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

After leaving the water two bass shy in my quest for all-time Canal Bass #1,000 the previous morning, I didn’t wait long to get back. Two bass was not a real tall order, but one wily bass and Mother Nature combined to throw a wrench into the pursuit and keep me in suspense.

5:52am – Top Bass (Canal Bass #999) weighing 2-11 (18″) on a frog

Stats
Date: July 4
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 5:40am-6:10am, 7:20am-10:50am
Totals: 9 bass
Weather: A bit of everything
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (blue pearl/black hologram or black) – 6 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 2-11 Frog
Top 5 Weight: 9-2 (2-11,2-2,1-10,1-6,1-5)

Winning lures

Lyric of the Trip
“Saturday, in the park, I think it was the fourth of July.”
Chicago – Saturday in the Park (1972)

Mother Nature caused a delay

Notes and Nonsense

Rain Delay – Twelve minutes into casting I landed Canal Bass #999, a solid fish weighing 2-11, on a topwater frog. Three minutes later, I had a good strike on the frog, but the result was a swing and a miss to delay Bass #1,000. Over the next fifteen minutes the storm clouds gathered while I failed to entice another bite. Wisely, I headed back in proximity to my vehicle and was within a few yards when the skies opened up. A shot at Bass #1,000 would be on hold for an hour and ten minutes as I waited out the rain.

8:06am – Top Bass Runner-Up (Canal Bass #1,001) weighing 2-2 (16″) on a frog

Anticipation – Needing only one bass after the delay, my mind drifted back to Christmas Eve nights many years ago. Lying in bed full of anticipation, wondering how it works that you fall asleep. What you naturally do every other night of the year isn’t so natural on December 24. The thought was fleeting, however, as I knew it was only a matter of time before I got another bite. I was fishing good water and with forty-plus years of practice and muscle memory, I was putting my frog right where it needed to be. At 7:25am, that spot was nearly at my feet.

7:25am – Hennepin Canal Bass #1,000 on a frog

Closeup of the catch with the exact location in the background as it hit right next to the bank

Bass #1,000 – For the milestone catch, I was working a stretch of shoreline that featured an extended surface covering of duckweed. I cast well beyond the duckweed mat, anticipating a strike as my frog neared the edge but it did not materialize. Instead, a fish knocked my frog clear of the surface within a few feet of the bank. After the frog came to rest, I gave a few more twitches and had a light pop as I lifted the lure out of the water for another cast. Knowing that I had a hot fish, I gently flicked out the frog about fifteen feet from the bank so as not to spook my quarry. Fortunately, the bass was still there and interested as it hit again so close to the bank that a successful hookset pulled the fish clear out of the water. Mission accomplished for a feat just over five years in the making.

 

With the 1,000 Canal Bass mark established, any pressure was off and seven more bass were entered into the log. Five were keepers, four contributed to a respectable Top 5 for the day of 9-2, and one topped the two-pound mark at 2-2. While I fell shy of my normal top goal of a ten-pound Top 5, I had an entirely different goal in mind and that one worked out just fine. Only 993 bass to go for 2,000 Canal Bass. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

This trip had been proposed for several years but never materialized. My brother Brent and I had fished together numerous times during that period, but I had yet to introduce him to the Hennepin Canal. Well, we got ‘er done so read on to see how we did.

7:15am – Brent’s first ever Canal bass on a chatterbait (told him that they get bigger)

Stats
Date: June 27
Location: Hennepin Canal (2 pools)
Time: 6:10am-2:10pm
Totals: 15 bass (Brent – 8 bass, Troy – 7 bass)
Weather: Overcast to partly cloudy/calm to breezy, 61-77F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures (Brent): Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) – 4 bass, Bass Pro Shops Stik-O (watermelon seed) – 3 bass, Booyah Poppin Pad Crasher Frog (bullfrog) – 1 bass
Lures (Troy): Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 3 bass, 5” Yamamoto Yamasenko wacky rig (smoke/black, copper flake/yellow tip) – 3 bass, Booyah Buzzbait (white) – 1 bass
Top Bass (Brent): 2-5 (Chatterbait)
Top Bass (Troy): 2-1 (Frog)
Top 5 Weight (combined): 8-10 (2-5,2-1,1-11,1-5,1-4)

Brent’s winning lures

Troy’s winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Float Trip – For Brent’s inaugural voyage on the historic waterway, we opted to employ the float trip approach to cover several miles of water. As the “motor” in my little johnboat is yours truly, this plan eliminates having to row back to the launching point. Instead, we drop a vehicle downstream and then drive upstream to launch. From there, rowing and a bit of lazy current keep us moving along.

7:48am – Top Bass #4 weighing 1-5 (14″) on a buzzbait

11:23am – Top Bass #3 weighing 1-11 (15″) on a frog

Water Level – This stretch of The Canal was as full as I can ever recall as we have received ample precipitation this year. I viewed this as positive as in the past many areas have been so shallow that you could see the bottom throughout. The downside was that the rain had the water riled up so it was murkier than I would prefer. But you can’t have it all and the fish are still there; you just must figure them out.

11:44am – Top Bass #5 weighing 1-4 (12.5″) on a frog

12:40pm – Top Bass #2 weighing 2-1 (16″) on a frog

Top 5 Boost – I have the length of The Canal that we floated broken down into four separate sections via on the water landmarks. As a dedicated stat keeper, I have collected five years of Canal catch data. My goal is to establish a ten-pound Top 5 on every stretch of The Canal that I fish. Each of the sections we visited already had double-digit Top 5 weights ranging from 10-1 to 15-11, so any boost was icing on the cake for the Top 5 quest. Both of our individual Top Bass on this trip (Brent 2-5, Troy 2-1) came on the same pool. My fish boosted my personal Top 5 on the pool from 10-2 to 10-7. Brent’s addition boosted the partner Top 5 on the pool from 11-0 to 11-10 (courtesy of catches by Brent, my wife, Julie, and myself).

12:57pm – Top Bass weighing 2-5 (17″) on a chatterbait

I dig The Canal. The bass that call it home have been good to me, but it can get weird. I was excited to show them off to Brent during a trip that had been discussed for a few years. We caught some bass including a couple good ones but overall, it did not live up to its billing in my opinion. Fortunately, we’ve both been fishing for long enough to understand that some days just don’t meet your big expectations. Get ‘em next time. Talk to you later. Troy