My oldest son, Jayce, and I headed to my folks on Saturday August 8 for an overnight trip that included fishing bright and early the following morning. The plan was to grab supper and watch the Cubs-Royals game on TV Saturday night. Get up early on Sunday morning for a drive through breakfast on our way to the fishing hole. Hit a strip mine lake that was new water for Jayce and light up the bass on a topwater frog bite. Post fishing was lunch and the 1:20pm Cubs first pitch back at Mom and Dad’s. Read on for the details.

Stats
Date: August 9
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Time: 7:20am-10:35am
Totals: 10 bass (Dad – 5, Jayce – 5)
Weather: Overcast/breezy, 69-85F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamasenko wacky rig (cream/white or natural shad) – 7 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (redear) – 1 bass, 3.75″ Strike King Rage Swimmer (electric shad) with 3/16 oz Owner Flashy Swimmer jighead – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-3 (Dad – Frog), 1-1 (Jayce – Senko)
Top 5 Weight (only 3 bass at 12” or better): 3-2 (1-3,1-1,0-14)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Breakfast – We were on the road at 6:00am and had selected the potentially dangerous Taco Bell breakfast prior to heading for an off the beaten path fishing hole. For better or worse, the establishment did not open until 7:00am, so it was a more gut friendly drive through at McDonalds, instead.

8:27am – Top Bass of the morning weighing 1-3 (14″) on a frog

Frog Bite – My visions of quality bass smashing our topwater frogs did not materialize. The result was a lone frog bass and three other strikes from fish with bad aim. Conditions were solid for frog fishing with ample cloud cover, prolonged shade on the east bank, and several weedy ledges, pockets, and flats to explore. I stubbornly tossed the frog longer than I should have with my bad habit of swinging for the fences before taking a hint from Jayce and switching to a finesse approach.

8:46am – Jayce on the board courtesy of a Senko wacky rig

Finesse – Nearly an hour and a half into our trip, I had three bass in the boat (two Senko, one frog) while Jayce was still looking for his first hookup. As we moved into proximity of a point with a steep drop, I continued to toss my frog to the shoreline weed cover hoping for an explosion. Jayce had a better plan as he was letting his Senko flutter down the drop. In the next ten minutes, he had doubled our haul with three bass and would go on to catch two more over the next hour to take a five bass to three lead. I picked up a Senko as well, but my cream white color couldn’t fool anything as his natural shad hue was the winning choice.

Swimbait For the Tie – While it technically wasn’t a “contest” and a father should root for being outfished by his kid, there’s a bit of a competitive streak that comes into play. I picked up a swimbait telling Jayce that I needed to find something to keep up with him. As it turned out, I fooled two on the presentation to even things up in a tie with five bass apiece. I asked Jayce as I put together this report if the tie was an acceptable result and he said it was just fine. I agreed and the rest of the outing was just as rewarding as the catching.

9:56am – Jayce with his Top Bass weighing 1-1 (13″) on a Senko

Peripherals –Jayce mentioned that there were some random topics as we conversed during the lulls in fishing action. We remain puzzled as to how folks could regularly wonder “It’s a bird…it’s a plane…” when it was clearly Superman. There were wildlife sightings including a great blue heron, a redtail hawk, a gregarious murder of crows, several turtles, countless tiny frogs, dragonflies, and various spiders up close and personal when we drifted into shoreline trees or towering shoreline arrowhead. Yes, we also talked fishing such as the “natural entry” presentation with our topwater frogs. This consists of casting your frog onto the bank and hopping it into the water to begin the retrieve. Not only is it effective but it also serves as an excuse for errant casts that end up in the trees.

It wasn’t for lack of gear that we struggled a bit as we arrived well prepared

All in all, it was a good few hours on the water and fun to spend one on one time with one of my kids. Ten bass was a decent haul but did not live up to my expectations. That’s on me for not figuring them out. No big strikes or big bass on our frogs was a bummer as I wanted Jayce to get some firsthand experience with topwater bassing. Of course, once you get a taste it can be addictive and you wind up force feeding the fish a frog as I did for too long on this outing. The Cubs split the two games we watched to take two out of three on the road against a struggling Royals team, but I’ll take that percentage for any road series all season long. Talk to you later. Troy

Keeping up with my 2026 quest to pay Lake Storey a visit each month from March through October, I got my July visit in just the nick of time. This outing marked my fourth straight day on the water and the weather turned out a lot hotter than the bite.

6:36am – First bass and lone “keeper” of the outing weighing 1-4 (13″) on a chatterbait

Stats
Date: July 26
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 6:20am-12:05pm
Totals: 4 bass
Weather: Overcast/windy, 77-90F
Water temperature: 81F
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad (sight fish) – 2 bass, Strike King KVD 2.5 Crankbait (natural pumpkinseed) – 1 bass, Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-4 Chatterbait
Top 5 Weight: only one bass at 12” or better (1-4)

Winning lures

Lake Storey can be a tough neighborhood as this bass had been knocked upside the head

Notes and Nonsense

Solid Start – A solid start can be defined in several ways. One way is to land a batch of bass in a short period of time to begin the day. Another way is to land a quality fish as the first bass of the day. A final example would be to land your first bass shortly after starting. My solid start on this trip was a mix of the latter two instances. The first bass of the morning came only sixteen minutes into casting and was a “keeper” to get my Top 5 started. The bass measured 13” and tipped the scales at 1-4. It would be the lone keeper of the day.

6:34am – Miss #1 a catfish took a swipe at my chatterbait

7:07am – Miss #2 as a bass follows a lipless crank to the boat

Misses – The amount of fish that I got in the boat (four) was equaled by the number of fish that were “this close” to being landed. The first strike of the day was an odd one when a channel cat took a swipe at my chatterbait as I lifted it out of the water. I also had a pair of bass make an appearance at boatside on a lipless crankbait and a buzzbait, respectively. Finally, I had a bass hooked on a spinnerbait that came loose as I attempted to lift it into the boat. None were overly impressive fish, but I still hate to lose them or have a swing and a miss.

7:09am – Miss #3 a bass strikes my buzzbait as I lift the lure from the water at the end of a retrieve

9:27am – Miss #4 a bass shakes lose at boatside after being hooked on a spinnerbait

Heat – By noon, the temperature had risen to ninety degrees. Fortunately, there was ample cloud cover and a bit of a breeze to make it slightly less oppressive. I’ve loved summer since I was a kid but as the years roll on, that heat is no joke. I made my final cast at 12:05pm, loaded the boat, grabbed a sandwich, and made it back to my folks with time to spare for the Cubs-Pirates broadcast. No luck there either as a 7-1 third inning deficit was too much to overcome although the Cubs had their shot before falling 8-7.

A tough morning combined with an extreme heat warning meant it was time to call it a day 

Not a whole lot to report in terms of catching, but I am glad that I kept up my string of fishing Lake Storey once a month. The heat of summer can be tough on me out there as the bass generally move offshore and I need plenty of work on my deep-water approach. This trip wrapped up a busy July where I was able to get on the water eleven different days. On to August. Talk to you later. Troy

5:08am – The forecast looked dry. It wasn’t.

I was able to get on The Canal for the second day in a row with my little boat in tow. I selected another spot that was lacking a double-digit Top 5 in hopes of checking another stretch off my list. Prior to this outing, I had fished this stretch on two occasions for a total of eight hours. During those trips, I landed nineteen bass with a Top 5 Weight of 7-8 (1-12,1-7,1-6,1-5,1-5). This outing featured plenty of bites amidst a pair of rain delays. Read on to see if those bites allowed me to reach my goal.

6:39am – Top Bass #3 weighing 2-4 (16″) on a frog, off to a good start

Stats
Date: July 24
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 5:55am-1:05pm (with fifty-five minutes of rain delays)
Totals: 24 bass
Weather: Overcast/breezy/light rain, 59-70F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Booyah Blade Double Colorado Spinnerbait (snow white) – 14 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 6 bass, Booyah Buzzbait (snow white) – 4 bass
Top Bass: 2-8 (frog)
Top 5 Weight: 10-7 (2-8,2-6,2-4,1-11,1-10)

Winning lures

Tune of the Trip
Spirit of the Radio – Rush (1980)
“Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive
Plays that song that’s so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood.”
I dig my radio and hearing this tune on the way to the fishing hole indeed made my “morning mood.”

9:53am – Top Bass weiging 2-8 (17″) on a frog, first catch after a rain delay

Notes and Nonsense

Fellow Anglers – I chatted with a bank fisherman as I made my way to a tube to begin my morning. He provided several tips on that spot, noting that he had done well on a Choppo topwater and that a small, white, squarebill crankbait was a winner. In addition, a recent internet comment regarding The Canal indicated that several miles of water had apparently been treated to diminish aquatic vegetation. While my initial lure choices of a buzzbait, frog, and spinnerbait precluded resorting to the bank angler’s advice, the lack of weeds was a tip that influenced my decision on a destination. Rather than banks lined with extensive weed mats, the formerly hidden cover (brush, logs, riprap) was now exposed. And productive.

In reality, this resulted in fifty-five miutes of rain delays

9:30am-9:45am Rain Delay #1 tucked up under some trees

Rain Delays – While the day was overcast and a bit hazy, the forecast showed no call for rain. That forecast changed (twice) when I was about a mile and a half from my truck. Luckily, this stretch of The Canal featured a rarity with a few overhanging trees lining the bank as the skies opened up. The showers were not a downpour but were plenty heavy and long enough that I would have wound up soaked without the shelter. The first delay lasted about fifteen minutes while the second kept me idle for forty minutes. I stayed occupied by texting Julie, my brothers, and fishing buddy, John Kirkemo. Phones can be a distraction, but I do enjoy the access they allow in telling fish stories in real time.

11:17am – Top Bass #2 weighing (16.5″) on a spinnerbait 

Top 5 Results – Three two-pounders (2-8,2-6,2-4) and a 1-11 provided a substantial boost in knocking out four of the bass in my initial Top 5. These catches allowed me to achieve my goal in boosting a Top 5 of 7-8 up to 10-9, a welcome bump of over three pounds. To top it all off, the bites also allowed me to meet my ultimate daily goal of a ten-pound Top 5 at 10-7.

 

Quite a day on the water with two dozen bass and I can check off another stretch of The Canal as having a ten-pound Top 5. Of the twenty-five sections of The Canal in my quest, I have now posted a double-digit Top 5 on eighteen, have five that are lacking (current Top 5 Weights range from 8-8 to 9-10, and there are two sections that I have never fished before. Still some work to do. Talk to you later. Troy

The goal on this outing was to fill in a blank by fishing a section of The Canal that lacked a double-digit Top 5. Going into this trip, I had invested 10.5 hours on this stretch during a pair of visits and established a Top 5 Weight of 7-15 (1-15,1-12,1-9,1-7,1-4). I will admit that the lack of quality bites had me frustrated and questioning whether the area held any “good ones.” This trip provided a positive attitude adjustment.

Stats
Date: July 20
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 7:35am-11:50am
Totals: 11 bass
Weather: Hazy/overcast to mostly cloudy/breezy, 59-76F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Booyah Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 10 bass, Nibble Nation Lures wacky rig (gator) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-5 (buzzbait)
Top 5 Weight: 8-10 (2-5,2-1,1-8,1-6,1-6)

Winning lures

Lyrics of the Trip
The Rain, The Park and Other Things – The Cowsills (1967)
“And I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew, I knew, she had made me happy.” (see Bite I and III below)
And
“I turned around and she was gone.” (see Bite II below)

9:33am – Top Bass weighing 2-1 (16.5″) on a buzzbait

Notes and Nonsense

The Bite I – Pushing two hours into the trip, I only had a pair of short bass to show for my efforts, one on a buzzbait and one on a wacky worm. I had bet on a buzzbait and chatterbait bite around the abundant wood cover, but the morning had been a disappointment. That changed at 9:33am as I landed a bass weighing 2-1 on a buzzbait to boost my all-time Top 5 on the stretch to 8-12. The fish also set a new mark for Top Bass on the stretch, topping a 1-15 from June 22, 2024. This gave my spirits a boost and the buzzbait bite picked up prompting me to focus on that presentation.

11:11am – The One That Got Away

The Bite II – At 11:11am, I lost an even larger bass at boatside that I estimate was pushing three pounds. I was reaching down to lip the fish as it shook the buzzbait and the incident left me kind of rattled. Had it weighed 2-11, I would have made my mark. I got a good look at the fish during the fight, and I am convinced that it had what it took. I was proud that I did not say any bad words on video, but I sure was bummed out to have missed my opportunity.

11:33am – Top Bass weighing 2-5 (17″) on a buzzbait

The Bite III – At 11:33am, I set the hooks on another solid fish on the buzzbait. While it set a new record for the pool, its weight of 2-5 fell six ounces short of what I needed to achieve my goal. The fish gave my Top on the pool a boost to 9-10, meaning that another two-pounder would do the trick. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was set to intervene as thunder rolled as I released my catch.

The Rain – The effects of Canadian wildfires left the skies with an overcast haze and found me about a mile from the lot when things began to rumble. My weather app had said nothing about rain but a text from Julie shortly after 11:00am, followed by some prolonged thunder accompanied by raindrops got my attention. Around 11:35am, I began rowing as fast as I could to beat the storm, troubled by the fact that I was still one quality bite from my goal. I couldn’t resist a few casts at appealing targets as the rain began and I always pack along a change of clothes in case I got wet (technically I call this my “fall in the lake” bag). However, a flash of lightning convinced me that it was game over and I would fall short of my goal.

 

Other Things – The storm cost me a shot at completing my goal as my day on the water was cut short by about an hour. On some days, I may have waited out the weather for round two on the water, but this was not just any day. It was my son Zac’s birthday, so a celebration took precedence over more casts. I was lucky enough to get out in the first place as he has his days and nights mixed up for summer break. Most of the time, I can get out at sunrise, and no one even misses me until lunchtime.

The Canal can be a long, strange fishing hole as going into this outing, I had never caught a two-pounder in this section. That all changed in one morning as I had three on the line but only got two in the boat. There’s a moral to the story that I have learned over the years. Don’t judge a stretch of The Canal based on first or second impressions. Several sections have left me disappointed only to be surprised later. This trip was such an instance. I finally found the bites that I was seeking but fell short due to “the one that got away.” Thus, the Top 5 Quest on this area still goes on. Talk to you later. Troy

After five consecutive trips to the Hennepin Canal, I opted to shift gears and try a public strip pit on a Sunday evening. As my truck has some issues, I borrowed Dad’s truck to haul the little johnboat after a visit and taking in a Cubs victory with my folks. The standard 1:20pm start time left me with about three hours to fish by the time I got to the lake.

Stats
Date: July 19
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Time: 5:20pm-8:20pm
Totals: 10 bass
Weather: Hazy/breezy, 83F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Nibble Nation Lures wacky rig (electric gill or gator) – 5 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 4 bass, Booyah Buzzbait (white) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-10 (Frog)
Top 5 Weight: 7-15 (2-10,1-8,1-8,1-3,1-2)

Winning lures

Tune of the Trip
“Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.”
Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer – Nat King Cole (1963)
The ongoing Canadian wildfires made for hazy skies as the evening wore on. While not particularly healthy in terms of air quality, the lower light conditions were appealing when trying my luck on some clear strip mine water.

New lures from a local luremaker as detailed below

Notes and Nonsense

Nibble Nation – The day prior to this outing, I spotted a post on social media from Nibble Nation Lures announcing an appearance of Rhyis Polenske and his designs at a Rock Island street vendor gathering. The lures are produced by the local teenager and having lost a couple Senkos on The Canal earlier in the day, I figured that it was time to restock. I had a good visit with the young man and his marketing director/mother while picking up three different colors of Senko-type worms and a pack of dropshot baits. Cool to see a youngster not only interested in fishing but also diving into a bit of entrepreneurship as part of the pursuit.

5:59pm – First Nibble Nation wacky rig bass

Field Test, Part I – Forty minutes into my outing, I landed my third bass of the evening and the first on a Nibble Nation wacky rig in the electric gill color. When making the purchases the previous day, I found myself pondering the old fishing adage that “fishing lures are designed to catch fisherman, not fish.” The electric gill color caught my eye as I had not seen anything quite like it and I also added the gator and galaxy patterns. When it was all said and done, I landed five of my ten bass on the new baits. Shout out to Rhyis and his endeavor.

Field Test, Part II – While reeling in a bass on a Nibble Nation wacky rig in the gator color, I spotted a second bass swimming nearby. After releasing my catch, I tossed the gator worm out to see if I could tempt the other fish. As the worm slowly sank in the water column, I gave it periodic twitches. The bass would move near for a look but did not commit to a bite. This prompted me to swap out for an original Senko to see how it would fare and I got the same result. I was actually relieved to not catch the bass as I was rooting for the Nibble Nation bait as kind of an underdog. Another feather in the cap of the homemade creations.

 

Weedy water frog fishing at its finest. Yes, there is a bass buried in there

Second Chance – My Top Bass of the outing was a 2-10 caught on a frog on my second pass along an appealing indent in the bank. The spot features an open channel through the pondweed with a pocket at the shore. It looks to be a muskrat or beaver run that has created a clean trough along the bottom. On my first pass by the area at 6:14pm, I had a blowup on my frog, but the aim of the fish was not true. I always hit the spot twice each trip so I left the fish knowing that I would return for another shot. At 8:19pm, I was back and on my third cast to the pocket, a bass was on target with a strike, and I had my Top Bass of the day. As I had some travel to get back to my truck before dark, I opted to make that my last cast of the trip, ending on a high note.

8:20pm – Top Bass of the trip weighing 2-10 (17.5″) on a frog

A solid evening on the water and rewarding to have success with the new baits barely twenty-four hours after the purchase. I suspect these won’t be the last bass on these lures as they have earned a spot in my wacky rig arsenal. Keep up the good work, Rhyis. Talk to you later. Troy