GOMH Quick Hitter

I am keeping this one only on the Fishing Log Blog, thinking that most if not all of the Baxter Bass Snatchers won't see it.

Today was very windy out of the SW and cool (cold front) with occasional showers. I went to the Chiropractor and hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole on my way back from about 5:30-7PM. The wind was coming in hard on the South side and that is where I started. I couldn't get a hit on a reaction bait, but when I switched to a orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug I got a 13" and 14" jumpin bullhead. After about a half hour of that I went to the NE side.

I started out throwing a silver 3/16oz Strike King Pro Model Spinnerbait tandem Colorado blades. First cast I got a 13" jumpin bullhead. Right after that I got a small toothy bullhead, then a long thin one on the Strike King. I got a small 11ish jumpin bullhead and that was it for the spinnerbait. I switched to a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison with 5" Action Plastic Mag Grub electric blue and was rewarded with a couple of 15" class jumpin bullheads. After that action stopped I switched to a "California" color Berkley Havoc Pit Boss and got a 16" class fish and one that was probably around 14.5" (I didn't have the Rapala board out so all measurements are guesses.) The Pit Boss got destroyed by the 2nd fish and I switched to the Yum Wooly Bug Orange Craw. I got a 14" and 14.5" with that. That made 10 jumpin bullheads and I quit.

I was amazed at how good the fishing was considering the GOMH got pounded from shore over the Memorial Day Weekend.

Bass Opener Day 3

Because it's Memorial Day weekend the Minnesota Bass Opener is a 3 day affair.

Today my lower back was giving me issues and I wasn't sure if I was going to get out. It was cloudy and breezy out of the SE. I eventually did get out on Platte Lake around 4:30PM. I headed East.

I started on a few docks that are usually unproductive and they lived up to expectation. After wasting 20 minutes I finally got into more productive water and nabbed this pike off a dock on a small black/red Hart spinnerbait.

As you can see I'm sporting my new cantaloupe Columbia Men's Airgill™ shirt with homemade hoodie. Columbia sent me the shirt to try along with some Drainmaker™ shoes. Today was in the 80's and humid, but with the breeze that Airgill shirt worked it's magic and I wasn't the least bit hot even with the sleeves down. I'm loving the shoes as well and they arrived none to soon as I've been getting my feet wet the past few days.

Anyway I made my way West and was into a good area and I popped this 16" on the Hart spinnerbait.
A little after that I got a 14.25" largie on the chart tiger Stanley Phantom topwater. Next I popped a couple of pike on the white Havoc Grass Pig, losing the Pig on the 2nd pike. I put a Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper on the 1/4oz weighted 5/0 Moaner Stroker Hook. I won those Moaner hooks earlier this year. It sure is nice to get to try something and see how it works for free. I popped one more bass on the Hart Spinnerbait, then I had a small pike destroy the spinnerbait. At that point I decided to head back East. I had my red shad Zoom Super Fluke bit off on the very first dock. It's possible I broke my line on the boat lift, but I think it was probably a pike.

As I worked my way West a guy came out to fish on his dock and got a crappie. I went around him and missed a fish, I think it was a bass, on the Cane Thumper. I covered an area that usually has rice and pads, but none were to be seen and no fish were there. Finally I got to some more docks. I popped a 15" largie on the PB&J Yum Wooly Bug along with an 11+" and a 12". That was the end of the PB&J bait so I tried a orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug and got a 12" on that. I was in the wind and struggling with boat control thanks to my broken trolling motor bracket. I did pull a 12" and 14.25" off docks with the Cane Thumper as I drifted by.

I made a move, a little later than I should have to Loon Sex Bay. I started working the Phantom and had a couple of misses on that before I connected with a 14" largie. I was covering water quickly and I decided to give the Cane Thumper a try and that paid off with a pike and 3 ok sized bass. I think I figured out how to set the hook on those swimbait bites. It's kind of a surging sweep set. I left the fish biting as I had to get back and get the boat on the trailer before it got to dark.

I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and didn't get a bite.

So that was
13 Bass
6 Pike

All told for Bass Opener weekend this year I landed 51 bass.

2011 Bass Opener Day 2

I got out at around 3PM. Lots of people out on the lake today. It was pretty much overcast the whole time. Right about 9PM it rained for a little bit. There was a light breeze out of the NE.

I put in at the Platte Lake Access and headed North. Right after I stopped I saw a fish swirl, so I cast over there and was rewarded with a 14" bass on the PB&J Yum Wooly Bug. I had another bite and it felt like a good fish but it didn't hook up and that was the end of that. I switched to a white Stanley Phantom(spook) and nailed a pike right away on that. I had a few more hits on the Phantom maybe catching one more pike and a bass. I followed up a miss with a red shad Zoom Super Fluke and got a decent bass. On the next cast, it got bit off. I cast out again and the Fluke got ripped right off the hook. I tried a pink X-Rap and got a few pike on that. I switched the Phantom to a chartreuse tiger and got a 16 bass right away. Then I nailed this 18.5"


Low and behold I looked down the way and saw the brown Tuffy of Bass Pundit blog reader Mike B. We chatted for a while. He told me a few things. He had mostly been getting pike and the bass were spread out. He went South and I continued North. I kept fishing the chart Phantom and was rewarded with a good bass every so often and there were several missed hits. I think I might have had 2 dogfish follows, but I couldn't get bit on a follow-up bait. In one particular spot, I got 3 bass in close succession. It started to rain and that was the end of the action.

I didn't have anything to write on but I think the official count was:
14 Bass (2 Wooly Bug, 2 Fluke, 10 Phantom) I had several 15-inch bass.
7 Pike

2011 Bass Opener Day 1

It's that time!

I was not a spring chicken and didn't get to the launch until after 6AM. I wasn't fishing until about 6:45AM and much to my surprise I couldn't see anyone at the spot. As I was getting set up there was a red Lund heading my way. There was a bit of a SW breeze and I got blown towards the North Shore. I ran the trolling motor to get back towards the South shore. As the boat approached he was headed to go between me and the South shore. I yelled and pointed for him to go around the other way. I lined up my first cast of the morning with a white Stanley Jigs Phantom(spook). Next thing I know the red Lund is passing between me and the South shore and headed right to where my bait is sitting. I was not happy, so I yelled at the guy (I have this on video and will post it when I figure out how to post to Youtube). Anyway, if there were fish there, there weren't any longer.

Fishing the area I had one hit on the Phantom but it didn't hook up. The next bait in the quiver was a Havoc Lane's Grass Pig (Dipper). I could feel fish hitting it but they didn't hold on so I could set the hook. Next, I tried a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper and had a fish hit that and not hook up. I went subsurface with a PB&J Yum Wooly Bug and finally I got a bass.

It was only 11.25". A couple of casts later I got my first "keeper" at 15".

I caught a few more fish but it was slow. Eventually, the red Lund came back out of the river. I asked them if they caught anything and the guy swore at me, so I'm guessing that is a no. I could see another boat in the river fishing it's way towards me. They said it was really slow and only got a couple of small fish. I had to see for myself and they were right. The one notable thing is that I caught my first Dipper fish. Actually, I got two, one on an unweighted setup and one on a weighted hook. Both fish smacked it and held on.

Eventually, I left the river and went to fish the greater Pro. I was throwing the white weighted Grass Pig and I had it get bumped a few times but the fish were not taking it. Finally, I had enough of that and switched to a black-blue Pure Poison Chatter Jig and got a bass on that. After a while, it became clear the fish just were not chasing so I started pitching the Wooly Bug to groups of pads. I was rewarded with my biggest fish of the day at 17.75".

I caught a few more and missed a couple of bites doing that. Eventually, I went to where it was calm and looked for fish. Saw one good bass, a few average to small ones and one nice pike. Not a single dogfish. Eventually, I got back into the wind and got one on the Pure Poison and an Orange Swim Jig with Havoc Devil Spear trailer. I got a few more hits that didn't hook up and on one of the hits the Spear tail came off. I switched the tail to a 4" pumpkin Action Plastics Grub and got a couple pike. As I was fishing down the shore a couple of guys from the Bass Snatchers came by (Ruff & Ludenia. They were getting the lay of the land and hadn't started fishing yet.

I worked my way to the GOMH and into Platte where I got a 15.25" on the Pure Poison, along with a couple of pike.

I worked into Channel Inn Bay where it was calm and it was dead, not even panfish.

Eventually, I worked my way into the Big West Bay. I tied on a baby bass Ninja Spinnerbait and the pike fest was on as I drifted the weed flat in the wind (and it was windy folks). I think I caught about 15 pike and two bass. Eventually, I made a switch to a smaller black and red faux Ninja and the bass and pike evened out a bit. I think I finally narrowed down an area that was holding a few bass and I headed in.

It was an ordeal getting the boat trailered in that big wind on a NE shore access, but I did it and didn't break anything. I'm lucky I didn't swamp the boat and break stuff.

I ended up with:
24 Bass (Best 5:17.75, 16.25, 15.25, 15.25, 15)
26 Pike

Note: My "new and improved" trolling motor bracket didn't survive the first trip. I can still use it for now, but we are gonna need to try something else.

A Different Pete

I got out on Platte/Sullivan with a fellow Baxter Bass Snatcher Peter Johnson. But before I met him at the launch I stopped at the GOMH. Nothing but jumpin bullheads. I tried out a Snakebait Baits California Shaker. A California Shaker is a spinnerbait that also has a chatter jig blade. I was impressed with the lure but I was a bit concerned as the chatter blade is attached to the spinnerbait with a Norman Speed Clip. In my experience Norman Speed Clips and spinnerbaits are not a good combination if you like to keep your spinnerbaits. My fears were justified. The spinnerbait came off right by shore. Luckily I was able to retrieve it.

When I got to the access Peter hadn't arrived yet, so I threw some casts from the dock. On a cast the Spinnerbait came off and all I got back was the chatter blade. You live and learn. I have one more of those California Shakers and I'm going to super glue the speed clip before I try to use it.

Pete and I went in search of dogfish and pike. Didn't see any dogs. And the pike were slow and small.

Here is a couple of our fish:


We fished from about 7:30 to 11:00AM

I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and connected with a couple of toothy bullheads. The only reason I got the pictures was because I needed the pliers.

Short GOMH Report

I think I got out of the house around 7PM. There were quite a few trucks parked and Lo and behold I was suprized to see none other than GOM Lee Ander. Before I got my fishing stuff out I went to talk with Lee Ander. He said the info I got from GOM Willard was incorrect about him going blind. Apparently he had a blood clot in his lung this winter and had to be revived. He was there fishing with his daughter who caught a monster orange bullhead. He had gotten some jumpin bullheads and a small orange. However it seemed like it was pretty slow for the most part. GOM Bud was also there and he hadn't gotten anything. Eventually I got my stuff and fished between Lee Ander and Bud.

Earlier in the day I went to the Chiropracter and he recommended that I not do any casting for a few days, so it was fishing off the bridge for me. The wind was kind of nasty out of the N NE. I missed a couple of bites. My hook point on the panfish tube jig was a bit bent, so I changed to a pink Flu Flu with the minnow. I missed my first couple of hits, but eventually I got a couple of silver bullheads that I gave to Lee Ander. I didn't get a thing after Lee Ander left.

I left around 9PM.

GOMH Oh Yeah!

Weather: Today was sunny and in the mid-'60s with a breeze out of the NE about from 3 to 10. As I fished the wind would come and go.

Tonight I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole right about 5PM and I set up on the NE side. I started off throwing a clear smoke sparkle Berkley Havoc The Deuce double tail grub on a ball head jig and I was quickly rewarded with an 18 inch toothy bullhead.

I didn't bother to ask if anybody wanted it and threw it back. I started getting some small jumpin bullheads, several of which were jumpers. Next I tried a couple of swim jigs with no luck whatsoever.

I pulled out the River2Sea Wide Glide that I won in a contest and tried to work it. It didn't help that it was breezy and I couldn't work it right. I tried later when there was less wind and still couldn't get the hang of it. The lure is suppose to glide from side to side. It takes a different cadence than a normal walk the dog bait. I'm skeptical that I am going to like it, do to the difficulty in working it properly.

Eventually I put on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatter jig with Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty black blue flake. It didn't take long and I got this 20" class fish.

I gave the toothy to a guy and girl that were fishing. The girl had just left to go to the South side and had been throwing a spinnerbait right where the fish hit. I proceeded to miss a couple of toothy's and then it got slow when the wind picked up.

I was hoping the Poison/Fatty off the bottom when I had a hit and it quickly was apparent this was no little fish. It took a couple of powerful runs pulling drag before I saw it was a toothy. I couldn't see the lure and the line was coming out the side of it mouth. I thought for sure it was going to break me off, but the 14lb Fireline held and I landed this 35 inch beast.

The guy who took the picture thought it was a good idea to take the picture with the truck as a backdrop. I wish he hadn't. This pike went back in the lake. I wish all people would throwback pike that size so they have a chance to get to 40". At 40" I don't care if somebody keeps it for the wall. This is my biggest GOMH toothy bullhead and biggest Platte/Sullivan Pike. However, Cyberfish caught one quite a bit bigger than this one a few years back in shallow slop in like July or August on a hollow body frog. I wish we had a pic of that fish.

After this one I might have gotten a couple of more toothy hits but nothing for sure. Of note, I did get this 18.75" pig jumpin bullhead on the Poison/Fatty.

I'll tell you what, that Berkley Havoc Lane's 4" Craw Fatty is a good bait.

As it got dark GOM Willard came over to see me. He actually had been fishing tonight. He ended up giving his bullheads (orange's and 1 silver) to GOM Lee Ander's grandson to take to Lee Ander. Willard didn't see the pike, so I showed him the picture on the camera.

Also of note, tonight Conservation Officer Kuske showed up for a few minutes. He didn't come over to talk to me, so I didn't get to show him the pike pictures. There were several boats tonight fishing the South GOMH.

I left about a quarter to 10 or so. Didn't even try for silvers.

GOMH Oh Yeah!

Weather: Today was sunny and in the mid 60's with a breeze out of the NE about from 3 to 10. As I fished the wind would come and go.

Tonight I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole right about 5PM and I set up on the NE side. I started off throwing a clear smoke sparkle Berkley Havoc The Deuce double tail grub on a ball head jig and I was quickly rewarded with an 18-inch toothy bullhead.

I didn't bother to ask if anybody wanted it and threw it back. I started getting some small jumpin bullheads, several of which were jumpers. Next, I tried a couple of swim jigs with no luck whatsoever.

I pulled out the River2Sea Wide Glide that I won in a contest and tried to work it. It didn't help that it was breezy and I couldn't work it right. I tried later when there was less wind and still couldn't get the hang of it. The lure is supposed to glide from side to side. It takes a different cadence than a normal walk the dog bait. I'm skeptical that I am going to like it, do to the difficulty in working it properly.

Eventually, I put on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatter jig with Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty black blue flake. It didn't take long and I got this 20" class fish.

I gave the toothy to a guy and girl that were fishing. The girl had just left to go to the Southside and had been throwing a spinnerbait right where the fish hit. I proceeded to miss a couple of toothy's and then it got slow when the wind picked up.

I was hoping the Poison/Fatty off the bottom when I had a hit and it quickly was apparent this was no little fish. It took a couple of powerful runs pulling drag before I saw it was a toothy. I couldn't see the lure and the line was coming out the side of it mouth. I thought for sure it was going to break me off, but the 14lb Fireline held and I landed this 35-inch beast.

The guy who took the picture thought it was a good idea to take the picture with the truck as a backdrop. I wish he hadn't. This pike went back in the lake. I wish all people would throw back pike that size so they have a chance to get to 40". At 40" I don't care if somebody keeps it for the wall. This is my biggest GOMH toothy bullhead and biggest Platte/Sullivan Pike. However, Cyberfish caught one quite a bit bigger than this one a few years back in shallow slop in like July or August on a hollow body frog. I wish we had a pic of that fish.

After this one I might have gotten a couple of more toothy hits but nothing for sure. Of note, I did get this 18.75" pig jumpin bullhead on the Poison/Fatty.

I'll tell you what, that Berkley Havoc Lane's 4" Craw Fatty is a good bait.

As it got dark GOM Willard came over to see me. He actually had been fishing tonight. He ended up giving his bullheads (orange's and 1 silver) to GOM Lee Anders grandson to take to Lee Ander. Willard didn't see the pike, so I showed him the picture on the camera.

Also of note, tonight Conservation Officer Kuske showed up for a few minutes. He didn't come over to talk to me, so I didn't get to show him the pike pictures. There were several boats tonight fishing the South GOMH.

I left about a quarter to 10 or so. Didn't even try for silvers.

Another Night at Eddy's with GOMH Stop.

The night ban goes into effect tonight at 10PM, so that leaves two and a half over nights to take advantage of the Eddy's Jetty night bite. Sunday was sunny and warmer with a good wind out of the East and that East wind should be good for fishing the Eddy's Jetty which is on the West shore, but if you read my last report Saturday night was inexplicably a bust.

I arrived at the Jetty around 9:30PM and it was pretty much slick with clear skies. I went to the North Jetty corner and threw out a leech with the lighted bobber. After about 10 minutes it got weird. With no hint of a bite my bobber started moving toward the Jetty and off to my right. I started reeling in and the movement to the right was more pronounced but there didn't seem to be a fish there and the bobber was up on the surface. The more I reeled the farther to the right it went. It seemed that I somehow my line got stuck in a rock that was well to the right of where I cast. As I got to were the "rock" was my bobber went under and I thought I was going to lose the bobber. But then the bobber came around and I was hung up, but not on a rock, but a very big fish. I had the fish on for about 40 seconds and then it came off. Could have been a muskie, pike, walleye, carp or smallie.

Here's my theory, my fishing line which was sinking got grabbed by a crayfish. A big fish then picked up the crayfish getting my line in it's mouth. As I reeled in the line passed through the fish's mouth until the fish got stuck by my hook. Man I wish I would have landed it or at least figured out what it was.

Anyway about 20 minutes later I caught this fellow on my line.

I had crayfish on my line 4 or 5 times throughout the night.

I tried Leeches and throwing raps but basically nothing happened until about 1AM when I put on an old clown Rapala Husky Jerk 14. I decided to give it a twitching action in the calm conditions and I got a hit but it got off. About 10 minutes later I landed one that was just over 18 inches and so in the protected slot.

After a little while I decided to change colors to a silver blue black Husky Jerk 14. I got a hit on that and landed my first keeper of the weekend at 16".

I went 15 minutes without a hit so then I tried a couple of smaller HJ12's without any luck. Because of the clear skies I thought maybe the glass white HJ14 might work. I had to the middle belly hook off so it wouldn't sink. This lure sort of turned out to be the deal. I missed a hit then on the next cast hooked up with a 17.25" keeper.


Shortly after that I caught a 18.5" that had to go back.

I then had 5 or 6 more hits a couple of which were ferocious, but couldn't hook up any of them. Then the action stopped. I tried switching baits but it went dead. This guy named Luke who I'd talked to a couple of times this weekend came out and got a bite on a leech, so I switched to a leech in the area where I had missed the most hits. After about 15 minutes the bobber went down and I got a 22". Here being held by Luke.

While it was still pretty dark but light on the horizon I got another bite but the fish let go right before I was going to set the hook. It took it down again for a couple of seconds, but then let go and that was it.

When it got pretty light out I caught 2 perch, one of which was nice which I gave to Luke. Luke put it on a stringer which he would later lose when he went to show a security guard the fish and he nearly fell in the harbor in the process. After that bigger perch Luke's bobber went down and he pulled in an eye that I think went 22".

I left just before 6AM.

I stopped at the Shakopee Lake bridge and I think I had a hit on my Strike King Pure Poison chatter-jig, but it got off right away. Wonder what it was?

I decided to go straight to the Grumpy Old Man Hole, where all I could catch was some jumpin bullheads, so I left.

Mille Lacs Gets Tough and GOMH Show

On Saturday the wind blew out of the East all day. Normally that makes Eddy's hot. It didn't. I arrived at 8PM and set up on the North Jetty Harbor Mouth. Much to my astonishment nothing happened. Finally at 10PM I went to chuck raps off the North jetty corner and that didn't work. The wind was about 5 mph less than last night. I went to the lighted bobber and a leech and got bit around 11PM. I lost the fish more than half the way in. It may have been a keeper. About 35 minutes later the bobber was gone and this time I landed it. The fish went 19" and had to go back.

At 12:30AM I went to the truck to take a nap. I got up at 3AM and tried off the South jetty. The wind had picked up some. No luck. A little after 4AM I went back to the North jetty. I did get a bite but I waited to long and it spit the leech. Once the sun got up I tried the harbor mouth, nothing! I left at 6:30AM

I made a quick stop at the bridge North of Shakopee lake. Nothing, but I talked to a guy who said he gets walleye and northern there and bass occasionally.

After getting home and changing some things out I headed to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. There were several trucks parked, but nobody on the NE side so I was happy. My first lure was the Chuck Fall Pike Spinnerbait. I got a 14.5" jumpin bullhead on my first cast and 17.75" on my second. About 20 casts later I got a 16" jumper and that was it. I tried a bunch of lures but got nothing more.

I went to the SE side on the bank and made long casts with an orange swim jig I just won on Ebay with a Havoc Devil Spear Green Pumpkin dipped in Chart. JJ's Magic Dye. I got a 20" toothy bullhead and two 14.5" jumpin bullheads on it and missed a couple of hits. That Devil Spear is the bee's knee's for a swim jig trailer.

Gold Rush!!! (Opener)

Lord Have Mercy!

That was my reaction when I saw the conditions off of Eddy's Jetty. 10-15mph E SE wind so I went to the corner of the North Jetty. I thought it was going to be a serious whack fest, turns out the fishing was just OK.

I started casting a couple of minutes past midnight throwing a purple perch Husky Jerk because I whacked them hard on that color in similar conditions in 2007 (and 2007 Part Deux). That didn't pan out so I switched to a gold husky jerk.

After about 10 minutes it was "fish on" and I landed it.

It went 23" and had to go back because it was in the protected 18-28slot.

About 10 minutes later it was fish on again.

This one went 19"

I went for about 15 minutes without a bite, so I switched to a glass perch color and I got two on that.


This one, both pictures, went 25" and was big fish of the night.

This one went 24.5

I then had a long lull and tried several baits before getting this 22" on a white Shallow Shad X-Rap.


I got this last fish around 2:15AM. Soon after that my upper back started to really bug me and by 3AM I had to give up the rap throwing.

I went on got my bobber rod and went up the center jetty and fished the North harbor mouth. There had been 3 guys fishing at the North harbor mouth from the North Jetty and they got a total of 4 Eye's. After about an hour I got a bite and missed it. I quickly put on another leech and cast back to the same spot. Sure enough it got picked up and I reeled the slack and set the hook. This one looked like and eater, but it got off. That was my last bite. I stayed till a little after 6:30am but the fish were just not going like I would think they should be.

I'll be back tonight.

Two Trips

Last Night I fished at the GOMH from 7:30-10PM. Weather was cool and cloudy with moderate wind out of the NW.

I started out fishing on the bridge with GOM Bud. Bucketman was there on the SW side as were a couple of other people I recognized. The SE side was filled with people I didn't know. The action was pretty steady. I used a plain lead-head panfish tube jig head with a minnow. I got silver bullhead and two jumpin bullheads while on the bridge.

Around 8:15PM everybody that was on the SW side left so I went down there. I was catching a few silvers and then I started missing a bunch when GOM Willard came down to talk. Eventually, Bud left with 9 silvers, 4 of which I gave him. John W. showed up and started nailing fish right away. I started giving him the ones that I caught. Eventually, Lantern Man and a friend of his showed up. Lantern Man was once again up in arms about the GOMH being on the Internet. The friend had bow fished some dogfish at the bridge North of Shakopee Lake. Interesting. When I left at 10PM I had caught a total of 10 silvers with 1 of them being a dink.

This morning I got to the GOMH a bit later than I should have at around 6AM. John W was there and said he had caught 10 but only 3 were keepers. He was on the SW side so I went to the SE side. I proceeded to go through my last 6 minnows without catching a thing. The fish were real finicky and would often take it down for a second let go and not come back. When the minnows were gone I switched to a beetle spin and got several jumpin bullheads including an 18" and another really fat one that I didn't measure that was in the 17" class.

I left at 8AM and stopped to get more minnows at Bear Traxx, they didn't have bigger leeches in yet/

Another Double Trip

Weather- A bit of fog in the morning with overcast and even a quick sprinkle. Light South Wind. Humid

Evening- 77°F was the days high, I think it was hazy with some sun.

Morning Trip:
I headed out the door for the Grumpy Old Man Hole a bit before day break and had to use the lighted bobber for about 20 minutes. I got 3 silver bullheads. After that it was nothing but jumping bullheads on both the South and North. Notable was this 18.5" jumper caught on a Panfish Chatterbait.


Evening Trip- I didn't get to the GOMH until a bit after 8:30PM, it wasn't as busy as last night, but the South side was well covered. GOM Willard arrived when I did. GOM Bud was there as was Bucket Man who was back to his bucket tonight. I was told the bullheads had been biting fairly good, so I got my rod and fished off the bridge. I was having zero luck. The guy next to me, John, said people were getting them on a plain hook. He started getting a few on a plain jig head. I tried a couple different colored tubes, then took the plastic off. Finally I got bit. Gave that one to John. Proceeded to lose my next 5-6 bites. It got dark and people started leaving. Joe from my bass fishing club the Baxter Bass Snatchers showed up with a buddy. A little later Lantern Man showed up. LM got to talking to Joe about how more people were fishing the GOMH because they heard about it on the Internet. Joe didn't tell him about my blog. It's hard for me to tell if the Grumpy Old Man Hole is busier now than it was previous to my blogging about it. People have always fished there and if the bite is on the word gets out. Lots of people fished it 2009, but the bite was really hot that year. It seems like it was less busy last year with the prolonged Spring and a bite that just wasn't as good. This year it has been moderately busy.
Anyway I got 3 nice silver bullheads and gave them to Joe and friend. I left at 10:30PM.

Double Trip

Weather: This morning started with a thunderstorm right when I wanted to go fishing at first light. I managed to make it out from 6:30am to 8:30am. There was a pretty good NE breeze blowing.

In the evening I arrived at the GOMH at about 8PM, there was thunder in the distance but it was dead calm and only sprinkled for a bit.

On the morning trip I fished the SW, SE, and NE side getting nothing but jumpin bullheads and one small tiger bullhead. I think the thunderstorm along with the NE wind blew the silvers right out.

When I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole it was full up with people on all sides of the bridge. GOM Willard and Bud were there along with Bucket Man, Kyle and son John W. plus a bunch of others. Not much was going on at first and I decided to watch. Apparently CO Kuske was there earlier and pinched a guy who didn't have a fishing licence. At about 8:20pm some of the guys on the SW side started getting some. By 8:45pm they had turned on and I just watched. When Bucket Man, Kyle, and John left the SW side I went down there. All I caught was one bullhead bullhead fishing from about 9:30pm to 10:30pm.

Bullheads- No Kidding Around!

Weather: We had thunderstorms in the morning or I would have gone out. The rain quit about 8:30AM. The day was cloudy, breezy, and mild with a high of 63°F.

After a feast of silver bullhead for supper I headed out and arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 7:30PM. No surprise it was busy. The Bud the foul mouthed Grumpy Old Man was there, along with "Bucket Man" who now sits in a chair, a new guy this year who I'll call Turkey with his kid, and then there were several others fishing as well. I set up next to GOM Bud up on the bridge South side. Silver bullheads were coming in everywhere sporadically and after about 10 minutes I got my first and gave it to Bud.

I would give him a total of 3 and also get a 14" bullhead from the bridge. Around 7:50PM Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up. Round about 8:30PM Turkey and son left, so I went down on the SW side were they were. That turned out to be a bad move as I couldn't figure the fish out. Bucket Man filled his limit and I caught a little silver and missed one. Bud managed to fill out his limit up on the bridge. Some other young guys fished the South side of the bridge and got a couple of silvers and jumpers. The people on the SE side were getting fish, but by 9PM it was pretty much just me and Willard and those young guys who were now fishing the North side. Willard suggested I go to the SE side, so I went and tried that. Willard told me that GOM Lee Ander can't drive anymore because of his eye sight and it isn't very likely that he will fish at the GOMH anymore.

After about 5 minutes on the SE side I got a nice silver bullhead. Willard almost took it, but it went back in the lake. Willard left shortly after that. I started nailing a few silvers including this 12.25" fish.

Around 10PM the action slowed, but I did catch a bullhead. Yes a real live bullhead.

I had 3 more bites that I couldn't hook and I left around 10:30PM.

All in all I got
11 Silver Bullhead
1 Jumpin Bullhead
1 Yellow Bullhead

Morning GOMH Trip

Note- Date is correct even though this post was written and posted the next day.

After the slugfest that was Friday night, I figured it might be a good thing to hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole first thing in the morning and so I did. I left the house about 5:20AM and as I did I wished I had left about 10-15 minutes sooner because of how light out it already was. Wouldn't you know it but a car turned in front of me from 27 onto 8 and they headed straight to the GOMH. The guy was quick about unpacking his gear and went straight to the SW side where I was going to go. I decided to fish on the bridge to the SW, where the people were having lots of success yesterday. I popped 3 nice silver bullheads immediately on the pink Cubby with minnow. The other guy started catching some and a guy and lady showed up and took the SE side. Then after about 15minutes I got a 4th. A man with his son who fished last night showed up and started fishing next to me on the bridge. I got a bite from a nice bass and had to go down to the SW side to land it. I'm not sure what happened but my line broke and I almost lost my wing it bobber, but I did get it back.

I went back up on the bridge and re-tied. I decided to try a tube, but I picked a ball head jig that was just a little to big to get the jig head inside the tube. I did catch one small silver that I threw back on a smoke tube. I tried a lemon tube, then I decided to switch jig heads, to an elongated lead tube jighead. I went with a red sparkle/smoke tail color and snapped two nice silver bullheads right away and I thought I was on to something but unfortunately the silver bullheads almost totally shut off at that point. My next 7 fish were all jumpin bullheads caught on the SW side. I stayed until about 10:30am.

A Bit of Frustration

Weather: Nicest day in a while, high of 67 with sun and little wind.

Today was the day the fish made the big move into the Grumpy Old Man Hole. Unfortunately it was also the day other fishermen showed up to fish it. I headed out the door early today around 6PM and there were quite a few trucks parked as well as 2 boats. One of the boats was sitting right by shore on the SE side of the bridge. I got out of the car to do a little recon and the people were slamming the silver bullheads in one little spot just out from the bridge on the SW side. A couple of old guys could just drop there line down straight from the bridge and they were right in the spot. A guy on the SW side stairs was fishing out and to the west of the stairs and catching orange bullheads. I overheard the guys in the boat at the bridge say they only had two more to go to get their limit, so I quickly went to the car and got set up on the SE side where no one was. Within 15 minutes the boat left. I was able to cast in to where some fish should have been but it was mighty slow for me. I probably should have started experimenting with stuff, but I just stayed with the pink Cubby and a Minnow. I think one of the old guys on the bridge was using waxies and the other guy said he was just using a tube. A third old guy on the bridge had minnows and wasn't doing as well but he was like me and not quite on the spot. I eventually did pop a couple of nice silver bullheads. Two of the old guys up on the bridge got their limits and left. It had kind of slowed down at that point.

The last old guy remarked that it had gotten slow and I said well there were 4 limits just taken out of here and the guy fishing the SW side said there were 3 limits on top of that gotten by people who were there before I arrived. Sheesh!

I would say it was around 7PM when blog reader Mike B. showed up. He had been fishing Little Whitefish and dropped by to see if I was fishing. We talked for a while and I didn't fish. Eventually he went up to his boat to get a rod and I started throwing a beetle spin around. I started catching some small jumpin bullheads on that. Mike hooked into a dogfish but before he could get it on shore it broke his 4lb test line.

Eventually I switched back to the Cubby and Minnow and started getting some silver bullheads. Mike caught some jumpin bullheads and silver bullheads which he gave to me. The guy on the SW side left but was quickly replaced by 3 young guys. Eventually the old guy on the bridge left and kid took up that spot. I got a few silvers and missed some bites. The kid on the bridge started whacking them and the guys on the SW side got into them pretty good. As it got later it seemed like there were at least a few silvers spread out. I ended up throwing a couple of 10 inchers back, hoping for bigger.

Mike left about 9PM and so did the kid. The guys on the SW side kept catching them pretty steady while I just couldn't get anything to go with lighted bobber with the Glow Demon and a minnow. Once those guys left I went to the SW side and got 1 that I kept and that was it. I left around 10:15PM.

Seriously, I got smoked by the other fishermen. This was my haul:

Think I might hit it at first light tomorrow and see if I can't put on a whackfest.

GOMH Bullhead Slam!

Weather: Early this morning it was in the low 40's and rained/showered from 1AM to about 9AM; We got maybe a quarter inch. After that the day was partly cloudy giving way to sun occasionally and 60°F was the high.

I headed out of the house after 7PM and was fishing by 7:30PM. When I arrived Lantern Man and his brother in law were fishing one on the SE (LM) and the other on the SW. I moved my stuff by LM and went to fish to the East of him in the rough.
First bullhead of the night was this 16.25" jumper on the black/red Pit Boss. After about 15 more minutes I moved next to LM on the steps and tried the pink Cubby with a minnow. LM's BIL went to the North side, so I went over the SW side. I had the bobber pulled down twice in the same spot but couldn't hook up. I switched to the beetle spin and banged a toothy bullhead. Shortly after that GOM Bud aka the foul mouth GOM, showed up.
We had more visitors watching for a while, but they left as nothing was going on. Eventually I switched back to the Cubby and Minnow and was in the vicinity where I had gotten all the bites when my bobber went down and I pulled in an 11" silver bullhead.

As it was getting to be bullhead prime time I stuck with the Cubby until it was quite dark. I was just about to switch to the lighted bobber when I got a bite right next to the rocks. It put up a good fight and I knew it was no silver bullhead. I had to get my headlamp on while fighting the fish and once I did I was able to see a golden bullhead. That's right I got a Bullhead Slam!
The GB went 21" and because they are not open until the 14th, it went back in the lake.

I stayed until almost 10PM and on my very last cast I got a 10" silver bullhead that was sitting right where the golden bullhead was caught. This one was caught on a Glow Demon.

Slower GOMH (And GOM Willard Was There)

Weather: Sunny most of the day, but turning overcast by the time I fished. It got to 63 and was kind of breezy when I first arrived but it quieted down pretty quick.

I had to get minnows at Bear Traxx, so I was at the Grumpy Old Man Hole by 6:45PM. There was a truck parked, but I didn't see anybody so I set up on the SE side. I wasn't there long when Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up in his truck. As he was getting out of the truck I got the first jumpin bullhead of the night. Talked to Willard for a bit then he went to check and see if somebody was on the Northside. Sure enough, there was somebody there but he said he didn't catch anything. The guy never did come fish the Southside, so maybe he tried it earlier and didn't get anything.

While fishing for dogfish with the red/black Havoc Pit Boss I had a fish in the cattail stocks bite 6 times but never hook up. Bowfin maybe??? Anyway, I got a few jumpin bullheads on the Pit Boss and a beetle spin. By 7:45PM the action died.

I was fishing the pink Cubby and had a few very light nibbles that didn't take it. Finally, when it was quite dark the bobber went down but I missed it. I put the light on that rods bobber and had another bite, but missed it. Eventually, I switched up to the Lindy Lighted Bobber with the Custom Jigs and Spins Glow Demon. I managed to get two 12" silver bullheads on that. Here's the 1st one.


6 jumpin bullheads
2 silver bullheads

Bullhead Is Back (and a Dogfish too)

Weather: Today it got to 58°F and it was sunny with light winds. That was enough to bring the fish back in.

I didn't get to the Grumpy Old Man Hole until 7:45PM. I set up on the SE side and I got rid of the skunk on the first cast when a small jumpin bullhead bit. I proceeded to get a bunch of jumpin bullheads over the next hour.
This one was the biggest (18.25") and bit on a pink Cubby Mini-Mite with a minnow.

Once it got sufficiently dark I started getting into the silver bullheads. I caught 3 nice one's, and missed 2 more on the Cubby with a minnow. I then got a bite that was a little different, I set the hook and thought for a second I had hooked into a muskrat. It wasn't a muskrat, it was about a 19" dogfish. I fought it for about 45 seconds and then it got off. In the coarse of the battle I lost the split shot on my line, so I decided to go up and get my other lighted bobber rod that has a Custom Jigs and Spins Glow Demon on it. On that set up I got 1 silver bullhead on the SE side and 1 silver bullhead on the SW side. This was my total haul.

I stopped fishing at 11PM.