Category: Lures

2023 Fishing Recap – Lures Part II

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Part II of the lure recap features the heavy hitters that landed 411 of the 466 bass in 2023.

Buzzbaits – 25 bass vs. 76 bass in 2023
Booyah Buzzbait (black or white)
Top Bass: 3-2 Hennepin Canal – May 25
Top 5 Weight: 10-7 (3-2,2-7,1-11,1-10,1-9)
Comments: All but three of my buzzbait bass came from The Canal, including the Top 5 Buzzbait Bass of the year. The Canal is a perfect fit for a buzzbait with abundant weed edges and nearly all the water less than five feet in depth.

Topwater Frog – 25 bass vs. 1 bass in 2023
Spro Flappin Frog 65 (albino, killer gill, natural red)
Top Bass: 4-1 Knox County public strip pit – July 24
Top 5 2023: 15-7 (4-1,3-10,3-2,2-6,2-4)
Comments: After struggling to get dialed into a solid topwater frog bite for years, I finally found a frog to my liking. The Spro Flappin Frog combined the castability and commotion that I have been seeking and caught a good batch of quality bass up to four pounds. While the larger catches came on the strip mines, The Canal bass also showed an interest that has been lacking on my other frog presentations over the last two years.

Crankbaits – 28 bass vs. 61 bass in 2023
Rapala Shad Rap (blue), Mann’s Baby 1- (red craw or grey ghost), Strike King Rattling Squarebill (sexy shad)
Top Bass: 1-7 Hennepin Canal – October 15
Top 5 Weight: 6-6 (1-7,1-6,1-4,1-3,1-2)
Comments: While crankbaits did not fool any large bass, they were effective when and where I chose to cast them. From April to October and on The Canal, the strip mines, and Lake Storey, crankbaits came through. Twenty of the bass fell for a Mann’s Baby 1-, a super shallow bait with a wide wobble that shines when worked around shoreline riprap or shallow rockpiles.

Chatterbait – 33 bass vs. 26 bass in 2023
Z Man Chatterbait (sexy shad) with various trailers
Top Bass: 2-8 Lake Storey – October 12
Top 5 Weight: 9-11 (2-8,2-2,1-13,1-12,1-8)
Comments: I have never given chatterbaits the shot that they deserve despite glowing reports from other anglers. Well, this fall, I decided to buy in and started by buying a brand new chatterbait in the sexy shad pattern and adding a Bass Pro Shops Speed Shad trailer. This represented a departure from the half dozen other chatterbaits in my tackle that I typically threw paired with a Yamamoto Zako trailer. Between October 12 and October 22, I managed to rack up thirty-three bass on The Canal and Lake Storey. The coolest catches came from the latter fishing hole in a spot that I typically do not visit but caught my attention as it was being hit with a stiff wind. Five bass in about twenty minutes of hitting shoreline indentations while blowing around a broad point made me a believer. I am interested in seeing what 2024 has in store for my new find.

Propbait – 46 bass vs. 29 bass in 2023
Whopper Plopper 110 (bone)
Top Bass: 4-10 Knox County public strip pit – May 6
Top 5 Weight: 17-0 (4-10,4-2,3-1,2-11,2-8)
Comments: My second year of casting the Whopper Plopper focused exclusively on the 110 model in the bone pattern. I find this size to be not too big (size 130), and not too small (size 90), but the proverbial “just right.” The Whopper Plopper has been a nice topwater companion to the buzzbait as it allows for variations in retrieve due to being a floating bait.

Spinnerbaits – 63 bass vs. 254 bass in 2023
War Eagle (white/chartreuse), Berkley Power Blade (coleslaw)
Top Bass: 3-10 Hennepin Canal – October 22
Top 5 Weight: 15-5 (3-10,3-7,2-14,2-12,2-10)
Comments: Several factors contributed to the significant decline in spinnerbait bass from last year. And all revolved around the Hennepin Canal. Factor one involved spending fewer hours on The Canal where spinnerbaits have been my Top Lure. Factor two, was expanding my Canal prowls to include stretches of water that I had not fished previously. While each of these new stretches offered plenty of appealing spinnerbait targets, a final factor came into play. The bass just weren’t as cooperative on The Canal in 2023 when offered a spinnerbait. Perhaps the word is out to avoid the guy in the little boat.

Plastic Worms – 191 bass vs. 81 bass in 2023
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (various colors), Yum 7.5” Ribbontail Worm (plum), 7” Berkley Power Worm (blue fleck firetail), Bass Pro Shops Stik-O (candy corn)
Top Bass: 3-9 Knox County private strip pit – May 20
Top 5 Weight: 16-1 (3-9,3-4,3-2,3-2,3-0)
Comments: After a down year in 2022, the plastic worm returned to familiar ground as Top Lure for 2023. The boost came almost exclusively due to increased hours prowling the strip mines where the wacky rig shines. Plastic worm referred primarily to the Senko wacky rig as the presentation racked up 177 bass, while a similar Bass Pro Shops Stik-O added one other wacky bass. Summertime did see the return of an old friend in the form of Texas rigged offerings that fooled 13 bass.

And there you have it, a complete statistical breakdown of the tools from my tacklebags that fooled the fish. Many variables come into play when selecting what to cast to the bass. Factors such as weather, water, structure, season, and time of day are significant but don’t discount experience and confidence when it comes to making your choices. It all boils down to getting out there and getting on the water. Talk to you later. Troy

2023 Fishing Recap – Lures Part I

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Well, the 2024 fishing season arrived before I got around to the annual recap of the previous year. So, prior to the 2024 reports, it’s time to do a little catching up.

For today’s recap, we look at the lures that got the job done in landing 466 bass. I managed to employ over a dozen different general lure types to catch my fish in 2023. As such, the Lures portion of the 2023 Fishing Recap will be submitted over two posts working from fewest bass caught to most.

Jig – 1 bass vs. 5 bass in 2023
Strike King Rattlin’ Jig (green pumpkin) with plastic craw trailer
Top Bass: None at 12” or better
Comments: Unless the bass tell me slow down, I usually don’t. And in the early season cool water period of 2023, I found another presentation that got the job done in a big way (more on that later). My lone jig bass was a short fish from Lake Storey in mid-September. It all boils down to getting enough bites on other presentations such that I opted to rarely toss a jig.

Inline Spinner – 2 bass vs. 0 bass in 2023
Mepps #5 (rainbow trout)
Top Bass: None at 12” or better
Comments: Two early April bass were the lone contributors to this offering. In this instance, I had run through my batch of “can’t miss” baits with nary a bite and the old school Mepps saved the day with a couple small bass to avoid a shutout.

Swimbaits – 2 bass vs. 0 bass in 2023
Keitech Swing Impact (electric blue), Bass Pro Shops 3” Speed Shad (smallmouth magic)
Top Bass: 1-7 Hennepin Canal – June 3
Top 1 Weight (only one at 12”or better): 1-7 (1-7)
Comments: Similar to jigs, I rarely tossed a swimbait unless it was a downsized version in what I classify as a “grub” or “Ned Rig” (more on those later in this wrap-up series). The pair of swimbait bass that I fooled in 2023 arose from situations when my go to lures weren’t producing and I had to shift gears for a lone bite. While the presentation can certainly be effective, it’s just not my thing.

Creature Bait – 5 bass vs. 0 bass in 2023
Yum Wooly Bug (crawdad)
Top Bass: 3-2 Knox County public strip pit – September 30
Top 3 Weight (only three at 12”or better): 5-1 (3-2,1-0,0-15)
Comments: Four of my five bass on a creature bait came on the last day of September as the strip mine bass forced me to slow down. Included in the mix was a solid three-pounder. Positive feedback on a presentation that does not get many casts these days.

Jerkbait – 8 bass vs. 1 bass in 2023
Rebel Ghost Minnow
Top Bass: None at 12” or better
Comments: I chose a jerkbait for a handful of casts on a pair of early April strip mine visits. One lake had potential for a quality fish while the other spot is chock full of short bass. Both turned out to produce a batch of the latter, but it was fun to throw the old Rebel Ghost Minnow that had a few shining moments in the early 2000s.

Lipless Crankbaits –14 bass vs. 4 bass in 2023
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad or red craw)
Top Bass: 2-10 Lake Storey – September 25
Top 5 Weight: 8-8 (2-10,1-13,1-8,1-5,1-4)
Comments: The first bass of 2023 came on a lipless crankbait during a March bike ride on The Canal. And while the lure didn’t get much of a workout for the rest of the year, it was still producing in mid-October as it is an open water winner start to finish. All the Top 5 bass in this lure category came during the Lake Storey fall drawdown as it is an effective imitation of the lake’s abundant shad forage base.

Grub – 23 bass vs. 8 bass in 2023
Lunker Hunt Finesse 3” Swimbait (perfect pumpkin)
Top Bass: 5-3 Knox County public strip pit
Top 5 Weight: 14-15 (5-3,3-1,3-0,2-7,1-3)
Comments: The surprise lure of the year was a small swimbait on a light jighead that I call a Ned Rig under the Grub category. All the catches came during a month-long stretch from April 7 to May 6 while walking the Knox County public strip mines. Even better were three quality fish (5-3,3-1,3-0) from a lake where my previous Top Bass had barely eclipsed the one-pound mark. I am eager to see if luck is on my side again in 2024.

Today’s warm-up was dominated by several effective lures that were sparingly employed in specific situations when I was struggling to get a bite or forced to tone down my offerings. Next up is Part II of the lure recap featuring the heavy hitters that accounted for over four hundred bass in 2023. Talk to you later. Troy

2022 Fishing Recap – Lures Pt. II

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Today we move on to the heavy hitters from the 2022 lure selection. The six lure types below landed over five hundred bass, including my Top 5 Bass for the year (three on a spinnerbait and one each on a plastic worm and buzzbait). Read on for the stats and video of each lure type working our way up to the Top Lure of 2022.

 

Chatterbait – 26 bass
Z Man Chatterbait (white) with various trailers
Top Bass: 2-14 Knox County strip pit – September 4
Top 5 Weight: 9-0 (2-14,2-7,1-8,1-2,1-1)
Comments: I’ve just never been hooked on the chatterbait bite although many anglers are quite successful with the lure. However, I do have a handful of go to spots on the strip mines that set up well and usually come through with a few bites. As for The Canal, I have not given the chatterbait much of a shot. More on that reason as we proceed with the rest of the lures in this post.

 

Propbait – 29 bass
Whopper Plopper 110 (bone), Whopper Plopper 90 (I Know It)
Top Bass: 2-12 Hennepin Canal – September 20
Top 5 Weight: 11-7 (2-12,2-8,2-4,2-1,1-14)
Comments: 2022 was the first year that I really invested much time tossing a Whopper Plopper. Previously, I had thrown one on two July days in 2017 on the strip mines (eleven bass) and on one July day in 2021 on The Canal (three bass). For 2022, I caught twenty-nine bass over the course of seven outings, all on The Canal. While I prefer a buzzbait as my primary topwater bait on The Canal, the shallow water it offers does set up well for the Whopper Plopper when you can avoid fouling the stout trebles when the weeds take over.

 

Crankbaits – 61 bass
Rapala Shad Rap (blue or shad), Mann’s Baby 1- (red craw), Strike King Rattling Squarebill (sexy shad), Bomber Flat A (baby bass)
Top Bass: 2-12 Hennepin Canal – April 24
Top 5 Weight: 11-2 (2-12,2-5,2-4,2-3,1-10)
Comments: I was surprised to find that I landed sixty-one bass on crankbaits in 2022. On closer inspection, however, I was not surprised to find that thirty-five of the bass came from somewhere other than The Canal (strip mines and Lake Storey). The Canal just sets up better for other lures and when I do fish a crankbait it is often a Mann’s Baby 1-. In fact, seventeen of the twenty-six Canal crankbait bass were on the super shallow lure.

 

Buzzbaits – 76 bass
Special K Buzzbait, Booyah Buzzbait, Strike King KVD Buzz Toad
Top Bass: 3-5 Hennepin Canal – August 21
Top 5 Weight: 13-14 (3-5,2-11,2-10,2-10,2-10)
Comments: I’ve long been a buzzbait guy, and The Canal is custom made for the noisy topwater bait. It doesn’t get much more exciting than a topwater blast and the shallow waters of The Canal provided plenty of action in 2022. I also added the Strike King Buzz Toad at the recommendation of a fellow angler who has provided sound advice over the last several years. The Toad was a winner with a 2-7 during my first outing casting the lure.

 

Plastic Worms – 81 bass
5” Yamasenko wacky rig (various colors)
Top Bass: 3-10 Knox County public strip pit – September 4
Top 5 Weight: 12-14 (3-10,2-10,2-4,2-3,2-3)
Comments: The Senko wacky rig has been a mainstay in my arsenal since I first tried out the strange looking presentation on May 22, 2005. For 2022, it landed my Top Bass of 3-10 and several other quality bass from the Knox County strip mines. While I did put it to use on The Canal, it was often as a highly effective follow-up bait to missed topwater strikes. I like the Senko wacky rig better in clearer water, so the mostly stained water of The Canal set up better for other offerings.

 

Spinnerbaits – 254 bass
Special K Spinnerbait, Booyah Blade, Stanley Blue Glimmer, War Eagle
Top Bass: 3-5 Hennepin Canal – April 23
Top 5 Weight: 15-6 (3-5,3-4,3-2,2-15,2-12)
Comments: I have enjoyed throwing spinnerbaits for as long as I have been chasing bass. That history goes back to the 1980s when spinnerbaits were king among the bass fishing crowd. Over the years, they have fallen out of vogue in favor of other presentations. However, they are still quite effective and really did a number on The Canal to the tune of two hundred and twelve bass. Even cooler was the success of some handcrafted spinnerbaits from an old baseball teammate, Mike Karlovich. His spinnerbait creations fooled one hundred and sixty-four bass and his buzzbaits added another thirty bass on the year.

I always enjoy looking back on the numbers to see what they reveal when the year is said and done. No surprise here as my 2022 fishing can be summed up by a few cliché terms and phrases. With close to forty years of bass fishing in the books, I still find myself going “old school.” My fishing reflects my lifestyle as I am “a creature of habit.” But the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach in 2022 produced my best ever year of bass totals. Some days were better than others, some bass got away, and sometimes I got stubborn but with five hundred and fifty-three bass in the log I got more right than wrong along the way. More recaps to come so talk to you later. Troy

2022 Fishing Recap – Lures Pt.I

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Next up is the annual look back at the lures that fooled the bass. I am a creature of habit and an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” kind of guy but I did manage to employ over a dozen different general lure types to catch my fish in 2022. As such, the Lures portion of the 2022 Fishing Recap will be submitted over two posts working from fewest bass caught to most. Read on for some video and data on the first batch of lures.

 

Topwater Frog – 1 bass
Lunker Hunt Walking Frog Kraken Series (hops)
Top Bass: 2-12 Lake Storey – September 18
Comments: Frogs can be blast to fish, but they don’t play much of a role in my arsenal these days, even on the weedy Canal. Plenty of fellow Canal anglers report success on these types of baits so maybe next year I will invest a bit more time dragging them around. The lone 2022 catch came from some remaining weeds on a flat during the Lake Storey drawdown. My brain said, “This looks like a good spot for a frog”, and several casts later, I had my Top Bass of the day. Feels good when it works like that with a mental pat on the back for a good decision.

 

Jerkbait – 1 bass
Bomber Long A (red/yellow)
Top Bass: 1-3 Hennepin Canal – August 13
Comments: My only jerkbait bass of the year came on a similar, “I should try this here” decision as my previously described frog catch. I had an extended drop with sparse, scattered, submerged weeds, and figured that I could navigate it better with a jerkbait than a crankbait. While August isn’t your standard jerkbait time of the year, it worked. I fished my way through the drop without another bite and the catch wound up a one off.

 

Stickbait – 3 bass
Zara Spook (natural frog)
Top Bass: 2-6 Hennepin Canal – July 17
Top 2 Weight: 3-8 (2-6,1-2)
Comments: Me and the Zara Spook go back a long ways, but I don’t throw it much anymore. However, upon obtaining an old reel from a longtime friend, Matt Reynolds, I opted to go old school and try to land the first bass with the reel on the Spook. Matt nicknamed the natural frog pattern Zara Spook, “The Pickle” back in the 80s so my goal was to fool one on the bait while using his reel. The mission was a success with a quality fish in hand shortly after beginning to “walk the dog” (the standard name for the Zara Spook retrieve/presentation).

 

Lipless Crankbait – 4 bass
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad)
Top Bass: 1-15 Lake Storey – October 22
Top 4 Weight: 5-7 (1-15,1-13,1-0,0-11)
Comments: Lipless crankbaits have long been a mainstay in my arsenal, but they just weren’t in tune with my frequent visits to The Canal. The abundance of weeds on The Canal as the year wore on made for repeatedly fouling the hooks in the vegetation. Other offerings, primarily a spinnerbait, were more in tune to the conditions so the Red Eye Shad got a break in 2022. Top Bass on the lure came from Lake Storey in a pocket rife with shad activity and the fake shad came through. It also snagged one of the real fish that it looks to imitate.

 

Popper – 4 bass
Rebel Pop R (rainbow)
Top Bass: 1-12 Knox County public strip pit – May 14
Top 2 Weight: 2-10 (1-12,0-14)
Comments: The Pop R is an exciting lure, but I don’t employ it very often. For me it’s one of those instinct or Plan B lures. For instance, if I have trouble getting a topwater bite on faster lures like a buzzbait or if I have a limited open water strike zone, I may employ a popper. Also, if I have bass missing strikes on a faster moving topwater, I can sometimes fool a few with a popper as I can let it sit in their face when pausing the retrieve as needed.

 

Jigs – 5 bass
Googan Gridiron (PB&J), Bass Pro Enticer (white), Strike King Rattlin’ Jig (black/blue) with various pork and plastic trailers
Top Bass: 2-12 Knox County public strip pit – September 19
Top 4 Weight: 9-8 (2-12,2-11,2-1,2-0)
Comments: All my jig bass came from walk-in strip pits as The Canal just never gave me much reason to slow down. In addition, the abundance of vegetation that shows up in The Canal makes for frustrating jig fishing. I dig a jig and pig but if I don’t have to slow down, I won’t. If I do get out on The Canal earlier this year than my April 15 debut in 2022, I may employ a jig around the abundant wood before the weeds take over.

 

Grub – 8 bass
Lunker Hunt Finesse Worm ¼ oz. (Bama craw)
Top Bass: 0-13 Snakeden Hollow – April 10
Comments: I read a lot about the Ned Rig and similar light, finesse presentations that work well in cold water or during a finicky bite. In 2022, I made a decision to give this type of lure a shot on a couple strip pits in early April. Short story is that the presentation fooled some fish but nothing big and it resides out of my comfort zone of fast fishing. Unless the fish force me to slow down, it’s not happening. Perhaps a bad habit, but I get by fishing fast most of the year.

And that leads us into Part II of the lure recap, dominated by power presentations. The seven lure types in today’s post fooled a grand total of twenty-six bass. The next batch of half a dozen lure types landed five hundred and twenty-seven bass. Stay tuned for those heavy hitters. Talk to you later. Troy

New Gear Update

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Since we do not have a Top 5 Update for this week, I am instead substituting a post about new gear. Some of the items may seem less than exciting to many folks but they mean the world to me due to my penchant for record keeping.

First up, I had to replace my tape measure as the tag end of the old red one broke on a recent trip, resulting in the entire tape retracting into the casing. My Boga Grip does have a rusty old tape attached in case of emergency although I have seen enough bass that I really don’t need a tape other than to be “official.” Over the years, I have chosen a cloth tape rather than metal to avoid them rusting out. I grab these from the sewing aisle of the local department store, and they work great. While I am not a tailor, I do hang around with many seamstresses (Julie, Mom, mother-in-law Penny and my girls) so I do know my way around that section.

A more familiar section in stores are the tackle aisles which I visit every time I frequent an establishment that carries fishing stuff. Recently, I was on the road in Tennessee for work and stopped by a retailer to pick up some bottled water and grub. Dropping by the outdoor section of the Mount Union, TN location of a major chain I spied a batch of 5” Yamasenko worms in the natural shad color. This is the greatest Senko color of all-time but has disappeared from anywhere I have shopped in person for many years. I was so happy to see the color that I bought them all (luckily only three packs left on the peg). I gave one to Jayce and kept the other two for myself.

I tell you, another item that is hard to find is a wire bound, landscape-oriented batch of 4” x 6’ ruled index cards. This setup has been my go-to notebook for a fishing log since 2013. Going into 2022, I knew that I would need a new log if I were to land roughly 250 bass and as of June I was headed in the right direction. After scouring every department store, office supply store, and drug store I could find without success, I had to break down and order online. I opted to order the three-pack as that should keep me going for a while. My current log dates to March 7, 2020, and I have one page remaining (roughly fifteen fish per page) as I submit this post. All told, the current log contains data on nearly 1,000 bass and a handful of other catches. Looks like I won’t need to go on the hunt for a log for a while based on my fishing skills, fishing holes and catch rates.

One of the tapes has already been put into use. One of the notebooks will get dropped into the tacklebag before next week. One of the Senkos hit the water yesteday but came up empty despite being the best color ever. But yesterday, it didn’t really matter what I threw on The Canal as the bass were just not in the mood. That’s another story for next month’s July “Prowl the Canal” series. Talk to you later. Troy

2021 Fishing Recap – Lures Part II

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Part II of the lure recap moves on to the most productive choices from 2021.

Creatures
Berkley Havoc Pit Boss, Yum Crawdad (green pumpkin) – 8 bass
Top Bass: 18” 2-14 September 27 Lake Storey
Comments: Unless the bass force me to slow down, I don’t. Thus, there are not a whole lot of catches on these slower moving, structure bumping, tight cover lures. The eight catches on these lures came during early fall on either Lake Storey (4 bass) or a pair of Snakeden lakes (4 bass). Each of the bass were caught while jigging the Texas rigged lure through shoreline wood cover. I enjoy catching fish in this fashion but relied more on faster moving baits for nearly all my 2021 bass.

Chatterbaits
Z Man Chatterbait (bluegill or white with various Zako trailers) – 17 bass
Top Bass: 16” 1-12 October 10 Snakeden Hollow
Comments: After a high-water mark of 43 bass on chatterbaits in 2020, the totals dipped again in 2021. The decrease was largely because I rarely threw the lure. In fact, 16 of these 17 catches came during an October 10 hike to a Snakeden lake where the bass just eat this thing up (unfortunately, only one was decent size). The chatterbait has never really took hold in my arsenal although I am aware that other anglers swear by the lure. There were several days in 2021 that I had one tied on to start the day and it never even got wet as other presentations got the job done.

Spinnerbaits
War Eagle WEG02RKTW38 (white/chartreuse) – 31 bass
Top Bass: 17” 2-7 May 4 Knox County, IL private strip mine
Comments: I am about as old school and stubborn as they come in my lure selection and my lone spinnerbait choice bears this out. The fact that I regularly use a spinnerbait is also a bit of a throwback as the lure isn’t as popular as it was when I dove into this bass fishing thing back in the 1980s. However, my spinnerbait arsenal has changed considerably with a new batch of hand-crafted spinnerbaits just received from an old friend and baseball teammate. Stay tuned.

Lipless Crankbaits
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad or orange craw) and Xcalibur Real Series XR50 (chicken pox) – 45 bass
Top Bass: 20” 4-3 June 19 Snakeden Hollow
Comments: It doesn’t get much faster than a basic lipless crank retrieve and that’s just my speed when I can get away with it. And while you may need to tone it down a bit in colder water, these lures get the job done throughout the entire open water calendar. The 45 bass represent a fifty-percent decline from the 89 bass caught on the lure type in 2020. Much of this has to do with my time spent on the Hennepin Canal as most of the areas that I fish on the corridor do not set up well for such a presentation. In contrast, several strip mines and Lake Storey contain some prime lipless crankbait structure in the form of flats, points, and ledges.

Plastic Worms
Senko wacky rig (various colors) – 82 bass
Top Bass: 20” 3-6 July 21 Hennepin Canal
Comments: Plastic worm exclusively means the wacky rigged 5” Yamasenko (Senko for short) in my arsenal. After a down year of 39 bass in 2020, the Senko wacky rig bounced back by more than doubling the catches of the previous year. What more can I say than it is a winner, catching bass everywhere that I fished from May Day to Halloween. In addition, my new stomping grounds along the Hennepin Canal set up well for this presentation and the Senko got the job done. It currently holds the spot for Top Canal Bass and landed a pair of three-pounders on my prowls.

Crankbaits
Various (see above picture) – 104 bass
Top Bass: 18” 3-1 April 2 Knox County Strip Mines
Comments: A variety of crankbaits pushed this category into triple digits and made it the top producing lure type for the second straight year (100 bass in 2020). From shallow (Mann’s Baby 1-) to mid-depth (Shad Rap, Bomber Flat A and Strike King Squarebill) to deep (Strike King Pro Model), this collection of crankbaits found a lot of fish. These lures are in my wheelhouse as they allow me to fish at a fairly rapid pace, cover lots of water and bang into as much stuff as I can on the way back to the boat. And from the results, it is apparent that these tools work well when employed in the right spots at the right time with the right presentation, that’s fishing.

And with that, we wrap up the recap of the usual set of tools that were used to fool the bass in 2021. On the water, the focus is on finding the right tool at the right time, so I always enjoy the year-end analysis to see how it all shook out in terms of totals. I was pleased with the results and execution even though I did not step to far out of my comfort zone in terms of lure selection. However, in the next chapter of the 2021 recaps, I did take a stab at uncharted waters and was pleasantly surprised. Read all about it as coming up next, we explore “Locations.” Talk to you later. Troy

2021 Fishing Recap – Lures Part I

Posted on by Troy Jackson

As the 2021 recap continues, we look at every single lure or bait that fooled my bass. Staring from the fewest catches and working our way up to the top producers we look at the numbers and notes from last year. Scroll on for the first of a pair of lure posts.

Jigs
Googan Gridiron Jig (PB&J) w/ craw trailer – 1 bass
Top Bass: 13.5” 1-1 March 20 Snakeden Hollow
Comments: Landing a lone bass on a jig was a strange find upon reviewing my 2021 results as this cold-water winner posted 33 bass in 2020. The lone catch of 2021 was my third bass of the year and was logged on my first outing. I did employ it again to end the year on my November outing, but it failed to produce another bite. Overall, an odd year for this lure as I typically lean on it to get an early and late bass bite.

Livebait
Waxworm on a 1/64 oz jighead hung from a slip bobber – 1 bass
Top Bass: none at 12” or better
Comments: Not much to say about this incidental catch while out with my boys prowling the strip pits in search of whatever would bite a waxworm. Which is just about anything if you use them enough.

Propbaits
Whopper Plopper (I Know It) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 13” 1-0 July 18 Hennepin Canal
Comments: Like the Rebel Pop R (see below), this lure causes a commotion and can hover in the bass’ face if needed. The Whopper Plopper’s lone day of glory came on The Canal when catching a trio of bass on a July evening. In my prowling of the internet, I have seen a fellow angler who has much success with this bait at a different location on The Canal, but I have not given it much use beyond that July evening. Part of the reason would be old habits and part of the reason is that several of my spots on The Canal make presentation difficult due to casting from an elevated platform.

Stickbaits
Zara Spook (black shore minnow or natural frog) – 3 bass
Top Bass: 15.5” 1-11 May 1 Knox County, IL public strip pit
Comments: Me and my Zara Spook were tight back in the 80s and 90s but these days it doesn’t get wet very often. I employed it in three specific situations this year and found a trio of takers. The most rewarding of the bunch was the Top Bass on the lure. I had spotted it cruising sub-surface vegetation and needed a lure that would hopefully irritate it and trigger a reaction strike. It took a couple retrieves and one missed strike, but the plan worked as the classic lure did its job.

Poppers
Rebel Pro Pop R Zell Rowland Model (two colors) – 4 bass
Top Bass: 17.5” 3-1 September 25 Hennepin Canal
Comments: I ran into a spot on The Canal where aquatic vegetation hindered many presentations and the bass were not responding to my regular topwater offerings (buzzbaits, stickbaits, frogs). I felt that what I needed was a lure that would make a racket yet stay in their face for as long as I wished to pause. My choice was the old Pop R that is pushing antique status, having resided in my tackle for close to 30 years. The lure and one of its top proponents, tournament angler Zell Rowland, make for an interesting tale but that is for another time. For 2021, the bait was the right tool in a pair of specific situations and came through as intended. Nearly six pounds of bass (3-1 and 2-11) on the first two casts on a fall sunrise canal prowl makes a guy feel like he knows what he is doing after all these years.

Buzzbaits
Booyah Buzz (white or black) – 6 bass
Top Bass: 20.5” 4-4 October 10 Snakeden Hollow
Comments: 2021 saw the lowest total buzzbait catches since 2012 when there was not a single buzzbait bass posted. From 2012 through 2020, I fooled a total of 363 bass on a buzzbait with 2015 being the lowest total (18 bass) and 2017 being the highest total (138 bass). Now, I dig throwing buzzbaits and I have been known to try and force feed these baits to the bass. However, a fundamental tenet of fishing is that the fish will tell you what they want. In the case of 2021, the bass often told me that they weren’t interested in a buzzbait, and in this rare instance, I listened.

Swimbaits
Bass Pro Shops 3” Speed Shad (smallmouth magic) – 8 bass
Top Bass: 16” 1-13 May 23 Knox County public strip pit
Comments: Being a creature of habit, I’ve never really gotten into the swimbait swing of things. But a couple trips with a tough bite can get the wheels turning and even convince me to try something different. While shifting gears did not produce anything brag worthy, it was cool to get rewarded with a few bites when my normal offerings were getting snubbed. The presentation featured a 3/8-ounce belly weighted hook and a moderate retrieve to keep the bait moving over a collection of subsurface vegetation.

Part I in the books and Part II headed your way later this week. Talk to you later. Troy

2020 Fishing Recap – Lures

Posted on by Troy Jackson

No fishing recap would be complete without a look at the tools that fooled the bass. The full breakdown follows, working from fewest to most catches by lure type.

Stickbaits
Zara Spook (black shore minnow or natural frog) – 10 bass
Top Bass: 15” 1-9 May 3 & 15 Knox County. IL public strip pit
Comments: Me and the Zara Spook go back to the mid-80s. It is one of my legendary lure selections but that’s another story. Mid-spring, a shallow, expansive flat with scattered weeds and a sky with scattered clouds were just the ticket to tie on an old friend.

Jigs
Strike King Rattlin’ Jig (black/blue or green pumpkin) w/ craw trailer – 33 bass
Top Bass: 21” 4-12 April 26 Knox County, IL public strip pit
Comments: I don’t slow down much, but when I do, it’s hard to beat a jig and trailer. These compact bottom bouncers are a winner, particularly early and late in the season. 2020 saw the jig land Top Bass, a lake record that kind of surprised me in a pothole and topped the old record by more than a pound.

Buzzbaits
Booyah Buzz (snow white shad or bleeding shad) – 34 bass
Top Bass: 20.5” 4-0 July 1 Snakeden Hollow
Comments: I force feed these topwater winners once the bass show interest in the spring. Throughout the summer, they are a mainstay with the anticipation of some explosions running high in those first few hours around sunrise. One of those explosions was a new personal best on an old lake at 5:32am on Snakeden Hollow’s 30th birthday.

Plastic Worms
Senko wacky rig (primarily smoke) – 39 bass
Top Bass: 20.5” 3-11 July 1 Snakeden Hollow
Comments: For various reasons, the Senko wacky rig just didn’t rack up the numbers like it has over the past 15 years. Other lures were productive and a strange year in terms of diminished water clarity on a lot of my fishing holes left the Senko on the bank or boat deck. However, come April I always have one ready and I don’t expect that to change in 2021.

Chatterbaits
Z Man Chatterbait (bluegill with various Zako trailers) – 43 bass
Top Bass: 19” 2-12 September 12 Knox County, IL public strip pit
Comments: Despite glowing reports from many other anglers, I’ve never really relied too much on chatterbaits. However, in 2020 I did commit to tossing one around more frequently and was not disappointed. The 43 bass total and the 2-12 Top Bass both represent high water marks on the lure and here’s to topping both in 2021.

Spinnerbaits
Stanley Vibra Shaft or War Eagle (Blue Glimmer or white/chartreuse) – 70 bass
Top Bass: 17” 2-7 May 4 Knox County, IL private strip mine
Comments: The good, old spinnerbait seems to have seen a decline in publicity since its heyday in the 80s. That will never happen with me as I cut my bass fishing teeth on these lures. In fact, 42 of the 70 spinnerbait bass came on Stanley Vibra Shaft spinnerbait that I call the “Blue Glimmer” that is nearly 30 years old.

Lipless Crankbaits
Strike King Red Eye Shad (sexy shad or orange craw) – 89 bass
Top Bass: 17.5” 2-8 May 14 Knox County, IL private strip pit
Comments: If I can fish fast, I do. In terms of retrieve speed and effectiveness, it is tough to beat a lipless crankbait. They produce all through the year and have always amazed me at being able to nab a few in the cold water of early spring.

Crankbaits
Various (see above) – 100 bass
Top Bass: 19” 3-9 Aug 3 Lake Storey
Comments: A fair collection of these lures put this category on top as they fooled nearly one quarter of my 418 bass. From shallow (Mann’s Baby 1- and a new Strike King wake bait) to mid-depth (Shad Rap, Bomber Flat A and Strike King Squarebill) to deep (Strike King Pro Model) this crew of crankbaits found a lot of fish. Once again, these lures allow me to fish at a fairly rapid pace, cover a lot of water and bang into as much stuff as I can on the way back to the boat.

And the 2020 wrap-up is not quite done yet. I still have a look at my 2020 fishing partners and hope to post some video highlights when I get time to edit. Hope you will tune in again and talk to you later. Troy

Lure Lunacy Final

Posted on by Troy Jackson

 

And the winner is…

Blue Glimmer (Storey Region #3) vs. Senko Wacky Rig (Snakeden Region #1)
Matchup: The final pits a couple lures that qualified for a Legendary Lures series that I wrote back in 2012. Ten lures were selected and these two made the list for not only their productivity but also their impact.

Blue Glimmer: The actual name for this bait is the Stanley 3/8 ounce Vibra Shaft Rainbow Glitter Series Spinnerbait in the Blue Glimmer pattern. Like I’m really going to write that in the log book or offer it up as a boat ramp tip in its entirety. Of course, if it didn’t produce it wouldn’t matter as the lure would have simply faded from use without much fanfare. Or without a nickname. And that’s also part of what makes this lure special and worthy of inclusion in the championship match. Beyond practicality, the “Blue Glimmer” nickname also represents a term of affection combined with a thumbs up for a job well done. Oh yeah, it just sounds cool, too, which is, well, cool.

Senko Wacky Rig: Do you know where you were at 7:48am on May 22, 2005? I sure do. South end of Lake Bracken’s Snake Island, spinning rod in one hand, first ever Senko Wacky Rig bass in the other (16.5” and 2-5 weight). Fishing with Dad that morning I had a total of four bass on other baits between 5:30am-7:45am when I opted for the Senko out of desperation. When we called it quits at 10:30am, I had sixteen more bass in the log all courtesy of the Senko as I never put it back down. Fifteen years later, I’ve got it on a rod most every time out once the water warms in the spring.

 

Result: This one is quite a matchup as these two baits obviously have a lot of history and have made for just a few fish stories. The champ represents a lure that has come to dominate not only my lure selection but also a few others that I know. It’s both new angler and kid friendly as my boy, Jayce, has taken a liking to this thing. As a result, it’s put a big smile on that boy’s face a few times. Of course, those smiles are contagious to this proud dad. Finally, when a lure becomes your generic term for any similar lure or presentation, you know that it has left a lasting impression. Like Kleenex or Scotch Tape, the winning “Senko” refers to the wacky worm approach no matter the imitation. Congratulations to the Senko Wacky Rig for the victory and well done by a quality runner-up in the Blue Glimmer.

First Senko Wacky Rig bass  7:48am on 5/22/05  – It’s not always the biggest bass that makes the biggest splash

It’s been quite a ride for what turned out to be a more ambitious undertaking than I initially thought. The original intent was to provide a little distraction from our odd times through an outdoor related substitute for the “real” tourney. And I guess I did just that while getting to tell more than a few fish stories along the way. Even threw in a little basketball lore and some song lyrics to enhance the tourney journey. Sure, it got me distracted from some of the other things that could have been attended to while the world is out of whack. But you only get one shot at such a project without the real March Madness trying to steal your blogging thunder. Well, let’s hope so, at least.

Whew!

And talk to you later. Troy

Lure Lunacy Semi-Finals

Posted on by Troy Jackson

Well, the results are in a bit later than anticipated but I spent yesterday afternoon and most of the evening actually putting some lures to use during a much needed fishing trip. In fact, all of the lures below got in on the act. But that’s another story or two for next week.

For today, it’s a look at how the semi-final contests went down as I throw in yet a couple more new wrinkles. Results were recorded lakeside during my fishing trip and the videos feature the Top 4 bass for each lure since we have reached the Final Four.
(Disclaimer: a pair of jig bass were not included due to no existing photo for one catch and I failed to confirm permission to use another photo with the angler).

 

 

Blue Glimmer (Storey Region #3) vs. Red Eye Shad (Emiquon Region #2)
Matchup: Both of these baits were kind of next generation lures for their lure type. The Blue Glimmer (actually 3/8 oz. Stanley Vibra Shaft Spinnerbait in the Blue Glimmer pattern) took over spinnerbait duties in the 90s from the old Mann’s Hank Parker models. The Red Eye Shad assumed the lipless crankbait role back in 2011 taking over from the Rapala Rattlin’ Rap.
Result: While the Red Eye Shad moves towards ten years of consistent production, the Blue Glimmer has resurfaced with a bit of reconstruction via skirt replacement to do battle again. Therefore, the former disadvantage faced by the Blue Glimmer long being out of production is no longer a hindrance. As a result, the tried and true old school bait pulls off a mild upset as it’s slightly slower pace and potential structure hugging ability derail the fast moving lipless crankbait.

 

Jig & Pig (Little John Region #1) vs. Senko Wacky Rig (Snakeden Region #1)
Matchup: This pair of lures feature a hand-off of sorts that works out to cover the fishing calendar with some solid bass catching potential. The jig & pig shines in the early, cold water period before stepping aside as the water warms when April moves along. From there the Senko steps up as a bass fooling machine through the summer before handing over the reins to the jig and pig to finish off the year.
Result: Both of these lures received #1 seeds for a reason and their variations in seasonal effectiveness make for a tough matchup. There’s no doubt that I’ll have a jig & pig on to start and finish the year but the Senko flat out changed the way I fish. Particularly on the strip mines where I do a great deal of my casting. This is one presentation that lived up to the hype and that makes it the winner in this battle.

The Lure Lunacy Final is set with an old legend looking to take down a new legend. Lots of log entries with these two lures so it is certainly a match full of memories. One more walk down Memory Lane slated for Monday will determine which lure takes home the Lure Lunacy title. Hope you’ll tune in for the finale. Talk to you later. Troy