Month: February 2025

2024 Bass Recap – Lures Part II

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Part II of the 2024 Lure Recap features the heavy hitters that landed 471 of my 626 largemouth bass.

Chatterbait – 59 bass vs. 33 bass in 2023
Z Man Chatterbait (sexy shad or black/blue) with various swimbait trailers
Top Bass: 2-15 Lake Storey – October 11
Top 5 Weight: 12-14 (2-15,2-14,2-12,2-6,1-15)
Comments: For the second straight year, a chatterbait spent a lot of time tied to the end of a rod. From March through November, this lure type was in the starting lineup, and it paid dividends anywhere I threw it. A chatterbait caught Bass #1 of the year on March 3, Bass #626 on November 17, and plenty in between including the Top Lake Storey Bass of 2024 at 2-15. I am still more of a spinnerbait guy and probably always will be but the chatterbait has become an important tool in my tacklebox with my favorite targets being flats, riprap banks, and rockpiles.

Buzzbaits – 77 bass vs. 25 bass in 2023
Booyah Buzzbait (snow white shad) and Big Bite Baits Suicide Buzz (citrus shad)
Top Bass: 2-12 Hennepin Canal – August 14 and August 25
Top 5 Weight: 13-3 (2-12,2-12,2-9,2-9,2-9)
Comments: After a down year in 2023, buzzbaits were back in 2024 as I spent a great deal of time on the shallow waters of The Canal. Last year, I also tried a new offering, the Big Bites Bait Suicide Buzz that features swimbait body as opposed to a skirt. The first catch on the new bait was a 2-4 from The Canal in August and it later landed one of my Top Buzzbait Bass of the year at 2-12. It is tough to beat a buzzbait when the weather warms, and The Canal is custom made for topwater commotion.

Topwater Frogs – 79 bass vs. 25 bass in 2023
Spro Flappin’ Frog 65 (albino, killer gill, natural red)
Top Bass: 3-10 Hennepin Canal – September 29
Top 5 2023: 15-10 (3-10,3-6,3-3,2-14,2-9)
Comments: After several years of proclaiming myself to be among the worst frog fisherman around, things are beginning to look up. I give credit for my recent success to a couple of factors. First up, is the commitment to a new model of frog beginning in the summer of 2023, the Spro Flappin’ Frog 65. The second factor is that my stomping grounds on the shallow, weedy Hennepin Canal are ideal for a frog to get stomped.

Lipless Crankbait – 81 bass vs. 14 bass in 2023
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad or red craw)
Top Bass: 2-6 Lake Storey – September 16
Top 5 Weight: 10-2 (2-6,2-2,1-15,1-14,1-13)
Comments: My catches on lipless crankbaits reinforced their effectiveness across the calendar year. The first lipless crank bass came from The Canal on March 3 and the final lipless crank bass was landed at Lake Storey on October 14. All the fish were caught on the Strike King Red Eye Shad model and were quite well distributed throughout the waters that I fish. Thirty-two bass came from The Canal, twenty-six from Lake Storey, and twenty-three from the Knox County public strip mines. For me, these baits shine when looking to cover water quickly and are effective on flats, along weed edges, and when run parallel to riprap banks.

Spinnerbaits – 87 bass vs. 63 bass in 2023
War Eagle (white/chartreuse)
Top Bass: 3-0 Hennepin Canal – May 4
Top 5 Weight: 13-6 (3-0,2-15,2-10,2-8,2-5)
Comments: When I caught the bass fishing bug in the early 1980s, spinnerbaits were among the most popular lures. Over the last forty years, they have fallen out of vogue among many anglers as allegiance has turned to chatterbaits, swimbaits, and swim jigs. Not so much for me though, as I will always be a loyal spinnerbait fan. I need to do a bit of research to confirm, but I suspect I have caught more bass on spinnerbaits than any other lure over the last forty-plus years. And for 2024, the spinnerbait came through again as it was the second most productive lure, trailing plastic worms by one bass. I spend a lot of time on The Canal and a spinnerbait is a winner around any wood you can find. Same goes for Lake Storey during the drawdown period in the fall. In recent years, my go to spinnerbait has been the War Eagle brand in various blade configurations.

Plastic Worms – 88 bass vs. 191 bass in 2023
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (various colors), Yum 7” Power Bait Power Worm (blue fleck/firetail), Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm (junebug or white pearl)
Top Bass: 3-2 Knox County public strip pit – July 13
Top 5 Weight: 11-15 (3-2,2-11,2-6,1-15,1-13)
Comments: The plastic worm has been a staple in bass angler’s tackleboxes for close to seventy years. And they have been a winner for me as long as I have been chasing bass. While I cut my bass fishing teeth on the popular Texas rig presentation, the last twenty years have found me relying heavily on the Senko wacky rig. The wacky rig dominated my 2024 worm haul with seventy-three bass, but I did invest some time in a new presentation that I call a “swimming worm.” The swimming retrieve landed a dozen fish and was precipitated by advice from a fellow angler I encountered on The Canal last summer.

Lots of highlights in that list of lures and catches as 2024 produced a personal record 626 largemouth bass. The number of lure options available on the market these days can get overwhelming, and every angler has an opinion on how to best invest your time and money. And many variables come into play when choosing what to tie on the end of your line once you hit the water. Weather, water, structure, and time of day are significant, while experience and confidence are invaluable when it comes to making your choices. It all boils down to getting out there and getting on the water. Talk to you later. Troy

2024 Bass Recap – Lures Part I

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Next up in the 2024 Bass Recap is the lowdown on the lures that fooled the fish. Read on for Part I as I work through the list of lures from least bass caught to most.

Jigs – 2 bass vs. 1 bass in 2023
Strike King Rattlin’ Pro Model Jig (green pumpkin) or Googan Gridiron Jig (rotten pumpkin) with plastic craw trailer
Top Bass: 2-4 Lake Storey – October 11
Comments: My first jig bas of the year came on March 17 (Hennepin Canal) and the second on October 11 (Lake Storey). Overall, landing two bass on jigs was productive considering I only made a couple dozen casts with the lures all year. Both of my catches were on offshore wood cover that had failed to give up a bite on the faster offerings of a chatterbait or spinnerbait. In these instances, I opted to slow down with a jig as a backup presentation and it was a winner. Perhaps there is a lesson there and I should slow down more often.

Popper – 3 bass vs. 0 bass in 2023
Zell Rowland Pop-R (purple shad)
Top Bass: None at 12” or better
Comments: All my popper bass came from a pair of remote Knox County public strip pits on September 7. The lure was a Rebel Pop-R “signature series” model from the mid-nineties endorsed by longtime bass pro and Pop-R aficionado, Zell Rowland. I had been loading up on little bass with a Senko or small swimbait and wanted to see if I could get anything larger to commit to a topwater offering. Nope on “anything larger”,, but it was fun to break out the Pop-R for old times’ sake and verify that it can still fool some bass.

Crankbaits – 19 bass vs. 28 bass in 2023
Rapala Shad Rap (blue), Bomber Flat A (baby bass)
Top Bass: 1-13 Lake Storey – October 10
Top 5 Weight: 6-10 (1-13,1-11,1-1,1-1,1-0)
Comments: The last several years have seen a significant decrease in my crankbait numbers. While they are still quite effective, I just don’t throw them as much as I did in years past. Much of the reason relates to “discovering” the Hennepin Canal in June 2021. The shallow, weedy water of much of The Canal set up better for other presentations such as spinnerbaits, topwater, and chatterbaits, so I rely on them much more heavily. Still, it seems odd that I did not land at least one bass on either a Mann’s Baby 1- or a Strike King Squarebill in 2024 as they have been effective on The Canal and proven winners at Lake Storey as well as several strip pits.

Grubs – 34 bass vs. 23 bass in 2023
Lunker Hunt Finesse 3” Swimbait (perfect pumpkin or smokin’ shad)
Top Bass: 1-6 Knox County public strip pit – March 30
Top 5 Weight: 5-14 (1-6,1-3,1-2,1-2,1-1)
Comments: After quality 2023 catches boosted my confidence in what I generically refer to as a Ned Rig presentation, big bites were absent in 2024. Grubs did produce plenty of bass last year (and some bonus large crappies), but I am wondering if my 2023 Top 5 Grub Weight of 14-15 was an anomaly. However, I still have faith and expect the Ned Rig will remain a viable option on my early season strip mine hikes as it sets up well for fooling fish in those cool, clear waters.

Swimbaits – 45 bass vs. 2 bass in 2023
Keitech Swing Impact (electric blue/chartreuse), Strike King Rage Swimmer (sexy shad or pro blue/red pearl)
Top Bass: 1-9 Knox County public strip pit – September 8
Top 5 Weight: 7-3 (1-9,1-9,1-6,1-6,1-5)
Comments: I made a choice to commit to giving swimbaits a fair shake in 2024. Prior to last year, my “career” swimbait catch total sat at ten bass. So, adding forty-five catches marked a significant jump in production and reflected my commitment. Was it worth it? Yes, as I added forty-five bass on a presentation that I have neglected for years despite ringing endorsements across the bass fishing community. Also yes, as I am a stubborn angler and rarely step away from confidence lures unless the bite gets really ugly. In the case of swimbaits, I put down other lures that likely would have produced in the weather and water conditions in favor of experimentation. On the greedy side, I wish the presentation would have produced bigger bites.

Propbait – 52 bass vs. 46 bass in 2023
Whopper Plopper 110 (bone)
Top Bass: 3-0 Hennepin Canal – June 29
Top 5 Weight: 13-7 (3-0,2-15,2-9,2-8,2-7)
Comments: I was a late convert to the Whopper Plopper as I didn’t dedicate much time to tossing the lure with only fifteen catches from 2017-2021. However, in the last three years, I have landed one hundred fifteen bass on the lure, including my best yearly total last year with fifty-two bass. Many “in the know” anglers on the internet view the Whopper Plopper as a lure past its heyday or even a gimmick ala the old fishing adage that “it is designed to catch more fishermen that fish.” To each their own as I have found the obnoxious lure to be productive and fun to fish, especially in the shallow waters of The Canal.

Solid success on this first batch of lures but the real heavy hitters are yet to come. Stay tuned for Part II. Talk to you later. Troy