Mille Lacs Trolling

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Mille Lacs Fall Trolling

Still alive, still not much in a blogging mood. I have been out for one Fall Walleye trip on Mille Lacs. I did OK Fishing from 8PM to 1AM or so landing 7 walleye from 1 cigar up to two 27"'s. Got them on either a Perch Frenzy Minnow, White Green Frenzy Minnow, or Mystic Susp Minnow wht/blu.

I probably should have gone trolling tonight as that it was reasonably warm, oh well.

Mille Lacs Fall Trolling

Still alive, still not much in a blogging mood. I have been out for one Fall Walleye trip on Mille Lacs. I did OK Fishing from 8PM to 1AM or so landing 7 walleye from 1 cigar up to two 27"'s. Got them on either a Perch Frenzy Minnow, White Green Frenzy Minnow, or Mystic Susp Minnow wht/blu. Unfortunately I was unable to get down to the Salmon Run again this year, the reports say it's been a good year.

I probably should have gone trolling tonight as that it was reasonably warm, oh well.

A Week in GEM Camp Tournaments

Sunday, June 18, 2006

The Week in Tournaments:

Monday June 12th GEM Pepsi Challenge Tournament Town Line Lake:
The fish were on the feed this night with lots of fish caught in all boats. The winner of the 3 Bass, 3 Pike tournament was Dave Lindmark and the 6 kids in the pontoon anchored by Sarah's 20inch Largemouth. Sara is a girl, duh, who has mild cerebral palsy and retardation but she held up wonderfully for the week and was a joy to be around; Her 20 incher was big Largemouth for the week and her first fish ever. My boat, Rick and Justin, caught a bunch of bass and some pike but no size.

Tuesday June 13th GEM Pepsi Challenge Tournament Mule Lake:
The weather was sunny which makes Mule Lake tough, the fish did bite late in the day. The Tournament was taken by Guide Mike Thompson and his two kids. I think they won this Multispecies Tournament with 7 species: Largemouth, Smallmouth, Rock Bass, Perch, Sunfish, Crappie, and Pike. Mike caught several 4lb class largemouth on docks and a few good smallies on docks and poppers. My boat, Rick and Justin, didn't try that hard to fish multi-species. I caught a 4lb Larry and 4lb Sally on the Frenzy Popper.

Wednesday June 14th Pepsi Challenge Tournament Town Line Lake:
We went back to Town Line cause the fishing was so good on Monday night, but the weather was warm and sunny which made fishing much tougher. Mike Thompson took the tournament with Rick and Justin on the strength of 3 good Bass and Pike. My boat Malik and Dylan, struggled and didn't have much size on either the bass or pike. We did have fun "surf fishing."

Thursday June 15th GEM Pepsi Challenge Tournament Blackwater Lake:
Conditions were sunny with a south east wind with growing cloud cover late, not ideal but Blackwater has lots of bass and fishing was pretty good. The Best 6 Bass tournament was a tie at 97inches between my boat, Elijah and Alex, and Dave Lindmark and the 6 kids in the pontoon. The pontoon won the tie breaker with Rick's 19inch smallie which was also big smallie of the week. Thus my boat was shut out for the week.

Saturday June 17th Fishers of Men Club Twin Cities Multi-species Buffalo Lake:
The weather was cloudy with a slight South then North wind turning very wet. The fishing was tough and me and my partner Tony Hanf got skunked. Buffalo lake appears to be in the midst of a major decline thanks to winter time over harvest, weed killing, and run off. The Tournament was won by Mike Thompson and his Dad with 10 Crappies and a 20.5 inch Largemouth. The day was not a total wash out as that I had Angeno's Pizza for dinner.

Camp Summary: It was a good week with good kids. On to Lindisfarne.

Lobster Lake Pre-Fish

Pre-Fish Lobster

It was supposed to go like this:
I would check 2 spots bada bing bada bang and that would be that, I'd win the upcoming tournament. Unfortunately things didn't work out according to plan.

The Lobster Lake of June 8th 2006 is much different than the Lobster Lake of June 25th 2005. As I pulled into my hot spot of last year I immediately noticed the scum was gone, it was thick last year. I was almost in disbelief as no fish were holding in this spot. Last year I caught my limit there in 5 minutes and was able to go to the well several times throughout the day. I checked back later in the day and pike had taken up residence. I'm writing this spot off.

Things were still OK because spot #2 has the potential to be phenomenal. I made my way in to the spot and instead of bass there was carp. Beyond the carp I did get a few pick ups but I don't think it's gonna have the quantity or quality that I thought it might. What a disappointment!

Update:

I didn't do my preparation very well and was short crankbaits and plastics that would have helped me develop back up patterns and areas. The lake is more stained than it was last year and there seems to be a whole lot less weeds. Last year in my pre-fish day I caught a lot more fish and better quality than what I found today. I saw a gazillion sunfish, carp and small bass. As it stands right now I think getting 10lbs will be a challenge. Getting mentally prepared for this one is going to be a challenge.


Update: I had 11lbs-13ozs and finished 5th.

Sunday May 28 BP & Cyberfish:

It's not BP vs. Cyberfish because we were in different worlds a fishin. 

We started the day with a trip to Garrison Alliance Church. From there we headed home to watch the Indy 500 and eat the crappies that Cyb caught yesterday. Round about 4PM the adventure began. The plan was to hit Black Bass Lake in Kathio State Park in our float tubes. The DeLorme Minnesota Atlas and Gazetter makes it look like all you have to do is take a road or trail off of 169 to get there. It turned out to not be that easy and we could not find the lake but we sure tried and went down many a false trail.

The backup plan consisted of forsaking the little 20 acre mud hole which we could not find and hitting the 132,000 acre mud hole we could find. The destination was Wahkon bay were the BP would naturally fish bass and Cyberfish would fish panfish and this out of our float tubes. The bass vs. panfish dichotomy made a grudge match out of the question.

I got out on the fish first landing a 14" bass on a bit off "Merth" Zoom Trick worm. I quickly landed a pudgy 10" bass soon after that. Next thing I know Cyberfish is screaming in delight over a 10" gill. I went over and took his pic with a disposable camera Cyb brought along. I headed back to try and sight fish some more of those bass and the next thing I know Cyb is gleefully catching another 10" gill. I didn't go to take pictures of that one.

I was fishing an area where I could see lots of bass and gills, but I couldn't get any more of the one's I could see to go. Meanwhile Cyb was landing the occasional gill. I started casting a Snagproof tournament frog and managed to land a 17" and then a chunky 18" bass. Meanwhile Cyb was landing the occasional gill. I headed west and Cyb headed in to where I was seeing the bass and gills.

The trip West was a dud except for some nice small talk with some shore owners who were surprised to see a float tuber happen along. They even gave me tips on fish location but it was all for not because if there were fish there they weren't aggressive enough for a topwater frog. Meanwhile Cyb was landing the occasional gill, crappie, and a bass. Just when I got back in talking distance Cyb lost a big bass.

Now I think is a good time to interject the fact that Cyberfish was fishing with a telescoping cane pole. How many people do you suspect have fished Mille Lacs Lake out of a float tube using a cane pole? Cyberfish just ain't normal people THAT's FOR SURE! That big old bass got off by pulling the old swim under the float tubers legs trick. Cyb kept on a catching panfish while I toiled for another blow up. I finally got a strike but could not convert even though the fish gave me a second chance. Cyb kept on a catching panfish until dark.

We got off the lake and headed to DQ and that was that.

FYI- Cyb did get out early before church and pulled a 28" Platte Pike while float tube fishing.

Bass Opener

I didn't repeat last years mistake and got up early to hit the PRO where the early bird gets the worm. I woke up at 5:00 and was on the water by 5:35. It was a cool 67 with a bit of a SE breeze already stirring the air. I headed straight for the Platte River Outlet.

Upon Arrival I had several rods rigged and ready to go. I picked up the white swim jig and reddish purple trailer first. I got a hit on my very first cast but it was a pike. The Swim Jig was getting to caught up in the rice and so I switched to a green Zoom Horny Toad, shortly after starting to throw that I landed a 13.75" bass. Shortly after that I landed a 16.75" fish on the Horny Toad, then I landed a 17" bass with the swim jig. I then caught another 13.75" on the Toad and then a pike and then a 12" bass.

I had started making my way into the river at this point and another boat was coming in there with me. I landed a 15" right in front of these other two guys. They proceeded to go right in front of me and start fishing almost immediately the guy in the front of the other boat caught a 14-16" fish. I kind of worked slowly allowing for us to have some separation. I then started thoroughly working the wind blown side of the river. I caught a couple of 12 inchers then I got 2 that were 15-16", this was fishing behind these two guys. I narrowed the gap between us and decided to split.

I went to a semi-protected part of the PRO outside of the river. The slop was thick enough that it was Snagproof Frog time. I started by throwing a white frog and was shortly rewarded with a 16" bass. A little bit later I caught a 15" fish. I switched to a brown Snagproof Bobby's Perfect Frog, I got a bite and broke off, I'm not sure if it was a pike or not. Disappointed I tied on a Black Red Sparkle Frog and kept fishing. I worked my way to the river mouth then headed to the south shore of the PRO. All I got on the south shore was a few hits from Pike.

I then headed into "Old Cabin Bay" to do a little dock fishing except the good dock run was all covered up by parked panfish fishermen. I moved beyond them and started on docks with a black and green jig. I got a few on the docks and missed a few but nothing bigger than 15" and the fishing was fairly slow. I headed in about 11 O Clock. Overall I did alright. Conditions started to get tough with that wind, there were a ton of people on their docks or out in boats, it was a zoo out there by 9AM.

And then I took a nap

I went out for about 45 minutes around 4:30PM. I was fishing docks in our bay with the black and green jig. I managed to get one little bass. Didn't see much activity but a few sunnies. I left my polarized glasses here at the house. I got back to the house by 5:30 and shortly after that Mike "Cyberfish" Thompson arrived and we had dinner. He had been out on Mille Lacs hammering crappie and sunnies. He said he saw a lot of bedding Larry's and Sally's but could not get them to bite. After Dinner Mike cleaned crappie for a fish fry tomorrow.

We decided to go out around 7:30 in the calm area just to the East of our place. I got one 12"bass and Mike had a couple of follows. This area is full of rice which caused the Trolling Motor to overheat and now I have no working forward speeds. NICE! Fricking Minn Kota piece of crap.

Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer and more windy than today. Dad will have a look at the trolling motor tomorrow. I have a sinking feeling that I will be using our old trolling motor for at least the first couple of tournaments. I think it will work out ok provided I don't have to fight millfoil or rice. Tomorrow with the high winds and boat out of commission Mike and I may go float tubing on a little lake.

Mille Lacs Launch with Dad

Tuesday night I got a call from Mike Cummins of the Fishers of Men Club Twin Cities asking if I would be interested in going out on a launch on Mille Lacs with his Church. Dad has been talking about doing this for a couple of years and so when I asked him we were both in.

At 4PM Wed. Night we headed out the door for Scenic Bay Resort where we were launching out of on Mille Lacs. I elected not to bring anything but a few hooks, beads, and an ice fishing depth finder. Everyone (about 20 people) arrived around 5PM and we were out by 5:20. It was cloudy and threatening rain, but actually stayed dry the whole time. We had light wind intermixed with calm periods and even some sunshine now and then. We were set up with slip bobbers and I rigged myself and dad with different bead set ups and we had different hook colors. We got no bites at the first spot which was sand over 20' of water. We then moved into 16' and rocks where there were a few nibbles but no walleye's. We then headed into shallow water on top of a reef and still nada. We then headed out to about 17' out towards "The Graveyard." We were not there long an Abby Cummins was pulling in the first eye of the trip.

We fired up the grill and ate food. Fish started to be caught and my bobber went down and I reeled in a nice 16" eater. More fish were caught all around the launch and Dad missed a couple of bites.

Abby Cummins caught her second fish which was 22" and the big fish of the trip. Quite a bit later I hooked into a 21" which was the 2nd biggest (Pic above). Dave Villa who was next to me caught a small eye and a rock bass and missed a good bite as it was getting dark. Dad had one last chance at a good fish but it got off on it's way in.

(for better picture click to enlarge)
The group caught 13 keepers had 3 that were two big and probably 3 go back that were too small. All and all we had a good time.

Fishing with Gordy

On Thursday, May 18th, the Fishers of Men Club Twin Cities had our first 3rd Thursday Night Outing, held on the third Thursday night of the month duh!, on Lake Minnetonka. Unfortunately, my boat was the only one to turn out. I arrived at the Maxwell bay access around 3:45 and was out fishing by 4:15PM. It was getting more overcast and threatening rain. I headed up to a weedline in Stubbs Bay and started off by fishing a Bomber Fat A for Pike. I fished my way down to the channel back into Maxwell with only one hit, and that fish didn't hook up. I then moved into the NW bay of Maxwell, which is a big milfoil weed flat. It was calm there, so I started fishing with a Spook-type topwater. I got a small pike and missed a small bass. It started to sprinkle about 5 O'clock. At about 5:15, I had a big swirl that missed the Spook. I let it sit then started walking it again. WHAM! Either a big Pike or Muskie engulfed the Spook, and I set into an instant break-off.

Fortunately, the lure didn't hook up and was left sitting on the surface where the swirl had just been. I retrieved my lure and headed in to pick up Gordy. Gordy was waiting at the dock, and we stayed at the ramp until 6PM to see if anyone else would show. From the Maxwell Access, we headed to Crystal Bay. In the channel between bays, Gordy spotted what we thought was a life jacket; it turned out to be a halfway decent rain jacket with a quarter in a pocket which I hauled aboard. Having another rain jacket is always good for GEM kids. We then headed into a little bay inside Crystal, where I had caught crappies and sunfish before. On our way in, I had a swim jig get bit off; Shortly after that, Gordy pulled in a 16" bass. Shortly after that, I got a 14" bass on the Spook topwater.

Gordy and I fished all around in that little bay. I missed a couple of topwater strikes and also caught a decent-sized bass. Gordy broke out the ultra-lite tackle and caught a couple of small sunnies. Eventually, things died off, and we headed back into Maxwell. The area of Maxwell we ran into was teaming with carp and panfish. While I missed a pike and jumped off a bass, Gordy caught several sunfish and crappie. Sometime when we were in Crystal Bay, it stopped raining, and by the end of the night, it had cleared out nicely. At 8:30, we headed back to the ramp to beat out a league that was weighing in at 9PM. The rest of the Fishers of Men club missed out on a good time.

Today...

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Today...

Was a nice day a wee bit windy. I hung out most of the afternoon throwing the Frisbee to Pattie Lou. Eventually I braved the wind and went out fishing. I caught 3 Pike including a strong 29" that made my day. I also had a break off and caught several bass. I fished Sullivan.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Lake Minnetonka for the inaugural Fishers of Men 3rd Thursday Outing. At this point I expect to be the only boat out there. Oh well.

More trolling motor problem, my bracket broke, but dad worked out a pretty good fix for me. Minn Kota Endura transom mounts are junk for serious fisherman, step up to the Maxxum's.

Brought the Widow Olson some fish to eat and she repaid me with a chocolate bar and banana bread. Had fish for dinner, yum.

Opener In 4 Parts

Opening Report Part 1:
I'm Back. The wind and waves were howling in out of the East which means I couldn't cast very well. After about 6 to 10 casts I was out of there. If the wind stays like that than the Eddy's Jetty may be pretty good tomorrow during the day.

Opening Report Part 2:
I've spent the day so far inside relaxing, the weather has been cool rainy and windy, but plan to get out in a bit. Here is the results so far from the Gov., Governor, first lady reel in walleyes.

Opening Report Part 3:
Around 3PM or so I started getting around to getting the boat ready in a steady drizzle to light rain to steady downpour. I was not thrilled about this. When the boat finally launched I trolled a Excaliber Floater Shad for Pike and Walleye's. I got a pike and then the motor started giving me trouble so I headed into the little east bay. I got 3 small pike and a bass. From there I headed into Sullivan and trolled the Excaliber Floater Shad for Pike and Walleye's with no results. I then headed to the South side of the Pro. I started with throwing a swim jig and caught a small bass immediately. Shortly after that a pike separated me from the swim jig. I put on a spinnerbait and worked all the way into the river. I got 2 more small pike and a bass. I was getting hungry and so I headed back into Platte. I decided to troll with the Excaliber Floater Shad for Pike and Walleye's when I was between the two Islands. Trolling in I whacked a 5-6lb Northern and then I decided I was good and headed in.

Opening Report Part 4:
The weather was finally clearing up and so I decided to head to Mille Lacs and Eddy's Jetty. The reports from Mille Lacs today have been that the fish were on fire. I waited until I saw all the fishing stuff on the 10 O'clock news and then headed out. Between 10:45 and Midnight I landed 4 Eyes all off the same spot on the Jetty. The first two were a 15" keeper and 19" keeper. I then landed a 21.5" slot fish and 20.5" slot fish. After casting for another 15 minutes or so without a bite I decided that was good and left.

Not a bad end to a somewhat crappy day.

Fishers of Men Spring Outing

The Fishers of Men Spring outing was held at Broadwater Lodge on Woman Lake May 6-8.

The weather was nice and the accomodations were excellent for the 2006 Fishers of Men Fishing Club Twin Cities Spring Outing. We had 19 guys and 3 GEM kids. I arrived around 6pm on Friday and headed out to Otter bay to find the guys who had arrived already. I recognized Merv Heitschmidt, Gary Ellis, and Mike Cummins. I kind of avoided them and looked for shallow fish. Otter bay looks like it would be a shallow backwater but it is actually a fairly deep dropping bay. I saw a few bass and lots of baitfish shallow but no crappies or sunnies. Around 7:30 the other boats headed in. Shortly after they left I headed in too.

The guys had been putting a hurt on the Crappies in 10 to 22ft of water and were in the cleaning shack. Frank Evans, formerly of Atikwa Lake Lodge, had caught a 14.5, 1lb11oz Crappie. They pretty much had limited out for 6 guys.

Jeff Compton and family wanted to head out and so I guided them out to the spot those guys had been fishing. I caught nothing but they got 3 and 1 slimer. After 1/2 an hour I headed in to get dinner at Patricks in Longville. Even though the other guys were a 1/2hour in front of me they still had not gotten there fish dinners yet. I had chopped steak and some of the guys fish along with a hearty salad bar. We then headed to One Stop where I bought a highly defective Wing-It Bobber.

Back at the Lodge Mike Price and Armondo had arrived and Dave Lindmark showed up late with Corey and a friend. I hung out with Lowell and Gary Ellis. Gary was nice enough to put 4lb line on one of my reels.

Saturday: After a good pancake breakfast I headed out with Gary and Lowell in search of some slabs. Right away we were smacking fish. Gary got 2, Lowell got 2 and I got one and missed one. That bite died and we moved. I got a bass in the next spot. After a dry spell we moved again. Gary caught a couple more, Lowell got one and I missed another couple of fish before it was time to go in for lunch.

Lunch was taco salad and sandwiches, yum.

I then putzed around for a while, I headed in to Longville to get an ice cream cone and replace that Wing-It Bobber. After getting back I embarked with Jay to go slab hunting.

Fishing was slow, Jay got a slimer and I got 1 keeper crappie and one little one. Jay needed to go in and so I took him in. I then headed out for about 45minutes before dinner getting a decent fish drifting. That was it for me and the elusive Crappie.

We had an excellent fish fry for dinner then hung out into the evening. Mike and the Braham crew took off. Armondo and Mike had a reletively tough day out on backwater lakes. Fishing on Woman was slow but consistant for most with a few limits caught.

Sunday: People were up early for a breakfast of leftovers. I ate and went back to sleep. When I woke up Villa, Thompson, and Jay were about to leave. Lindmark left shortly after them. I headed to fish as that Robert and Tony and the Compton clan were out fishing. I met Robert at the Otter/Broadwater narrow and they told me nothing was going on so I headed in to pack up and leave.

I headed over to Boy Lake to hunt dog fish. The wind had started kicking up out of the south pretty good. I caught two bass including a chunky 19.5 out of the Maiden Cain. I then headed to the Creek that connects Boy and Swift lake. The creek got shallow and I was seeing rocks, so I abandoned that quest and fished the creek which had current moving swiftly. I got a couple of small hammer handles on a white swim jig.

I moved out to the weed flat out from the creek and was throwing the swim jig until a pike took it. I had caught a couple of slimmers and had a decent size eye follow. I then went to the white jig and pig and caught or missed several more slimers. I checked out Rabbit Lake then decided I had enough and packed up.

When I got home I tried Rock for doggies for about 45 minutes. No dogs but bass and slimers were active.

2nd Bowfin of the Yeat

2nd Dogfish of the Year
Got a 21incher tonight on a white Stanley Phantom. May have had another follow.

1st Dogfish of the Year

1st Dogfish of the Year!
Yesterday I went to Mille Lacs for a little bit of multi-species angling. I started in the Isle Island Canal for panfish. I caught 2 small crappies 1 sunfish and one milting perch. There were tons of baitfish in this canal along with several muskie; At one point I had two 40 something inch muskies swimming side by side right under the boat. Apparently the crappie had been going good in the canal up until the cold weather a couple of days ago.

As the day wore on I decided to try "Dogfish Nirvana" which is a very small bay over by the State Park Isle Bay. For some reason there always seems to be dogfish in this particular cut. I got in there and started tossing a 1/2 White Jig and pig. As I made my way in I spotted a nice doggy right in front of me. I was able to make a couple of casts and bounce the jig off his white nose, but he didn't bite. The boat then passed over the fish and I had to spin around. I re-spotted the fish and cast passed it. I then hopped the bait closer and closer, sure enough it struck and I set the hook. I fought the dogfish until it was plum wore out and then I netted it. It was a dark fish (looked a lot like doggy drawing above) that measured 30 inches. YES! What a way to start for doggies this year.

I think I saw another smaller fish in "Dogfish Nirvana" too.

Fishing Goals 2006

Crappie:
1. Catch 14inch or bigger
2. Find the Crappies this spring on Platte

Dogfish:
1. Repeat as MN Bowfin Grand Champion
2. Catch a State Record Doggy (Current Record 10lb15oz 32"/15"- 31"/14.5")

Walleye:
1. Catch a 30inch fish.

Pike:
1. Win or place in the money in Hillman Lions Platte Lake Pike Tournament (August)

Bass:
1. Catch a 21plus inch or 7lb Largemouth
2. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Smallmouth
3. Catch 40 Bass@ or over 19inches or 4lbs.
4. Catch 60 Smallmouth.

Team Bass Trail:
1. Win 2 Tournaments (1@Horseshoe)
2. Win Big Bass 2 Times
3. Place in the Money 4 times
4. Never Finish below 10th place
5. Limit every tournament
6. Average over 2.25lbs per fish
7. Make the Super Stars Tournament

New Lakes to Fish:
Osakis (Team Bass)
Bordon

Rock Off

April 9th
Got the boat in the water at Rock, and the engine fired right up. Unfortunately, I forgot the Garmin and the GPS.

I fished around by the Bulldog inlet and the RPRO, nothing doing; there was some activity in some shallow water. I thought I saw a sucker.

Rock Again

April 8th
About 5PM I headed over to rock. Right away I got a 16"bass on the Silver Panther. About an hour later I got a 22" Bass on the green flu flu and a minnow. The fish had a huge head but thinned down by the tale. I don't think it was a 6lb fish, probably middle high 5. First piggey of the year.

After 7PM I headed to the GOMH. The same guys as last night were there along with a father and his two sons. One of the kids caught a decent sized bass. No Crappies, but I did think I saw some baitfish moving. The guys from last night had lighted bobbers and it sounded like they were going to stay out a while.

Rock ON

April 7th
I slept in late today. Around 5PM I thought I would see if the Rock Access was open enough for fishing yet; As it turns out the whole lake was open.

I got up on the back of the pick-up and gave it a try. The access area was protected from a faily stiff NW wind and the air temp was a cool 50 or so. I caught one sunfish on green flu flu and a small pike on the silver panther.

I went on a drive, Bulldog Open, Long Open, Sullivan Open, Platte Open. People fishing at the GOMH, I thought I saw one guy real something small in, but I'm not totally sure.

Goings on at GOMH

For those who don't know, GOMH is short for the "Grumpy Old Man Hole," which is the bridge and channel area where Platte and Sullivan lake connect.

4/4- The Second GOM sighting, GOM#3

I went to the GOMH, and darn it if I didn't get a hit on my second cast or at least what I thought was a bite on the White panther. After a few more casts, I decided to see what a jig and a minnow would do.

About that time, a van pulled up with "Lewis," aka GOM#3. He got out and caught me up on some GOM things. Lee Ander, aka GOM#2, got gangrene from stepping on a nail last July and had his right leg cut off just below the knee. That kept him cooped up for the summer, but he made it out ice fishing almost every day. Willard, aka GOM#1, did lots of the ice fishing with GOM#2. Lewis informed me that he and Willard are brothers, which I did not know. I didn't see much of Lewis at the GOMH last year. Also, Willard just had foot surgery himself and went into town shopping against the doctor's orders because he wasn't feeling any pain in his foot. Lewis was glad to hear I haven't had any heart trouble recently.

Sometime during our conversation, the guy on the NW corner of the GOMH started a grass fire. It started getting smokey, so Lewis and I left.

4/5 The First Bullheads of the season
I arrived at the GOMH at about 6:15PM and started fishing with a green flu flu and a minnow. Lo and behold, I hooked into one of those famous GOMH "jumpin bullheads" that I would say went 15". Nice, pretty, looking fish. A few casts later, I had another bullhead coming in.

Around this time, a Pick Up truck pulled up and started watching me. Not knowing who it was, I didn't bait up and hoped they would leave. Someone lady was walking along the road and started talking to the guy in the truck whose voice I thought I recognized as Lee Ander's; Sure enough, that's who it was. Soon after Lee Ander stopped, a younger guy in a car also stopped. I had to go to Bible Study, so I picked up my stuff and headed to the truck. I asked Lee Ander how he was doing, and he gave me the whole story about his leg. He also told me about his winter fishing success on Platte and Sullivan. Just as I told Lee Ander I was heading to Bible Study, up drives Willard with an offer to give me a shoe. He was talking about the shoe brace they gave him after his surgery. Naturally, Willard had to tell me all about that ordeal and how much pain he had been in. The surgery was a big success, and his recovery was speedy. Willard said he hadn't even needed to take one of the pain pills his Dr. prescribed. After about another 15-minute delay, I was off to Garrison Alliance.

Looks like I'll be hearing a lot from the GOM this spring. One can only hope they will be as entertaining as ever. Actually, it's really only Willard who is fun; he almost never stops talking.

Skunk Ice Fishing Platte

Ice Conditions Platte Lake: 10inches of honeycombed ice.

I went out fishing today and the ice was rotten from top to bottom. It never got below freezing last night and the wind worked the water on top of the ice through the ice column. The lake has even turned dark at this point. Open water could be here within a week if the correct conditions prevail, which they just might.

BTW-Didn't catch anything but saw a pike go by high in the water column.

3 Days

Rock Lake 3/18
I fished from about Noon till Dark, it was sunny but cool with Temps right at freezing. I tried the spot I've been wanting to try on the SE part of the lake. I would mark fish occasionally but I think they were nothing but small crappie and perch. That was all I caught any way a few small crappie and perch. At about 3 I tried heading to the northern basin where I encountered dead water and a few small perch. I drilled holes close to the small NW point and saw sunnies on the Aqua View. At dusk I headed back to where I started and landed a couple of small crappies and 1 sunfish. Overall a disappointment.

Platte Lake 3/17
I headed out to the CollegeOutdoorsGuy Hole and did nothing but mark fish which I never did catch. Probably small sunnies and perch. Arrived around 5 done at dark.

Sullivan Lake 3/16
Headed out to the West Access Hole at Dusk. Got 1 small Crappie and 2x10" Keepers on Demon's and minnows. That was it.

2005 BP Big Bass Review

2004 Big Bass Review

2005:

21.5" Caught 10/12/05

Largemouth:
Measured by length:
21inch 1Bass Platte Lake White Sizmic Frog

20inch 7Bass
Lakes: 4 Sullivan, 2 Platte, Rock
Baits: 3 Green Deadstick Rogue, White JigNPig, BrownChart JigNpig, Glow Demon and Minnow, Red Snagproof Bobby's Perfect Frog

19inch 17Bass
Lakes: 9 Sullivan, 2 Platte, 2 Bone (WI), 2 Towline, Blackwater, Rock
Baits: 3 Blue/Black JigNPig Denny Brauer 3x Chunk, 3 Brown Snagproof Bobby's Perfect Frog, 2 Green Deadstick Rogue, 2 White Snag Proof Frog, Chart Cubby Mini Mite, Beetle Spin, Silver Deadstick Rogue, 4" Senko, White JigNPig, Black SnagProof Frog, Brown/Chart Jig.


Smallmouth:
Measured by Length:
19inch 3Bass
Lake: Mille Lacs
Bait: Skitter Prop Blaze, Gold Frenzy Popper, Purple Frenzy Popper

Measured by weight:
4-00 Koronis Berkley Frenzy Popper Bullfrog


BP's Thoughts: I consider a big bass in MN as anything bigger than 19" or over 4lbs. Generally Tournaments in MN will have the Big Bass be a 4 to 5lb fish with an occasional 6lber.

The way the year started out I really thought I was gonna slay the big bass but the results ended up just being OK and just about the same as 2003 and 2004; (I didn't keep track of big fish in 2003). In 2004 I caught 26, in 2005 the number is 29 or so. I just could not find the big fish or larger concentrations of fish in Platte this year either. By the numbers it is clear that Sullivan was again my best bet for big bass.

My biggest Largemouth in 2005, 21.5inches, was one of the last bass I caught for the year. The Biggest Smallie was a 19.75" Chunk out of Mille Lacs Lake.

Here's some Pics of this years fish (Click to enlarge)

Solid 19" from the Pro, caught while fishing with my brothers Steve and Todd.


These two 19"ers were caught out of the Pro on a Black and Blue Jig


This 19.75" was my biggest Smallie of the Year 2005, I got two others that day that were 4lbs or bigger.


Caught this 20inch fish in June. I am pretty sure it came off a dock on a jig.


20 incher caught on Cubby Mini-Mite in the Spring.


Bone Lake 19+


2nd Bone Lake 19+


A Grumpy Old Man Hole Lunker.


18.75" Dock fish caught on the MN openner.


20+ Fish caught on a swim jig at the PRO


Two hefty dogs. 1 dock fish, 1 slop fish, both on Frogs.

Mixed bag

It was sunny and so I decided to head out even with a chill in the air. I thought it wasn't windy but it kind of was out of the NW. I got out around 3:30 or so. I first set up on the point out front where I quickly learned that the battery for the Aqua View needed a charge. I caught a couple of perch and a small pike.

At 5:30 I headed out off the N side of the Big Island and found a pre-drilled hole in 9ft of water; Somebody had been fishing there earlier in the day. I think there were sunfish in the spot that I couldn't catch cause I had no grubs. I caught 2 8-9" Crappies and a bullhead before it got dark and I gave up.

Hopefully it will warm up this week.

Fishing With Cyb on West Rush

West Rush Lake Report: The Cyberfish secret spot was only good for Cyberfish and that for about 5 minutes. The schools of Crappies really seemed to be on the move today and the action was there for sporadic bursts, the average crappie size left something to be desired too. Overall we had a good time and when the sun was out, and there was no wind, it was a heck of a nice morning and early afternoon. Thank goodness it wasn't a BP vs. Cyberfish competition day because he pretty much cleaned everyones clock. Maybe I'll have to challenge him to a big Crappie Contest at next weeks G.E.M. Outing.

Ice Bassin 2006

I headed out this afternoon about 2PM to try and catch some bass. Lo & Behold I actually caught 3. I was fishing almost right out front of our place.

I got this first one on a Fat boy and maggots. I saw him come in on the camera and take it. Up to that point I'd been seeing and catching numerous medium to small sunfish and little Perch.
This next Bass hit on a small red Angel Eye with a red plastic attractor. Both this and the first fish were about a pound. Caught over bear bottom in about 10feet. When this one came in I first thought it was a bigger sunfish.

This last bass, both pictures, was about 2lbs and also hit on the Angel Eye. I had moved in a little shallower and saw a mark come in and hang there, I let the spoon sit and sure enough it was my third bass.

A little later I got a small pike.

I went out after Crappies on Sullivan at Dark, caught 1 8"er and missed another bite and that was it.

I need to do something about getting another camera, obviously.

BP's 2005 Fishing Goals Review:

Crappie:
1. Catch 14inch or bigger Nope
2. Find the Crappies this spring on Platte Nope but I did do pretty good at the Grumpy Old Man Hole.

Dogfish:

1. Repeat as MN Bowfin Grand Champion Nope
2. Catch a State Record Doggy (Current Record 10lb15oz 32"/15"- 31"/14.5") Nope by biggest doggy was caught at Mille Lacs and was only around 5lbs.

Walleye:
1. Catch a 30inch fish. Nope, but I had a hot and cold Fall Trolling season, once again catching an 8lb, 27.5" fish.

Pike:
1. Win or place in the money in Hillman Lions Platte Lake Pike Tournament (August) YES! I think it was 4th or 5th place. I got the big fish and Mike Davis got the numbers. We won all of $25 or $50 dollars

Bass:

1. Catch a 21plus inch or 7lb Largemouth Yes! on the 21 incher. My last big bass of the season.
2. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Smallmouth Nope, I did get 2x19.5"
3. Catch 40 Bass@ or over 19inches or 4lbs. Not even close, my total was 29 which was 3 better than 2004.
4. Catch 50 Smallmouth. Yes! I managed to land 52 total smallies.

Team Bass Trail:
1. Win 2 Tournaments (1@Horseshoe) Nope, my best finish was 2nd at the Guy/Gal w/ Partner Erin Sutter-Maas. Beyond that I had 5th place showings at Koronis and Horseshoe #2.
2. Win Big Bass 2 Times Nope, my best fish was a 4lb Smallie at Koronis.
3. Place in the Money 7 times Nope, not even close, in the money once and that was unexpected.
4. Never Finish below 10th place Nope, I had dismal finishes as Bone, N/S Center, Platte/Sullivan, and the TOC.
5. Limit every tournament Nope, that went out the window at Bone.
6. Average over 2.25lbs per fish Nope, but close at 2.17.

New Lakes to Fish for Bass:
Lobster (Team Bass) Yes. This a tournament I let slip through my fingers. Liked the Lake.
Sauk (Team Bass) Yes. I like the lake even though it kicked my butt in TOC day #1.
Bordon Nope!
Erskine Yes, not impressed.
Camp Nope
South Long Nope, only from shore.

Fishers of Men Ice 1

Today I went out fishing with a group of guys from the Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) . In the most recent newsletter, I wrote an article proposing that we get out fishing more as a club and so we went fishing. It was a modest turn out of 7 guys and 1 daughter on this cold February morning. Cold mornings like this one, below or at zero, have been a rare thing in Minnesocold this winter.

We met at Eddy's on Mille Lac's at 8AM where I found out we would be fishing in an Eddy's House with, Launch Captain and Pastor of Onamia Alliance Church, David ________ I forget his last name. Maybe I'll have pictures later. The fishing was slow with only a few medium sized perch brought up. Frankly I didn't care, I was just glad to be in a warm fish house and to monkey around with my underwater camera. We had the house till noon.

At noon the group split up with myself, Tom Goodrich, Tom Hayes, Mike & Abby Cummins going to Platte Lake to try for Pike and Panfish. Although cold the sun made fishing bearable. In the afternoon, we managed to get 4 Pike, 1 decent Crappie and a couple little one's, and the same with sunfish. At one point I was jigging for two pike on the Aqua View, but I got neither. I also spent some of the time riding around the lake on Mike's snowmobile. Overall Goodrich went home with a mess of fish and I unloaded two slabs that had frozen solid in the cold weather we've been having.

Over all Fun Day!

Slab Slow Down

As that I had other errands to run today, I only got out at dusk trying to get into those Sullivan Slabs that I found yesterday. The long and short of it is I caught one perch, and 5 Crappies, only 2 of which were slabbers. However the night ended a little early for my taste due to the fact that I ran out of propane for the lantern. It's too bad that happened because I was prepared to stay out several more hours on an evening that was rather warm for this point in the season. Oh well, that's fishing.

Hard Luck Slabber Dady

The Aitkin Jaycees Ice Fishing Contest was a bust for me. I couldn't even bring up a little perch. I had two quality bites on minnows and whiffed on both hooksets, should have let them have it longer. Pout were 3 out of the top 4 places with a walleye in 3rd. I think there was 1 tulibee in the top 10, one other walleye in the top 20 and the rest were perch, including a couple that bested a pound.

Afterward I decided to head to Sullivan and try for some slabbers. I put in at the West Access and by accident ended up working a hump for eye's. In the process of doing that I accidentally had my St. Croix Avid Ice Stick, my best ice fishing pole, get to close to the Coleman Lantern and the blank got weakened but didn't break. I think if I put some kind of splint on it that maybe it can be saved. At that point I was one frustrated dude. I did manage to get off the break and find 6 solid 10" slab crappies and missed several more on bad hookset and probably also not feeling the bite. They were biting really light. What finally tripped the trigger was a big minnow on a Custom Jigs Glow Demon beneath a glow dropper as an attracter. In my other hole I had a small minnow on a Glow Demon. I would jig the big minnow and they would inhale the small minnow and just sit with it.

Now that I've found these dudes, look out.