I Hardly Knew Ye

Good thing I got this photo of that Stanley Phantom in a jumpin bullhead, because this was one of two it hooked.  The second one dived into the rocks and broke my line.  Total freak occurrence.  I don't know maybe a pike tried to take it out of the bass' mouth.  All I know is I had a pretty good bass on, it dove hard into the rocks and then my line broke while it was pulling hard.  I thought maybe the Speed Clip came off, but my line was broken.  The bass never tried to throw the lure, maybe it got eaten by a big pike, who knows.

I also got a small toothy bullhead on the purple/yellow Phantom.  I got this silver bullhead on a Chigger Craw.

10.5"

 I also got an 8.5" jumper on the Chigger Craw.

I missed two hits at the Culvert and didn't get anything at Jenny's..

 I fished from 5:50AM to 8:20AM

Bass Snatcher Rush Lake (Ottertail) Tournament

I guess you could say after the last two tournaments I got depressed.  I didn't get around to writing this report until 2 weeks later.  There is really not a whole lot to tell.  In the morning my boater Adam predicted it would take 20lbs to win.  We sped off to his starting spot, an off shore weedline.  Adam got 1 bass there on a craw tube I think.  On the second spot he got one on a jig.  We tried a bunch of different places for the next 5 hours only getting a couple of pike. Finally on the starting spot Adam connected with another bass.  I think we left and came back and Adam got 2 more bass.  We left and came back to finish the day on the spot.  With 5 minutes left before we had to go in  I was just about to say it didn't look good for me getting the skunk today, when I had a hit on my Crazy Leg Chigger Craw.  It was a 3.75lb bass, so I didn't get skunked.

Results:
My fish kept me out of last place but that was it.  I was 2nd to last place for the 2nd tournament in a row.  This time I finished in 26th Place.  Chuck Steinbauer won it with 20lbs even.  This was Chuck's 2nd victory of the season.

Thoughts:
I wish I had packed a 2nd Texas Rig Rod.  I finally got the fish after going down to a 3/16th oz weight and the Chigger Craw.  Would it have made a difference, who knows.

Not A Total Bust

I fished from 5:35AM to 7:35AM this morning.  I got a small toothy bullhead at the GOMH on the purple/yellow Stanley Phantom and I got 2 bass at the Culvert on a Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.  I also missed a bite at the Culvert and had a toothy break me off at the GOMH.

My New Phantom's Catch Fish

Here are two of my 3 new Stanley Phantom's that I won on Ebay.  The other one is bone color, which I already have one of, so I left it in it's package and put it with my extra's in the Tackle Warehouse.  I didn't have to wait long and I was pulling in a bullhead, toothy bullhead that is.

I switched to the purple/yellow one and threw it under the bridge.  I missed the first fish that hit it, but on the same cast I  had this fish crush it.

16.5"

I also got a 16" and 12" under the bridge on a Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.  I got a 15" bass on a black Horny Toad at the Culvert.

I fished from 6:15AM to 8:15AM.  I did miss a couple hits on the Craw Tube at the GOMH as well.

Lucky Not To Be Skunked This Morning

I arrived at the GOMH right at sunrise.  It was D E A D dead, no water moving under the bridge and no fish biting except one that showed at a Mad Maxx Frog.  After trying for an hour with nothing, I went to the SW side. Nothing there.  I only brought 1 rod with me to the SW side, so I had to go back to get my stuff.  I decided I might as well throw the Tonka Tackle Craw Tube back to where the fish showed itself one last time.  I had thrown to this spot at least 10 times so far in the morning.  Sure enough a fish picked it up and I landed this chunky 15.5" jumpin' bullhead.

I cast back to the same spot and got a 15.25".  That was it.  I went to the Culvert, but didn't get anything there.  I was done fishing by 7:30AM.

Pre-Fishing Rush Lake (Ottertail)

Aruku Shad Meets a Black & Decker Tackle Wrecker

I was fortunate to be able to go and pre-fish Ottertail Lake with Barry Mowers.  Barry isn't my partner, but he had an open seat, so I went with him.  We were fishing by 7:30AM.  We tried a weedline spot first.  All I saw there was a bunch of perch chasing my swim jig.  Then Barry took us to some reeds and he got a pike and a nice bass or two there.  We got some advice from people fishing in a pontoon, so we headed to the North end of the lake.  We actually didn't find what they told us about to start with, but we found a good area anyway.  I got a bass on a Horny Toad and Barry got a couple of bass and missed a couple as well.  We also saw some pike activity but didn't catch any.  A storm came up and on our way back to the landing we found what the people in the pontoon told us about.  We got loaded up just in time, because it poured and thundered.  We met up with another guy from the club and went and had breakfast.  When we got back to the lake I think it had stopped raining.  We went back up to a different area on the North side of the lake and fish some more reeds and assorted slop.  I got my best bass of the day on a Gambler Ninja spin in the reeds and another good one on the Horny Toad in the reeds with some pads.   I also got a decent size pike while pitching the reeds with a craw tube.  I don't remember if Barry caught anything.

Next we went out and tried to find a good weedline.  It started raining again and the wind had come up out of the SE.  I got a rock bass on our first stop on a bluegill Pure Poison with a green pumpkin Grass Pig Jr.. On about our 3rd or 4th spot I got a couple of small pike on my Aruku Shad.  I had a big 30 inch class pike hit at the Aruku Shad right by the boat but it didn't get hooked.  I threw back in the same direction and got nailed.  I figured it was the same fish but it turned out to be a big old dogfish.  We netted it and it got all tangled up.  You can see from the picture what it did to my bait.

Next we went to some reeds on the South shore Barry got a couple of good bass and I got a 25" pike.  We tried a few docks without any luck.  We cruised around looking at some things then went back up to the North side. I got a small bass on the Ninja Spin and that was the last fish of the day.  We were off the water by 3:30 I think.

Big Bass & Breaking In My New 7' Avid Heavy

20" Mad Maxx Frog

All it takes is one bite to turn an extremely mediocre morning into a great one.  Today I got that bite.  She hit the "Big Sexy" and fortunately didn't take me into the pads like it could have.  She was barely hooked.

To that point in the morning, a good hour and a half into fishing, I missed a jumper and a toothy on the Stanley Phantom and got one 14.5" jumper on a watermelon/red Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.

In the picture you can see my new and vastly improved St. Croix Avid 7' Heavy.  It's lighter than the previous rod and actually loads a little bit when I cast, which the previous rod that was a total broomstick did not really do.  Casting distance is improved and I can now  use it for pitching, which the previous rod didn't do well at all.  It's not quite as powerful as the previous rod, but I'll take that trade off as it still has plenty of power.  I also think it's gonna be quite a bit more sensitive, but I really didn't get enough bites to gauge that very well.  Overall I'm very impressed.

Note- My previous Avid 7' Heavy was a pre-IPC technology rod.

That was all I got at the Grumpy Old Man Hole this morning.  I got a couple of nice fish (16",15") on the Horny Toad at the Culvert and got a total dink at the Inlet on Sullivan on a black/blue Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.  That was it.  I fished from 5:45 to 9AM.  Quite a change from the past two morning where I caught a bunch of small fish.

Another Good Morning at the GOMH & Culvert

I arrived about 10 minutes earlier than yesterday.  I was fishing by 6AM.  They didn't go for the Phantom, but I got a couple small jumpers on the Zoom Horny Toad.  I then started getting them on a green pumpkin Craw Tube where I got them yesterday.  Then I fished under the bridge and got a few that way.  I tried the South side but didn't get anything.  I went back to the North side and got one more small one under the bridge.  Then I went to the Culvert where I missed a small one and got my best fish of the morning on the Horny Toad.  I was done by 8:00AM

17.5"

16 Bass
Best 6:
17.5, 15, 15,14.5, 14.25, 14

They Missed Me!

After not getting out for more than a week I headed to the GOMH this morning, arriving just after 6AM.  I put on the Stanley Phantom and got a bite on my first cast.  I was a little rusty and he got off in the lily pads.  Not to worry I got a fish on my next cast as well.

 I pretty much crushed them on the Phantom getting 10 jumpin bullheads and 1 toothy bullhead before they finally stopped.  The biggest jumper was this 15.25"

I got a couple of small ones on a Horny Toad and 4 small one's on a Zoom Super Fluke and 1 small one on a Craw Tube.  I then moved to the SW side.  I got a 14.25" on the Horny Toad, a 15.5, my biggest fish of the morning, and another 11.5 dink on the Craw Tube.

I then went to the culvert and got a 12.5 and 2x 15"'s on the Horny Toad.  I was done at 8:20AM

23 Bass
1 Pike
Biggest 6 bass
15.5", 15.25", 15", 15",15",14.75"

Nearly A Frustrating Trip

17" Horny Toad

This morning I decided to hit Mille Lacs at sun up. I started at the bridge at Shakopee and had my craw tube bit off the second it hit the water on my first cast.  I picked up a Pure Poison and got bit on my second cast.  It felt like a good fish but came off as it was racing into the current.  I've never seen the water that high.  I didn't get any more hits on that side.  I got a small one on the other side on a Frenzy Popper.  I was fishing Mille Lacs by 5:35AM.  I thought it was going to be calm but there was a slight breeze blowing out of the SE. Not ideal for topwater.  I fished on the North Jetty at the harbor mouth to start.  I've never seen the water as high as it is now.  I got nothing there.  I went to the far North side and fished towards shore I had a fish blow up on the Stanley Phantom but not get it. I made a cast a little farther out from the Jetty and had a small pike or muskie come out of the water after it.  I then cast back to where I got the first blow up.  The fish hit it about 6 times before catching a hook, but it got off right away. I think it was a smallmouth, but can't be sure.  I ended up back at the harbor mouth and I had a fish hit my Grass Pig but it didn't hook up.  I thought it was a smallmouth, but then a couple casts later I had a pike swipe at it as I was bringing it in.
On my way back to the car I had a pike or small muskie come out of the water after the Kelly J I was throwing.  I went and tried the South Jetty, but didn't get a hit.

So I was off to try Wigwam bay, but the water was really to high for fishing there.  So I headed to the culvert  that comes out of Whitefish.  I had a fish blow up on my Horny Toad but I didn't hook up.  I went and tried the other side of the road and had a pig nail the Horny Toad.  The fish cut my wire leader as it swam into the culvert. I was like "DAMN! I don't believe that just happened."  I retied a new Stanley Double Take Frog Hook, but this time I went with the 4/0.  I think the 4/0 is probably a better choice for the Horny Toad as it seemed to fit better than the 5/0 does.  I went back and started throwing the frog.  On the same side I had the break off I got the 17" in the picture.  This fish salvaged my trip.  I got home at 10:00AM.

Luck Only At The GOMH Tonight

Tonight I got out from 8:30PM to 9:45PM.  I hit the culvert first. I missed a fish that nailed my "Big Sexy" in the same spot I got the big one last night.  Unfortunately I didn't hook it.  Had another fish swirl on it and I may have had a couple hits when I sent it under the culvert but I didn't feel anything.  I just heard splashes.

At the GOMH I took the SW side as somebody was on the North side.  I got 2 small jumpers and missed a couple on the Frenzy Popper and had a small one jump me off on the Hack Attack Jig-n-Thief.  I went to go to the North side and the people had left.  I had a jumper jump me off on the Horny Toad and the Hack Jig. It stole my Thief.  I got this 15.5" on the Zoom Super Fluke as the mosquito's were closing in on me.