Late September found me back on Lake Storey looking for a drawdown but no such case. No matter, as those bass are still in there, they just have more places to hide. And on this trip I had Brent along to increase our chances of finding them.
Stats
Date: September 22
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 6:55am-2:55pm
Totals: 11 bass, 1 channel catfish (Brent – 8 bass, 1 catfish/Troy – 3 bass)
Weather: Partly cloudy/breezy to windy, 62-77F
Water temperature: 74-76F
Lures (Brent): Squarebill Crankbait (sexy shad) – 4 bass, Chatterbait (sexy shad) – 2 bass, Spinnerbait (green/white) – 2 bass, 1 catfish
Lures (Troy) War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) – 2 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass (Brent): 2-8 (Crankbait)
Top Bass (Troy): 1-15 (Spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight (combined): 10-5 (2-8,2-0,1-15,1-15,1-15)
Tune of the Trip
Driver’s Seat – Sniff N’ the Tears (1978)
“Just take your place in the driver’s seat.”
With two anglers in the boat, you must decide on who runs the trolling motor at the front of the boat. Typically, this is an advantage, but we do try to share the water as best we can. I ceded control to Brent as I had already fished the lake several times. In addition, it gives me a break and saves a little wear and tear on my back and heels which often holler at me after seven or eight hours standing in a boat.
10:55am – Brent with an “accident” weighing 3-4 and caught on a spinnerbait
Bonus Catch – The morning bite was tough, so when Brent’s pole bent hard on a hookset at 10:55am, it certainly got our attention. Whatever was on the other end was putting up a solid fight and when Brent saw a flash that was a bit more streamlined than a bass, he thought that he may have a muskie. To our surprise as he brought the fish to the surface and I grabbed the dipnet, he had a solid looking catfish rolling around and trying to destroy his spinnerbait. Neither of us could recall the last time we had a catfish “accident” while bass fishing but if you have a lure in the water, anything can happen.
Winning Lures
Full House – At 11:04am, I landed only my second bass of the outing, weighing in at 1-15 on a spinnerbait. Brent already had three in the boat, weighing 1-15, 1-15 and 1-5. Being a stat and logbook guy, I observed that we needed another weighing 1-5 to have a “full house” of bass. And just like that, Brent landed our next bass at 11:44am that tipped the scales at 1-5.
Full House of Bass
7:17am – Weighing 1-5 (13.5″) on a chatterbait
7:21am – Weighing 1-15 (16.5″) on a chatterbait
9:32am – Weighing 1-15 (16″) on a spinnerbait
11:04am – Weighing 1-15 (15″) on a spinnerbait
11:44am – Weighing 1-5 (14″) on a crankbait
Wildlife Bonanza – Having grown up in an outdoor oriented family, we have our eyes and ears open as we work the water. On this occasion, we had a Lake Storey first in seeing and hearing a trio of otters. While these fish eaters can do a number on a lake or pond, they were interesting to observe. In terms of other mammals, we spotted a groundhog and for birds, a regular visitor in an osprey along with several great blue herons, a few cormorants, and an egret. Apart from the groundhog, all these critters like to fish as well.
12:08pm – Top Bass of the day at 2-8 (17″) on a crankbait
2:50pm – Top Bass Runner-Up of the day at 2-0 (16.5″) on a spinnerbait
Red Eye Gamble – As the day was winding down, I requested that my driver make a pass through one more area. The pocket had produced each of my other days on the lake but had let us down earlier in the morning. On a side note, Brent had picked me up a spare Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crankbait at Bass Pro Shops a few days prior as I had lost one on my September 15 Lake Storey outing. I told him that I was so confident that we could land a bass in the requested pocket that I would give him back the Red Eye Shad for his own tacklebag if the spot let us down. He adeptly drove us around the area and at 1:57pm my prediction came through as I boated a 1-6 on a spinnerbait. My gamble paid off, and I did not have to give up the new lure which was still in the packaging. I will add that he had refused to take payment for the purchase anyway, so I would not have been out financially if the spot let us down. But that’s not the point, it’s more about predicting a catch.
The Stakes
The Save at 1:57pm
Brent soundly trounced me to the tune of eight bass (and a catfish) to three bass on our way to a double-digit Top 5. One can cite the front-end advantage, but I had plenty of shots at productive spots. Just wasn’t my day to have them dialed in and the fact is that he is a darned good angler. Stay tuned as I am not done chasing those Lake Storey bass quite yet and I am still holding out for the fall drawdown.
SPOILER ALERT!!!
The drawdown has arrived!
Talk to you later. Troy