Mother Nature doesn’t always cooperate around here to get rid of the ice in February. So, on the heels of a Hennepin Canal hike a week prior that revealed open water, I decided to pack along a few poles on my next walk. Fortune did not smile upon me with a rare February catch, but it was worth a shot. And staying true to my aim of a fishing report for every outing, here we go.

Limited pre-season prep to get in better shape

Stats
Date: February 22
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 4:15pm-4:45pm
Totals: 0 bass
Weather: Overcast/breezy, 30F
Water temperature: Not available, partially frozen
Lures: Z-Man Chatterbait (white) with a Yamamoto Zako trailer (Tennessee Shad) – 0 bass

Icing up on the reel’s line guide

Tune of the Trip
Ice, Ice Baby – Vanilla Ice (1990)
The edges and some offshore expanses of The Canal were still covered in ice. In spots that narrowed such as an aqueduct and near a roadway tube, the water was open from bank to bank. Those narrow spots result in a current increase that aids in opening the water up sooner. However, that open water was still quite cold resulting in the eyes of the rod and the line guide on the reel freezing closed.

Notes and Nonsense

Destination
For the fourth straight year, I elected to chase my first bass on the Hennepin Canal. The shallow Canal features a bit of current which aids in ice out as does the shallow water which warms more rapidly than many deeper lakes. In addition, multiple sections of The Canal are close to home, lending themselves to a quick visit.

Lure
I packed three poles but only used one and put all my hopes on a chatterbait cranked as slow as possible. In snag-free water, I cast out the lure, let it sink to the bottom and then crawled it back with just enough speed to get it shaking. Around various pieces of wood, I tried to keep the lure as close to the cover as I could with an uptick in speed to avoid getting snagged. Over the last several years, this approach has produced many early season bass but on this day no one would cooperate.

 

First Bass History
Looking back at the logbook over the last five years, my average date for a first bass is March 12. The last three years, these catches have been on The Canal while the first bass of previous two years came from Knox County public strip pits. The log also reveals that my last February bass was on February 27, 2018, at Little John Conservation Club.

I’ll be back…

My pre-season prediction for the first bass of 2026 was March 7 but that is not going to happen. A turn in the weather and some transportation issues have me writing this fishing report instead of being on the water trying to create a new one. All good though, plenty of month left to reach the annual goal of a March bass. Talk to you later. Troy