Rock and GOMH 4/29/08

Boat in the water, motor started right up. I got up to 19.8MPH on the GPS which is about right.

Fishing Report: After I got the boat broke in I did some fishing for a few hours at Rock Lake. I caught a pike and two 14" bass. I did try for panfish a little bit without even getting a hit, but my main quarry was dogfish and I didn't get any of those. I fished the whole Rock Platte River Outlet(RPRO) which is a text book shallow dark bottomed bay on the NW side of the lake. I found water temps as warm as 47 but there was zero activity in the bay, I didn't see a single fish. At about 7PM I pulled out and headed to the GOMH.

GOMH Report: No Grumpy Old Men, I was the only one there. The water was flowing steadily into Sullivan. I didn't get any action until it was getting fairly dark. I was in the bullhead sweet spot and the bobber went down and it was no small bullhead. Unfortunatly this bullhead decided to go into the shoreline weeds a couple of times. Eventually it did swim out but then my hook came out. About 15 minutes later my bobber jumped then went under slowly and I landed a nice 10" silver bullhead. Unfortunatly that was the extent of the action. I stayed a while after dark and tried with a lighted bobber and glow Demon, nothing. Both fish bit on a glow Cubby and Crappie Minnow.

At least I caught something.

Fishing Report 4-28-08: Since the ice went off 5 days ago the weather has been cold the last 3 days. Today it only got into the low 40's and by the time I quit fishing I had problems with my guides icing up.

My fishing trip started out with a visit to Bear Trax to get my 2008 fishing licence and some minnows. On the fishing licence in big letters it says Expires: February 28,2009. This part of the licence is incorrect. A little lower on the licence in much smaller print it indicates the licence is good from 3-1-2008 through 4-30-2009 which is the correct information.

I like the fact that Minnesocold went to a 14 month licence that expires at the end of April instead of at the end of February. I had always thought it stupid that you had to buy a new licence before the ice fishing season is finished. The DNR would pinch people who would simply forget. The way they have it now makes much more sense because by the end of April ice fishing is done and May is the month of the "Fishing Opener."

Anyway headed to Rock first and the ramp was fixed and the dock was out. Unfortunately no fish were around. I tried for probably an hour and a half. I left for the GOMH with about 30 minutes to sunset. As I arrived a truck with a guy and 2 teenagers was leaving so I don't know how they did, but my guess is they got nothing to be leaving before the prime time bite really begins.

I got set up on the SW side of the GOMH and started fishing with a glow Cubby and a minnow. The water was at least a inch higher than yesterday and the water was slowly flowing into Platte. After about 20 minutes with no action I occupied my time by casting an X-rap to catch some floating weeds that could easily end up being a nuisance. After clearing those weeds to my satisfaction I went back to the Cubby and in short order when I got into the bullhead sweet spot my bobber jumped and quickly went under. I had hooked into a 2lb toothy bullhead. 3 Fish so far at the GOMH this Spring and 3 different species. I went through a long lull, during which time a pesky Beaver who is building a house 30 yards East of the bridge was swimming around and being annoying. During this time the water switched directions and started running slowly into Platte.

As it was getting quite dark my bobber went down and I landed a 16.25" jumpin' bullhead. A short time after that I land a small 1lb toothy bullhead that stole my glow Cubby body. Both of these bullheads also came out of the bullhead sweet spot. I tried for about 15 more minutes without a hit and left.

Double Whammy 4-27-08

Fishing Report: I got my first "silver bullhead" of the year at the GOMH. The water was flowing in the right direction but not exceedingly fast. I also caught two 17.5" bass at Rock Lake. No Grumpy Old Man sightings.

The water level in Platte/Sullivan rose another 2 to 3 inches with the snow storm we had on Saturday.

Rock On!

Fishing Report: Despite the nasty weather (cold and wet) I decided to go out fishing to see if just maybe I could catch anything. I started at the Rock Lake Public Access. The ice was off the lake but the dock was not in the water. Last year the dock went in the same day the ice went out.

Sure enough I was able to luck into 3 Larry bass (17",14",14"). No crappies, sunnies, dogfish, or pike.

As it started getting dark I headed to the GOMH in the off chance that maybe the crappies moved in in this awful weather. The water was flowing into Platte lake despite the fact of high water and a slight wind out of the North, What is with that? I don't think I have ever caught a fish at the GOMH when the water was flowing into Platte. You need the water to be flowing the other way, the swifter the better. I didn't give it long and left.

Skunk the GOMH

Fishing Report: I headed to check the lakes and go fish the GOMH around 7PM. It had stopped sprinkling by the time I started fishing and it must have been over 60 degrees. I tried the Pink Panzer and White Panzer without success. I tried a glow Cubby Mini-Mite with a pink gulp maggot and did not get any bites. I did take some time out from fishing to "clear some brush" from the lake shore so that more area of the shore was fishable. Despite knocking down most of the tall weeds, there are significant sized weed mats in the water lining the shore which will make landing fish, especially bigger one's, difficult. I made the SE shore much more fishable than it has been in the past couple of years. When it got to dark to see my bobber I left.

Cranker In 2008

BAM- Due to a late-day trip to Brainerd (see "Bummer"), I did not get out fishing at the GOMH until slightly after 8PM. I believe the sun had set by then, and it was just starting to get dark when I arrived. The current was running into Sullivan at a good clip. There was open water as far as the eye could see on the Platte Lake side. At first, I ran the Pink Panther and got nothing. I then switched to a glow Cubby Mini-Mite under a small Wing-It Bobber. The bobber is small and kind of hard to see. I may decide to upgrade the bobber size at some point. I was giving it the old "Thompson Shake" on the second or third cast, and I thought I saw the bobber go under, so I set the hook, but nothing was there. I fished the glow Cubby for probably another 15 minutes without any action. Then one time, when I was bringing it through the bullhead sweet spot, the bobber went down, and I hooked into a hawg. It started pulling drag, and I knew it was no silver bullhead. It didn't take long before it showed itself to be a famous GOMH "Jumpin' Bullhead." It put up a solid fight and even swam under the bridge for a time. Once it got back on the Sullivan side, I was able to keep it out of the shoreline cattails and land it. It was between 18.5 and 19.25 inches and fat; I'll call it a 19". I unhooked the Cubby, which was firmly stuck in the upper lip, and released her ASAP. Unfortunately, no camera for pic's again tonight. I tried the Cubby again for a while, then I tried a new bait which I will call The Pink Panzer; it is a close relative of the Pink Panther. After a few casts with that, I thought I had a fish on for a moment, but then the lure came free. I am not sure if it was a fish, or maybe I just snagged the bottom, but my guess is that it was a fish. I tried the Panzer for about 15 minutes, then returned to the Cubby. It was getting dark by now, and I had difficulty spotting that little Wing-It. I didn't get any more action.