticks or weed pockets and then reel it rapidly back in proximity to the cover before letting it sink. On several instances, Jayce’s Senko never made it to his target as a bass exploded on it as it skipped across the surface. Another example was a bass nailing the bait at boatside as it was being reeled rapidly back in anticipation of the next cast. I explained to Jayce that these were prime examples of the bass being a top-of-the-line predator. The basic lesson here is that you cannot reel a lure fast enough to keep it away from the fish. If it wants it, it gets it.

This was one hungry little bass as described below

Greed – No matter the size, any bass that we catch is marked down in the log as a success. There is a saying in baseball that I use in describing the smaller catches in that “it looks like a line drive in the boxscore.” The intent of each cast is to catch a bass just like the intent of most at bats in baseball is to get a hit (or at lease reach base). No matter a 9” bass (equivalent of a bloop single or swinging bunt) or a four-pounder (a three-run homer or bases clearing double in the gap), they all count. One of those bloop hits on this day was a bass that Jayce landed that had a small bluegill protruding from its throat. Further proof of the predatory nature of our quarry. Even though this little guy had already eaten breakfast, another enticing “meal” within striking distance was too much for its genetic programming to resist.

Winning lures

A very successful day on the water with lots of bass and lots of learning along the way. In the last paragraph above, I described a greedy bass, but I would say as an angler there is a little greed involved as well. Eventually on this outing we had to call it a day and would never complain about a fifty-three bass haul. However, on our last casts, I was sure hoping that one of us would push that total to fifty-four. Or even better, fifty-five, if we could each land a fish. A great day on the water with a great fishing partner. Jayce isn’t much for tooting his own horn, so I would be remiss in not adding that he out fished me 29 to 24. Talk to you later. Troy

My “good luck” this year on Lake Storey brought me back again for the fourth May outing of 2026. Like many football or basketball games these days, it was a tale of two halves when looking at the start and finish to my day on the water. Read on for the stats, first and second half breakdowns, and what I found to be an interesting conversation.

Starting lineup

Stats
Date: May 15
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 8:15am-3:45pm
Totals: 16 bass, 1 shad
Weather: Partly cloudy to sunny/windy to very windy, 55-77F
Water temperature: Not available
Lure: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad (sight fish) – 16 bass, 1 shad
Top Bass: 3-5 Chatterbait
Top 5 Weight: 12-12 (3-5,3-3,2-5,2-3,1-12)

Tune of the Trip
“Okay, here’s the situation…”
Parents Just Don’t Understand – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (1988)
My mind has a soundtrack and at times I wonder stuff like, “Why in the world am I singing part of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song.” Such was the case as I loaded my boat and gear as I prepared to leave the lake. Then it dawned on me that I had just texted Julie regarding my status.

1:26pm – Top Bass at 3-5 (18.5″) on a chatterbait

Notes and Nonsense

First Half Stats – I caught eight bass during each of the two halves of my day. However, from 8:15am to noon the quality was not as good with a Top 5 Weight of only 6-13 (1-12,1-6,1-6,1-5,1-0). A fast start of four bass in the first forty-five minutes had me pondering a thirty bass day. But the next three hours would only double my total, leaving me with eight bass at “halftime.”

1:35pm – Top Bass Runner-Up at 3-3 (19″) on a chatterbait

Second Half Stats – From noon to 3:45pm, eight more bass were entered into the log and four of them would give my Top 5 Weight a significant boost. First was a 2-3 at 12:46pm followed by a pair of three-pounders caught in rapid succession only nine minutes apart (1:26pm and 1:35pm). The final boost came at 2:54pm with a 2-3 to push my Top 5 Weight to 12-12. And that’s why you maintain your focus, hit your spots, and keep on casting as your day can turn around at any time.

The Scavenger Meets the Sculler – Late in my day, I crossed paths with a self-proclaimed “scavenger” rolling his bicycle along the exposed shoreline. He looked to be similar in age, but he had opted for the shirtless look on this pleasant day and sported a ballcap along with a full, ample, graying beard. He was a well-spoken fellow who entertained with a few tales of finds during his endeavors as well as a little personal history and a couple of fish stories (yes, they were actually the fishing kind). Later, I told Julie of the brief encounter, and I said that he was probably telling his acquaintances about the weird, old guy with the floppy hat that he saw rowing an eight-foot johnboat over, around, and across the windblown lake. A couple of oddballs, just doing our thing. I did have to laugh at Julie taking a stab (or was it a jab) at helping me feel less weird in saying, “Well, at least you didn’t still have your scraggly beard.”

The chatterbait continues to dominate, landing 134 of my 152 bass thus far in 2026

Another good day on the old home lake gets me one step closer to the 2026 goal of landing one hundred bass on Lake Storey. Currently, I sit at eighty-four Lake Storey bass, so another solid day will allow me to hit the mark much sooner than I anticipated. Talk to you later. Troy

On Thursday, May 15, I took my first shot of 2026 at dragging a boat into a Knox County public strip pit. Not by coincidence, the Illinois High School Bass Fishing Regional was being held on nearby Lake McMaster at Snakeden Hollow. The plan was to invest a few hours of my own casting before heading over to see how the prep anglers fared with their efforts.

Starting lineup

Stats
Date: May 14
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Time: 9:50am-12:35pm
Totals: 17 bass
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 56-70F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (blue pearl black and holo flake) – 13 bass, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (black or white) – 4 bass
Top Bass: 2-2 (Buzzbait)
Top 5 Weight: 8-0 (2-2,1-12,1-8,1-6,1-4)

10:10am – Top Bass at 2-2 (17″) on a buzzbait

Battered buzzbait from the Top Bass, just had to bend it back in line

Notes and Nonsense

Lost Lures – This outing cost me two lures. First up was a black Booyah Buzzbait that I launched into the middle of the lake after hitting a dead tree limb on my backcast. Next was a chatterbait the broke off on a hookset. I saw the flash of the bass that hit the lure but not enough to get an estimate on size. Lucky for me, Farm King in Galesburg had Z-Man chatterbaits marked down 15%. So, I bought three to replace the one that I lost.

Always have a spare (or two or three) of a productive lure

Winning lures

11:41am – Top Bass Runner-Up at 1-12 (16″) on a Senko wacky rig

Firsts of 2026– I began my day trying to force feed the bass a buzzbait in less-than-ideal buzzbait conditions (clear skies and clear water). My thought process was that I had limited time on the water, so I opted to swing for the fences in search of a big bite. I did get my  first topwater bass of the year and my Top Bass of the day weighing 2-2 mangled my buzzbait but that was the largest of my four buzzbait bass. For the last hour on the water, I shifted gears to a wacky rigged Senko resulting in my first Senko bass of the year with a dozen more to follow.

Lake McMaster IHSA Regional teams headed for the weigh-in

IHSA Tourney – Back in 2009, I was able to attend the weigh-in at Banner Marsh during the first year of the Illinois High School Bass Fishing Tournament as my nephew was fishing for Canton High School. For the second straight year, I have invested a vacation day from work to watch the Lake McMaster Regional weigh-in, working in a pre-event fishing trip of my own on a nearby water. Thirteen of the twenty teams were able to post five fish limits, but the bigger bites were elusive. It is always exciting to see what the young anglers reel in, especially on a lake that I first fished in 1987, several years before it was opened to the public.

Lake McMaster IHSA Regional Results

A solid day on the water for anglers both young and old. Comparing our hauls, I would have finished in third place with a weight or 8.00, trailing the top two teams who boated 9.39 and 8.53, respectively. Apples and oranges for sure as they had to cover a lot more water. But they also got to fish for over twice as long as the old guy. I did get to put in a full day on Friday at Lake Storey, however, but that is another story. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy