I enjoy this time of year as the longer days allow me to work in a few hours of fishing after the typical workday ends around 5:00pm. And twelve days was long enough between trips so off to The Canal I went.
7:44pm – Top Bass at 2-9 (17″) on a buzzbait
Stats
Date: June 11
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 6:05pm-8:35pm
Totals: 17 bass
Weather: Partly cloudy to sunny/breezy, 80F
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 15 bass, 5” Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (pumpkin black flake) – 2 bass
Top Bass: 2-9 (Buzzbait)
Top 5 Weight: 8-4 (2-9,1-8,1-8,1-6,1-5)
Winning Lures
Notes and Nonsense
The Plan – I was lukewarm on my intended destination as two previous visits hadn’t produced much to brag about. In fact, my Top 5 sat at a mere 5-5 (1-3,1-1,1-1,1-0,1-0), barely over one pound per bass. That was part of my goal; to give that Top 5 a boost. In addition, the water levels in this area looked to be higher than previous years, which was to my liking. Higher water on The Canal may only amount to half a foot but it brings new cover into play and makes existing cover more appealing. And it is always fun to visit a body of water under varied conditions to see what you can learn.
Plan B – So, with all that said regarding my initial plan, I never made a single cast at my intended destination. I spotted another angler in the area and as there is not much of a “passing lane” on The Canal, I opted to fish in the other direction instead. Like the intended stretch, this area also had much room for improvement with a Top 5 of only 6-8 (1-6,1-6,1-6,1-3,1-3) from three prior visits.
Top Bass Runner Up clip below
Close But No Cigar – Seventeen bass in a two-and-a-half-hour trip is a definite winner, especially after a slow start of only three bass in the first hour on the water. I also shattered the Top Bass mark for the pool with the 2-9 more than doubling the previous record of 1-3. However, I still fell short of the boost needed to push my all-time Top 5 for the pool to the ten-pound mark. The Top 5 mark now stands at 8-5 (2-9,1-8,1-8,1-6,1-6). Which means that I need a return trip. That prospect became more encouraging as the results of this trip were much better than the prior visits. By the way, did you know that the phrase “close but no cigar” is said to have originated on the carnival midway? Apparently, cigars were once given as prizes and if a patron fell short on a game, well, there you go.
This impromptu outing on a low-ranking stretch of The Canal turned out to be an eye opener with a dozen “keepers” and a new Top Bass for the spot. It just goes to show that my previous struggles to find a good bite on this stretch don’t mean that they aren’t there. More like it simply wasn’t my day. I took this lesson and put it to work on the next visit as I hit the area I originally intended to fish on this outing. And I had a special guest angler along for the row. Stay tuned for that report as well as a Top 5 Update to begin next week. Talk to you later. Troy