On the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, my oldest boy, Jayce, took me up on an offer to team up on a fishing trip. We selected an off the beaten path, “secret” public strip pit from the three potential destinations that I proposed. I pondered blindfolding him to preserve the location but thought better of it. However, after our success on this outing, I am not sure that was the right decision. Read on for the results.
9:33am – Top Bass of the day weighing 2-10 (17″) on a Senko wacky rig
Stats
Date: May 24
Location: Knox County public strip pit
Time: 8:50pm-1:50pm
Totals: 53 bass (Jayce – 29, Dad – 24), 1 green sunfish (Jayce)
Weather: Sunny/windy, 61-77F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: 5” Yamamoto Senko wacky rig (cinnamon/purple flake/methiolate or smoke shad) – 52 bass, 1 green sunfish, Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-10 Senko (Jayce)
Top 5 Weight: 10-11 (2-10.2-7,2-5,1-12,1-9)
Starting lineup – we both had a frog, a buzzbait, and a wacky rigged Senko
Notes and Nonsense
Top 5 Notes – Fifty-three bass on an outing is a lot of fish. They weren’t all “keepers”, but they all count and were all released to grow up and bite again. We did well with enough quality bites to reach the ultimate daily goal of a double-digit Top 5 with a weight of 10-12. I told Jayce that it worked out well as he landed two of our Top 5 creel (Top Bass #1 and Top Bass #5) while I landed the other three (Top Bass #2, #3, and #4). With two anglers in the boat, you can’t get a better split than that when posting a five bass limit. In addition, Jayce was able to complete his initial 2026 Top 5 as he needed three more keepers. He was able to land four bass that gave his creel a big boost from a starting weight of 2-10 (1-8,1-2) to the current mark of 8-9 (2-10,1-9,1-8,1-7,1-7).
10:46am – Top Bass Runner-up weighing 2-7 (17″) on a Senko wacky rig
Good Dad vs. Bad Dad – As result of a sunny five hours on the water, Jayce wound up with sunburn on his hands, cheeks, and nose. While discussing the outing later with me and Julie, he mentioned a bit of discomfort. This prompted me to state, “I guess that I didn’t take the best care of our kid.” Julie agreed while Jayce added, “But it was worth it, Dad.” I got a chuckle out of that assessment as I mentally ran through a personal “it was worth it” fishing list. That list included sunburns, poison ivy, bull nettles, mosquitoes, ticks, leg cramps, spoil bank tumbles, and more than a few occasions where too many “one more” casts got me home later than scheduled. If you fish, you know.
The details on this catch are described below
Speed – We got a firsthand view of some bass feeding behavior that demonstrated the predatory disposition of the largemouth bass. Jayce had several bites that I describe as topwater Senko strikes. The customary retrieve with a Senko wacky rig is to toss it out and let it flutter down through the water column with occasional twitches. One approach with the Senko is to cast it well beyond an intended target such as sticks or weed pockets and then reel it rapidly back in proximity to the cover before letting it sink. On several instances, Jayce’s Senko never made it to his target as a bass exploded on it as it skipped across the surface. Another example was a bass nailing the bait at boatside as it was being reeled rapidly back in anticipation of the next cast. I explained to Jayce that these were prime examples of the bass being a top-of-the-line predator. The basic lesson here is that you cannot reel a lure fast enough to keep it away from the fish. If it wants it, it gets it.
This was one hungry little bass as described below
Greed – No matter the size, any bass that we catch is marked down in the log as a success. There is a saying in baseball that I use in describing the smaller catches in that “it looks like a line drive in the boxscore.” The intent of each cast is to catch a bass just like the intent of most at bats in baseball is to get a hit (or at lease reach base). No matter a 9” bass (equivalent of a bloop single or swinging bunt) or a four-pounder (a three-run homer or bases clearing double in the gap), they all count. One of those bloop hits on this day was a bass that Jayce landed that had a small bluegill protruding from its throat. Further proof of the predatory nature of our quarry. Even though this little guy had already eaten breakfast, another enticing “meal” within striking distance was too much for its genetic programming to resist.
Winning lures
A very successful day on the water with lots of bass and lots of learning along the way. In the last paragraph above, I described a greedy bass, but I would say as an angler there is a little greed involved as well. Eventually on this outing we had to call it a day and would never complain about a fifty-three bass haul. However, on our last casts, I was sure hoping that one of us would push that total to fifty-four. Or even better, fifty-five, if we could each land a fish. A great day on the water with a great fishing partner. Jayce isn’t much for tooting his own horn, so I would be remiss in not adding that he out fished me 29 to 24. Talk to you later. Troy