Next up, we look at another batch of strip mine lakes. A few of these lakes, I first fished thirty-five years ago but had neglected in more recent years. The return trips were worth the time and the effort required in walking and/or dragging around a boat.
July 24 – Top Bass from these waters at 3-5 (19″) on a frog
Knox County, IL Public Strip Mines II
(5 visits, 11 lakes – 5/15 through 9/6)
54 bass
15.00 hours (0.25 to 5.00 hours on each water)
3.60 bass/hour
Top Bass: 3-5 Frog on 7/24
Top 5 Weight: 12-6 (3-5,2-13,2-4,2-2,1-14)
Overview
This batch of strip pits consisted largely of water that I had not fished for quite a few years. Looking at my logbook data showed that the most recent visit to any of these waters was 2021. Several went back to 2016, and one I had not tried since 2004. I invested most of my time (10.25 hours total) on three lakes that needed several quality bites to establish a ten-pound Top 5. I did manage to get the boost on one of the three spots and caught plenty of fish on the other two but couldn’t muster good enough bites to meet my overall goal.
Lures
Like the previous post, I fished most of these strip pits from May through July, so a frog dominated the haul on those that I fished from a boat. Even on the steeper, deeper, waters, the shoreline weedbeds and lily pad fields harbored plenty of bass that were susceptible to the topwater presentation. When I shifted gears to fishing the depths, a swimbait and shaky head worm did the trick. On a pair of lakes featuring accessible flats when fishing from the bank, a chatterbait was effective during a September visit.
Videos
Since frogs caught 31 of the 54 bass from this area, I have posted a pair of clips highlighting frog catches. The video above demonstrates that it doesn’t have to be shallow vegetation for this topwater presentation to be effective. The weed clump where this bass was hanging out was in 6–8-foot water and dropping sharply into nearly 20 foot of water. The video below showcases a more common setup with a heavily weeded flat extending to a point before dropping into 12-14 foot of water. I really didn’t get my cast as close to the weed edge as I’d intended but in this case it didn’t matter. In fact, I did not even have to impart any action to the frog as the splashdown was enough to get the attention of an active bass.
2026 Outlook
As noted in the overview, I had neglected a lot of this water in favor of other haunts for the last four years or more. Upon returning, the bass treated me well as I established a couple new personal lake records as well as hitting my goal of a ten-pound Top 5 on one of the spots. Many others still need some work with current Top 5 Weights ranging from 6-9 to 8-13, meaning that a good bite or two is all that I need to hit the mark. And I know those quality fish are in there. Time will tell for 2026 as the strip mines offer the dilemma of too many fishing holes and not enough hours of free time.
Next up we shift gears and look at 2025 on the historic Hennepin Canal. Talk to you later. Troy
