May 31st GOMH Trip with Dad

Dad and I got out from 7 to 9PM.  John W. had picked over the Platte side by the time we got there.  He said he got one really big jumpin bullhead and he got one golden bullhead.  There was this group/ family that had been there fishing bullheads as in real actual bullheads the night before and caught a ton of them; They were fishing the Platte side as well.  Dad and I set up on the South side and we started getting jumpin bullheads right away.  Dad got a nice 17 incher.  I got a 23" toothy bullhead that I gave to the family.

Dad decided to go to the Platte side, so I joined him.  I got one small jumpin bullhead on the Stanley Phantom and small toothy on a Grass Pig that I also gave to the family.  I also got a jumper on the D.M. Piranha.  Dad got a nice silver bullhead back on the South side which he also gave to the family.  We left at 9PM because I had to get ready for my tournament.  Dad ended up with 9 jumpers and the silver, not bad.

Rock And GOMH May 30th

I decided to hit up Rock for a couple of hours.  I was in the water around 4PM.  I pulled into the RPRO and there was a boat down by the beaver dam.  I thought it looked like he was pulling some of the bog that's clogging up the river mouth.  I started fishing on the entry way to the wider RPRO.  I got a small bass right away on the bubblegum Grass Pig.  My next fish was this 24" pike on the Gambler Ninja Spin.  I was kind of being pushed along with the wind.

I got a few more pike on that and missed some bass, but fishing obviously wasn't going to be that good.  I contemplated trailering over to Platte Lake, but decided against it with the motor issues I'm having.  The other guy did do some fishing then took off.  I got down by the beaver dam and it was still the same as it was.  I caught 1 bass casting a Horny Toad into the river and missed another hit.  It got calmer as I came up the South shoreline.  I missed a couple of hits on the Horny Toad.  Then I started throwing my Fluke on my wildly inconsistent Daiwa Fuego;  One second it is loose as a goose and on the next cast it tightens up until it inexplicably loosens up again.  Needless to say I was pulling back lashes as much as fishing.  I missed a couple of quality swirls.  I was getting pretty frustrated.  I put on a white Stanley Phantom and got a 15.5" on the first cast.  I thought this might be good, but I must have hit it on the head.  I started working my way out when I missed a big bass.  I was super frustrated now.  Then I missed one on the Horny Toad.  This trip was not going well at all.  I put the Phantom by a log and it got blown up on by this 18" bass.

I considered getting a Derby Bass a trip saver.  I noticed rain approaching from the East.  I like a total idiot didn't think to put on my bib and rain shell I had in my tackle bag.  I only put on my Arctic Armor Jacket which really isn't rain proof anymore.  I got soaked.  When I got to the car I took my shorts and underwear off and put on the bib.  I got the boat out and it had pretty much stopped raining.  I decided to go and hit the GOMH

At the GOMH I started cracking jumpin bullheads right away on the South side on Havoc Grass Pig Jr..  A 17" was my first fish.  I switched over to a Powerbait Crazy Legs Chigger Craw and got a few more jumpers.  I switched over to the Platte side and got this Bowfin.

23"

 I'm very sure it's the same one I caught last week.  He went back..  I got one jumper on the bubblegum Grass Pig as well on the Platte side.  It was now around 9:30pm so I left.

My Morning Trip to the GOMH

I got to the GOMH this morning at 5:30AM.  Fortunately the rain held off to 8AM and I was able to get some bullhead action in.  I started off on the South side and got a couple of quality jumpin bullheads (15 to 16 inchers) on the huckleberry Christopherson's Craw Tube and the D.M. Baits Piranha.  It slowed down so I went to the North side which had better action.  I got my 4th Derby fish of the year with this obviously spawned out 18.5".

 It fell for the Craw Tube as well.  I ended up jumping off another quality jumper that easily would have made the Derby.  I ended up with 16 jumpers total and many missed hits and 1 toothy bullhead.  I quit when it started to rain.  In addition to the two baits already mentioned.  I also got fish on a black/blue fleck Bio Bait Craw Tube and a bubblegum Grass Pig.

Fishing with Dad at the GOMH Tonight

12" Or So Jumpin Bullhead

Tonight Dad came fishing with me from 8:00PM to 9:30PM.  We started at Bulldog.  Dad caught himself a tree thanks to the wind that was blowing.  I almost got it out but ended up losing my last Berkley swim jig hook and a leader.

So next we went to the GOMH and there was only one guy there fishing on the SW side.   Dad took up on the bridge and I took the SE side.  I immediately hooked up with this skinny 18" jumper on a Craw Tube and Dad got the one in the picture above on a Grass Pig Jr.

Dad ended up with 4 jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig Jr. and I got 10, on the Craw Tube, a D.M. Baits Piranha, and a Grass Pig.  They ranged from 16" to 12" inches.  I also got this bonus golden bullhead on the Huckleberry Craw Tube.  I think I might have lost another one.

18"

We left around 9:30PM after that fish I lost messed up my Craw Tube.

Topwater Tonight

I wasn't planning on fishing today, but the weather conditions changed my mind.  It was overcast, cool, and very little wind.  The forecast thunderstorms were called off.  I was on the water on Sullivan Lake a bit after 4PM. I tried hitting some docks first and that did't produce anything but I got a 16" bass on a  Zoom Super Fluke in some old weeds from last year.  I then got a pike, before having the Fluke get bit off.

I started throwing a Zoom Horny Toad and got a 15" bass on that and a small pike.  I missed several hits as well.

Then I moved to the PRO area that I fished on opener.  It was dead calm I got a small bass on the Grass Pig then I had a pike break my hook on the Grass Pig as it came into the boat.  It was dead calm and the water was 59°F so I started throwing my chartreuse firetiger Stanley Phantom (Spook) and promptly lost a good fish.  That is what I threw for the next couple of hours along with a Paycheck Baits Repo Man.  I caught 13 fish doing that dumping all of my bigger bites.  A little wind came up and that seemed to hurt the bite.  I tried throwing a spinnerbait but that didn't play.  At about 9PM I hit "the juice" at the River mouth and got my last couple of fish on the Phantom.

All in all it was a fun night.  If it weren't for the motor issues I'm having I would have gone into Platte Lake.  I need to see the Chiropractor tomorrow for my upper back.

Bass Opener Day 3: South Long Pre-Fish and a Toad Bullhead at the GOMH

South Long Pre-fish:

15.75" my second biggest fish of the day

I got out for a few hours today with my boater Owen to pre-fish for next Saturday's Tournament on South Long.  The lake seems to be a bit behind Platte Lake at this point.  The warmest water we found was 55°F and it was pretty much 54°F everywhere.  The wind was blowing out of the E SE yet again for the 3rd or 4th straight day.  I guess the air temp got to 61°F today and there was no sun.  We basically didn't catch very many fish.  I got 5 but two of them were quality keepers at or a bit over 2lbs.  We got everything on moving baits.  Depending on the weather improving a bit this week, we have confidence in a couple of spots.  Thankfully they both are fairly large areas.  Being boat #1 should help.

The GOMH:
I arrived at the GOMH around 5PM and started on "the juice".  All I got was one toothy bullhead on the Grass Pig.  Eventually I moved to the SW side and there I started getting fish on the huckleberry Christopherson's Craw Tube.  My 10th fish was this Toad Bullhead.

I'm not sure of the exact length because I didn't have my ruler along, but I'm calling it 19.5" for the Derby.  She was definitely close to 5lbs full of eggs. I caught a total of 11 bass at the GOMH.  I left at 9PM

Fish for the Day
Bass: 16
Pike: 1

Fish Total for Bass Opener
Bass: 73
Pike: 11
Walleye: 1

Bass Opener Day 2

I didn't get on the water on Sullivan Lake until a bit after 2PM then I spent an hour and a half trying to figure out my motor issues.  I ended up calling Dad and he brought out a new fuel line for me.  While I was waiting for him to show up I fished a single dock and picked up my first Derby fish of the year on a huckleberry Christopherson's Craw Tube.

17.75"

The picture doesn't show it well but it was a fat fish, obviously still had eggs in her.  Once dad got the new fuel line to me I was off to the North Shore of the Platte River Outlet.  I started hitting bass right away on my Gambler Ninja Spin.  I put down the poor man's power pole and proceeded to get this walleye on the Grass Pig.

16"

I proceeded to work the flat getting largies and pike on the Grass Pig, a Terminator Spinnerbait, the Ninja Spin, and Craw Tube.  Once again the biggest fish came on the Craw Tube at almost 16 inches.  My plan was to be off the water at 6PM then go to the GOMH to try some topwater action on "the juice".  Thanks to there being a boat at the Platte River Mouth that's what happened.

I got to the GOMH a bit after 7PM and there was a guy and a girl fishing on "the juice".  I managed to get two jumpin bullhead with a Stanley Phantom just to the East of the juice then the girl left allowing me to get straight on to it.  I proceeded to land a few and miss a few on the Phantom.  I got a toothy on the Grass pig and two fat 15"+ ers on a Lucky Craft Kelly J.  I was out of there by 9PM.

Total Fish for the Day-
Bass: 23
Pike: 3
Walleye: 1

Bass Opener: GOMH/Platte Morning, Rock Lake Evening

I decided to start this year fishing from shore at the GOMH but I brought my boat just in case fishing wasn't that great.  There was somebody already on the South side when I got there at 5AM, which was fine with me.  I took the NE side fishing by the bridge.  I started out throwing Berkley Frenzy Popper but didn't have any hits on that.  This was my first fish.

A fat 16 inch jumpin bullhead on a Craw Tube.  I proceeded to get a couple more and a toothy, before another group arrived and I chose to go to the juice so they wouldn't stumble on to it.  Once again I tried topwater but that wasn't happening.  Turns out the juice had been invaded  by toothy bullheads;  I got 3 of those along with a few jumpers no bigger than the first fish I got.  I used Craw Tubes, Grass Pigs, and a Spro Aruku Shad.  It was now 6:30AM and I had 10 jumpin bullheads and 4 toothy bullheads when I made the call to bail.  I decided to check out the Platte Lake Access and seeing as there were only 2 cars at the ramp and nobody to wait for I put in there.  I decided to hit the tip of the Platte Lake Access peninsula point first.  The wind was blowing in on it pretty good and  I quickly got on the board with this 15 incher.

I got a couple on that Pure Poison, a couple on the Grass Pig, and a couple on a Craw Tube including one that was just shy of 17 inches.  That was all I could get off the point. I then proceeded to drift into Channel Inn Bay.  I got a nice pike on a Gambler Ninja Spin and then I got into a little school of bass that I caught on the Ninja Spin and the Grass Pig.  By 9AM my upper back was giving me issues.  I toughed it out for a couple more hours.  I added 4 pike and 24 bass to my morning total.

Bass: 34
Pike: 8

Rock Lake:
I didn't get on Rock until a little after 7:30PM.  I started in RPRO where I got my pike two days ago and I got 3 pike to start with on the Gambler Ninja Spin.  I got my first bass on a Zoom Horny Toad.  I started throwing my firetiger Stanley Phantom and started catching bass on that including this almost 17 inch beauty.

I also got some on a Grass Pig and one nice fish on a Craw Tube, that was also just shy of 17 inches. I called it a night right around 9PM

Bass: 16
Pike: 3

Totals-
Bass: 50
Pike: 11

Trophy's 1st Run of the Year

I had planned to get stuff organized today, but that didn't happen because I took an overlong nap not getting up until 4:30PM.  I didn't get the Trophy to the lake until 7PM.  It ran just fine, but I didn't have GPS with to check my top speed and also I didn't have the Garmin to tell me the lake temp.

22"

I started out on the North side by the little inlet.  I got that pike there and saw a dogfish, but I spooked it when I cast for it.  I then went into the RPRO and got this pike.

25"

I got down by the Beaver Dam and discovered the bog that had set up here last year.

Had moved into the mouth of the river blocking it off just past the beaver dam.

I did get this 17"+ largie in that general area.

I think that's the moon off my elbow.

Here is the moon on my way out of the RPRO.

Slow Bite

18.25"

Things were slow at the GOMH this morning, it was pretty cold.  I got there around 5:30AM and didn't catch anything for about half an hour.  Then I got the fish in the picture on the Grass Pig.  A guy showed up with some shiners and offered to let me use them, so I switched up to a Northland Whistler Jig and used shiners.  All we got were a few jumpers.  The guy left me his shiners, but the bite had pretty much stopped.  I went and fished the North side for a bit in the wind and got one jumper on the Grass Pig.  I left at around 7:30AM.  I hit the river culvert and the Sullivan Inlet with nothing to show for it.

GOMH Gold, Mille Lacs Gamble, back to the GOMH Twice

15"

This morning I got out to the GOMH around a quarter to 5AM.  It was windy and drizzling out of the NE.  The water has come up near last years high water mark with all the rain fall we have had.  I got a jumpin bullhead, then I got this little golden bullhead on the North side.  I got a couple jumpin bullheads on the South side all on the swamp gas Grass Pig.

I made the decision when I left this morning to try hitting up Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs.  I thought with the East winds we've been having that things might pay off.  I got to Mille Lacs a little after 6AM.  I fished to 7:30AM without a bite so I took off.

I stopped back at the GOMH and only got a couple of more bullheads before I quit.

In the evening Dad and I hit the GOMH up again.  I set Dad up with a bobber rig and a Grass Pig rod up on the South side of the bridge.  I kept throwing the Grass Pig. I had a small jumper destroy the swamp gas Grass Pig so I put on a refurbished with Mend-It white one.  I missed several hits before connecting with a 22" toothy bullhead that just choked it.  I got a couple jumpers then I moved to the North side.  All I got there were jumpin bullheads and a bunch more missed hits.

I went up on the bridge to check on Dad and he had gotten a big bass on the swamp gas Grass Pig and missed a few fish with T.H.E. Jig and a minnow.  I took the Jig and got bit off by a toother.  That is when we called it a night around 9:30 or so.

Tomorrow I plan to get the boat out, so I may or may not hit the GOMH in the morning.

No Gold, But Hawgs and a Slabber

This morning I got to the GOMH just after 5AM.  The water was up even higher and the wind was blowing in hard on the North side.  My first fish of the morning was this chunky 19" jumper on the swamp gas Grass Pig.

Later on in the morning I got 20" slob of a jumpin bullhead.

She was probably over 5lbs as that she was full of eggs.

I fished some of the morning for silver bullheads with T.H.E. Jig and a minnow.  I got this minnow of a bullhead.

On the very next cast I got this slabber bullhead.

13"

That was the only decent one I caught.

I went back to the North side and got a toothy bullhead.

22"

I quit fishing as a quarter to 8AM.

Two More Golden Bullheads Tonight

I arrived after it stopped raining at the GOMH around 8PM.   I started fishing the NE side were the wind was blowing in pretty good and all I could get were jumpers.  I had a couple of tails bit off my swamp gas Grass Pig, so there were some toothers there; They just weren't getting it.  Here is my biggest jumper of the night.

18"

John W. showed up. Eventually we went to the SE side.  Everybody else had left the South side by then.  We got a few more jumpin bullheads. John left to go have dinner and about 2 minutes later I got the first golden on the swamp gas Grass Pig.  About half an hour later I got my second one.  I missed one more.  I left at 10:30PM when it started to sprinkle.

Morning Trip to the GOMH

I arrived a t just after 5AM.  First fish was a toothy bullhead, second and through 5th were jumpin bullheads.     6th fish was a 15" golden bullhead. I got one more toother and a couple more jumpers before going to the South side.  There I got more jumpin bullheads and a 26" or so inch toothy bullhead.  Unfortunately when I pulled it up on shore it got off and went back in the drink before I could get a picture.  Pretty much everything came on a swamp gas Berkley Havoc Grass Pig, except for a couple of jumpers on the parrot Spro 25 Crank.

Good Morning and Evening at the GOMH

Sunrise at the Grumpy Old Man Hole

This morning I got up a little earlier than normal to try and hit the GOMH for some crappies.  That didn't work out so at 5:00AM I was fishing for gold.  I managed to get two on a Grass Pig.

17"

17.5"

I had an 18" jumpin bullhead just choke my Spro 25 Crank

I got one toothy bullhead.

I did get a couple of small silver bullheads as well.

In the evening I got a late start due to the fact I left without my rods in the car.  I think I got to the GOMH around 9:30PM.  I managed to get 4 golden bullhead and several jumpin bullheads including one 18 to 19 inch sow on a swamp gas Grass Pig.  I got fish from both sides of the bridge in the evening, while it was mostly the North side in the morning.  I didn't have the camera with, so I got these picks of the golden bullheads after I got home.

After the Water War This Morning

We got dumped on my a thunderstorm this morning so I didn't get out until after 6:00am.  It was actually still sprinkling when I got there.  There was 1 guy on the SW side and that was it.  I decided to go to the NE side and try for some golden bullheads.  I quickly noticed that all the rain we got had cleared up the water.  No gold today.

While fishing with the Money Minnow I had a jumpin bullhead wrap me around the buoy marker line.  It eventually got off but my line was still stuck.  Fortunately my line broke at the bait, so I didn't lose my wire leader.  I started fishing with a parrot X-Rap and tied into this little dogfish.

 I caught a several jumpin bullheads on the X-Rap.

Then I went up and got re-tied.  All my Money Minnows are waiting for my new Mend-It bottle to arrive.  I accidentally left the cap on loose earlier this week, Oops.  I put on a white Grass Pig and got a couple of toothy bullheads on that.

I also of course got some jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig.  This was the biggest at 17 inches.

I eventually decided to give the other side a try for some silver bullheads. I missed a couple of bites and got a  real small one before taking off at a little after 9:00AM.

We went into Little Falls to get my new glasses today, so I didn't get to bed until 3PM and I didn't wake up until 10PM.  So no fishing tonight

Good Morning and Evening for Golden Bullheads at the GOMH

This morning I got to the GOMH at 5AM in search of some gold.  I started on the NE side and it wasn't long and I was bringing in my first golden bullhead on a Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad.

18.5"

 I missed another one and got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then went to try the SE side, but only got jumpin bullheads there.  Because it was cloudy and windy blowing into the N side I went back and scored my second golden bullhead of the day.  Here's both of them from this morning.

I did get a couple of toothy bullheads, including one that had a jig in it's mouth.  Here is the one that didn't have the jig.

Here is my biggest jumper of the morning.

17.75

I lost several other really nice jumpin bullheads and a couple that I don't know what they were.

For the evening trip I didn't arrive until 8:30PM and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of people and withing 20 minutes of me being there all but my friend Joe's buddies were gone.  I started on the NE side and only got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then tried the SE side for a while and once again only got jumpin bullheads.  I switched back to the North side and immediately got a golden bullhead on a Spro 25 crank in parrot.

I got my last 2 golden bullheads on the night on a Powerbait Ripple Shad.

16"

17"

I think I missed one or two more.  I gave the fish to Joe's friend and he gave me some minnows.  John W. showed up. He had something big on, probably a pike he said.  I left a little before 10:30PM

Another Good Night at the GOMH with Dad

Dad and I got to the GOMH about 7PM.  Everywhere was filled, so we took up on the bridge on the Sullivan side.  I started out by weed whacking.  I found out Chris from the Bass Snatchers was there again tonight.  He ended up giving us some minnows, which was nice.  CO Kuske pinched another person tonight for no license  Dad got a silver bullhead and a jumpin bullhead and missed several other bites.

9.5"

 As for me I got 2 silver bullheads, a toothy bullhead, and 10 jumpin bullheads.  I possibly lost a golden bullhead as well after it got dark.  I missed several bites tonight.

All in all it was a good night.