Understandably some of the specifics concerning location don’t always get revealed but we do have good details on whether our fish are coming from public or private waters. Also fun to track is the boat versus bank approaches. And lastly for this portion of the update we’ll take a look at what our anglers are casting with success. Once again, we are looking at the breakdown of the 475 bass submitted over four years of our project.

Public vs. Private Water (2014/2015/2016/2017)
Public = 281 bass (92/52/95/42)
Public Top 5 Weight = 32-2, 31-7, 30-5 and 27-7 (2017)
Private = 177 bass (53/48/39/37)
Private Top 5 Weight = 38-10, 30-0, 32-13 and 33-14 (2017)
Undisclosed = 17 bass (9/6/2/0)

Comments: There’s nothing like having a private honey hole. In fact, wish I had more. However, there’s also something to be said for pulling quality bass out of a public body where the fish get pounded by everybody and their brother. Cool to see that public water still leads the pack by a considerable margin in quantity although private waters have shelled out more weight.

Boat vs. Bank (2014/2015/2016/2017) * = new record
Boat = 324 bass (90/63/103/68)
Boat Top 5 Weight = 30-7, 31-7, 32-13 and *33-14 (2017)
Bank = 145 bass (64/43/27/11)
Bank Top 5 Weight = 40-14, 27-6, 27-12 and 20-14 (2017)
Undisclosed = 6 bass

Comments: So not everybody has a souped up bass boat, modified johnboat or even an eight-foot rowboat so I always find it cool to have a solid contribution from the bankers though they still trail the boaters by a fair margin in quantity. However, the overall quality in our four years shows that those casting from the bank can still hold their ground. For me, I still spend my year on both sides of these approaches and simply get a kick out of quality catches whether on my feet or on my seat.

The Baits (43 undisclosed) * = new record
82 Plastic Worms (Top Bass 6-8 Mark Balbinot 11/20/16)
53 Crankbaits (8-0 Kamryn Kaesebier 4/13/14)
48 Jigs (9-4 Jake Bresson 5/23/14)
45 Spinnerbaits (5-4 Terry Isbell 10/22/14)
34 Lipless Crankbaits (5-13 Troy Jackson 3/21/15)
29 Swimbaits (8-10 Gary Le 5/4/14)
27 Swim Jigs (6-13 Jake Bresson 4/9/15)
*23 Creature Baits (6-15 Mark Balbinot 5/13/17)
Old Record (6-1 Jeff Marshall 5/23/14)
19 Jerkbaits (5-10 Ty Hartlipp 6/5/14)
*18 Buzzbaits (5-9 Troy Jackson4/25/17)
Old Record (5-8 Terry Isbell 9/14/14)
12 Tubes (Top Bass 5-0 Jake Bresson 4/28/15)
10 Topwater Frog (6-11 Ty Hartlipp 6/11/14)
7 Chatterbaits (Top Bass 4-10 Mark Balbinot 2/20/16)
7 Underspins (Top Bass 7-7 Mark Balbinot 12/11/16)
*5 Stickbaits (6-6 Mark Balbinot 8/27/17)
Old Record (5-8 Randy Sampson Sr. 5/7/16)
*5 Ultralights (3-1 Paul Kessler 10/12/17)
Old Record (2-11 Paul Kessler 5/16/15)
4 Livebait (5-14 Jim Junk 7/4/14)
*2 Inline Spinners (5-2 Jake Bresson 9/17/17)
No previous record
2 Propbaits (6-2 Jake Bresson 5/1/15)

Comments: The good old plastic worm still leads the way. Worm styles and presentations have no doubt expanded over the years but tough to argue that the general lure category continues to be a winner. Several records bested in 2017 which is getting to be a tall order with some real quality catches.

A final installment tomorrow with one more look at our fish…and the anglers who caught ‘em. Talk to you later. Troy