June marked an anniversary of sorts as my first ever bass from The Canal was landed on June 4, 2021. As such, I have passed the one-year mark in terms of canal experience and the learning just keeps moving forward. Read on for the statistics from the June 2022 prowls.
Stats
June 12 Top Bass on a spinnerbait
Date: June 12 (two sections)
Time: 8:50am-10:50am, 11:20am-1:05pm
Totals: 9 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy to sunny/breezy to windy and 71-80F
Lures: Special K Spinnerbait (bold bluegill) – 6 bass, Special K Buzzbait – 1 bass, Bass Pro Shops Stik-O wacky rig (candy corn) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-6 Special K Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 4-4 (1-6,1-0,1-0,0-14)
Comments: A slow bite on one of my better spots led me to expand my exploration on another nearby stretch. More of a tough bite but did enjoy seeing some new water. The clarity on these two stretches was darn near crystal clear. Quite unusual compared to prior visits, and teamed with bright sun this provided my excuse for the challenging day.
June 15 Top Bass Runner-Up on a buzzbait
Date: June 15
Time: 6:05pm-7:50pm
Totals: 9 bass
Weather: Sunny to overcast/windy and 85-92F
Lures: Special K Buzzbait – 6 bass, Special K Spinnerbait (bold bluegill) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 1-12 Special K Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight (only 2 at 12” or better): 3-7 (1-12,1-11)
Comments: Gotta dig The Canal for a quick trip after getting home from work as there are plenty of access areas within a twenty-minute drive. This outing got cut short by some lightning and thunder sending me packing even though the bite had kicked up a notch. Safety first, the bass will still be there when I show up next time.
June 17 Top Bass on a wacky rig
Date: June 17
Time: 7:15pm-7:45pm
Totals: 1 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy and 81F
Lures: Bass Pro Shops Stik-O wacky rig (candy corn) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 0-15 Stik-O
Top 5 Weight (only one at 12” or better): 0-15
Comments: A quick evening walk after arriving for a Father’s Day camping trip on The Canal produces a bite and avoids a shutout. That’s always the goal when I have a few minutes to cast, fool at least one bass. Mission accomplished.
June 18 Top Bass on a Whopper Plopper
Date: June 18
Time: 9:00am-9:30am, 1:00pm-3:00pm, 6:00pm-6:45pm
Totals: 4 bass
Weather: Sunny/calm to breezy and 72-85F
Lures: Bass Pro Shops Stik-O wacky rig (candy corn) – 3 bass, Whopper Plopper 90 (I Know It) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-3 Whopper Plopper
Top 5 Weight (only 2 at 12” or better): 2-3 (1-3,1-0)
Comments: Camping along The Canal afforded three separate prowls on this Saturday. A family hike where I primarily focused on playing “guide” was sandwiched in between a couple short walks to begin and end the day. The rest of the family posted an additional ten bass, but those results deserve their own post later this month.
June 24 Top Bass on a spinnerbait
Date: June 24
Time: 6:50pm-9:05pm
Totals: 14 bass
Weather: Sunny/calm
Lures: Special K Buzzbait – 9 bass, Special K Spinnerbait (bold bluegill) – 5 bass
Top Bass: 2-15 Special K Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 11-3 (2-15,2-10,2-3,2-1,1-6)
Comments: My standard one-two punch of a buzzbait and a spinnerbait comes through again with four bass between two and three pounds. Gotta dig The Canal for a quick getaway of a couple hours, especially when the bite is on and establishes my best Top 5 outing on The Canal (see Record Book Data below).
June 26 lone bass of the evening caught by my son, Jayce, on a Whopper Plopper
Date: June 26 (with Jayce)
Time: 5:45pm-7:30pm
Totals: 1 bass (Jayce – 1 bass, Dad – 0 bass)
Weather: Partly cloudy/windy
Lures: Whopper Plopper 90 (Terminator)
Top Bass: none at 12” or better
Top 5 Weight: none at 12” or better
Comments: For the second straight outing with my son, Jayce, he outfished me. In fact, I’ve been shutout 3 bass to zero. He said, “I must be bad luck.” I told him that it was good luck if he caught fish, just one of those things and that I would probably take him again anyway. Top 5 angler John Kirkemo offered up the possibility that, “Maybe you are spending more time coaching and less time fishing.” Indeed, plenty of advice and explanation along the way but I am pretty sure that I made more casts than Jayce as he took a break here and there. I hit it just as hard as normal, and my partner simply came out ahead. That’s cool and looking forward to one of these days when I can put him on more and larger fish.
June Totals
Six outings covering five different pools
11.75 hours and 37 bass (3.15 bass/hour)
Top Bass: 2-15 June 24 Spinnerbait
Top 5 June Bass Weight: 11-9 (2-15,2-10,2-3,2-1,1-12)
RECORD BOOK UPDATE
Hennepin Canal (2021-present)
Top Bass: 3-6 Troy Jackson 7/21/21 Plastic Worm
BEST TOP 5 DAY NEW RECORD
11-3 (2-15,2-10,2-3,2-1,1-6) on 6/24/22 tops 10-8 from 4/23/22
All-Time Top 5 Canal Weight: 16-2 (3-6,3-5,3-4,3-2,3-1)
Comments: One monthly highlight is topping my best Top 5 day with 11-3 on the June 24 outing. This haul tops the old mark of 10-8 from April 23. It still takes a bass over the three-pound mark to enter the all-time Top 5 list, as the best I could fool this month was a 2-15, a few ounces shy of displacing one of my all-time Top 5 Canal bass.
Another good month of getaways on The Canal. July is off to a solid start as well and four more weeks of prowling to go before the totals and highlights head your way in the July edition of “Prowl the Canal”. In the meantime, stay tuned for some further notes and data on the June prowls. Talk to you later. Troy