MN Bass Opener 2008

This is my first bass of the 2008 season. It hit on a white Zoom Horny Toad and went about 15.5inches.

So I get up at 4:20am with the idea of being the first one on the lake. I got burned a couple of years ago when I didn't hit it at the crack of dawn on bass opener and several boats were ahead of me into the Platte River Outlet (PRO) river mouth. Not any surprize I was first one at the launch. Got the boat in the water, motor started and I was on my way. In the distance on the west side of the lake another boat was under way and heading north. When the boat reached the "intersection" it headed west and I was out of luck. This boat was heading right for the PRO river mouth. The PRO river mouth always seems to hold aggresive bass and some of them can be very nice sized. Get first crack at it and your sure to be in business, get there 2nd and it's scraps from the table.

I ended up setting down about 150 yards South of the other boat. I changed my change of plan back to the original plan. The water was reading 57degrees and the wind was minimal so I figured topwater might be the ticket. My first cast was indeed with the purple Berkley Frenzy Popper. A couple of casts with that and I was fouling in the "hay" (stubble left over from last years wild rice). I decided the Zoom Horny Toad would be the better option as I made my way North. A little more past half way to the river mouth I had a strike on the Toad. I was not exactly fishing on point and gave a poor hookset. I thought the fish got off, but all of a sudden there was tugging on the line and I landed #1 for the year. On my way North to the river mouth I had two more good strikes on the Horny Toad but once again was not fishing on point and I missed both. The other boat had made it's way into the Platte River and so I approached the mouth. I immediately caught a bass on a white spook. Then I caught another one and I anchored. On one of the next casts I had an awesome blow up on the spook by a bass, but it didn't hook up; It was a nice fish. I worked the river mouth with the Spook, Horny Toad, 3/16oz spinnerbait, and an X-rap catching fish on all of them, but the average size was around 14 inches.

I was anchored trying to milk the river mouth when two Kayak Fisherman approached and went right by me into the river. They did not have the decency to stop fishing until they were out of casting range. I had no problem with the Kayaks going past as that they are quiet and unlikely to spook the fish, but to fish through my anchored area was bush league. I think one of the guys caught a small bass while still in my cast zone.

About 5 minutes later another fishing boat with three people approached and fished right past me also. These people knew the guys in the boat that beat me to the PRO and the word from the people that beat me was that they caught quite a few fish. After milking the river mouth for all I thought it was worth I elected not to fish behind those 4 boats in the river. I headed out to take a look at the GOMH but there were two trucks parked and guys covering the South shore. I then decided to work the flat that makes up the North side of the PRO. Conditions were still right for topwater and so I was chucking a watermelon Zoom Horny Toad. While working my way West I had the legs bit of my Toad a couple of times. I got good action on the buzzing legless Toad and so I kept fishing it. There was a boil, but I missed the fish. I quickly cast back to the spot and this time the fish was on. A 16.5" and my best of the morning. As I worked west the wind started to increase and I started working in the Spook, a spinnerbait, and the "lost jig." With the wind blowing in the remnants of last years wild rice and this years pads coming up, the water looked great but was just not holding fish. By the time I got to the river mouth the wind was really picking up. I got one small one at the river mouth.

I then made a run down the middle of the PRO with the intention of drifting in the wind and throwing a rattlebait over water that was a little deeper. Tried that and didn't get a thing. As I was getting blown along the South shore it became shallower with "hay" and emerging pads. I went to the Strike King 3/16oz spinnerbait and started catching fish. I made it to the river mouth and then headed up for another drift pass. The wind was really howling by now and I was moving quite a bit faster than I wanted to because when I got a fish, I was immediately blown right past the area it was caught from. I made several drift passes and usually caught 1 or 2 fish per pass but nothing big. I tried the "lost jig" and a white swim jig, but the spinnerbait seemed to produce best.

At about 11:10 I elected to call it quits with 24 bass landed. It was starting to cloud up and I didn't remember the rain gear, so I was going to need to hit home before venturing to Rock. At the access I was checked by CO Kuske who had been out in a boat, but pulled out just after I did. A guy with a Stratos trailored up while I was getting myself organized. He said he got a couple of really nice fish including a 19.5" but he and his buddy had under 10 total. It looked like he spent part of his time in the general vicinity of the GOMH.

I plan to rest and then hit Rock lake a little later on. Hopefully that SE wind will simmer down some.

Rock Off: I headed off to Rock a little after 4:45pm and was surprized that there was only one rig in the lot. CO Kuske was there with his boat on the trailer and he was giving out two separate citations to people with ATV's. I took my sweet time getting ready and was on the water and fishing by 5:30pm. The wind was blowing strong from the SE but the Rock Platte River Outlet (RPRO) where I planned to fish is protected enough that you don't have heavy wave action. The RPRO is a fair sized shallow bay that fills up with pads and other weeds in the summer. In the Spring the bay can fill up with bass and that was what I was hoping for. Because of the heavy breeze I elected to drift with the wind from East to West. The RPRO runs more East/West than North/South. My first pass was made on the more protected South shore. One thing I noticed was that the water was very clear so expected the action to be on long casts and where the wind put some ripple on the water. I started off throwing a Zoom Horny Toad and I started things off with just an explosion for a hit by a big bass, but I did not hook up. What a pain! For me Horny Toads are high maintance baits. Most of the time I have to Super Glue the Toad to the bait keeper and Toad legs have a way of getting bitten off. I had two rods rigged to Toad. On the first pass I caught two 15+ inch bass and missed 4 stikes losing two Toad bodies. I did some fishing on the West end and along the North side going into the wind with little to show for it. I then went on a bunch of different drifts catching 1 to 2 fish a drift. Towards dark the wind was really shooting straight down the pipe and I quit using Horny Toad and switched to the "lost jig" which got me a few more fish. On average the fish were bigger than this morning but I didn't get anything bigger than 16.5". I also caught I scrawny pike. I think several pike had a hand in wrecking a few Horny Toads. I quit at about 8:45pm with a total of 13 bass landed which is a bit of a disappointment because I was hoping the RPRO would be packed with bass.

On the West end of the RPRO there is a beaver dam and I had a shot at a big fish there 3 separate times. Twice it didn't hook up and the third time it was on and felt like the best fish of the night, but it got off. Maybe it was a dogfish.

There was still a little light left when I was all done loading up the boat so I headed to the GOMH and caught 4 solid bass on the "lost jig." I tried a little topwater with a Spook but there weren't any takers.

So for the day I caught 41 bass with the biggest being 16.5" .

Tommorrow I am gonna get up early and hit the GOMH from shore to see if I can outfish what I did on Sullivan today.