For this outing, I put one aspect of the ten-pound Top 5 Canal quest on hold. Rather than trying to fill in the blanks on the few remaining pools that lacked weight, I opted to visit a spot that had already hit the mark. The aim was to find some bites to give that total a boost. The approach would also be entirely different as the water conditions featured abundant surface vegetation unlike the other spots I’d recently been visiting.

7:16am – Top Bass Runner-Up weighing 2-11 (17.5″) on a Whopper Plopper

Stats
Date: September 7
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 7:10am-10:40am
Totals: 3 bass
Weather: Sunny/calm, 64-74F
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Spro Flappin Frog 65 (nasty shad) – 2 bass, Whopper Plopper 110 (bone) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-0 (Frog)
Top 3 Weight (only three bass at 12″ or better): 7-4 (3-0,2-11,1-9)

Winnng lures

Notes and Nonsense

Data and Goals – The spot that I chose had a personal starting Top 5 Weight of 10-7 (2-8,2-2,2-1,1-15,1-13). Therefore, it had already been checked off my list but resided in the low end of overall weights in falling between ten and eleven pounds. The goal on this trip was to boot the pair of one pounders to have all members of the Top 5 at two pounds or better. As an added note, Julie held the Top Bass record for the pool with a bass weighing 2-10 caught on June 14, 2024. My brother, Brent, posted a 2-5 on June 27 this year to also contribute to the combined Top 5. With those bass added, the combined angler Top 5 Weight sat at 11-10.

Sleuthing – I dig finding fishing reports online for places that I fish, such as The Canal, Lake Storey, the Knox County public strip pits, and more. While I certainly admire the catches, more important to me is any additional information that the report provides. One such aspect would be the lures/presentations that fooled the fish. Another of my favorite bits of detective work is scouring the backdrop of any photos for clues. The latter part of my sleuthing was the primary reason that I chose my destination for this outing. I’d seen a recent post reporting a batch of quality catches that revealed the technique along with a weedy background and some visual clues in one of the photos. And just like that, I knew where I was headed the next time that I found myself pondering where to go.

Starting lineup

Conditions and Presentations – The abundance of surface vegetation, shallow, clear water, and scattered open channels through the weeds screamed topwater tactics. The lone factor that was lacking was that I wished I’d had some better cloud cover to keep the fish less spooky. There were occasionally scattered clouds that moved through and a fair amount of shade before the sun cleared the tree line but predominantly full sun. I ran a Whopper Plopper or a buzzbait through open water focusing on paralleling weed edges whenever possible. The frog was cast over and around surface mats and twitched/buzzed along edges and across open area within the mats.

8:34am – Top Bass weighing 3-0 (18″) on a frog

The Results – Three bass in just over three hours was far from knocking them dead. However, two of the bites were the two largest bass that I had ever landed on the pool and the third was a solid “keeper” as well. The top two bass of the morning tipped the scales at 3-0 and 2-11, respectively. As a result, my personal Top 5 Weight on the pool received a significant boost from 10-7 to 12-6. For the combined weight with other angler’s catches (Julie and Brent) the mark now stands at 13-11.

Bonus pics of angler catches that are part of the combined Top 5 for this pool

June 14, 2024 – Julie with Top Bass #3 weighing 2-10 (18″) on a Whopper Plopper

June 27, 2026 – Brent with Top Bass #5 weighing 2-5 (17″) on a chatterbait

Once again, The Canal provided some surprises. Looking back to the first two times that I ever fished this section back in the summer of 2022, I left wondering if there were any decent bass in the pool. The water level was low, weeds were abundant, and I could see bottom on nearly the entire length of the pool. Those two outings produced only three small “keepers” in three hours of casting. In the meantime, I’ve come to learn that there are quality bites all along the old waterway and this outing further confirmed that one should not pass judgment based on first (or second, or third…) impressions. Talk to you later. Troy

For my third consecutive day on The Canal, I set aside my quest to establish a ten-pound Top 5 Weight on any of the stretches that was lacking. Instead, I opted for a slightly shorter drive to take a shot at a spot that already featured a double-digit Top 5 Weight of 10-2. The aim was the same: find the bites to boost my weight. But in this case they would all be icing on the cake and there was an ample bump on this outing.

11:42am – Top Bass weighing 3-9 (20″) on a buzzbait

Stats
Date: August 30
Location: Hennepin Canal
Time: 10:15am-2:15pm (with a 15-minute rain delay)
Totals: 13 bass
Weather: Overcast/breezy/rain
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (black) – 8 bass, War Eagle Spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) with BPS double tail grub trailer (Houdini) – 2 bass, Booyah Blade Spinnerbait (snow white shad) with BPS double tail grub trailer (Houdini) – 2 bass, 5” Yamamoto Yamasenko wacky rig (cream white) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 3-9 Buzzbait
Top 5 Weight: 13-1 (3-9,3-2,2-3,2-2,2-1)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Observation and Destination – Many times when I travel east to fish stretches of The Canal further from my local spots, I take the “scenic” route on the way home. I drive along and across the old waterway to get a look at the water conditions. In doing so this year, it became apparent that the aquatic vegetation had been treated as shoreline vegetation and lily pad patches were nearly non-existent east of Geneseo. This new look prompted me to take a trip to an area that I had not visited in nearly two years.

12:03pm – Top Bass #2 weighing 3-2 (18.5″) on a buzzbait

Presentation – The lack of shoreline weed cover exposed numerous open water wood targets that were formerly under or surrounded by vegetation. Rather than having to rely on a topwater frog, the logs and brush now set up well for a spinnerbait approach. In addition, instead of only being able to run a buzzbait along weed edges, I could now retrieve it directly along and over the cover. These two approaches produced twelve of my thirteen catches on this outing. And the lone outlier was caught on Senko wacky rig follow-up cast after a bass had a swing and miss on a spinnerbait.

1:06pm – Top Bass #3 weighing 2-3 (16″) on a buzzbait

Highlights – The daily Top 5 Weight of 13-1 for this outing established a new best day on The Canal topping a 12 -1 from March 22, 2026. The 3-9 from this trip represents the Top Bass on this stretch and the 3-2 equaled the previous best. The 3-9 bass also gave my 2026 Top 5 a boost to 17-15 as it culled a 3-2. In addition, three of the day’s catches (3-9,3-2,2-3) helped to bump my all-time total on this stretch from 10-2 to 14-4.

1:30-1:45pm rain delay

Lowlights – While I landed five bass in the two-and three-pound range, there were also several missed strikes and a breakoff on a hookset. Four missed strikes on a buzzbait included three that were substantial blow-ups. I also saw the flash of a fish that swung and missed on a spinnerbait that was in the two-pound range. Had I landed those fish, who knows how high the daily Top 5 could have been. Oh yeah, I also sat out a fifteen-minute rain delay without a lure in the water.

 

It was one of those days when things just fell into place. A midday buzzbait bite is not a common occurrence, but The Canal is not a common fishing hole. Overcast conditions (with some rain), shallow water, and ample targets made it worth a shot. That’s fishing and it is rewarding when you have them figured out for a few hours. I have a backlog of Canal fishing reports to submit. Stay tuned for the ups and downs in my pursuit for double-digit Top 5 marks on the handful of spots that need a few more quality bites. Talk to you later. Troy

After my August 23 Lake Storey visit, I made arrangements to borrow Dad’s truck for the week and haul the little johnboat home in anticipation of hitting The Canal. This report covers the first of three consecutive days on the old waterway. On this specific outing, my aim was to boost the Top 5 Weights of a pair of adjacent pools into double digits.

6:59am – Top Bass weighing 2-4 (16.5″) on a spinnerbait

Stats
Date: August 28
Location: Hennepin Canal (2 pools)
Time: 6:40am-9:10am, 9:20am-12:05pm
Totals: 9 bass, 1 crappie
Weather: Sunny/calm
Water temperature: Not available
Lures: War Eagle Spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) with BPS Double Tail Grub trailer (Houdini) – 7 bass, 1 crappie, Booyah Buzz Buzzbait (snow white shad) – 1 bass, Z-Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with BPS Speed Shad Trailer (sight fish) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-4 Spinnerbait
Top 5 Weight: 8-2 (2-4,1-13,1-9,1-6,1-2)

Winning lures

Notes and Nonsense

Pool One – Entering the day, my first destination sported a Top 5 Weight of 9-6 anchored by a Top Bass weighing 3-10 (tied for my all-time Top Canal Bass). At 6:59am, I landed a bass weighing 2-4 on a spinnerbait to meet my goal in culling a 1-1 and moving my Top 5 up to 10-9. The quality early catch left me with a dilemma. Stick around on the pool to see if I could get additional boosts or take the victory and move on to the next pool. I opted to stick around for a couple more hours and fooled several more bass including a 1-13 and 1-6 that boosted my current Top 5 on the pool to 11-5 (3-10,2-4,2-4,1-13,1-6).

8:41am – Bonus crappie “accident” weighing 1-1 (12″) on spinnerbait

Pool Two – This pool had a Top 5 of 8-12 (2-5,1-12,1-11,1-8,1-8) to start the day. It did not seem to be a tall order to knock out the pair weighing 1-8 and a couple just over two pounds would get the job done. However, close to three hours of casting only produced four bass and the best I could muster weighed 1-9. So, while I did get a boost, it was the smallest boost possible, a single ounce. My Top 5 on the pool now sits at 8-13 so it will require a return visit.

8:49am – Top Bass Runner-Up weighing 1-13 (15″) on a spinnerbait

Things started well but the quantity and quality of bites did not keep the pace as the morning progressed. The Canal is an interesting place as the two spots I fished are only separated by a tube that runs under the county road, but the mood of the bass can change from side to side. You just never know and that’s why you keep on casting. And that’s exactly what I did for the next two days with solid results. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy