Once September arrives, I consider it “fall” fishing even though we aren’t quite there yet. And fall fishing brings anxiety on two fronts. On the upside, the bass will go on a feed and if you time it right, the bite can get wild. On the downside, the next couple of months are the home stretch for my fishing year with the final goal being a November bass before I put the gear away. Choices are tough too, as I have a lot of water that I want to visit and limited time to invest. For this pair of outings, I stuck to The Canal, and I use some pop/rock tunes to help tell the tale in today’s report.
September 14 at 8:18am – Top Bass Runner-Up at 1-0 (13″) on a lipless crankbait
Stats
Date: September 14-15
Location: Hennepin Canal (2 pools)
Time: 6:45am-10:00am, 6:40am-8:40am
Totals: 3 bass (two on 9/14, one on 9/15)
Weather: Partly cloudy/breezy, 63-79F
Lures: Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (natural red) – 1 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 1-5 (Spro frog on 9/14)
Top 2 Weight (combined trips): 2-5 (1-5,1-0)
Winning – Santana (1981)
“I’m winning, I’m winning, and I don’t intend on losing again.”
The winning lures from September 14
Notes and Nonsense
Dirty Water – The Standells (1966)
The Canal has given me fits lately while hitting spots farther from home. I have found that the further east I progress, the dingier the water. Whether it is solely this variable or not, the results have been as ugly as the water clarity. These two outings were no exception as I could not get anything going despite throwing a bit of everything. From top to bottom and fast to not as fast, it just wasn’t my weekend. The “Dirty Water” tune from The Standells offers up, “I love that dirty water.” Me, not so much.
September 14 at 9:08am – Top Bass at 1-5 (14″) on a topwater frog
Right Place Wrong Time – Dr. John (1973)
My experience of three years and over a hundred miles of rowing, biking, and hiking The Canal has convinced me that there are quality bass all along the waterway. Some stretches are better than others on any given day. For instance, while these two spots had each produced a three-pounder on prior visits, the bass sure had lockjaw on this weekend. In addition, there were a couple glowing reports from anglers fishing to the west of my location. To add my own line to Dr. John’s “Right Place Wrong Time,” I would say that “I was in the right trough, but it must have been the wrong pool.”
September 15 at 6:43am – Lone bass of the morning on a spinnerbait
Go West – Village People (1979)
In my pursuit to post a ten-pound Top 5 on each pool from Colona to the Feeder Basin, I have focused a great deal of time east of Geneseo. On most of the water west of Geneseo, I had already accomplished my goal. While I have not ruled out any more visits to the east before the year ends, I am leaning towards wrapping up the year on the clearer western stretches. Heeding the words of the Village People, “Go west, we will do just fine.”
Just Once – Quincy Jones with James Ingram (1980)
“I did my best, but I guess my best wasn’t good enough.”
Losing lures from September 14
After these tough outings on The Canal, I opted for a change of scenery for my next trip. And I didn’t wait long as I hit the Knox County strip mines on the evening of September 15 for a couple of hours to try and save the day. Stay tuned for that report. Talk to you later. Troy