The Canal is an interesting body of water to fish as there are many choices when deciding where to go. It’s like having thirty long, skinny ponds to choose from within about forty-five minutes from home. This time around, I chose two pools covering two miles of water in an area that showed up as Atkinson on my weather app. I’d fished each a pair of times but was still lacking a few quality bites to push the Top 5 Weight for each pool into double digits.
Stats
Date: May 25
Location: Hennepin Canal (two pools)
Time: 6:15am-11:05am
Totals: 11 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 51-70F
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 4 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (red craw) – 3 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) with Bass Pro Shops Twin Tail trailer (Houdini) – 2 bass, 5” Yamamoto Senko (blue pearl/silver flake) – 1 bass, 3.75” Strike King Rage Tail Swimmer (pro blue/red pearl) with 3/8 oz. belly hook – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-8 (Spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight: 5-15 (1-8,1-7,1-3,0-15,0-14)
Winning Lures
Notes and Nonsense
6:26am – First bass and Top Bass at 1-8 (15″) on a spinnerbait
“That’s close enough to perfect for me.”
Close Enough to Perfect – Alabama (1982)
I would say that if you are looking for perfection on a fishing trip, you aren’t going to find it. Like most any endeavor, there are far too many variables for the stars to be precisely aligned. On the positive side of this outing, the gnats were not bad, the water was nearly devoid of cottonwood fuzz, and the wind was manageable for a guy rowing a boat. Room for improvement included poor water clarity, too much sun, and a lack of quality bites. But, hey, I was on the water doing what I enjoy, getting some exercise, fresh air, and peace of mind.
“Losing” lures but they are really “winners”
“He’s a loser but he still keeps on trying.”
Lonesome Loser – Little River Band (1979)
I hit the water armed with six lures tied on to my rods and reels: Senko, chatterbait, lipless crankbait, buzzbait, spinnerbait, and topwater frog. Four of them landed a bass and a swap to a swimbait late in the day also fooled one fish. The “losers” on this trip turned out to be the chatterbait and the topwater frog. Of course, those two baits are not “losers.” Instead, they are vital weapons in my arsenal, just not the ticket on this morning.
8:24am – Top Bass Runner-Up at 1-7 (15″) on a buzzbait
“And there ain’t no road too long, when we meet in the middle.”
Meet in the Middle – Diamond Rio (1991)
Technically, I suppose my version of the lyric would be “ain’t no ‘row’ too long.” One of the stretches that I fished on this trip covers roughly a mile and a quarter between roads/tubes. During my two previous visits, I had launched from the western end and fished about midway down the pool to the east. Therefore, on this outing I elected to put in at the east end and fish west to cover the portion of the pool that I had yet to see. New water is always exciting, but I found more of the same bass in the one-to-one-and-a-half-pound range.
A fair amount of bass was fooled but I still need better bites to hit the double-digit mark for each spot (currently sitting at 6-12 and 8-8). I suspect that those bites are there, just a matter of finding them, so I will be back. Talk to you later. Troy