Fishers of Men Club Twin Cities Fall Outing 2009

My 1st Bass on Three Island Lake.

I fished all 3 days (Thur-Sat) out of the GEM pontoon with Dave Lindmark and Mike Thompson.

Day 1 Thursday Sept 24th-
I met Dave Lindmark and Mike Thompson at Lutherdell Bible Camp around 1PM. We got our stuff put in the cabin and then Dave wanted to take a nap, so I picked out a couple of rods and went to fish off the camp docks. At the last of the 3 docks, usually the best spot, I made a cast between the dock and a pontoon boat with a smoke tube and was rewarded with a 15 inch largemouth. I headed back up to the cabin pretty much as Dave was getting ready to roll. We took on a Teen Challenge graduate named Aaron, and two Fishers of Men Club boats were going to follow us. Dave had decided to go to Three Island Lake because it is close and we would be coming back for supper at 6PM. Three Island had been a good bass and pike lake for GEM this summer. It turned out to be kind of a bust for us under the sunny and calm conditions. We caught a few really small bass and a few small pike. Mike and I lamented the fact that we were going in for supper and wouldn't be on Mule Lake for the prime time evening bite.

Day 2 Friday Sept. 25th-
Since the Minnesota Teen Challenge group brought their own boats I wasn't needed for taking guys out in the camp pontoons, so I ended up in the GEM pontoon with Dave, Mike, and a Teen Challenge guy named Dave. The Day 1 Tournament allowed for the length of my best pike, bass (largie or smallie), walleye, and muskie combined. We picked Mule lake not so much for the tournament as for the opportunity to catch the largies and smallies in this bass catch and release only lake. Mule has clear water and conditions were sunny, then partly cloudy until about 3:30PM when it looked like it might rain but it never did.

We started off fishing on the South End of the lake by a downed tree. I tossed my smoke tube by the tree and missed a bite. Teen Challenge Dave cast his tube into one of the branches and we broke him off. I tied him another tube and when I casted back at the tree I got the first fish of the day, which was a rock bass. Mike Thompson worked us out onto the weed flat going East. I picked up a couple of small pike on a black spinnerbait while the other guys caught some bass on plastics. Eventually I switched up to a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig and landed my first bass (1st picture) and this healthy 16+ incher.

A little later on I caught a 23 inch Pike on the Pure Poison.

Eventually we stopped working the SE corner of the lake because it was sunny and calm. We headed towards the access to work the West side of the lake which had some wind blowing on it. As we worked this shoreline Dave Lindmark got the only two smallmouth we would catch. I did see one nice smallmouth follow in a largie that Mike had hooked. As we worked this shore it was kind of slow but one of us would pull a fish every 10 minutes or so. Action picked up some as we got to the North end of the lake when I popped a couple and missed one on a smoke tube, while Mike got one, and Dave caught then lost one. It had clouded up at this point so the fish were probably turning on a little bit.

After another lull Mike hastily worked us towards the North Narrows Southern Point trying to get us there before the sun would pop out again. Mike got a quality hit on his popper and I threw in behind him with my smoke tube. I was reeling in quickly to make another cast when a bass swirled on the tube and missed. I let the tube sink and it was inhaled by this 17incher.

Mike thought we were going to get into a flurry but I think those were the only two fish we pulled off the Southern Point. As we were working that point the wind came up quite a bit from what it had been out of the East. As we worked our way to the North Narrows North Point I got a 16" largie that hit the tube on the drop. As we worked our way into the wind along the North point I switched up to a white/chartreuse gold bladed Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig and I immediately nailed a couple of small pike and then had a quality 28 inch class pike get hooked up and take a run but before I could get it in it pulled off. I was super disappointed because that was a money fish. I got a couple of largies on the Pure Poison, including a 15", and then the lure got bit off. It was the only white/chart gold blade that I had and my efforts to replace it were in vain as I stopped catching fish while the Dave's and Mike managed to get a few and miss a few. We worked all the North end points and went back to the North Narrows Southern Point one more time and then it was time to head in.

I had 40 inches which was 4th best for the day, but got me 3rd place in the money pool. Had I got the big pike I missed I would have been 2nd.


Day 3 Saturday Sept. 26th-
Day 3 was FallEE WallEE Trophy Day where the top 3 for the days tournament would get to put their name on the back of the plaque/trophy. The tournament would be decided by the length of one's 3 biggest bass and 3 biggest pike which is the same way things were decided last year when I got 1st Place. Because of tournament parameters the smart move was to hit Townline Lake because it has decent sized bass and an excellent average size for pike including many 30 inch class fish. Townline was where I won it last year. Today I would just be fishing with Dave Lindmark and Mike. It was fairly breezy all day out of the SW with clouds early giving way to warm sunshine in the afternoon.

I started off fishing a silver buzzbait and was rewarded with some solid pike from 24 to 26 inches. Mike Thompson started catching bass on the inside weedline with tubes, so with 3 nice pike under my belt I switched up to that. Mike was out fishing me on the bass but I managed to pick up 2 on a junebug Powerbait tube texas rigged on a jig. We got to some slop and I lost a bass on a Horny Toad but soon after that picked up my 3rd keeper bass on the Toad. Fish were in the slop but we didn't do a very good job of catching them. It's hard to say if they were mostly bass or pike. The sun came out and we decided to head back to where we started. Lindmark still didn't have a fish at this point and it was after noon. Mike and I started off working the inside weedline again and we both managed to upgrade our bass but Mike had the edge with bass while I had the bigger pike. Eventually it seemed we had run the best bass water so we headed out and tried for pike. Mike slowly started to upgrade his pike and Dave eventually got a few fish. I struggled to get bit and switched lures, eventually getting bit on a white with silver blades Terminator Spinnerbait, but after catching a couple of fish it got bit off and once again I struggled to get bit. Eventually we worked our way to the NE end of the lake where there is an abandoned beaver dam that can hold some nice bass and unfortunatley for me it was Mike who pulled a 17incher out from under the pads. I got an 18incher from the same spot the previous year.

Next we went to work the weeds off of one of the points on the North End of the Lake. We pulled a couple of pike and were working our way across the flat when I had a bruiser of a pike come out of the water while missing my spinnerbait, the fish followed to the boat before darting away. Mike Thompson threw after it and it struck at his spinnerbait and missed. Mike did a figure 8 at the boat and hooked up with the 29" inch fish which would win him his 1st FallEE WallEE title.

As time was closing in I had the brite idea to put on a Mann's Minus One crankbait and I upgraded a half inch and got a couple of other nice pike. I was kicking myself for not thinking of this lure sooner.

For the Day I got 3rd Place behind Mike who beat Lowell Borgan by a half inch. Lowell also had a 29" Pike, unbelievably from Mule Lake. However Mike forgot to get in the money pool, so I got the 2nd Place money.

So FallEE WallEE for 2009 is:
#1 Mike Thompson
#2 Lowell Borgan
#3 Dave Maas

Note: Lowell and I are both on FallEE 4 times and both during the exact same years (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009)

Snatcher Gull Lake

The Weather: It was a sunny day in the low 80's with light wind in the morning picking up to about 10MPH out of the South in the afternoon.

Here is a couple of Snatchers (Darren and Owen) waiting for blast off:

On the phone, my boater Art sounded confident we would get fish but before blast off he informed me that he thought he would be lucky to get a limit under the expected weather conditions.

We blasted off a little before 8AM from the Government Point Public Access and we headed SW to Wilson Bay where we stopped on a weed flat on the Southside of Hunters Point. There was a light ripple on the water and I started off throwing a buzzbait, but eventually switched to a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper. After about 7 minutes I put a 12.5 incher in the boat. That fish was followed by a 13.5", 12.75", 13.75" that totally went airborne when it hit, and 13.10" that started bleeding pretty good so I threw it back. We got off the flat and as we were making our way back on I threw a smoke tube along the deep weedline and got a 13". I started throwing the Popper again and got a 12.5" and a couple of shorts. At this point, we were about an hour into the tournament. My partner Art had two fish at this point. The wind died and so did the action on top. I think I got a couple of fish that did not help on the tube.

Around 10:30AM we made a move to Green Lake which is a small round bay ringed by slop and docks. I pulled a 15.75" on a black blue jignpig on the edge of pads and slop. I got a couple that didn't help on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke off the docks and slop. Eventually, I started throwing the smoke tube out into deeper water and I culled up to a 13" and got a few more that didn't help. Once we fished around the bay, we made a run to a spot on the South end of Wilson that had rice and pads near deeper water. Art had a fish miss his topwater frog. He had me throw in with a jig and I pulled out another 12.5" that didn't help. As we made our way down the rice I had a good fish swirl on my jignpig as I was swimming it but it didn't get hooked. Eventually, we moved to a weed flat where I had a fish rise to but not hit the Frenzy Popper and Art got a couple of keepers.

We probably spent the last 3 hours back at our starting spot. On the first pass, I threw a black spinnerbait because the wind was blowing pretty good and I got a small pike, a rock bass, a short and a 12.5 plus I lost one that was most likely a 12 incher. On the next pass, I tried a chatter jig without any luck. Art pulled out to the deep weed edge and started catching fish, so I went back to the smoke tube and started catching fish; some short, some keepers that didn't help, and my final cull with a 13.5. I caught quite a few fish in the last 3 hours. Art filled his limit and culled a couple of times fishing with a red jigworm.

At around 20 to 4PM we headed into Ernie's where we would have the weigh-in. We tied the boat up on the dock and Art took this picture of my biggest fish which cut off my head.

Art went to the bar to get a drink and I decided to throw a cast out towards a dock with some boat lifts that were within casting range with the tube. I had a fish nail the tube but I didn't hook up. I couldn't get a re-strike as our tournament boats started coming in.

My 6 fish ended up weighing 8lbs 7ozs which put me in 12th place out of 24 guys. My boater Art had 7lbs 9ozs, so this is the 3rd time out of 12 Bass Snatcher tournaments where I "back seated" my boater. The tournament was won with 13lbs 4ozs caught by 2009 Baxter Bass Snatchers Mr. Bass Dennis Lothspeich which made this his 3rd win of the year. I back seated Dennis at Pelican this year.

Snatchers Leech Lake

This is the tournament I was looking forward to more than any other on the schedule and I ended up with a great partner draw for the lake. I rode up from Baxter to the Horseshoe Bay resort with my boater Bill Ludenia. Horsebay Resort on the map above is by the Y in Agency. There was some pretty good fog on my way to Brainerd, but it really wasn't too bad until we got up to Leech. Despite a fairly good fog, we blasted off early at around 7:30AM. It turned out that after we got out a couple of miles the fog disappeared.

Our starting spot was a reed bed towards the NE side of Bear Island (Bear Island is the big Island on the SE side of the lake). Another club boat also started in this reed bed. I didn't even have my rods organized and Bill was pulling his first bass into the boat on his 2nd cast. We worked in the area for about 30 minutes and I think Bill got one more fish.

Next, we moved to some of the heavy cover in Headquarters Bay, which is South of Boy Bay. I think it was our third stop in Headquarters that I had a massive explosion on my white Zoom Horny Toad and I landed a thick 17" bass. We were fishing rice and the fish bit close to a nice sized clump of rice that had a pretty good open lane beside it. As we worked for this rice bed, Dennis, my boater from Pelican, pulled in a pretty good distance in front of us and Dwight, my boater from South Long, was also fishing in the general area. I had a couple of fish swat at my Horny Toad and one solid blow up that I should have hooked up with as we worked the area. I think Bill got 1 fish and we say Dennis land a bass and his partner catch a big dogfish. To be honest I think we worked through this rice a bit quicker than we should have because fish were definitely there. After about 45 minutes we moved a little way to some undercut banks with pads and rice, but that was dead. We kept moving North along some good looking rice and I think Bill landed a fish or two before we made a move to some rice on the East side of Bear Island. There were lots of signs of fish in this rice but we didn't catch any. The day was bright and sunny and the fish on this particular spot were spooky.

We moved North to the reed bed where we started the day and I got a bite on my tube jig but missed it. I cast right back to the same area and got hit again and this time I landed a 13.75" largemouth. I don't remember if I got one more fish in these reeds or not. I don't think Bill got a fish this time.

Next, we moved up to Boy Bay to try some docks. On the very first dock, my bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke got bit off. On this same dock, Bill landed a 3lb bass. I think Bill got a 2nd dock bass before I connected with a 12.5" bass. I think Bill got another dock bass before I had a fish that I thought was a bass swim out and take the Fluke but when I set the hook and I was bit off clean, so it was actually either a pike or muskie. Once we got to the end of the docks we pretty much kept working East in a mix of rice and reeds. Bill in the front of the boat was pulling an occasional fish while I was throwing the white Horny Toad, a brown Bobby's Perfect Snagproof Frog, and a tube jig hauling water. One time when Bill was culling and I was in the front of the boat I cast the tube ways into the rice and pulled out a 15". We jumped around and worked some reeds and then more Rice with Bill pulling more fish and me getting blanked. We were working rice and I threw into an open area with a Bobby's Snagproof frog and got a strike which I landed but it was under the 12-inch minimum. You don't catch shorts on Snagproof frogs very often.

We moved to the Southside of Boy bay into some awesome looking water and I landed another short on the Snagproof Frog, what is with that. After a long lull, Bill moved us to an area where he thought I could fill my limit with some small fish. I managed to get a 12.5 on the Snagproof frog on this water.

Time was starting to run short, so we headed back to the area where I got my big fish. Unfortunately, the long day in the sun was wearing on me pretty good at this point and I wasn't at my best. Right away I had a bite on the Horny Toad and missed it. About 5 minutes later I had another great bite on the Toad and I came up empty again. A few minutes after that there was a massive explosion on the Horny Toad but I didn't hook up this time either and that was my last bite of the day.

On the way in we did throw a quick hail mary for me in the reeds where we started. I was worn out and highly disappointed in my execution.

Results:
I ended up one short of my limit with 5 fish for 9lbs 4ozs which got me 17th out of 24. If I would have landed my bites I probably would have been 14th or better. My partner Bill had 13/11 and got 10th. The winner was Dennis with 19/13 and big bass was only 5/0 and went to Art Becker who will be my boater at Gull Lake.

Analysis: I just did not have a very good day on the water. Lousy execution.

Snatchers Pelican Lake

The Weather: Morning light fog with a 5 to 8 MPH breeze, the fog lifted around 10:30AM but it was a heavy overcast until about 1PM when the skies cleared and the wind died.

Pelican is an 8,000-acre lake just a bit North of Brainerd MN and it has clear water. We launched out of a small bay on the SW corner of the lake. I was in the first boat out but we were making a long run North in one of the slowest boats in the tournament, so my boater Dennis was worried about possibly not being 1st to where he wanted to start. We had a total of 12 boats and 23 guys fishing. As it turns out his worries were unfounded. We started by what I think is a big sunken island where a sand flat met a breakline with some weeds. Dennis had found a good school here during prefish and was quite confident in the spot. It didn't take long and I got a bite on my smoke tube but the bass was not a keeper at just over 11 inches. I think Dennis then caught a rock bass and things slowed down, Dennis was kind of miffed the fish were not cooperating but he eventually did bring the first keeper into the boat.

I decided conditions were conducive to a topwater bite so I put on a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. After about 5 minutes the popper was smashed by a 21-inch pike. After fishing for about 10 minutes with nothing I tried a white Spook, but that hauled water and Dennis decided it was time to move to a new spot. We moved to a depression in a flat that had weeds in it. I started throwing a bullfrog Frenzy Popper thinking I might need a little brighter bait in the heavy overcast. I had a fish miss the popper but it came back for a second try and hooked up; It was a 14.5" bass, so I was on the board. A little while later I had a fish miss the Popper 3 or 4 times before it finally hooked up and I landed the 15.5 incher. I think Dennis caught a couple on a Texas rigged tube, so I went back to throwing the smoke tube and I caught 12.25" squeaker. Dennis had a nice bass follow a blue/black tube to the boat which got me thinking that maybe the fish would be willing to chase something swimming so I put on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatterjig, however, I didn't get anything on it at this spot.

Eventually, Dennis decided to move and we went to a weed bed on the Northside of an island where the wind was blowing in pretty good. I thought it was perfect conditions for the Pure Poison and I was right. I nailed a 15" on my second or third cast. A few casts later and I was reeling in 18.25 that just engulfed the Pure Poison. Dennis was not quite pleased that I pulled a big fish off one of his big fish spots, so he was giving me crap. A few minutes later I was hooked up with my limit fish which was a quality 15.25" largemouth. We worked back over the area a second time and I had a couple of bumps that didn't hook up and I think Dennis missed a bite too.

Next, we were off to another one of Dennis' big fish spots but a pontoon was sitting right on it. The next two spots Dennis wanted to hit were covered up by Bass Snatcher boats and we ended up fishing a little ways from 3 Bass Snatcher Boats. I think Dennis got a fish on the next couple of stops while I caught nothing.

Eventually, we ended up at our starting spot and I started chucking a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I believe Dennis filled his limit and started culling which gave me confidence fish were in the area, so I kept throwing the Popper. On one of the retrieves about 20 feet out from the boat I had a strike and was able to land the barely hooked fish that went a little over 15 inches, which got rid of my squeaker. At this point, I was pretty pleased that I would be weighing a pretty good bag of fish. Things kind of got slow for me for a while.

Around 1PM the sun came out and it got calm. We quickly tried the area by the Island again before the pleasure boaters would start to show up, but we didn't get anything. Next, it was back to one of the weedy depressions.

I got a fish that didn't help then I got another hit that didn't hook up so I threw right back to the same area. I got another hit and it was a good fish that just inhaled the smoke tube; this fish went 17.25 inches. A little while later I had another good hit from a bigger fish but it got off before I was able to see what it was, I think it might have been a pike. About 2 minutes later I had another hit on the tube and brought in a chunky 17.00-inch bass. Dennis thought I was probably 1 more quality fish away from winning. I did get a couple more fish that didn't help and it turns out Dennis was right on the needing 1 more good fish.

My 6 fish went 14 even which ended up putting me in 4th, just 3 ozs out of 3rd place. 1st Place was 15lbs 7ozs and 2nd was 15lbs 6ozs and they came from the same boat; They spent a lot of time in one of those depressions on water Dennis wanted to fish. My partner Dennis was not so unhappy about getting "back seated" when he found out his 12/11 put him right behind me in 5th place.

Analysis: I owe my success in this one to my boater Dennis who was on good fish and made good decisions about where we should be fishing and when. Dennis also kept me entertained all day with his curmudgeonish trash talk. It is possible that I had the bites to win with that one good fish getting off but I'll never know because I never did get a look at the one that got away.

I am now tied for 11th Place in the club standings (32 fisherman club) but I am 9th overall in terms of weight of fish caught for the season which I think is maybe a better barometer about how you actually fished for the season.

Again: Miss with Pete and Greg.

Thursday July 31st

As discussed we were able to get out on the Mississippi again with Greg Jones of Mid-
West Outdoors TV & Magazine. Originally we were going to meet him at 6PM but that got kicked back to after 7PM. On this night we would launch by Royalton which is a pretty good distance up river from where we launched on Monday. I ended up recognizing this stretch of the river from fishing it last year.

We started out drifting right from the launch on the East side of the river and I was throwing my white/chart Spinnerbait. It didn't take long and Gregg was hooked up on a Smithwick Devils Horse topwater. Greg got another fish and so I switched up to a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper. The popper didn't produce any fish and Greg got another couple on the Devil's Horse, so when we ended our drift and headed up river I asked Greg if he had a Rapala Skitter Prop and he did in kind of a lime green color and he put a feathered Mustad Triple Grip on the back.

We ran up a little ways close to where we started on last year. It was not long into the next drift when I had a good strike on the Skitter Prop. I was hooked up until the fish jumped and sent the lure flying back right at us and into the boat just missing me and Pete. A little farther down river I had a hit and miss, hit and miss, hit and miss, but the 4th time was the charm and I landed this nice smallie.


On one cast the Skitter Prop was just annihilated by this smallmouth, it was awesome:


As we were rolling down river Pete and Greg got into an argument about where Pete should be making his casts. Greg made a suggestion and Pete was having none of it. While they were sniping at one another Pete landed an 18 inch smallie which was the big one of the night. Pete also caught a 22+ inch pike that he insisted go in the livewell over my and Greg's protests.

The fishing wasn't fast but we were getting bit and the average size was a quality fish around 15.5 inches. As it got dark I put on a bullfrog Frenzy Popper and we got in a hot stretch of water and I pulled my last to fish of the night. It was dark enough that I really couldn't see the bite, I would just hear and feel it.

For the night I had 7 to 9 fish caught total which isn't bad for about an hour and a half of fishing.

Mississippi with Pete and Greg Jones of Mid-West Outdoors

Last year, almost a year to the day, I went fishing with Pete and Greg on the Mississippi River. I was lucky enough to get to do this again this year yesterday on July 27th and we might go out again on Thursday. Once again this year Greg is getting ready to fish a tournament and is trying to get a feel for the water. We have been getting a lot of rain recently and just as I expected the river was up and a more murky than last year. We were on the water around 6:45PM and the wind was blowing pretty good. We didn't run nearly as far up river as we did last year most likely due to our limited time before dark. We started fishing the West shore.

Since we were 3 to the boat I only brought 2 rods. I started out trying a clown Spro Bronzeye Frog. I had put a rattle in the bait that weighed a little to much and the frog would sink quickly if I didn't keep it coming in pretty steady. In 15 minutes I had maybe one hit and so I switched up to a 1/4oz Chart/White Strike King Spinnerbait with Chart. blades. Nobody had caught anything when I switched baits but Greg did have a blow up on his buzzbait. I put the first fish in the boat, a 9inch Pike. Greg and I spotted a nice 18+ inch Smallie but we couldn't get it to go. I had a good hit but it didn't hook up and towards the end of our drift I caught the first Smallie which was about a 10 inch fish.

We went back up the river and this time drifted down the East shore. It wasn't long into the drift when I tied into a 16.75" Smallie which was the big fish of the night. I didn't get a picture of this fish because the camera batteries went dead. When I was messing around with the camera Pete lost a big smallmouth on the way in. We caught several fish as we entered a shoot that went by some islands. If the water wasn't up it would have been to shallow to take this route and we did get hung up once as it was. We didn't have any luck in the shoot or behind the Islands.

It was after 8PM and we made a longer run up river to a spot just behind some islands. A huge eagle flew out of a tree almost right above us as we were moving in behind an Island. Greg had a fish miss his buzzbait and I cast around the same area with a bullfrog colored Berkley Frenzy Popper and was rewarded with a high leaping hard fighting 16.5 inch smallie. I didn't get a picture of this fish because it was bleeding pretty good and I wanted to get it back in the water ASAP. I fished the popper the rest of the night and caught several more smallies. The popper was the most productive lure in the boat, although Pete had quite a few missed fish on an in-line spinner. The fish stopped hitting about the time the mosquito's started coming out which was actually later than you would think. I ended up with 8 to 10 smallies total which was best out of the 3 of us.

Snatcher Lake Ida

Weather: Overcast for most of the day with it being partly sunny the last couple of hours. The wind was pretty much out of the N NW at 5 to 10MPH.

We blasted off a little after 7:30AM and my boater Joe and I raced to our starting spot on the West side of the lake which was a string of small reed beds broken up by docks. I think it was fairly calm right along shore in the reeds but if you cast out into the lake and where the boat was sitting there was a ripple on the water. We were working North about 10 minutes in and Joe had a strike on his Snagproof Frog and landed the 1st bass of the day. We got down to the last or 2nd to the last group of reeds which is where I caught a couple of bass on tubes casting out into the lake during prefish. I started throwing a smoke tube out into the lake and was rewarded with a fish that just went over the 12-inch minimum.

As I was casting out something just got smoked out over the weed flat about 2 and a half cast lengths out. I decided it might be a good thing to throw a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I didn't bring the rod I like to use for that so I had to rig up one of my swim jig rods. While I was rigging up Joe caught a high 2lb bass off a dock with the Snagproof frog. I started throwing the Frenzy Popper out over the weed flat as Joe worked us back over the water we had just covered. Something swirled about 10 feet off the back of the boat and I immediately hit the spot with the Popper and was rewarded with a 14.75" largemouth.

We worked down to where we started and then back north again to the dock where Joe got his fish. After that, we moved out onto the weed flat and drifted South with the wind. There was a dead 3 to 4 pound Northern floating on the surface about 30 feet from the boat when a group of Pelicans flew by and the lead bird swooped down scooped up the pike and just kept right on flying, it was pretty cool. I think I had a swirl that missed the Popper and shortly after that, I landed a 12.75" largie. I had another fish swirl on the Popper and miss. We worked an offshore reed bed and I missed a bite on a white Zoom Horny Toad, I think it was a small fish. Nothing more happened at the reed bed and so we pulled up stakes and headed South.

The next spot we went to was an area with lily pads that are behind a large reed bed. Joe had got fish here both days of pre-fishing. I think I got bit at a couple of times by pike. Joe had a keeper bass take the Snagproof Frog close to the boat and as he was swinging it in his reel gave out some line and the fish hit the side of the boat and came off. That one hurt as it was close to 2lbs and Joe ended up one short of a limit for the day.

Next, we headed to some small reed beds kind of like our starting spot. I believe Joe landed his 3rd keeper at this spot on the Snagproof Frog. I was casting a weedless tube into the reeds when I had a solid pick up and I set the hook hard into what felt to be a good fish. Unfortunately, it was a 3lb northern pike. A little while later I nabbed bass number 4 (12.75") on a white Zoom Horny Toad in the reeds.

Next, we went into a big shallow bay and started working the shoreline heading North. Joe missed a good hit right by the shore with the Snagproof Frog. Sometimes I was casting in towards the shore and sometimes I was casting out over the weed flat with the Zoom Horny Toad. On a cast out over the weed flat the Toad got annihilated by 14.75" largemouth. A little while down the shoreline Joe pulled a 17inch 3lb 2oz beauty off an isolated piece of wood in the weeds. Eventually, I took a break to eat a couple of sandwiches and Joe bird dogged a fish that turned out to be a small pike. The fish was in some super shallow slop and Joe could get it to wake to the frog but it wouldn't hit it. Eventually, he motored up and got a look at it to discover it was a pike. Joe decided he wanted to eat something so he let me take the front of the boat and shortly after that I got my limit fish (12.75") on the Horny Toad. Joe got back up and started fishing and had his Snagproof Frog stolen by a little pike next to a dock. We tried to recover the frog but it was nowhere to be found so the pike probably ate it.

Next, we headed up to the North end of the lake to work some more pads and reeds. Before we got into the pads there were some cattails and Joe pulled his 5th and last keeper on the Snagproof Frog. We worked some awesome looking pads but with the overcast, it just wasn't happening. Finally, as we were coming to the end of the pads and for some reason Joe had me take the front of the boat. I got hit in a pocket between the cattails and pads with a watermelon Brovarney Swim jig with watermelon Zoom Speed Craw trailer. Despite a lousy hook set I landed the 14-incher and culled out my 12". We fished more good looking water in this area but couldn't get bit, so we headed back to our starting spot.

When we got to my tube spot, I naturally started throwing the smoke tube and I culled up 3 more times (13.75", 13.75", 14.25"). Both Joe and I got bit off by Pike and that was the last of our fish. We did go back to Joe's pad spot where he fumbled that keeper but didn't get anything and then it was time to head in.

My big bass was only 1lb 10ozs and my 6 fish went 8lbs 8ozs which put me in 15th out of 22 anglers. I had the lightest limit of the tournament. My boater Joe had 9lbs 7ozs and came in 12th. The winner blew everyone away with 16 and a half pounds by fishing docks in the wind using his Power Pole. Big Bass was this 6lb 6oz beast caught by Owen Lease.


Analysis- I felt like I fished well and pretty much caught what there was to catch and that is all I can ask. It was the first tournament of the year that I feel good about despite the mediocre showing. I feel bad for Joe, had he landed that fish that hit the side of the boat, he may have finished as high as 5th. Both Joe and I caught a couple of dinks that I didn't mention.

Where I Sit: With half the season now over I sit mired in 20th place, there are just 6 anglers beneath me that have fished at least 2 out of the 3 tournaments (we get to throw out our worst showing of the year). I actually am 1 point ahead of where I was at this time last year. Last year I ended the last 3 tournaments with a 17th, 3rd, and 20th which averages out to a 13th place showing. I would really like to improve on last year's points and I think that will prove a challenge because I have only fished above 13th place once now in 9 Bass Snatcher tournaments. I guess all I can do is hope for good partner draws and fish as smart as I can.

Lake Ida Pre-Fish

We will start this report at the end of the day. My boater Joe and I were headed home between Parkers Prairie and Eagle Bend when the truck shuddered and the next thing I knew a wheel was passing by the driver's side door. It was one of Joe's boat trailer tires. The tire went into the ditch and then into the woods quite away in front of where we stopped the truck. Luckily Joe was able to find the tire. Putting the tire back on was easy, getting the lug nuts tight was another story that I won't get into.

After about an hour and a half, we were back on the road.

Weather: Yesterday it rained and stormed and the days forecast called for temps in the high 60's to low 70's with strong West winds and sun. When we got to the lake around 9:30AM it was quite overcast and windy. The sun eventually came out around 1PM.

The Fishing: Joe had been out on Ida on Saturday and found some fish shallow. Basically, the day was dedicated to the search for shallow areas and fish. Joe loves to throw a Snagproof Frog and Ida has a fair amount of pads and reeds to explore and that is what we did for most of the day with mixed results. At times it was impossible to fish in the reeds due to the wind. The reeds tend to be tall and thick at this point of the year so about the only bait you can fish in that tangle is slop frogs like Snagproofs and Spro's. We did find a few fish and the bite seemed to be better when the sun was out. Here is Joe with his best fish of the day.


I didn't catch a single fish on a slop frog, but I didn't throw it most of the time like Joe. I did have a few bites on the surface, but I really wasn't trying to catch these fish only to get them to show themselves so we would know productive areas. Basically, the bass I did catch came on a tube on weedlines and they were not very big with the exception of this 2lber.

We didn't really look for this type of water and I only threw the tube in a couple of spots but when the water looked right I got bit. I also got a few bites and caught 1 keeper bass on swim jigs.

Outlook: I am a little concerned about this tournament because I think it might be tough to catch fish behind Joe if we stay shallow for the day. From today's results it just didn't seem like there were good numbers of fish up shallow and where we did get fish seemed to favor the front of the boat although if there is less wind on Saturday that should open up some water. I think for me this lake is going to fish quite similar to what I did at the last tournament at South Long with heavy doses of the Zoom Horny Toad and Zoom Super Fluke. I will probably be throwing a slop frog more and a swim jig less. If I can catch 10lbs and a limit I'll be thrilled. I don't have high expectations.

Bagged Some Today

I had to pick up rods from the boat house at Platte Lake because I will be pre-fishing Lake Ida on Wednesday. I decided since I would be at the lake I would fish. I started at Jenny's right around 8PM with a white Spro Bronzeye Frog. I had a strike that didn't get the frog as I was coming up to a clump of rice. When I got on the other side of the rice a fish whacked it, but I didn't hook up. On to the lake place.

I decided I would start from shore casting along the dock with a parrot Outkast Swim Jig with 4" cool ice Action Plastics grub trailer. I hooked up on about the 2nd cast with this 12 incher.

Once I was done with the swim jig I switched to the Spro Frog. As I was fan casting I had something slap at the frog. I reeled in and cast back to the spot a few times and was eventually rewarded with this fish.
I think it was 14inches. I had another good blow up off the dock but didn't hook up and I couldn't get it to strike again.

Eventually I went over to Jim's dock and caught an 11 incher on the swim jig.

Saved By a Bullhead.

I thought I was going to have a triple Skunk on my hands until this little jumpin bullhead pulled down the Spro Frog right next to shore and came back with the hook set. I caught it on the SE side of the GOMH.

It would have been a triple skunk because of my luck at Eddy's. Last night I left my the little tackle boxes with my hooks and beads on the boat and due to some bad luck they ended up going home with somebody else. So not getting my stuff back was the 1st skunk. The 2nd Skunk was not catching anything when I went fishing off Eddy's Jetty.

Eddy's Launch with Dad

Tonight Dad and I went on our first launch trip of the year out of Eddy's Resort on the West side of Mille Lacs Lake. This time we got to fish out of the Flagship which is Eddy's biggest boat. On the night all 5 launches were in operation.

The day had been hot with thunderstorms that passed to the north cooling things down. By the time we were out at 6PM it was partly cloudy and in the mid 80's with a light South breeze. The Launch headed South of Rocky Reef in about 22 feet of water. A lady in the back of the boat with us caught a little walleye immediately. I was the first between Dad and I to get on the board with a nice jumbo perch that I gave away to a lady who wanted it. This woman's name was Oksana and she is a Russian immigrant who was out fishing with her son. Dad and I talked with her a lot and learned she was a massage therapist which will come into play a little later.

Dad got on the board with a little walleye.
The picture makes the fish look much bigger than it actually was. It was too small to keep dispite Oksana's protests. She was of the opinion that no fish was to small because she is used to catching and keeping little bullheads down in extreme Southern Minnesota where she lives.

The boat was catching lots of little fish at the 1st stop, so we moved around 8PM when a little thunderstorm came up and sprinkled and rumbled a little. The storm wasn't nearly enough to force us off the water. Right away in the new location a guy in the front of the boat caught a 25 inch protected slot fish. Pretty soon a few keepers and more overs were comming aboard. My bobber went down and I hooked into this 17 inch keeper.
I gave the fish to Oksana and she was so grateful she gave me a 20 minute back rub. By the end of the night Dad got a back rub too. Dad caught another small walleye and I caught a small perch. Oksana caught a couple of little walleyes that went back and her son missed several bites. A lot of fish were caught on the launch and I think there were around 9 keeper walleyes and 6 overs and maybe close to 2 dozen cigars and a handful of perch. It was a fun time.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Quality and Runts

Originally I wasn't going to fish today, but it was so nice out I decided to hit the lake after it cooled down a little bit. It got to 86 and was partly cloudy, so the sun was out all day and I thought I might get into some good dock fishing. I wanted to hit the lake at 6PM but I was held up re-organizing my tackle from the tournament bag to the boat. While I was doing that the UPS man showed up with my order from Action Plastics. I finally got my gear together around 6:30PM and I headed for the lake place.

I got the gear in the boat and decided to put one of my new Action Plastics on a parrot Outkast Swim Jig and throw a few casts. The grub I put on was a 5" "cool ice" Mag Grub. "Cool Ice" is a clear blueish grub with multi colored tinsel strips embedded in the plastic. On the very first cast this 16 incher blew up on the jig.


I threw a few more casts off the dock, loaded up the rest of my gear and headed across the bay to the docks I fished 8 days ago. I actually started a little farther to the West so I would hit more docks. There was a little bit of wind blowing on this shoreline but I still had reasonable control when skipping a Zoom Super Fluke. On about the 4th dock I pulled 2 bass that went 10.75" on a bubblegum Super Fluke. As I worked my way onto last weeks productive docks, pads, and weeds I noticed a distinct lack of fish activity. 8 days ago I was seeing plenty of sunfish and even a bass or two in addition to catching fish. I didn't get any bites on the pads or weeds. I finally got down to a dock that has been very good to me and I made a good cast and was rewarded with a 16" bass. My bubblegum Fluke disappeared in the fight, so I changed to "electric chicken" which I have mistakenly called "funky chicken." I went back and reworked the previous dock with the Fluke and was rewarded with a 12.75" largie. I then went back and reworked the 16 inchers dock with a black and blue Terminator jig with sapphire Denny Brauer Chunk. I tossed in under the pontoon boat lift and a quality fish picked it up. I was not able to get the fish up and over part of the lift before it got off. This success convinced me to keep hitting docks as I kept going beyond where I stopped 8 days ago. I got 1 more 15.25" bass off a boat lift with the jig.

Around 8PM I was basically out of docks. I threw the Outkast swim jig on the weed flat and caught a little pike. After a few more casts with the jig I tried a Frenzy Popper but couldn't raise anything. Next on my tour was reeds, pads, and rice so I started throwing a Zoom Horny Toad and then a white Spro Bronzeye Frog and not much was happening. I worked my way into the big reed bed in our bay and a fish hit something in the distance so I zeroed in on that spot. Sure enough I was rewarded with a nice bass attacking the frog, but I lost it on the way in. A few casts later I caught a little pike and that was it for the night.

I fished for a little over two and a half hours and caught 6 bass and 2 pike, so it was kind of slow but I am not gonna complain after yesterdays tournament.

Story: Almost forgot. I came across a guy who was fishing off a dock and we started talking. He heard from one of the guys on the Platte Lake Association board that the DNR did some electrofishing this year and the bass numbers were really high. He didn't know anything about size make up, but he goes on to tell me that Platte Lake fish are long and skinny, but I've caught plenty of bass to know the bass are usually either about normal with a few that qualify as super chunks that are heavy for their size.

Snatcher South Long

South Long Lake was the location of my 2nd Baxter Bass Snatchers Bass Club tournament of the year. The weather forecast for the day called for overcast with showers arriving in the late morning and continuing into the afternoon with 10-15mph SE winds building in the late morning. The actual weather was pretty close to the forecast although the sun came out from about 9 to 11AM and the winds seemed to be lighter than predicted. At the end of the tournament day, there was a light rain that got a little heavier around weigh in at 3PM. I never put on rain gear and was saved at the weigh-in because there was a tent set up for us. We were fortunate to be able to weigh in at a home on the lake.

My boater Dwight and I launched on the North end of the lake around 6AM and then we had to make our way South to the Public Access where we would have the blast-off. On the way, South Dwight pointed out some docks that we would hit first thing if a lot of boats went to the South end of the lake at blast off. Dwight and I were the last boat to blast off out of 11 boats so we would see where everyone else went first.

I think we had blasted off around 6:50AM and all but 1 boat went North, so Dwight and I went back to the original plan which was to go to the South end of the lake to start the day. On our way South we hit some docks that we pulled some good fish off of when we pre-fished. Nobody was home and so we made our way to the South End of the lake just to the North of where the river flows out. The plan was to spend the morning and possibly most of the day working the slop in the South end of the lake. I started out throwing a white Zoom Horny Toad and had a fish blow up on it right away but I missed it. It wouldn't go after the Horny Toad again, so I followed up with a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke which was promptly slashed at by the fish which turned out to be a pike. We moved on.

As we made our way North Dwight had a blow-up on his Spro Frog and it was a good fish that we got a good look at when it jumped. Unfortunately, it buried itself in the lily pads and got off. I think that was the only bite we got working North in this particular run of slop. When we got to where the slop ended there was another tournament boat so we headed across the bay to work some more slop, predominated by pads. While working this stretch I had a big blow-up on a yellow Zoom Horny Toad that didn't hook up and I didn't get anything with my follow-ups. We went for a long stretch without anything but when we got close to where the river flows out I had another blow up that didn't hook up. I threw right back and let the toad sink and there was a swirl so I set the hook and landed 12.5" keeper. As we kept moving North we were now reworking the water we started on. As we were passing a dock with a pontoon I made a nice long cast with a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke beyond the pontoon in front of where a short section of dock came out. Sure enough, there was a swirl and I set the hook. The fish moved to my left behind the pontoon and my line got caught up with a rope on the pontoon and the bass completely came out of the water. Dwight quickly moved us over there and netted the 12.75" bass. That would be the last fish on the far South end of the lake. After running pretty much to the end of the slop run we decided to move out of the area.

Once again when we got to the narrows we hit the docks that gave up good fish when we pre-fished. Dwight pulled a small keeper off of one of the docks. We ended up running a lot of shallow docks moving North and didn't get any more bites. We moved out into some reeds and didn't get any bites. We moved on to a weed flat and didn't get any bites. We moved into some slop/pads and Dwight pulled a solid 2 pounder on a black/blue jig and beaver pitching in the pads. I was throwing a Horny Toad and not getting any bites. We worked the area without any more bites, so we decided to head to the North end of the lake to some slop where we got some hits in pre-fish.

The area we went to on the North end of the lake had junk weeds, pads, and some docks. Near a dock, I spotted a 2lb bass close to the boat and cast to it with the yellow Zoom Horny Toad. It started swimming towards the Toad like it was going to take it, but then veered off and disappeared; none of my follow-ups would find this fish. As we were moving along Dwight spotted a solid 2+ pound fish that had a lure in the side of its mouth but all the fish did was swim right by the boat. We got to another dock and I had a blow-up on a black Zoom Horny Toad but once again I didn't hook up. Dwight flipped into some weeds by this dock and had a pick-up but he didn't hook the fish. I immediately threw back to the spot of my blow-up with the bubblegum Super Fluke and was rewarded with a 14.25" bass. We kept working in this area which looked awesome but couldn't find any more fish.

Dwight conferred with me and I suggested we go hit an area about midpoint in the lake where there were reeds, pads, maidencane, cattails and slop and so that is where we went. Dwight was working us into some docks before we would go into the reeds and pads when he connected with a 2lb bass on a white spinnerbait. I sent a short fish flying on a hook set with the black Horny Toad. As we got into the reeds there was a pontoon fishing to the South of us and Dwight spotted them pull in a dogfish and two bass on spinnerbaits, so he threw his spinnerbait and was rewarded with keeper bass that filled his limit. I started throwing a gold/white Brovarney Swim Jig with gold glitter 5" Action Plastic Super Mag grub and caught a 12inch keeper. I threw the swim jig into an opening in the reeds and something bit at the jig but didn't get it. I threw back and it was fish on. As I was reeling it in it jumped way out of the water and then dove and pulled off. Dwight thought it was a 4lb+ fish; I didn't get the greatest look at it but it was a 3lber minimum. Missing this fish really hurt me. I continued to throw the swim jig and caught a 14.75" and another fish that was just over 12.

Dwight culled a couple of times pitching a black/blue jig in the weeds. I tried a black/blue jig without success and then went to throw the black Zoom Horny Toad with which I culled a 12-incher with a 12.75" and a 12.15" with a 13.5". We went back and worked over the most productive stretch of water but couldn't get bit so once again we headed South to the pads where Dwight pulled the fish on the jig. I was throwing the Horny Toad and had a couple of fish that had to be small swipe at it. It started to rain and conditions seemed perfect for the fish to get active so we worked ourselves into a reed bed but couldn't get bit.

We were running out of time, so we headed across the way to some sparse pads. I had a big dogfish follow my Horny Toad, but there was no bass to be found and it was time to head to weigh in on the North end of the lake.
At the weigh-in, my big bass was a measly 1lb 10ozs and my 6 fish bag went 7lbs 12ozs which put me in 15th out of 22 anglers. My partner Dwight had 10lbs 15ozs and captured 9th place. The winning bag was 14lbs 3ozs and big bass was 3lbs 15ozs.

Due to the low club turn out, the 15th place finish tied my 2nd best placement in the club this far to date. Had I caught the big one that got off I probably would have moved up 3 more places and possibly as many as 6 if it was over 4lbs like Dwight thought.

Post Tournament Thoughts: This one was a disappointment in that the fishing wasn't nearly as good as I expected it to be. The quality of the fish I got on the Horny Toad was a letdown. My execution on fish that bit was a bit of a let down especially due to the fact that my opportunities were limited. The size of the fish I am catching so far this year is a letdown. Basically, I am now scraping the bottom of the barrel among those who have fished both tournaments and weren't disqualified. I am not fishing as well as I did at this point last year even though I actually have 1 more point than I did at this point last year. The bottom line is that I expect to fish better than the level I have been performing this year in the tournaments.

Our next tournament isn't until July 18th and is at Lake Ida North of Alexandria. I have never fished the lake and don't really know much about it other than it has smallmouth in addition to largies. I am thinking that my partner draw in this one is going to be especially crucial to the outcome for me. My partner draws so far this year are better than my results should indicate. If any Bass Pundit reader wants to fill me in on Ida my email is basspundit@hotmail.com .

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Pretty Dog better Bass

Once again tonight there was the chance of thunderstorms, but tonight they missed me completely. There was a pretty big looking storm quite away to the North. When I started fishing at 5:30PM it was overcast with a 7mph West wind, but it cleared up around 6:30PM and the wind died to around 3mph.

I decided to start at the reed bed at the South end of the big island where I started yesterday. I wanted to see if the area might have gotten better, but it didn't. My first fish was a pike on the watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. I only got a single 14 inch bass on the stuff I fished yesterday. Instead of pulling out when I was done fishing the point of the reeds I headed West to fish in the very sparse reeds and also along the South Shore of the Island. I came to a few good looking trees in the water but they were not holding fish. I did however pick up an occasional pike or bass on a black/red Monsoor Swim Jig with black/red fleck Zoom Speed Craw among the very space reeds. One little area gave up several fish including this 22" dogfish.

I fished around the Southwest tip of the big island and a little ways up the West shore without success. The sun had come out now and once again I retraced last nights locations and hit the docks and reeds off the tip of the North Point of Channel Inn bay. I didn't get anything off the docks but got two quality bass out of the reeds on the Horny Toad. I took this one's picture because it was as big as anything I caught last night at 15.5".


Next I headed to the NW corner of the lake where once again I fished last night. I pretty much committed to the Zoom Horny Toad for the rest of the night catching some quality fish in the process. I caught a 15.5" and then I got this 16.5"

As I got to the end of the run of the big reed bed I was fishing I nailed this 17.5" which was big fish of the night.

A couple minutes later I got another 16". There was still some light left so I ran to a point on the North end of the lake. This move turned out to be a disappointment because I caught 1 small bass, missed a little pike that I didn't want to catch anyway and I missed either a dogfish or a big bass right by the boat; I am pretty sure it was a dogfish. When it was clear this area would not pan out there was still enough light left to hit the other point and so I did that but all I did was miss 3 or 4 bites which very well all might have been pike. I finished around 9:40.

So in 4 hours fished I caught 16 bass, 8 pike, and 1 dogfish. Last night I fished an hour longer had 1 less bass and the size of my best 6 were quite a bit smaller, so tonight was the better night.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Smallish Fish

Today was cloudy and humid with temps in the high 70's with little wind to no wind. The big question when I went out fishing tonight was how long I could stay out before a thunderstorm chased me off the lake. While I was out a thunderstorm passed to the South around 6PM and then the storms held off until around 9:30PM which is quitting time anyway pretty much. I beat the start of a thunderstorm to the dock by about 5 minutes. If you ask me, I would consider tonights fishing conditions to be about perfect which leaves me a little disappoined in my results.

I was fishing a little before 4:30PM and my first stop was the reed bed off the Southern tip of the big Island. It didn't take long and I had a hit on watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. I got a good hookset but the plastic on the frog kind of got hung up on the hook and the fish got off. I was not happy. A little while later I broke the ice with this 13" on the Toad.

A few minutes later I was fishing with a black with Chartreuse nose River2Sea Bully Wa and the biggest fish of the night inhaled it.

It's sad to say, but the night's big fish was only 15.25. I worked this reed bed for about an hour and a half and only got 4 or 5 bass and maybe 1 pike.

Next I decided to head West as it looked like the closet thunderstorm was going to pass to the South. I worked around the North side of the small island with various jigs and a the Horny Toad and only caught 1 small pike. After that I headed to some docks and the reeds off the North Point of Channel Inn Bay. I picked a couple of 12inch bass off the docks on a Strike King Z-Too and then it was into the reeds. I had a really good bite from what I believe was a big bass on the Horny Toad but I didn't muscle the fish like I should have and it buried itself in the reeds and got off. I think I caught 1 or 2 small bass from the reeds and had several strikes from small pike. Once it was clear the reeds were not going to be very productive I worked the rice on the NW shore of Channel Inn bay. I don't think I even had a hit in the Rice.

It was now after 7PM and I needed to make a move. I decided on hitting the NW corner of the lake where there is a mix of reeds, rice, and some pads. It wasn't that bad of a choice as I had my best action of the night getting 8 or 9 bass and a couple of pike with several more strikes. I pretty much went with the Horny Toad and Bully Wa to get these fish.

In 5 hours of fishing I got 15 bass and 4 pike, but I had at least 10 more strikes from what I am sure where little pike.
Bass in order caught: 13,15.25,13.5,13,12.5,12,12.75,13.75,13,13.25,15,14,13.75,12,11.5

Story: I almost forgot. I had a little bass take the Bully Wa frog. Before I set the hook sometimes I feel to make sure the fish is there and I was doing that when this 11 inch bass shoots about 3 feet into the air and spits the Bully Wa up another couple of feet. It was quite remarkable.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Slow 2 Hours

I helped Dad with some stuff and went to the Chiropractor and had dinner in Pierz so I wasn't fishing until 7:30PM tonight. Since I only had a couple of hours I elected to stay close to the lake place. I basically started in the SE corner of our bay and worked myself a little less than 3/4ths of the way back. It was overcast when I started but the sun came out around 8:30 before it disappeared below the trees around 9. I fished a couple of docks, reeds, rice, and some pads.
My first fish was this 14.25" bass that took a white Strike King Z-Too (Fluke) in a clearing near rice, reeds, and pads. My next fish was a little pike out of the reeds on the Z-Too. I got a 12" bass shallow off a dock on the Z-Too. Then I got another pike in some reeds on the parrot Outkast Swim Jig with electric blue 5" Action Plastics Super Mag Grub.

For most of the rest of the night I was in thicker rice and I struggled a bit missing my two best bites of the night. I landed an 11 and 14.25 bass on a black with chartreuse nose River2Sea Bully Wa frog and that was it. I quit around 9:30 and got in before it got to dark and the bugs got bad.

So in 2 hours I got 4 bass and 2 pike, kinda slow.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Big Dog & More

It was cloudy all day with rain in the morning and winds out of the South Southeast 5-10mph. The forecast for the evenings fishing was more of the same with possible showers. I started fishing around 5:30PM. My first stop was at what is probably the largest reed bed still remaining on Platte Lake, it is on the NE side of the big center bay on Platte. I have fished here on parts or all of it a few times this year with marginal success. The Plan was to start on the South end and let the wind blow me to the North End using the trolling motor to get to spots as needed.

The first fish of the night was a pike that fell for a black/red Monsoor Swim Jig with black red fleck Zoom Speed Craw trailer. My first bass was this 12 incher that took a Bully Wa frog.

Other than this fish, the surface bite was a non-factor tonight. I worked the reed bed for a good hour and a half and only had 5 small bass and 4 small pike to show for it. I did also miss my best bites when fish buried me in the reeds. I didn't figure out how to fight fish in the reeds until later on in the evening.

Around 7:15 it was decision time. I weighed some of my options and decided on trying the NW corner of the lake in spite of the problems the wind might cause me if it started blowing any harder. As I started getting close to where I wanted to start much to my dismay there was a boat there fishing already. I punted and headed to the North central part of the lake where I had some success the one time I tried it this year. The area has a maidencane bed and reeds off the side of a point and if you go to the farthest point North on the lake you run into rice and some pads. I was working my way through the maidencane casting and pitching the black/red Monsoor Swim Jig when I had a hit and it was a big ole dogfish.

She measured 28.5 inches. The gold thing in the picture is the handle for my net. Unfortunately for me the Annual Minnesota Bowfin Club Tournament ended yesterday.

I started getting bit in the reeds on the back side of the maidencane but I kept losing fish when they would bury me in the reeds. My big problem was that I was trying to power the fish with a rod that just isn't quite heavy enough to do that. Eventually I figured out that if I finessed the fish a little bit using a little give and take I could usually keep them hooked and get them to the boat. I also started catching bigger fish.

The picture of this 15.75" gives a good feel for the look of the area I was fishing. I believe this fish fell for the black/red Monsoor Jig, but what I really started having success on was a parrot Outkast Swim Jig teamed with an Action Plastics electric blue 5" Super Mag Grub. I am really impressed with the Action Plastics grub as a swim jig trailer and the great thing about them is you can buy them in bulk for a decent price. I discovered the grubs pretty much by accident when I stopped in to the Thorne Brothers Outpost and the grubs were the only thing in the store that interested me.

Here is the parrot Outkast Swim Jig:


I believe I caught this next 16.5" bass on a white and silver tinsel Brovarney Swim Jig with a black and white Action 5" Super Mag grub.


It was getting dark and I had a hit right next to the boat and it turned out to be the biggest bass I have caught out of Platte/Sullivan this year. She was only 18.25 but weighed out at 4.10lbs, so she was a gorilla. I used to catch bass like this on Platte/Sullivan on a regular basis, but it seems like they have become a scarce commodity in the last couple of years. Here she is:

I caught one more good fish then called it a night around 9:30.

I caught at least 15 bass (7 of which were over 15") and 6 or 7 small pike.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Nothing Special

Due to a trip into Brainerd I wasn't on the lake fishing until about 7:30PM. It was over cast with little wind. I elected to start my fishing on Loon Sex Point where I was going to fish last night but a boat was on my starting point, so I didn't go. The place I start is at the last dock before it turns to weeds as the point goes on to the East. From that dock on to the end of the point there is a mix of reeds, wild rice, and a few places with pads. From the dock to the end of the rice on the point is a distance of at least 60 to 70 yards.

I got this 1st 16" bass about 15 feet to the East of the dock in some shallow reeds and rice with pads in the vicinity on a watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. A very good way to start the night. On my way East I saw several abandoned bass beds and I got a couple of minor strikes that didn't hook up. I was mostly throwing a white Cabela's Chuck-It frog, but decided with the overcast conditions a dark frog would be better so I switched to a black with chartreuse nose River2Sea Bully Wa. When I got to where the land ends I got a couple of strikes that I missed, then had this 16 incher just wolf down the Bully Wa as you can see.

I missed a few more hits in the weeds off the end of the point, a couple didn't really take the frog and I did a poor job of setting the hook on a couple. When I got to the end of the rice and pads on the point I started throwing the Horny Toad towards the scattered rice in the bay and I had a ferocious strike but somehow I didn't hook up. I think it was a big pike. I caught a 12" bass on the Horny Toad in the Rice.

It was coming up on 9PM and I decided to head out to the reed point that comes off the South end of the big island. I missed a weak bite and a solid bite that I should have caught off the tip of the reeds. I worked my way North towards the island and booted several good opportunities and I caught a 13" and 14" bass on the Horny Toad. It got to be that time and I headed in.

Tonight's Platte Lake Report: Docks, Maidencane, North

Today was a beautiful day, it was in the mid 70's, sunny, and little wind in the evening. I started fishing around a quarter to 5PM. With the weather being what it was I figured docks might be good, so the plan was to start by hitting a few select docks just across the bay from our lake place.

Last year I bought some Strike King 3X Z Too's which are basically a "super plastic" Super Fluke but I never tried them out, well tonight was going to be their night. One problem, the one I put on wouldn't sink with a regular Gamagatsu 4/0 Wide Gap hook. Not happy I immediately switched to a "funky chicken" Zoom Super Fluke (bubblegum top & chartreuse belly, with a red tail). I didn't catch anything on the first couple of docks, but I was seeing sunfish activity.
I think I got this first bass (14") casting out to a couple of isolated lily pads. On the next dock down I pulled 4 bass and missed one from under a boat lift and dock. As I worked my way down the shore I seemed to have more luck in the pads and weeds out away from the docks, but at the 2nd to last dock I fished I pulled a nice 15.75" out from under a jet ski lift. I continued down the shore fishing the weeds pads and one last dock, getting a few in the 11-14" range. Also during this whole time I missed a few good bites. As I was coming to the end of the stretch of water I was going to fish there is a little group of isolated pads. I pulled 3 bass off those pads and missed a couple of other bites.

I think it was now after 7PM and it was decision time, where to head next? I was going to hit up the point at Loon Sex bay but there was a boat where I wanted to start so I audibled to go across from the Platte Lake Public access where there is maidencane, wild rice, pads, reeds, and cattails. I started out at the end of the West side of the maidencane and worked my way towards shore where the cattails are. I was using a watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad to cover water. I didn't contact fish right away and the first bite stole the buzz legs from the Toad. My first bass was a solid 15+ that smoked it. Unfortunately that was it for the quality I would catch. As I worked my way towards shore I got bass on the Horny Toad and a white/Chart Nose River2Sea Bully Wa slop frog. Unfortunately this area was holding pike and I lost Horny Toad buzz legs a couple of times and the Bully Wa frog went bye bye as well but I did boat some bass. I replaced the Bully Wa with a white Cabela's brand Chuck-It frog and when they named it the Chuck-It they weren't kidding, you can throw it a mile.

Around 8:40PM it was decision time again and I elected to head to the North end of the lake. As I was working my way out of the reeds I got a solid 24" pike on the Horny Toad. Off to the North End where I caught the biggest bass I've gotten out of Platte Lake. The area is the tip of a point where maidencane and reeds with some rice jut out into the lake. The better water tends to be when you get closer to shore after the maidencane ends. I missed the first couple of strikes and lost the buzz on a Horny Toad. I proceeded to miss several opportunities on the Toad and Chuck-It frog, but I did land about 4 bass including the nights best at 17."

(Here is the 17" with Chuck-It) It's amazing how after catching so many 11-14" fish that a 17" seems like a 19".

It was getting dark and the mosquito's started to come out so I called it a night around 9:30PM or so. My official count was 25 bass though I might have caught a few more than that and I think I also caught 4 pike.

After Storm GOMH and 1 at Jenny's.

Originally I was going to take the boat out fishing, but when I got my tackle together around 5PM a big thunderstorm moved in over Platte/Sullivan. Not knowing how long storms and rain might stick around. I decided to go and hit up the Grumpy Old Man Hole. When I arrived the rain had stopped and there was a 10mph North wind and the current was ripping into Lake Sullivan. I fished the NE side (Platte) and started out throwing a gold/white/purple Outkast Swim Jig with a 5" gold glitter grub.

Right away I missed a pretty good sized jumpin bullhead that I saw take the bait but it just didn't hook up. I started throwing over the rice and pads and would get hits
periodically. It seemed like I would miss them most of the time, but occasionally I would hook up and reel in a 11-14" bullhead. The wind pretty much quit and it started raining for 20 minutes then it was cloudy for about an hour before clearing. I caught a single toothy bullhead and went through a total of 3 of the gold grubs which are not a cheap grub. Eventually the sun came out and I started throwing a war torn white Spro Kermit. I ended up missing 3 good bites and the last one rendered the Mend It bandanged frog un-useable. I am going to retire that frog. I started to throw the Swim Jig again and lost a brand new grub tail without catching a single fish with it. Next I started to throw a River2Sea Bully Wa frog and missed a couple of bites with that. I gave the SE side a quick try but didn't get any hits. Around 8:20 or so I left for Jenny's.

At Jenny's I caught a single 12 inch bass and missed a few other bites on the Bully Wa frog.