Back-to-back mornings on The Canal as I chased the bass on a stretch where my Top 5 sat at 7-8. The aim was to fool a few to knock the lighter bass out of my creel and boost the Top 5 weight into double digits.

6:06am – First bass and an impaired eye did not seem to hinder the aim on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: May 19
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 5:50am-8:20am
Totals: 5 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 64F
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 5 bass
Top Bass: 2-9 (Buzzbait)
Top 4 Weight (only 4 at 12” or better): 6-2 (2-9,1-10,1-3,0-12)

Winning Lure

6:11am – Top Bass at 2-9 (18″) on a buzzbait

Notes and Nonsense

Buzz and Bust – All five of my bass fell to a buzzbait and all within a one-hour stretch. My first bass was landed at 6:06am, about fifteen minutes after launching the boat. Bass number five came at 7:06am and I never caught another fish in the remaining seventy minutes on the water. Once the sun rose above the tree line, the buzzbait bite was over and I never found a backup bait to get the job done.

 

Gnasty Gnats – The gnats were less terrible than the previous day but still ugly. It is futile to swat at them or brush them away from your face, so you just must grin and bear it. Which is not always easy to do when they are in your ears, up your nose, between your shades and your eyes, or occasionally breathed into your mouth. Occasionally, though, I must take a slap at some of them, and I have to say that it is quite satisfying to feel one smash in the process. They bite too, but I really didn’t notice it a whole lot at the time. Instead, I now have over a dozen welts on my face, jaw line, ears, and neck from those nasty little bugs. And another thing. I bet that I sneezed a couple dozen times while on the water between the two mornings due to those pesky insects. You just have to decide whether you love fishing more than you hate bugs and that’s a no brainer for me. By the way, I hate lotions, potions, and sprays so thank you in advance for any suggestions, but I likely won’t heed the helpful advice.

 

The morning did not live up to my expectations and the catches only boosted my overall Top 5 to 9-5. That means a return trip in search of eleven more ounces to reach the ten-pound mark and meet my goal. The bad thing is that this section has a tough “boat ramp” that is littered with poison ivy and bound to get worse as we head into summer. In fact, I got my first dose of it on this outing but fortunately only on a couple fingers. Such are the perils when prowling The Canal. But I plan to be back somewhere on its waters before too long. So, stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy