Category: Fishing Holes

Record Book Roundup – Lake Storey

Posted on by Troy Jackson

One of my projects for blogging in 2022 was to look inside the fishing record book. I did a decent job on that goal as the year progressed but have yet to relate the records for an old favorite fishing hole, Lake Storey. That missing piece will be resolved with today’s post in advance of hitting the lake one more time this year. The primary focus of this record book update is largemouth bass but if you make it through that portion of the post there’s also a couple impressive bonus species as well.

Spring 1986 – Dad with the initial bass record at 4-6

Lake Storey (1970s-present)
Top Bass: 4-11 Brent Jackson 10/19/18 Spinnerbait
Best Top 5 Day: 14-5 (4-8,3-11,2-7,2-1,1-10) 9/20/07
All-Time Top 5 Weight: 22-0 (4-11,4-8,4-7,4-6,4-0)

October 19, 2018 – Brent with a 4-11, the current Lake Storey Top Bass

 

Fall Top 5 Daily Weight Data by month
9/30/07 14-5
9/25/07 11-7 with Dad
9/19/21 10-10 with Brent
9/29/10 10-3
9/15/19 9-5 with Brent
9/18/22 9-4
9/27/21 8-13 with Brent
9/19/21 8-10
9/21/09 8-7
9/25/07 8-5
9/8/19 8-2 with Brent

10/19/18 13-9 with Brent
10/12/20 9-0
10/2/08 8-13
10/13/08 8-3 with Dad
10/21/20 7-15 with Dad
10/14/21 7-5
10/19/19 7-4

11/1/08 7-13

October 21, 2010 – Top Walleye at 10-2 (29″)

September 16, 2012 – Top Muskie at 19-8 (43″)

Lake Storey has been good to us over the years, and I always look forward to wetting a line on my “home lake.” Plenty of stories to tell but I’ll leave it as simply another Record Book Roundup for today. It’s a tall order to top any of these catches but stay tuned as record breakers or not, I’ll be back on the lake one more time before the month ends. Talk to you later. Troy

Prowl the Canal – August Stats

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Another month of prowling is in the log, and it turned out to be a rewarding mix of familiar spots and extended exploring.

August 2022 Top Bass at 3-5, one ounce shy of tying my all-time Top Canal Bass

2022 August Totals
Six outings covering six different pools
67 bass in 22.00 hours (3.04 bass/hour)
Top Bass: 3-5 August 21 Buzzbait
2022 August Top 5: 13-14 (3-5,3-4,2-10,2-7,2-4)
2022 Best August Top 5 Day: 10-6 (3-4,2-10,2-3,1-3,1-2) – August 13
Top 5 All-Time August Bass Weight: 14-14 (3-5,3-4,3-4,2-10,2-7)

Miles and miles to explore 

New Spots – With most of my prior trips taking place in what would geographically register as Colona and Geneseo (per my weather app), I decided to expand my prowls in August. On two occasions, I ventured to pools in the vicinity of Anawan and Mineral. Every pool is different but still have similarities. It is always fun to get a look at new water and I also take advantage of extensive drive by scouting on the way home. Looks like there’s still plenty of new water to explore. Whether that exploration takes place this fall or waits until next year remains to be seen.

Casualties of The Canal

Damage Report – The August bass were tough on a couple lures as they destroyed the skirts on both my Special K spinnerbait and Booyah Buzzbait. I also busted an eye off my Lightning Rod casting rod that I have had since the 1990s. It was my spinnerbait go to rod on The Canal. Old school and only six foot, I could pitch those lures within a hair of my targeted landing spot. Looks like an off-season project at this point to get it repaired.

New Lure – The damaged buzzbait prompted me to try an alternative to fishing with a skirt as suggested by a friend. While his recommendation was a Strike King Rage Bug to replace the skirt, I could not find any locally and had to order online. Instead, I invested in a Strike King Toad Buzz, and it came through with a 2-7 on its first outing for positive feedback.

Every lure that landed an August bass

2022 Overall Canal Stats
267 bass in 89.00 hours (3.00 bass/hour)
Top Bass: 3-5 (tie) 4/23 Spinnerbait 8/21 Buzzbait
Best Top 5 Day: 11-3 (2-15,2-10,2-3,2-1,1-6) 6/24/22
NEW AUGUST TOP 5 ADDITIONS: 3-4 (8/8) and 3-5 (8/21)
2022 Top 5 Canal Weight: 15-15 (3-5,3-5,3-4,3-2,2-15) culls 2-12 (x2)
2021 Top 5 Canal Weight: 15-6 (3-6,3-4,3-1,2-14,2-13)

 

The Canal continues to come through even though August is typically my least favorite open water month of the year to fish. The unique waterway doesn’t offer the sort of deep-water sanctuaries that a lake provides and plays right into my hand as a shallow water angler. Basically, the bass have nowhere to go, so if you can find any open water “edges” or dial in your frog presentation (not my thing), there are bites to be found. Here’s to more of those bites in September as the weather cools, the weeds begin to dissipate, and the bass look to feed. Two September outings are already in the books so stay tuned for the upcoming reports featuring a new “weapon” in my bass fishing arsenal. Talk to you later. Troy

Prowl the Canal – July Notes

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Here are a few more items to wrap up the July outings on The Canal.

Lost and Found  (see pic above) – No matter how good of a caster you are, if you are fishing from the bank, you are going to lose a few lures. Along The Canal, baits and bobbers decorate the trees from time to time and are often easy pickings from a boat. No return address on the lures, so I guess that makes it “finders, keepers”.

Winning July Lures on The Canal

Backup Bait – The YouTube clip below is a fun trick when fishing a topwater and encountering a strike where the bass has bad aim. Step one is to always have a Senko wacky rig tied onto another pole when you are casting a topwater lure. Step two, after the missed strike, is to cast the Senko into the boil that was created and many times you can get that fish.

Gar Log – Dad used to pull our legs with tales of hippos formerly calling West Central Illinois home or by pointing out the backs of “alligators” protruding from the water in local creeks and ponds. Thus, I couldn’t resist snapping a pic of this large “alligator gar” that I spotted on The Canal.

“It was just my imagination, runnin’ away with me…”

I have one successful trip to The Canal in August so stay tuned for a report when time permits. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – July 6, 2012

Posted on by Troy Jackson

With four kids from ages one to eight back in the summer of 2012, there wasn’t a whole lot of date nights. However, Julie and I did manage a fishing date as described below in excerpts from the original July 10, 2012 blog entry.

As the saying goes, “Beggars can’t be choosers.” So, despite the recent run of 100 degree plus temperatures it was an opportunity to fish, and I wasn’t about to pass it up due to something called a “heat advisory.” To be honest, I’m always more concerned about the wind when planning a trip to Emiquon. All was well and I was happy to have the company of a fellow fishing fool. Here’s the first of a two-part fishing report detailing how it all worked out.

6:13am Julie on the board with our first catch

Date: July 6, 2012
Location: The Emiquon Preserve
Time: 6:10am-12:25 pm
Weather: Sunny/calm
Air Temp: 80-100F
Water Temp: 90F
Totals: 40 bass (Troy – 26 Julie – 14)
Lures: Booyah Counter Strike Spinnerbait (snow white) – 15 bass, Mann’s Baby 1- crankbait (copper shad) – 12 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad) – 10 bass, Strike King Red Eye Shad (red crawfish) – 2 bass, 5” Yamasenko weighted wacky rig (rainbow trout) – 1 bass
Top Bass: Troy 2-5 Booyah Counter Strike Spinnerbait (snow white)
Weight (Top 5): 10-9 (2-5, 2-2, 2-2, 2-0, 2-0)

 

Notes & Nonsense

“Helter Skelter in a summer swelter” (quick, name the tune and artist) – I’ve written in the past about Emiquon’s propensity for giving up numbers in the right place at the right time. We hit those windows/spots a pair of times as follows: 6:13am-8:01am produced 23 of our bass and 10:46am-12:22pm produced another 15 bass. That left two bass landed in the gap in these times as we explored a stretch that had produced just a month earlier. Despite similar structure, schools of baitfish and a variety of presentations, the bass just wouldn’t cooperate. Eventually, we wound up back near where we had started in time for the bass in the area to turn on once again.

Hot Seats and More – The calm and balmy conditions made any exposed surfaces of the boat painful to touch. Boat cushions were a must and we even had to put on gloves to load the boat into the back of the truck. Our granola bars were a mess and once the water bottles came out of the cooler, they were nearly instantaneously lukewarm. The truck read 109 when we got in and went as high as 112 before gradually decreasing during the ride. The bank in Lewistown read 108 and while probably a bit of a stretch, does pinpoint accuracy really matter when it’s just plain hot?

100 Degree Bass – A little after noon I told Julie that we needed one more bass just to say we caught one in hundred-degree weather. At 12:22pm I reeled in the fish pictured above to get my wish and then we called it quits a few casts later. My original plan was to fish until 1:00pm but I was satisfied with our effort and results a half hour short of the target. Apparently, Julie was as well for she did not debate the decision and after the work of loading our gear we were even more convinced that we’d done the right thing.

As always with an Emiquon trip, I could go on and on…

And I will go on and on, with a bonus Flashback Saturday post featuring some more notes from this outing. Talk to you later. Troy

Friday Flashback – July 7, 1987

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Well, here we are at the mid-point of the final year of “Friday Flashback”. Week twenty-one of the forty-one week stroll down Memory Lane. Lots of fish and favorite fishing holes, fishing partners and fishing lures have found their way into the project over the years and today’s post covers all the above.

The spot was affectionately known as “The Ponderosa” and was the site of several fishing trips with my three amigos back between 1987 and 1989. As best I can recall, my buddy, Matt Reynolds, was the ringleader in gaining access to Ponder’s Pond, outside of Knoxville, Illinois. Along with Matt, the Junk brothers, John and Mark, also joined forces in pursuit of some solid bass. The pond was just the right size for a couple hours to get away and the Ponder family had a johnboat along the shore for use. Of course, before launching, it was wise to give it a shake while upside down to rid it of any snakes that took a liking to the cover it provided. However, I seem to remember a mouse going for a ride with us at one point.

The crew circa 1991 – Mark Junk, John Junk, Troy Jackson and Matt Reynolds

Winning Ponder’s lures – Sidewinder Worm, Triple Ripple Worm, Spinnerbait and Zara Spook

Beyond the Who’s Who of anglers, an old school collection of lures proved to be successful on the pond. As noted in the log entry for the July 7, 1987 trip, winners were the Bass Pro Shops Triple Ripple Worm and a classic white tandem spinnerbait. A look at the record book below also shows that the Zara Spook was quite effective in fooling some good bass. The natural frog pattern brings back memories as it became nicknamed “The Pickle” upon endearing itself with its effectiveness. I still have a “Pickle” in my tacklebox, but the original was accidentally launched into a cornfield near the southeast corner or Ponder’s Pond, never to be found.

Zara Spook in the natural frog pattern, aka “The Pickle”

The pond seemed to have a feast or famine personality in terms of landing quality fish. If the first few bass you landed were small ones, it often set the tone for the rest of the trip. In contrast, if you caught a large bass early in an outing, you likely would see some more before the trip was over.

Ponder’s Pond Top 10 Bass list

Only a handful of pictures of those bass reside in my photo album but a picture of the pond remains fresh in my mind. A branch breaking the surface along the dam just out from the “ramp” could hold a good fish when bumping around with a Sidewinder worm. Didn’t matter what color as long as it was black or purple. Some evening shade from overhanging trees along the west bank and a laydown were ideal for a white spinnerbait. A shallow finger to the southwest with a tree was a prime spot for “The Pickle” as was the southeast point. The east bank dotted with lilypads also set up well for various presentations as you finished your initial lap and “pondered” making a second pass.

One of my favorites from a series of action shots snapped by an old friend, Matt Reynolds

Great times with great friends and some darn good fish in those early days of trying to be bassmasters. Often, the trip was wrapped up at a couple other watering holes, The East End and The Green Diamond taverns as they were kind of on the way home. Some of those memories are a little fuzzy. Talk to you later. Troy

Prowl the Canal Lessons-Points

Posted on by Troy Jackson

My third point drawn from fishing The Canal revolves around just that, Points. The illustration below is a prime example of a prime spot and the accompanying video provides proof that these structures produce. Per the available data while prowling the internet, The Canal averages five feet in depth and roughly ninety feet in width throughout most of its linear run. Therefore, any change in either aspect makes for an area to explore. Today, that exploration focuses on Points.

Points

No matter where you fish, points are always worth a look, but these structural features are even more important on The Canal. By its nature and construction, most of The Canal is a linear trough that has filled in at varying degrees throughout its length. However, there are several spots that I call “bays” where The Canal widens on one side. As a result, you get a rare pair of points on each side of these bays. Often, these points feature a pronounced dropoff, an oddity along most of The Canal and they are worth working over with multiple presentations to get some bites.

This concludes our three-part ”Prowl the Canal – Lessons” feature for my June wrap-up. However, the video clips have included catches from April through July, proving that these structural elements produce throughout the year on this dynamic fishing hole. And you can bet that there will be plenty more prowling during the open water portion of the calendar as I look to learn some more lessons. Talk to you later. Troy

Prowl the Canal Lessons-Combos

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Here we go with the second post from a trio of lessons courtesy of The Hennepin Canal.

Lots of fishing folks refer to a distinction between “structure” and “cover”. The general concept is that structure is a feature of the lakebed while cover is an object where the bass can hide in or around. I really don’t recall if I ever used those terms separately when I was first attracted to this hobby, but I don’t anymore.

Right or wrong, I call it all “structure” and leave the debate to the forums. For me, structure is a place where I cast and anticipate finding some bass.

So, now that I have that off my chest…

Structure Combos

Like the previous Transitions tip, a combination of structural elements can enhance a spot. In this instance, a lengthy, solid stretch of surface weeds was broken up by some open water channels and a bit of brush in the water. Such a spot screams for a few casts as the structural variety can turn the mundane into a magnet.

 

“Variety is the spice of life” as the old saying goes. And if you can find a variety of structure blended together, work it over.

One more lesson tomorrow so stay tuned and talk to you later. Troy

Prowl the Canal Lessons-Transitions

Posted on by Troy Jackson

For this month’s lessons, I am going to draw on some GoPro footage that I have collected on The Canal this year. I guess you could call this the bass fishing education portion of the blog as it goes beyond Bass Fishing 101. For me, Bass Fishing 101 is learning your lures, lines, and rod/reel combos as well as the basics of when, where, and how to throw them. Therefore, I suppose the trio of posts to follow are Bass Fishing 201 as they delve into three specific spots and/or situations and detail how to get some bites. The clips coming your way for the next three days are 2022 catches from The Canal. But bass are bass anywhere and these techniques are good to add to your repertoire no matter where you are casting.

Transitions

Give some attention to transitions or edges as these can be bass magnets. In the clip below, this pertains to a batch of reeds that breaks up a lengthy stretch of riprap shoreline. It is cool how the clues on the bank can reveal that the associated bottom composition, contours, or changes provide some appeal to the bass.

 

Whether you are a seasoned “bassmaster” or someone just starting out, hopefully you get some entertainment and/or education out of this collection of lessons. Class meets here again tomorrow. Talk to you later. Troy

Prowl the Canal – May Lessons

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Along with the numbers, each trip on The Canal offers up some new knowledge. I caught my first ever Canal bass on June 5, 2021, so I have only one year of experience on the historic waterway. As such, there is plenty to learn, and each new day provides further insight into this interesting collection of fishing holes.

Lessons

May 1 – This year’s ever present winds made for windchill on May Day, but still caught some bass

2022 has been as windy a year as I can recall, and The Canal provides a good destination under most winds. On the sections I have fished, at least one side of the roughly 90’ wide canal features timber to serve as a wind block. With the proliferation of pools, you can usually plan your trip to avoid contending with the wind.

May 27- Doesn’t look like much but on sparse structure sections of The Canal, work them over (produced a 2-12)

Keep an open mind on the pools as one has surprised me. Initially, I viewed a lack of visible shoreline structure as a negative. However, it turns out that those limited ambush points are prime real estate when it comes to finding some quality bites.

Internet reports show that I need to break out my Whopper Ploppers on The Canal so stay tuned…

Last month I mentioned prowling The Canal on the internet when you are unable to prowl in person. The lesson here is that I need to get more familiar with my Whopper Ploppers.

May 24 – Like a broken record with the darned wind in 2022

The wind has more of an effect than the current in most of the locations that I have visited. However, I did encounter a section that was crystal clear on one bank but stained on the other. I do not know if this is a factor of the current, but it was interesting to find that the section fished like two different pools despite being separated by less than ninety feet.

This 3-6 from July 21, 2021 is my Canal Top Bass, looking to break the record in 2022 as I search for a four-pounder

I guess that this is not so much a lesson as a goal. Currently, my Top Bass for The Canal sits at 3-6. My quest involves finding a four-pounder. A four-pounder is a good fish anywhere. But on The Canal, I feel it is even more special. I’ve seen pictures of a few that would qualify and others that look close, although the anglers did not include weights. Best of all, I recognize some of the scenery behind the anglers and their fish in the photos.

Did I mention that May continued a windy 2022?

May 29 – 32 mph gusts, are you kidding me?

Time will tell what June holds in store, but my plan remains to spend more time on The Canal as my regular stomping grounds involve a larger investment in gas money. I have come to enjoy my time on these new waters and look forward to further exploration and education. Stay tuned for more monthly “Prowl the Canal” updates and more as the year progresses. Talk to you later. Troy

Prowl The Canal – April Lessons

Posted on by Troy Jackson

I am a stat guy, so I really dig the numbers for my fishing trips as the previous post conveyed. However, there is a learning aspect to every trip that is enjoyable as well. Whether it is employing something you’ve learned in the past, or obtaining new information in the present, both will contribute to future success. And this is particularly true on new water, like The Canal.

Lessons

I need to fool around more with the Whopper Plopper as the topwater season progresses.

When you are unable to Prowl The Canal in person, invest some time prowling it on the internet.

Speaking of the internet, you’ve gotta love it for a fix. In this case, I learned how to switch my scale back to pounds after inadvertently setting it to kilograms.

 

Thank goodness that my “phone” is also a calculator, so I don’t have to do the metric conversion in my head.

A watercraft is the ticket, even if it is probably fifty years old with a near fifty-five-year-old “motor.”

 

Before the weeds take over, some spots on The Canal are awesome for spinnerbaits. Just the ticket for a guy who caught the fishing bug in the early-80s when spinnerbaits ruled.

The Canal is a great place to beat the wind. Unless it is getting a direct hit, even the recent gale force winds are negated on much of the narrow, predominately east-west waterway I fished in April.

There are not many true points on The Canal. But when you find one, fish it from different angles with different baits and at different times.

 

The Canal is a good spot for a young “Guest Prowler” as it is a great place to learn.

Make sure that you have a wacky rigged Senko at the ready when fishing the Whopper Plopper or other topwater lures. A well-placed follow-up on a missed strike is usually too much for those shallow water bass to resist.

April was productive in terms of both numbers and knowledge. A pair of May trips have contributed more of the same but those are tales for a future wrap-up. And with less than a year of experience on The Canal (just over 40 hours), there is plenty more to learn. Talk to you later. Troy