Peavy Again

3:30PM-5PM
28 degrees, wind out of the north about 10mph, cloudy, 2" of snow on the ice


The snow made pulling the trap difficult.  I went out to the first spot I fished this year.  I drilled four pairs of holes.  I had fish down the first set but they were extremely finicky and didn't touch a crappie minnow.  I got 4, 9-10" in the first set of holes and a 7" in the 2nd set.  I slipped and fell on the ice twice.

5 crappies

Peavy Lake Again.

9"

3:30-6:00PM
34 degrees, light wind, cloudy.  Less water on the ice than yesterday
50 feet of water or so.  On the bottom or suspended around 30'

There was no one on the lake when I arrived, so I headed to where the other guys were yesterday.  There were two individual holes then a spot with 3 holes.  I didn't mark anything in the individual holes, so I stopped at the spot they fished yesterday.  Since I didn't mark anything there, I went and drilled about 6 individual holes.  I got back to the Trap, put a line down and had fish show up immediately.  I think I got 3 on a minnow and Demon and that was it, so I went hole hopping with T.H.E. Jig and a waxie.  I got 3 on that and one off the bottom before I got back to the Trap.  I lost what I think was a bigger crappie at one point as well while I was out hole hopping.  I started getting them at the Trap, so I stayed there until it was getting dark.  I went and drilled some holes to the south of where I was sitting.  I got a couple out of those holes.  The fish got real finicky around 4:45 or so.  Most were 9" but I got 3 ten inchers and couple that were smaller.  I never set the Trap up to whole time it was so nice out.  I ended up getting 14 crappies with 3 of them coming off the bottom.  

14 Crappies

Peavy Lake: No Sunfish, Yes Crappies

10.75" T.H.E. Jig and a waxie

2:00-7:00PM
34 degrees some sleet and snow mild North wind
30' or so feet down over 50' or so feet of water

When I arrived there was a guy leaving who was fishing with his kids right by the access.  He was only there for maybe 20 minutes and the kids wanted to go.  He didn't really have any info for me.  He usually fishes on Platte for pike.  He was the only person on the lake and I don't think there was a permanent house on the whole lake.  I went and fished in his holes and a couple of H.S. kids showed up.  They had been getting crappie and they headed north.  I worked the area around the point to the north of the access.  I didn't find any life.  After an hour of that I took the Vexilar and went trolling over the deep water.  I marked a fish, so I went and got my stuff.  When I got there the fish was gone.  I trolled around and marked another fish, so I started drilling holes.  It was about 3:30PM or so before I was fishing.  I put T.H.E. Jig down and had two fish move in immediately.  I caught a 9" which I released.  Then I got the 10.75" which I decided to keep.  That was the biggest fish I got.  I caught 10 fish total, 3 went back.  I think 3 of them went 10" at least.

My last fish of the night:

10" on Glow Demon and a minnow

10 Crappies

Good Night on Long

9" on T.H.E. Jig and a waxie

2:30-5:30PM
30 degrees breezy out of the SW and cloudy

The fish were finicky at first but turned on for about half an hour from 4:15 to 4:45.  I caught about equal numbers on T.H.E. Jig and waxie and a Glow Demon with a minnow.  I think I drilled 6 sets of holes in a line from east to west.  I didn't mark anything in the two most east holes.  I caught the most fish in the 4th hole.  I did try hole hopping outside of the Fish Trap, but the wind made that uncomfortable.  The fish were either under 8 inches or between 9 and 10 with one exception.  There were 6 or 7 other groups out fishing.  I was to the South of the permanent fish shack.  I did have to turn the heater on around 4:00.  The fish were caught between 22' to 26' in about 31' of water.

17 Crappies.

Long Again

8.5" on T.H.E. Jig and a waxie

2:30-6:30PM
Colder today 21 degrees, Windy out of the North, cloudy, it snowed for a bit

I drilled 4 sets of holes on a line from East to West and started approximately where I ended last night at the eastern most holes.  I couldn't see where any of yesterday's holes were.  I got 4 quick fish on the Demon and a minnow.  The fish were smaller than what I got yesterday.  After the first 4 the crappies got fussy.  I finally got T.H.E. Jig and a Waxie down and got 3 on that.  I wish I had drilled more holes when I first started because when I went to drill again I couldn't get the throttle to work, so I couldn't drill any more holes.  I ended up getting two more after dark on the Demon and a minnow.  The fish just weren't as aggressive as yesterday and I marked far less of them.

9 Crappies 7-9.25"

Long Lake

11.25" on T.H.E. Jig and Waxies

2:45-5:45PM
33 degrees Light rain and sleet Windy out of the N NW
20-25' over 31' of water

A little better size than Bulldog.  Got several in the 9.5" range and the 11.25" which was the biggest.  The rain and wind made hole hopping difficult.  I caught my first 14 on T.H.E. Jig's with waxies and the last 7 on a Glow Demon with a minnow.

21 Crappies

Wet Sloppy Mess

8.5" Bulldog Lake

2:00-8:45PM
40 degrees foggy light wind

All the snow on the ice melted leaving lots of water on the ice.  I'm glad I had an ice cleat for one boot.  I started off on Platte out of Jenny's.  I couldn't find the point and headed off the lake at 3:30.  I was set up on Bulldog by 4:15pm.  I started getting crappies right away on T.H.E. Jig and a waxie.  I managed to get 7 of them and then the bite shut down.  The foggy and  wet conditions made hole hopping difficult because I couldn't see the holes until I was almost on top of them.  I think the fish went down to the bottom as I didn't mark anything up high once it got dark.  At least it was warm out.

4 Species At Rock

1:30-6:30PM
32 degrees Cloudy wind 5-10mph out of the SW

Got the auger working today.  The issue was that I didn't have enough gas in the tank yesterday.  I planned to drill holes and then look with the Aqua View.  After about the 5th hole it ran out of power.  I didn't see any fish.  The first fish I got into were perch.  They were in almost every hole, so they wasted my time.  At about 4:15 I got to what was going to be my last hole, before I headed to Bulldog.  Low and behold I found some sunfish, so I drilled more holes.

It was getting dark and I forgot I had my sunglasses on.  I wondered why the LED's didn't seem to be putting out the amount of light they did last night .  My bobber with the Glow Demon and Minnow went down and I got a 22" pike on that.

Finally I realized I had my sunglasses on.  I caught one dink crappie.

That was my last fish of the night.

6 Perch
5 Sunfish
1 Pike
1 Crappie

Sullivan Sucked

9.5" on a Glow Demon with Minnow

3:45-7:30pm
30 degrees cloudy 5mph wind out of the SW

I made several wrong calls today.  I went straight out from the West Public Access to where there was only 1 house.  There were 4 or 5 houses about 250 yards to the South.  I started out going to the houses, but decided to go back to the one house area.  I left the hand augers in the car and didn't put more gas in the auger.  It's a pretty good hike out to the spots so I wasn't going to go back and get that stuff.  I had trouble keeping the auger running and it took probably 10 minutes to get a hole drilled.  I was in 40' of water.  I fished with a Grass Pig first.  I didn't see anything so I switched up to a Glow Demon.  I got my only fish on that.  I went to drill another hole to the NE of where I was.  I got it about a 1/3 of the way drilled.  When the guy in the fish house came out and offered to drill holes for me.  I only had him drill 3 holes and only knew the depth at the one where my Trap was sitting in 40'.  Turns out the other holes were in 37' feet.  I got 1 more bite out of the original spot but lost it while taking the transducer out of the hole.  I ended up drilling 2 more holes at around 6:30pm, but they were dead.  I finally left at 7:30pm

Bulldog Again

Dreary Day On Bulldog

4:00-7:30PM
28 degrees Cloudy 5MPH wind out of the SW

8.5" 1st Drop

Dad didn't do Ruby's Pantry, so I was able to go fishing.  I decided to hit bulldog again.  I stopped at Bear Trax to get my propane tank filled.  Turned out it was already full.  I don't know what was up with it quitting on me the last time I was out;  It worked perfectly for me tonight.  There was nobody fishing Bulldog.  I went back to my spot.  I drilled a transducer hole in the middle with my 4" auger.  I got 5 quick 8" crappies on the orange/chart T.H.E. Jig with a waxie.  I switched rods to use a black/white T.H.E. Jig and I got some smaller crappies on that.  The bite died so I went and drilled a hole to the North East hoping to find deeper water.  It turned out to be a foot shallower.  I caught several smaller 6-7" fish there on the b/w.

I went back to my holes and got one more on the o/c and then my line got caught in the reel and I broke it trying to unwind it.  I realized I didn't have any scissors to retie, so the rest of the night I used the b/w.  The action slowed down as it got dark, but I still got an occasional fish.  I went to the N hole and got a couple there.  I went back to my holes and got a couple more.  I went and drilled a hole to the South.  I got my biggest fish of the night there.

9.25"

I got maybe 7 fish out of that hole.  I decided to leave at 7:30.  All my fish were caught from 13-18' deep over 27-29' of water.

I still wasn't as efficient as I would like, but I'm getting better.  The LED lights I got at Mills for a $1.99 a piece lit up the house well enough for me to see and the hook on them fit on my cross beams just perfectly.  Not having a scissors or pliers with me was a stupid oversight.  Won't happen again.

23 Crappies Total

Ice Fishing: Me on Bulldog

Bulldog Special On the 1st Drop

3:35-5:15PM
Cloudy 10mph Breeze out of the SW 25 or so degrees.

How deep they were 25'-15' over 29'

Well I got out to Bulldog Lake today.  I am definitely not in the kind of shape I was in the last time I ice fished.  I left the power auger at home and it was all I could do to drill 2 holes in 11" of ice.  Fortunately fish were under the first hole I drilled.  It took me a few seconds to get the Vexilar reading the bottom;  I had to wipe off the bottom and then it worked.  I put T.H.E. Jig down the hole and quickly caught my first crappie,  a 7" Bulldog Lake Special. I caught a total of 10, the biggest of which was 8.75" between orange/chart T.H.E. Jig and a small orange/glow Fat Boy.  I used a wax worm on both, but caught a couple with no meat.  They were pretty aggressive when I first got there, but then got finicky after I lost several of them on the way up.  I ran out of propane in my heater after about 20 minutes.  All I had for light was my head lamp.  I definitely was not the most efficient fisherman in my first trip out on the ice in 8 years.  Those mistakes will be corrected the next time I go out which will probably not be until Thurs.  I may or may not go to Bulldog again.

Last Open Water Fish Of the Year???

23" Pure Poison bluegill

Got a toothy on the NE side of the GOMH.  Will this be my last open water fish of the year?

Rock Dock is Out! Didn't get a bite

Pete Came Up For A Few Days

Pete got here on Friday night.  We met at Mille Lacs lake.  The weather was really nice but Pete had a couple of leaks in his waders, so we didn't stay as long as I would have on my own.  We stopped at JR's for Pete to get a burger, then went to the bridge where Peter was fishing.  He got one good jumpin bullhead.  We didn't get anything.

I was staying up all night and I went back to Mille Lacs by myself.  I saw one good eye, but didn't catch anything.  I got back at around 7AM.  Pete and I went out and did the rounds.  I got this pike at Rock.

21" Pure Poison bluegill

Pete went and fished off of Don's dock on Sunday night and got a couple of bass including one good one and 4 pike.  I think he got all of those on a buzzbait.

From Friday Night at Rock Lake

Mille Lacs Lake

Skunked All Over This Morning, Redeemed at Rock Tonight

Mille Lacs This Morning Around 8AM

I headed to Mille Lacs this morning in the fog around 5:30AM.  I was fishing by 6.  The fact that I didn't see any little walleye's swimming around was a bad sign.  When i t got light out I saw one baitfish jump, compared to dozens I saw on Monday morning.  I did some exploring, saw some ducks and seagulls and left around 9AM.  I tried Erskine, Bulldog, Rock, and the GOMH with not even a single bite for the morning.

I spent the afternoon getting my tackle organized.  The last couple of years I neglected to do this after my last tournament of the year leaving organizing until Spring.  It's a good thing. I needed to do some work on the Tackle Warehouse that I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

I ended up not getting to Rock about 6:20 or so.  It was dead calm.  I decided to throw the Stanley Phantom Topwater.  Sure enough what I'm pretty sure was a nice bass nailed it but didn't hook up.  I tried throwing the craw tube as a follow up bait, but she gone.  On pretty much my next cast with the Phantom I had a fish hit me beyond the weed clumps to the South.  I stuck this one.

21" Rail of a fish with weird light and dark coloring

That was all I got.

I then headed to the GOMH.  I grabbed two rods and headed to the NE side.  Somebody spoke to me and it was then that I noticed somebody was fishing off the bridge on the South side.  Turns out it was Peter.  After throwing a few casts on the NE side I joined him up on the bridge.  I told him what I've been getting lately.  He didn't get anything, not even a bullhead.  We talked about going ice fishing this winter.  Looks like I am going to have to get my ice fishing gear figured out.

Mille Lacs Morning Scout Trip

21" Swamp Gas Grass Pig

Conditions: Around 42 degrees calm to a slight breeze out of the  WNW
5:20-7:30AM

Why have I never tried this before?
Answer:   Because I was happy to not put on waders and fish at Eddy's.  They have fences up at Eddy's now, so I was forced to try elsewhere and elsewhere means waders.

Why didn't I try this earlier in the year this year, especially after we had the big rains a month and a half ago?

Answer: It never even crossed my mind.

Well It's obviously October and the full Moon and the golden bullheads I got at the Grumpy Old Man Hole had me thinking Mille Lacs eyes.  So I decided to give it a try.

First stop was at the Shakopee Lake bridge.  Chris from last night told me he has gotten eye's there a few times fishing after dark.  I couldn't see anything with the spot light. I gave it 15 minutes then left.

Next stop was at the Whitefish Inlet.  My plan was to leave to fishing gear in the car and go spotlight for fish from the inlet to the rock pile.  I started at the inlet and there were quite a few really small eyes right at the inlet mouth and 1 descent sized fish.  As I waded out I saw 1 sucker, then nothing but one last 3 to 4 pound fish over by the rocks that I wasn't able to identify because it swam away from me heading SE and the spot light was dying;  I think it was an eye, but can't be sure.  I headed back and got my gear.

As I made my way North the the inlet I made the foolish mistake of leaving my tackle bag with the ruler in it sitting in one place and my jacket with the camera in it in another place both well before the inlet mouth.  There was an eye that looked to possibly be an eater right there at the inlet mouth.  I made a presentation to it, but it was more interested in checking me out and swam right up to and then spooked.  I was like dang that was an eater.  I started casting as I waded out deeper.  I had been fishing for maybe 10 minutes when I thought I might have had a hit.  I cast my Grass Pig back on the exact same line and sure enough, Eye On!

 Now is the time I realized the mistake I made in not bringing my stuff right up to the mouth.  It probably took me 10-15 minutes to walk back and get my stuff before I was back to fishing again and daylight was now fast approaching.  As light came up I saw a lot of baitfish activity at the surface and the occasional fish jumping or getting smashed by something just about at the end of my casting range and farther out.  I had a hit just a couple of cranks in and it swam pretty much straight at me full steam ahead.  I caught up with it once then it was back at me full steam ahead.  I caught up with it again when it was about 10 feet to my right.  I had no clue what kind of fish or what size it was until I laid my eyes on a small Pike, 21" or so.  It got off right in front of me went it kind of did a small upside down tail walk as I tried to land it.

My View When I Quit

It was almost 7:30AM now and I didn't know if the folks needed Mom's car back, so I foolishly made my way off the water and took the waders off before I thought to give Dad a call to see if they needed the car back.  They didn't.  By now the sun was coming up and I decided to go to Mcdonald's.

Sun Rise

On my way back I hit the access at Camp Lake, something I had inexplicably never done before.  I've fished the lake in the winter, but never gone there with open water.  Looks like it could have potential for largies and pike.  I also hit the GOMH, getting nothing.

Got Another Golden at the GOMH

20" Swamp Gas Grass Pig

Conditions: Nearly warm and breezy out of the W NW mostly sunny

Rock Lake:
I arrived at Rock at about 6:15PM.  Didn't get anything.  Saw a small fish jump in the floating leaves and out by the reed point.  I left at 10 to 7PM

GOMH:
I arrived at the GOMH and there was this guy Chris from Milaca who had been there since about 4PM getting nothing.  He was waiting for his ride.  I got kind of flustered because I rolled up the window on my St. Croix Mojo Crankster rod when I left Rock.  Miraculously it doesn't seem to be broken; I threw quite a few casts with it down on the NE side.  Chris got a real bullhead while fishing off the South side.  It swallowed his hook and he broke his line trying to get it off.  He threw it back.  Eventually I joined him.  We talked about the Vikes and fishing at the bridge.  He fished there about a month and a half ago when the idiot who trolls under the bridge was there and catching fish.  I was jigging the Grass Pig off of the SW corner when the golden bullhead struck at about a quarter to 8PM.  If Chris wasn't there I probably would have already left.  I let him have it and he was totally grateful.  His ride showed up around 8:10PM.  I fished about 20 more minutes then left.

Past sunset looking SW.

GOMH and Rock

I debated all night whether or not I wanted to go out this morning.  Finally at about 20 to 7AM I decided to go.  First stop was at the GOMH hoping for a golden bullhead.  Thanks to taking the dogs out I arrived at 7:05AM.  I figured the chances I would be skunked at about 70%.  I started on the NE side.  On about my 4th cast I had what I though was a golden bullhead on.  It bit as it was getting near the rocks on my side.   Turns out it was a 14" jumper.

14.5" swamp gas Grass Pig

I was quite pleased I wasn't coming home with a skunk.  A few casts later I got a 13" jumper casting out a little ways.  I was hoping maybe a school had shown up, but that was it.

I went and fished off the bridge on the SE side.  Sure enough something thunked the Grass Pig.  A chunky 17.75 jumper.

17.75" Swamp Gas  

I think I might have had a bite casting off the bridge.

I went on the NE side again and had a small toothy pick up a Chigger Craw.  I heard several volleys from duck hunters throughout the hour I fished.  The wind came up and I left around 8AM

I then went to Jenny's to get my Spro out of the tree.  Since I was there I decided to hit up the Rock Dock.

I think I had a hit casting straight out with the Poison.  I cast back and sure enough it hit again. BAM!

18.25" bluegill Pure Poison

 That was my last hit of the morning. I fished at rock maybe 45 minutes.  Saw a flock of 4 Swans flying around.

Not Skunked Tonight

Conditions: Almost warm, mostly cloudy, wind out of the SW 5:30PM to 8:30PM

Rock Lake:
Nothing, not even a nibble.  Some deer were running around behind me in the woods for a while.  I left at 6:30.

Jenny's:
Spooked something on my first cast.  Got a Spro Frog stuck in a tree. Left at 10 to 7.

GOMH:
Was just about ready to leave.  I was jigging the swamp gas Grass Pig off the SW corner when a golden bullhead just tagged it. BAM! Not skunked.

21"

That was the only hit I got.

Rock 'n GOMH The Next Morning

50 degrees and drizzle to light rain calm

When I arrived at 7:20am

Pure Poison Cast Just for the heck of it, BAM!

16" Jigging the Swamp Gas on the SW Corner

16.25" Nailed the Poison at Rock

Rock 'n GOMH

27"

5:30-7:30PM
Conditions same as last night but about 10 degrees warmer wind out of the E SE

Bulldog Lake:
Nothing

Rock Dock:
Around my third cast into the lake I got the 27" Pike on the Poison.  About 15 minutes later I got a 21" Pike on the same Poison.  I also got this 16" bass on a black spinnerbait.

16"

Jenny's:
Had something small bite at my Horny Toad.

GOMH:
I arrived around 7PM and there was a guy and his teenage son fishing on the NE side for golden bullheads.  He said it was his first time out fishing this year.  They didn't get anything when I was there.    I went down to on the SW side.  I tried the Poison and the craw tube, nothing.  I thought maybe I got a hit on the grass pig but wasn't sure.  A fish boiled on the rocks on my side.  I cast there and got myself a golden bullhead.  Well isn't that something?

16" Swamp Gas

Rock Dock And Jenny's Pay Off

Inlet Sullivan Lake

3:15-6:45PM
Cool and windy out of the SE

After the MN Gophers victory in Football over Northwestern I decided to get my gear organized and go fishing.  First stop was at the Sullivan Inlet, nothing.  Then the Platte River Culvert, nothing.  I missed a hit that was probably a toothy bullhead at the GOMH on a bluegill Pure Poison.  I went by Bulldog, but somebody was there so I headed to the Rock.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the dock was still in the Lake.  On my very first cast out into the lake a bass just hammered the Poison.

16.25"

The weeds were kind of a problem for working the Poison, so  I went to a black/blue Craw Tube.  I missed what felt like a good fish because my drag wasn't tight enough.  I tightened the drag.  I was throwing what was going to be my last cast when this chub bit me.

18"

I might of had a hit on the Chigger Craw as well.  I left just in time to see the sun setting over Platte Lake.

24"

Last stop was a Jenny's where I got this pike on a Horny Toad and I missed a pretty good swirl as well.

With the weather warming up  I plan to get out a few times this week.

Tonight's Trip

I wanted to get some of gear tested out before my tournament tomorrow.  I hit the inlet first.  The water is as high as I've ever seen it and is higher than it was this Spring.  I missed a few hits on a Spro Frog and a Horny Toad, then had to sit in the car for about 20 minutes so a storm could pass.  After the storm I missed hits on the Horny Toad and a pike missed the Stanley Phantom.

Next I went to the culvert.  The sun was in my eyes and I missed 3 or 4 hits at the juice on a Horny Toad.  I did get this 14" largie in the mouth of the North Culvert.

I also got a 11.75" letting the Toad sink at the juice.

I then went to the GOMH.  I got this bullhead on my very first cast on the NE side.

16.25

You can tell how high the water is in this pic.  I also had a bullhead crush a Bronze Eye.

16.5"