Lake Storey treated me well in September, so I had to see what October had to offer. I was still in search of a ten-pound Top 5 as the three prior trips came up a bit short. I’d had the quality bites on the September trips, but several threw the lures before they made it to the boat. Maybe the fourth trip would be the charm.
10:16am – Top Bass Runner-up at 2-2 (16″) on a lipless crankbait
Stats
Date: October 10
Location: Lake Storey, Knox County, IL
Time: 9:10am-5:25pm
Totals: 21 bass
Weather: Sunny/breezy to calm, 53-80F
Water temperature: 71F
Lures: War Eagle spinnerbait (chartreuse/white) – 13 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 6 bass, ZMan Chatterbait (sexy shad) with swimbait trailer – 1 bass, Bomber Flat A (baby bass) – 1 bass
Top Bass: 2-8 (Spinnerbait)
Top 5 Weight: 9-13 (2-8,2-2,1-13,1-12,1-10)
Winning Lures
Notes and Nonsense
Pre-launch predictions
On The Lake Updates – For this outing I decided to post pre-launch predictions on social media followed by regular updates as I caught “keepers” to build and improve a Top 5. Things worked out well as the results turned out close to the predictions. My guess for a Top 5 Weight came up thirteen ounces shy (10-10 prediction vs. 9-13 result). Top Bass was off by eleven ounces (3-3 prediction vs. 2-8 result) but my totals were nearly exact (22 prediction vs. 21 result). It’s always fun to pull the predict and update stunt but I run the risk of looking foolish if the bass outsmart me. Fortunately, things worked out well as the bass made it look like I knew what I was doing.
3:29pm – Top Bass at 2-8 (17.5″) on a spinnerbait
Feedback – Around the halfway point of my day, I came within conversation distance of another angler. The fellow greeted me saying that he’d heard from his friend that I was sitting at a Top 5 of 7-7. I did not know the other angler and had never formally met his remote buddy, so I got a kick out of being on the water with someone who was up to date on my updates. I bet we sat in the calm, shady spot for half an hour discussing our morning results, swapping fish stories, and talking about a collection of fishing holes. Kyle, if you are out there reading, I enjoyed the conversation and nice to meet you. And tell Chad that I appreciate his looking at my internet rambles and social media posts. Most of my fishing talk is from behind a keyboard, so it is always a treat to share fish stories in person.
Catch chronology
Close But No Cigar – I had another solid day on the lake but came up three ounces shy of hitting my ten-pound Top 5 goal. I needed just one more good bass and may have had it on as the first bite of the day. Less than half a dozen casts after launching, a solid fish hit my spinnerbait only to get wrapped on a limb and come off before I could get within reach of the branch. Later, I lost another quality fish at the boat although a few casts later I was fortunate to get a 2-2 in the same area. Classic examples of “the one that got away,” but that’s fishing.
Stoked by a sold day, I wasn’t done with Lake Storey quite yet as I was back on the water the next morning. And I had another skilled angler on board to take our shot at that ten-pound mark. Stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy