Got my son, Jayce, out for another hike in search of his first bass of 2026. The destination of choice on this outing was a collection of remote strip mines. We ended up rather wore out and unfortunately did not wear the bass out in the process. Read on for the catches and lessons from a balmy March afternoon.

Stats
Date: March 21
Location: Knox County public strip pits (3 lakes)
Time: 2:00pm-4:05pm
Totals: 3 bass
Weather: Sunny/very windy, 81F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad trailer (sight fish) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 0-14 (only keeper of the trip)

Starting lineup

Movie Quote of the Trip
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” – Dr. Emmett Brown, Back to the Future (1985)
This quote from one of Jayce’s favorite movies pretty much sums up our strip mine adventures.

At least we got some exercise

Notes and Nonsense

Tour Guide – I tried not to get too carried away with stories on the drive to the fishing holes and during our walk around. But when it is new ground for Jayce and I’ve amassed close to forty years of fish stories in the area, a lot of that stuff just comes out. Tales like the following:
“Took a wrong turn here the first time I ever tried to find the strip mines.”
“A lot has changed since I first hiked around here back in 1990.”
“One dusky evening, I may have heard Sasquatch in that patch of timber.”
“Uncle Brent saw a big muskie in the lake several years ago.”
“I caught a four-pounder over there.”
“Caught my biggest bass out here, a 5-2, in that lake in the 90s and never caught anything close out of there since.”

The winning lure was a chatterbait again

Dead End – Despite all the years of experience, I took the wrong lane on the way to what was to be our first stop. As a result, we had to back track a considerable distance to try an alternate route. It was a bit frustrating but a rite of passage in strip mine hiking. Even though a destination may be “right over there as the crow flies”, it often requires a half mile walk around ravines and wetlands to get there.

2:55pm – Top Bass at 0-14 (12.5″) on a tough day

Tadpole Factor – I passed along another observation during a brief stop on our first lake. I had caught some decent fish in it back in 2017, the last time I had visited that specific lake. In the clear water, the only signs of life were large bunches of chunky tadpoles that would scatter as we walked the bank. I told Jayce that we would move on to try our luck elsewhere as the abundance of tadpoles indicated that there must not be enough bass in there to eat them and their parents.

Tough Bite – While the eighty-degree temperatures were pleasant for the fishermen, it did not translate into a flurry of bass activity. The lake where I was sure we’d get some bass failed to produce a single bite and we observed very little fish activity at all. A larger windblown lake did give up our three fish but also produced a couple backlashes as Jayce worked on getting his baitcaster dialed in.

Nice to get off the beaten path where even the weather app can’t find you

A second good hike with my fishing partner in the last two weeks but I am still failing to put my “client” on some fish. He is putting the right lure in the right places as the chatterbait has been a winner this March. I assured him that the bite will pick up soon and we will nab some bass for our efforts. That’s not a fish story to keep him interested, either. And I don’t think he needs the pep talk as he is still ready to go even after I wore him out a bit with a hike that can test one’s mettle. Talk to you later. Troy

As noted in the snip below from January 25 while texting with my friend, John Kirkemo, the prediction for my first bass of 2026 was March 7. Pretty close as only a day off with the March 7 weather prompting me to wait one more day to give it a shot. As a bonus, I had a fishing partner on this outing with my oldest boy, Jayce, joining the pursuit. Read on for the details of a pleasant walk (with fishing poles) along the historic Hennepin Canal.

Janaury 25 text with my first bass prediction

Stats
Date: March 8
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 4:00pm-6:15pm
Totals: 4 bass
Weather: Sunny/windy, 60F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (white) with a Yamamoto Zako trailer (Tennessee Shad) – 4 bass
Top Bass: 1-13 Chatterbait
Top 2 Weight (only two at 12” or better): 3-1 (1-13,1-4)

Classic cold water lineup (left to right)
Lipless crank, Rapala Shad Rap,chatterbait, swim jig, jig, chatterbait, and Ned rig

Tune of the Trip
1985 – Bowling for Soup
“(His) two kids in high school, they tell (him) that (he’s) uncool.”
Like the parent in this song, I have two kids in high school. Lucky for me, one of them still found me cool enough to have as a fishing partner and I was very happy to have him along.

4:11pm – First bass of 2026 at 1-13 (15″) on a chatterbait

Notes and Nonsense

Partner – My son, Jayce, has mentioned several times during the winter that he is ready to go fishing. Music to my ears as we all need to get out for a dose of fresh air and we don’t do that often enough. The upside of our trip is that we stayed longer than I originally anticipated as Jayce was focused on getting a bite. The downside was that his fishing guide could not put him on some fish. He made the right casts in the right places with proven baits, but the bass just didn’t show up. I told him that that is fishing and as the weather improves so will the activity level of the bass. He jokingly responded with a quote from his Papa stating, “I must not have been holding my mouth right.” Great to know that he’s absorbed some lore from all the fishing talk he’s been privy to over the years.

Fishing Guide – There is a fine line when serving as a fishing guide to less experienced anglers. On one hand, I wanted to pass along an endless ramble of tips and techniques gained from years of chasing bass. On the other hand, I realized that I also needed to back off and just let my son do his thing. I think the balance was there on this trip with some snags and a backlash in the strong winds for Jayce (both happened for me as well). All parts of the learning process as the bass live around those snags and you can’t control the weather.

First Bass – My first bass of the year was a textbook bite. I was not only excited to land a fish but also enthused to explain to Jayce how it all went down, which I will repeat here. I was working a submerged log that ran at about a 45-degree angle to the bank. The top of the log was about six inches under the surface. I cast my chatterbait well beyond the log and rapidly reeled the lure up to the log so as not to get snagged on the far side. As the chatterbait cleared the log, I slowed my retrieve and dropped my rod tip to allow the lure to fall out of sight on the near side of the log. Bang! A bass right where it should be hiding, waiting for unsuspecting prey to come within striking distance. This scenario is a go to early in the year on The Canal before the aquatic vegetation covers most of these spots. However, there are no guarantees in fishing as we employed the same approach on numerous other logs and only duplicated the feat one more time. Once again, that’s fishing, but in the long run this presentation will get you a batch of early season bites in that cold, shallow Canal.

Exercise, fresh air, a good fishing partner, and a few bass made for a great Sunday afternoon

So, 2026 catching is off and running with a fair total on this day including two “keepers” (bass at 12” or better and all released) to kick off my Top 5 for the year. The one damper on the day was not being able to get Jayce on the board. Perhaps I was just lucky or maybe a forty-plus year headstart gave me a bit of an advantage. I had to laugh as I reeled in bass number three and he said, “Hey, save some for me will you?” He gets it and indicates that he is ready to go again. Talk to you later. Troy

Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate around here to get rid of the ice in February. So, on the heels of a Hennepin Canal hike a week prior that revealed open water, I decided to pack along a few poles on my next walk. Fortune did not smile upon me with a rare February catch, but it was worth a shot. And staying true to my aim of a fishing report for every outing, here we go.

Limited pre-season prep to get in better shape

Stats
Date: February 22
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 4:15pm-4:45pm
Totals: 0 bass
Weather: Overcast/breezy, 30F
Water temperature: Not available, partially frozen
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (white) with a Yamamoto Zako trailer (Tennessee Shad) – 0 bass

Icing up on the reel’s line guide

Tune of the Trip
Ice, Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice (1990)
The edges and some offshore expanses of The Canal were still covered in ice. In spots that narrowed such as an aqueduct and near a roadway tube, the water was open from bank to bank. Those narrow spots result in a current increase that aids in opening the water up sooner. However, that open water was still quite cold resulting in the eyes of the rod and the line guide on the reel freezing closed.

Notes and Nonsense

Destination
For the fourth straight year, I elected to chase my first bass on the Hennepin Canal. The shallow Canal features a bit of current which aids in ice out as does the shallow water which warms more rapidly than many deeper lakes. In addition, multiple sections of The Canal are close to home, lending themselves to a quick visit.

Lure
I packed three poles but only used one and put all my hopes on a chatterbait cranked as slow as possible. In snag-free water, I cast out the lure, let it sink to the bottom and then crawled it back with just enough speed to get it shaking. Around various pieces of wood, I tried to keep the lure as close to the cover as I could with an uptick in speed to avoid getting snagged. Over the last several years, this approach has produced many early season bass but on this day no one would cooperate.

First Bass History
Looking back at the logbook over the last five years, my average date for a first bass is March 12. The last three years, these catches have been on The Canal while the first bass of previous two years came from Knox County public strip pits. The log also reveals that my last February bass was on February 27, 2018, at Little John Conservation Club.

I’ll be back…

My pre-season prediction for the first bass of 2026 was March 7 but that is not going to happen. A turn in the weather and some transportation issues have me writing this fishing report instead of being on the water trying to create a new one. All good though, plenty of month left to reach the annual goal of a March bass. Talk to you later. Troy