A recent look at my fishing logs and family record book prompted me to take an August hike. What I found within the data was a mere six bass from the area that I was considering as a target, caught on August 31, 2019. Among those six bass were four “keepers” with a combined weight of 7-14 (2-8,2-1,1-12,1-9). Not having an August Top 5 was the push that I needed to win the internal debate on whether the proposed hike was worth the effort.

And I wasn’t the only one, as my brother, Brent, also headed for the strip mines on back-to-back days with his kayak in tow.

What follows is proof that it was worth the effort to fight the weather, weeds, moisture, spiders, and ticks with our fifty-something aged bodies in search of our favorite fish.

It all started on Friday, August 18, as a plan was coming together.

Note: Some locations are redacted in the following text exchanges, not to be mistaken for profanity

Brent started off the weekend with 13 bass and a Top 5 of 11-10

Sunday began small for both of us but you’ve gotta start somewhere.

My luck on Maiden Lake took a positive turn with a topwater frog bite.

Brent was also getting some good bites.

Hoping cloud cover would materialize and turn on a quality bite.

Clouds picked up and so did the good bites.

It is exciting fishing your way in but you eventually realize that you have to hike back to the truck.

Well, those fish are out there whether it is April or August, you just have to take your shot. The goal was to beef up the August record book and I would have to say that our outings were a rousing success with a combined Top 5 of 14-8 and several new entries for various lakes. Those numbers will have to wait until after the year concludes as there is still plenty of fishing to do before the annual wrap-up posts. For now, these results have served as inspiration to find some further goals in terms of aspects that are lacking in the record book. Some may get a shot in 2023 while others are on an evolving target list for 2024. Talk to you later. Troy