2023 marked the tenth year of the Top 5 project. Eighty-eight more bass joined the ledger including Bass #1000 from our crew, fittingly caught by Jim Junk, our three-time defending champ. In addition to the 2023 final stats that were posted last month, I also like to provide an annual update of the all-time numbers. So, here we go.
(Note: the stats for this post only include bass submissions, not additional species).
Jim Junk with Top 5 Bass entry #1000 caught on April 9, 2023
Group Totals = 1056 bass
2014 = 154
2015 = 106
2016 = 136
2017 = 79
2018 = 116
2019 = 95
2020 = 90
2021 = 92
2022 = 100
2023 = 88
Submissions by month (2014-2023)
250 April (43/33/31/11/12/14/25/14/35/32)
176 May (27/23/19/13/24/12/18/13/7/20)
140 June (34/14/15/1/10/14/17/10/16/9)
121 March (13/11/34/10/0/8/4/19/15/7)
101 July (18/11/8/11/8/11/10/12/2/10)
71 September (6/4/6/6/16/9/6/10/5/3)
67 October (4/5/4/8/24/8/2/3/6/3)
40 August (1/3/1/4/4/7/3/4/11/2)
36 November (6/0/4/0/8/9/4/2/3/0)
33 February (2/2/7/13/5/0/0/2/0/2)
13 December (0/0/7/1/0/2/3/0/0)
8 January (0/0/0/1/5/1/1/0/0/0)
Top 10 Top 5 Monthly Weights (group total)
37-9 May 2014
29-8 June 2014
29-7 March 2016
29-2 April 2014
28-10 April 2022
28-9 October 2018
28-7 December 2016
27-14 April 2015
27-12 March 2015
27-11 July 2014
Top 5 Weights by Month (group total)
January (2018) = 13-5 (3-15, 2-7, 2-6, 2-6, 2-3)
February (2016) = 22-9 (6-7,4-15,4-10,4-1,2-8)
March (2016) = 29-7 (6-5,6-1,5-14,5-10,5-9)
April (2014) = 29-2 (8-0, 5-11, 5-10, 4-15. 4-14)
May (2014) = 37-9 (9-4, 8-10, 8-8, 6-1, 5-2)
June (2014) = 29-8 (6-11, 6-4, 5-10, 5-8, 5-7)
July (2014) = 27-11 (6-6, 6-0, 5-5, 5-0, 5-0)
August (2019) = 19-4 (4-14,4-10,4-6,2-14,2-8)
September (2019) = 24-5 (5-3,5-0,5-0,4-12,4-6)
October (2018) = 28-9 (6-3,5-14,5-10,5-10,5-4)
November (2018) = 26-1 (7-2,6-12,4-3,4-0,4-0)
December (2016) = 28-7 (7-7,6-5,5-13,4-11,4-3)
Monthly Top Bass
January
3-15 Mark Balbinot 1/27/18 Crankbait
February
6-7 Mike Overturf 2/27/16 Plastic Worm
March
7-0 Randy Sampson Sr. 3/22/15 Jig
April
8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14 Crankbait
May
9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
June
6-11 Ty Hartlipp 6/11/14 Topwater Frog
July
6-6 Jake Bresson 7/11/14 Plastic Worm
August
6-8 Gary Le 8/16/14 Swimbait
September
6-0 Austin Chapman 9/19/15 Jig
October
7-4 Mark Balbinot 10/29/17 Jig
November
7-2 Mark Balbinot 11/23/18 Underspin
December
7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16 Underspin
Public vs. Private Water (2014-2023)
Public = 774 bass (92/52/95/42/92/68/63/87/98/85)
Public Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
32-2,31-7,30-5,27-7,24-5,25-4,25-13,26-4,28-10,26-8 (2023)
Private = 265 bass (53/48/39/37/24/27/27/5/2/3)
Private Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
8-10,30-0,32-13,33-14,31-9,24-3,30-5,13-3,2-7,8-4 (2023)
Undisclosed = 17 bass (9/6/2/0/0/0/0/0/0/0)
Boat vs. Bank (2014-2023)
Boat = 556 bass (90/63/103/68/55/33/26/28/55/35)
Boat Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
30-7,31-7,32-13,33-14,31-9,25-4,21-4,18-6,17-9,21-14 (2023)
Bank = 494 bass (64/43/27/11/61/62/64/64/45/53)
Bank Top 5 Weight (2014-2023)
40-14,27-6,27-12,20-14,24-2,25-7,30-6,26-4,28-10,26-0 (2023)
Undisclosed = 6 bass
The Baits (44 undisclosed)
291 Plastic Worms (Top Bass 6-8 Mark Balbinot 11/20/16)
118 Spinnerbaits (6-14 Chris Schwarz 3/25/20)
120 Lipless Crankbaits (6-3 Mark Balbinot 10/20/18) – moved up
86 Crankbaits (8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14)
79 Chatterbaits (5-15 Jim Junk 6/22/20)
66 Jigs (9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14)
37 Jerkbaits (5-10 Ty Hartlipp 6/5/14)
34 Buzzbaits (5-9 Troy Jackson 4/25/17)
33 Swimbaits (8-10 Gary Le 5/4/14)
30 Creature Baits (6-15 Mark Balbinot 5/13/17) -moved u
29 Swim Jigs (6-13 Jake Bresson 4/9/15)
14 Underspins (Top Bass 7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16)
14 Topwater Frogs (6-11 Ty Hartlipp 6/11/14)
12 Tubes (Top Bass 5-0 Jake Bresson 4/28/15)
10 Grubs (Top Bass 7-0 Chris Schwarz 11/28/20)
9 Propbaits (6-2 Jake Bresson 5/1/15)
8 Livebait (5-14 Jim Junk 7/4/14)
8 Poppers (3-1 Troy Jackson 9/25/01)
6 Stickbaits (6-6 Mark Balbinot 8/27/17)
5 Ultralights (3-1 Paul Kessler 10/12/17)
2 Inline Spinners (5-2 Jake Bresson 9/17/17)
1 Blade Baits (5-3 Mark Balbinot 11/16/19)
Top 10 Top 5 Bass
9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
8-10 Gary Le 5/4/14 Swimbait
8-8 Jake Bresson 5/23/14 Jig
8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14 Crankbait
7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16 Underspin
7-4 Mark Balbinot 10/29/17 Jig
7-2 Mark Balbinot 11/23/18 Underspin
7-0 Randy Sampson Sr. 3/22/15 Jig
7-0 Chris Schwarz 11/28/20 Grub
6-15 Mark Balbinot 5/13/17 Creature Bait
The 20-Pound Club * = 2023 entry
33-14 Mark Balbinot 2017 (7-4,6-15,6-13,6-8,6-6)
32-13 Jake Bresson 2014 (9-4, 8-8, 6-6, 4-10, 4-1)
32-13 Mark Balbinot 2016 (7-7,6-8,6-5,6-5,6-4)
32-0 Gary Le 2014 (8-10,6-8,5-12,5-10, 5-8)
31-9 Mark Balbinot 2018 (7-2,6-12,6-3,5-14,5-10)
30-5 Chris Schwarz (7-0,6-14,5-12,5-7,5-4)
29-7 Austin Chapman 2015 (6-4,6-2,6-0,5-14,5-3)
27-13 Jim Junk 2022 (6-9,6-0,5-12,5-1,4-7)
27-12 Jake Bresson 2015 (6-13,6-2,5-5,5-0,4-8)
27-6 Randy Sampson Sr 2015 (7-0,6-1,4-13,4-12,4-12)
27-6 Jake Bresson 2016 (6-3,5-13,5-4,5-2,5-0)
26-13 Troy Jackson 2017 (6-2,5-11,5-9,5-0,4-7)
26-4 Austin Chapman 2016 (5-14,5-10,5-2,4-14,4-12)
26-1 Brice Wangler 2014 (5-11, 5-5, 5-2, 5-0, 4-15)
26-0 Jim Junk 2021 (6-0,5-5,5-3,5-2,4-6)
25-13 Jim Junk 2020 (5-15,5-5,4-15,4-14,4-12)
*25-9 Jim Junk 2023 (5-9,5-5,5-1,4-14,4-12)
25-8 Brice Wangler 2015 (5-7,5-4,5-2,4-14,4-13)
25-4 Mark Balbinot 2019 (5-5,5-3,5-1,4-14,4-13)
24-14 Ty Hartlipp 2014 (6-11, 5-10, 5-5, 4-0, 3-4)
24-14 Jim Junk 2019 (5-3,5-1,5-0,4-14,4-12)
24-9 Terry Isbell 2014 (5-8,5-4,5-2,4-8,4-3)
23-12 Jake Bresson 2017 (5-4,5-2,5-2,4-3,4-1)
23-11 Randy Sampson Sr. 2017 (6-0,4-14,4-12,4-11,3-6)
23-8 Jim Junk 2018 (5-4,5-2,4-9,4-5,4-4)
22-15 Adam Bean 2015 (5-13,4-9,4-6,4-2,4-1)
22-13 Mike Mooney 2014 (6-4, 5-7, 4-3, 3-9, 3-6)
22-12 Troy Jackson 2015 (5-13,4-13,4-10,3-12,3-12)
21-8 Randy Sampson Sr. 2016 (5-12,5-8,4-11,3-1,2-8)
*21-10 Troy Jackson (5-3,4-10,4-2,4-1,3-10)
21-7 Brice Wangler 2016 (4-8,4-7,4-4,4-2,4-2)
21-3 Troy Jackson 2016 (5-9,5-4,3-9,3-7,3-6)
20-15 Chris Schwarz 2018 (4-11,4-11,4-8,4-0,3-1)
20-14 Troy Jackson 2014 (4-13, 4-6, 4-2, 4-1, 3-8)
20-12 Chris Schwarz 2019 (5-3,5-0,3-11,3-10,3-4)
20-9 Austin Chapman 2014 (4-15, 4-4,4-0,3-13,3-9)
20-1 Bruce Zilkowski 2014 (4-11,4-3,4-0,3-12,3-7)
20-0 Troy Jackson 2021 (4-10,4-4,4-3,3-9,3-6)
And just for fun…
All-Time Weights (30-pound minimum “career” mark)
(Note: not all anglers have participated each year)
200-6 Troy Jackson
(20-14,22-12,21-3,26-13,15-9,14-4,18-12,20-0,18-9,21-10)
194-12 Jim Junk
(11-7,16-5,13-7,23-8,24-14,25-13,26-0,27-13,25-9)
123-8 Mark Balbinot
(33-14,32-13,31-9,25-4)
150-8 Brent Jackson
(18-7,6-10,13-2,10-2,19-2,13-7,13-3,18-11,18-9,19-3)
111-11 Jake Bresson
(32-13,27-12,27-6,23-12)
76-4 Austin Chapman
(20-9,29-7,26-4)
73-0 Brice Wangler
(26-1,25-8,21-7)
72-15 Bruce Zilkowski
(20-1,17-0,17-14,18-0)
72-10 Randy Sampson, Sr.
(27-6,21-8,23-12)
72-0 Chris Schwarz
(20-15,20-12,30-5)
66-12 Paul Kessler
(18-6,17-6,16-6,14-10)
45-11 Mike Mooney
(22-13,4-9,18-5)
44-6 John Kirkemo
(10-8,6-14,8-0,11-14,7-2)
I have been slacking on the blog for various reasons during the “off season” but intend to be back with more stats from 2023 as well as our first Top 5 entry for 2024. Stay tuned as we head into a new year on the water and revisit the highlights of the previous year. Talk to you later. Troy