Month: April 2025

Top 5 Trip Tunes – March 27

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Catching up on the fishing reports also means keeping up with the Trip Tunes feature as it returns for 2025.

5. Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners (1983)
An MTV classic that was different even among the wide range of different that was Music Television in those early years when the channel stuck to music videos. A different delivery and sound combined with a different look in the video, it was definitely a hit. Number One, in fact. And forty years later, I still have no grip on many of the lyrics. Of course, the intent is loud and clear. Like most songs, it’s a love song.

4. Too Young to Fall in Love – Motley Crue (1984)
I guess that I would have been a high school junior when this tune was gaining popularity with my peers and caught my ear. Admittedly more of a pop or light rock guy, this hair band thing got me hooked and I was a fan of the genre through the rest of the decade. Funny thing, as I approach sixty, I’ve realized that I was a fan long before The Crue and their brethren took the stage. At this time, I would direct you to give a listen to Sweet and their catalog of tunes. You can thank me later.

3. Uncle John’s Band – Grateful Dead (1970)
My brother, Bub, is a true Deadhead and currently provides me with a weekly Grateful Dead tune to check out as he prepares for a trip to Vegas to catch Dead & Company. All the tunes he suggests are first listens to me as my Dead knowledge covers maybe ten songs. This tune remains my favorite Dead song while Bub’s suggestions have also added “Black Muddy River” to my listen list.

2. Feelin’ Stronger Every Day – Chicago (1973)
The band has reinvented its sound over the course of nearly sixty years but for my money, the old Chicago was the best Chicago. I did like many of the tunes during their 1980s Peter Cetera led resurgence, but it is tough to beat songs like this one. And you’ve gotta love those 1970s rock/pop tunes with horns as a prominent feature.

1. Lady Madonna – The Beatles (1968)
Let me start by saying that there are not enough Beatles songs on the radio (at least on my local presets) and the variety is also lacking. I have tracked the Beatles songs that I hear on the radio over the last two years with Come Together (16 plays) and Back in the USSR (9 plays) leading the way by far. Fine tunes but I would encourage programmers or DJs to do better. For instance, this tune that I’ve heard once this year and twice last year. Two and a half minutes of The Beatles doing what The Beatles did best as I will be singing the tune for the rest of the day.

Next up, is the Monday Top 5 Update as the bass are biting. Talk to you later. Troy

Hennepin Canal Report – March 30

Posted on by Troy Jackson

I have had this report completed for nearly a week but work, life, and lethargy have combined to delay the submission. So, better late then never, here is the latest fishing report.

Stats
Date: March 30
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 12:30pm-2:45pm
Totals: 4 bass
Weather: Overcast/very windy/light rain, 59-55F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with twin tail trailer – 4 bass
Top Bass: 1-8 Spinnerbait
Top 2 Weight (only two at 12” or better): 2-12 (1-8,1-4)

Starting lineup

Tune of the Trip
Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones (1969)

1:39pm – First bass at 1-4 (14″) on a spinnerbait

Notes and Nonsense

Weather – Initially, I had no plans to get on the water on this cool Sunday, but free time opened up and as the old saying goes “the best time to go fishing, is any time you can.” With the temperature reading just shy of sixty degrees, it sounded like it wasn’t too bad out there, but wind and lack of sun made things chilly. As the afternoon progressed, the “feels like” reading had dipped to forty-two degrees. Now, I can fish all day but on this afternoon I will admit that I wasn’t too disappointed in having a projected quitting time. And this time, I stuck to it.

Winning Lure

Lone Lure – On three out of the four trips this year when I have landed bass, success has come courtesy of a single lure per outing. In the case of this trip, it was a War Eagle spinnerbait that got the job done. Similarly, all catches on March 14 fell to a chatterbait, and on March 27, a lipless crankbait was a winner. Granted I am not knocking them dead with between two and four bass per outing, but it seems the bass are picky early in the season even though I present them with multiple offerings each time I hit the water.

Fellow Fisherman Report – The cooler than expected weather did not keep a couple other anglers off the water. I spoke with a kayaker mid-trip who was struggling for a bite. At that point, we both only had “one that got away.” A bank angler that I chatted with prior to my launch had fared better, reporting four bass in the general area of the lock. That turned out to be my total even though I fished a mile of water compared to his limited access. While I prefer having free reign of the entire stretch, there is something to be said about working over a small area more thoroughly when that is all you have available.

2:18pm – Top Bass at 1-8 (14″) on a spinnerbait

To the Rescue – As I began rowing upstream after my launch, I spotted the bank angler mentioned above with a bend in his pole. I had witnessed one of his earlier catches but in this case, he was snagged. I hollered at him to hold on, not break it off, and I would see what I could do from a boat. Luck was on our side as his crankbait was snagged on a submerged branch within reach for me. He thanked me for the assistance, and I told him that as an old bank angler myself, I was happy to help save a few bucks and maybe a lucky lure.

Four bass fell short of my expectations but considering it took me an hour to get the first one in the boat, I was happy with a solid finish. It’s been a slow start to the year and circumstances are keeping me off the water for another week. Luckily, I have a pair of secondhand reports from my brother, Brent, and some Trip Tunes to fall back on until I get back to casting. Talk to you later. Troy

Top 5 Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

A slight delay on the normal Monday Top 5 Update but better late than never. Today’s featured anglers are our most recent Top 5 champs. Brent Jackson (2024 Champ) posts his first three entries of 2025 and Jim Junk (2021, 2022, 2023 Champ) adds his second quality bass of the year.

Weight: 4-10
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: April 6
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Lure: Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad)

Weight: 1-5
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: April 6
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Lure: Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad)

Weight: 1-0
Angler: Brent Jackson
Date: April 6
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Lure: Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad)
Angler Comments: Three hours of fishing, seventeen bass. Overall, it was a decent day, and it was nice out. The sun was shining, and the wind was mild.
Top 5 Weight: 6-15 (4-10,1-5,1-0)

Weight: 3-13
Angler: Jim Junk
Date: April 6
Location: Peoria County Pond
Lure: Dark Sleeper
Angler Comments: Spent about an hour throwing a chatterbait and a Dark Sleeper. Again, one bite and one fish landed, a nice 3-13 on the Dark Sleeper. At this rate, I’ll have my Top 5 completed in three more weeks.
Top 5 Weight: 6-12 (3-13,2-15)

The weather looks to continue improving through the weekend and beyond so here’s hoping that it will result in another batch of submissions next week. Talk to you later. Troy

Hennepin Canal Report – March 27

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Fishing can deliver some much-needed stress relief and on this recent Thursday evening, I needed to check out for a couple hours. While I did not slay the bass, it was just what the doctor ordered.

Stats
Date: March 27
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 5:20pm-7:05pm
Totals: 3 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy, 60F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Strike King Red Eye Shad (red craw) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 1-15 Red Eye Shad
Top 3 Weight (only three at 12” or better): 3-15 (1-15,1-2,0-14)

Staring lineup (chatterbait, ned rig, lipless crank, and jig)

Tune of the Trip
Hells Bells – AC/DC (1980)

6:02pm – Top Bass at 1-15 (16″) on a lipless crank

Notes and Nonsense

Fun For All Ages – In the parking lot and along the tow path, I spoke to seven fellow anglers over course of two hours. The age range of the fishermen covered the spectrum from young to not as young. Four were teenaged boys, one guy looked like he was in his thirties, another was my age, and the last fellow was more than a few years my senior. Fishing is alive and well on The Canal with some fooling more fish than others from shutouts to five bass.

6:12pm – Top Bass Runner-up at 1-2 (14″) on a lipless crank

Top Day – While the bite was not fast and furious, this trip did represent my best day on the water for 2025. The three bass total was an improvement over two bass on each of the two previous outings. The 1-15 Top Bass for this trip also tied the Top Bass thus far for 2025 and rounded out my initial Top 5 for the year.

Marketing – Quite a few years ago, I had some business cards printed up to promote the blog, the YouTube channel, and a Twitter presence. I’ve handed out a few over the years when crossing paths with other anglers but for the most part just shot the breeze and left the cards in my pocket. So, this year, I committed to handing them out to each angler that I encounter. On this outing, I got some feedback as a couple of the young anglers noted that we had crossed paths earlier and they had watched the latest YouTube videos. Kind of fun to hear and we’ll see how things go as the year progresses.

Winning lure – Strike King Red Eye Shad (red craw)

While we have now reached April, I still have one more March fishing report to pass along. In addition, I am trying to keep up with the Trip Tunes this year. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy