Got Bullheads

10.5" Glow Demon w/minnow

8:00-10:30PM GOMH SW SE
Conditions: 46-41 degrees, Windy as all get out of the NE, mostly clear

Tried Rock and Bulldog, nothing.  Nobody was at the GOMH.  I started out trying for dogfish.  I caught two jumpers on the craw tube on the SW side.  I then switched to the SE side.  No bites.  I switched to the Glow Demon with a minnow and got the silver on that.  I was getting cold, should have worn the ice armor jacket, so I left.  It will be warmer starting tomorrow.

I caught 55 crappies in April, so I am up to 254 for the year.  I would put my chances of reaching my goal of 300 crappies for the year at about 85%.  Fishing Opener is in two weeks and I plan on reaching the goal by then.

Hammers At Rock, Bullheads at GOMH

18" Panfish Chatterbait

8:00-9:00PM Rock Lake
9:15-10:15PM GOMH SE SW
Conditions: 56-51, Mostly sunny, light wind NE (Rock Lake really cleared up)

I was listening to the NFL Draft and got hit by the fish in the picture on the first cast.  A few casts later I got a 15.5" hammer handle.  I think I missed one more hit and then a pontoon set up for night bow fishing showed up.  I went and checked Bulldog and someone was there.  Holy Family had a bunch of bugs, so I went back to Rock.  I got two more small slimmers there.

I got to the GOMH and there were two family's fishing on the SW side.  I saw a silver landed and went and got my stuff.  Nobody was on the SE side.  I got a silver in close to the rocks.

11.75" Glow Demon w/minnow

The two family's left.  I wasn't getting anything so I gave the SW a try.  I got me a bullhead bullhead.

11.75" Glow Demon w/minnow

A bullhead fisherman showed up about a minute after I released it.  I packed up and left.

Skunked Tonight

8:30-9:45PM
Conditions: 46 degrees, calm, cloudy

I almost didn't go tonight.  There was nobody there, but a boat sitting in the channel.  They got 6 toothy's and a tiger.  They left at about 8:50.  I turned on the radio just after the Vikings picked Treadwell and almost hit a deer on the way home.

I Caught Something, Screw This!

23.5" 2" WildEye Swim Shad

7:30-9:00PM GOMH SE
Conditions: 46-41 degrees, cloudy, very windy out of the NE

Tonight could have easily been a skunk.  Conditions were miserable with that wind blowing solidly since last night.  I tried to take the pics using the selfie stick on the Polaroid.  Not a good idea with temps less than 50 degrees.  The camera was out of juice by the time I was figuring out the flash.  I gave fishing about 20 more minutes then quit.

Fishing Cooled Off Like The Weather

14.25" Glow Demon w/minnow

5:15-6:45AM
Conditions: 36-34 degrees, Cloudy, moderate wind out of the NE.

I think I may have had a silver steal my first minnow.  Couldn't get it to bite again.  It was about an hour later when I got the jumper.  Looks like we are back to tough fishing for this week.

14.5" Panfish Chatterbait

Evening Trip:
8:00-9:35PM GOMH SE
Conditions: 46-40 degrees, mostly cloudy to clearing, Windy ENE

Nobody there fishing when I arrived.  I set up on the SE side.  I got the little toothy on the Panfish Chatterbait with a minnow.  I had another fish bite the PC, but it got off after being on for about 10 seconds.  Lantern Man and friend showed up.  They hadn't been out since Saturday night.  Neither of us were getting anything so I left.

Didn't Get Skunked, But Didn't Get What I Was After Either

16.5" craw tube

5:45-8:00AM
Conditions: 41-43 degrees, Windy NE, light rain, water level up 3" to 4"

I thought lake levels would be up more than they are seeing as how we've gotten almost 2" of rain.  I tried at first for silvers and didn't get a bite.  I then tried for dogfish.  I got a couple of jumpers on the Craw Tube.  And I got a couple of toothy's on the Piranha and one on the craw tube.  A couple of times I think a dogfish showed itself, but I couldn't get it to bite.  I tried for silvers again with T.H.E. Jig and didn't get a bite.

I think this was a different smaller red head than the other morning.  This little dude came right up close and was diving right in front of me.

Late Bird Get's A Worm As Well

12" Glow Demon w/minnow

8:30-11:30PM GOMH SE SW
Conditions: 53-46 degrees, light rain, windy out of the E NE N

I was a little slow on getting my stuff together to go out tonight.  I stopped at Bulldog and missed one bite.  I then headed to the GOMH and was surprised not to see any cars.  There was a boat sitting in the channel on the SW side.  They said they got a bunch of bass from 16 to 18".  On my second cast I missed a fish coming out from the bridge.  They got a few silvers then left about after a half an hour.  I got one small silver before they left.  Just after they pulled out I threw to the other side and got the one in the picture.  I decided I would keep it if I got more.  I got an 11" out by the log.  Lantern Man's friend showed up letting me know they would be fishing tonight.  I decided to switch to the SW side just before LM arrived.  It was a good call as they didn't get anything, while I managed to get 4 silvers among them were a pair of 11.5's and another 12.  They left just as I got the second 11.5".  I fished for another 45 minutes or so only getting one jumper on the Glow Demon.  It was about 15.5" and got off as I was reaching down to grab it.  The wind was blowing pretty good out of the North and I was getting chilled so I left with 5 good silvers in the pail.

I'm now up to 252 crappies for the year.  Hopefully this rain we are getting will raise water levels significantly and bring in more fish.

Early Bird Gets A Worm or Two

10.25" Glow Demon w/minnow

4:45-7:45AM GOMH SW
Conditions: 41-36 degrees, light N wind, mostly clear

I started out on the SE side but didn't get a bite there.  I moved to the SW side and got a couple silvers in close to the rocks.  I got a few jumpers this morning, but only one of them was a slobber bullhead this morning. Less bites this morning.

18.75" Craw Tube

This redhead duck kept me company for a good part of the morning.  It was cool watching it dive for whatever a redhead duck dives for.

As I was about to take off CO Kuske stopped and we talked for a couple minutes.

No Silver, but Got Some Slob Bullheads This Morning

Full Moon Over the Platte River Outlet

5:15-8:00AM GOMH SW
Conditions: 49-42 degrees, Partly Cloudy, Breeze out of the North

I tried the SE side first, I had a couple of bites that didn't take the minnow.  I switched to the SW side and tried where the silvers were last night in close to the rocks.  Nothing.  I was fishing towards the bridge out in the middle with the current coming into Sullivan when this slob hit.

17.75" Glow Demon w/minnow

My next bullhead was a tiger of all things.

I got two more slobs.

18"

18.25"  Craw Tube

I did get several smaller jumpin' bullheads and one toothy.  One guy came and fished for about 20 minutes getting one jumper that he must have landed on because it was on the second his bobber hit the water.

I had the craw tube get bit off again this morning.  I'm now going with Tyger Leader on the Tatula Rod.  We'll just see if the toothy's and dogfish

Missed My Share Tonight

One of the Rowdy Bullhead Fisherman with a nice fin

7:45PM-12:30AM
Conditions: 66-52 degrees, Mostly to partly cloudy, calm to very light NE wind

Since I got such a late start today I elected just to stick with the GOMH tonight.  It was beautiful and glass calm out.  I was second guessing my decision when that nice fin was caught.  Unfortunately the rowdy bullhead fishermen are under the impression that it is illegal to release bowfin alive and unharmed.  I tried to tell them differently, but they wouldn't listen.  He told me the CO told this to him and I wasn't gonna argue with him.  So it's now a dead bowfin.  Fortunately they had one also break their line.

I was fishing of the bridge on the South side when I got the first silver bullhead of the night.

10.75" Glow Demon w/minnow

I gave it to Peter & Matt W.  It was pretty slow with a couple of silvers and jumpers being caught.  As it was getting dark Peter and has friends vacated the SE shore to try for bullheads off the North side of the bridge.  I moved down there getting one more silver and then Lantern Man and his friend showed up and came down by me.  LM got a hit on his first cast.  Occasionally I would have a fish take the bobber down hard and I'd usually miss the fish.  I did get a few nice silvers that I gave to LM.  Peter left without getting any bullheads.  I battled a dogfish for a couple of minutes before it got off.  Sorry I didn't get a picture, but just as well trying to land it on the SE rocks is treacherous.

The bullhead fishermen left, so I went to the SW side and got a silver immediately before I even had all my stuff over.  Turns out Lantern Man got his limit and was leaving.  I got one more fish before going back to the SE side.  I got a couple more silvers, including one were I tripped and fell as I was going to measure it.  A dying crappie was up against the rocks and I got to watch a bowfin, probably the one I lost, come and take it.

I was on my last minnow of the night when a fish took the bobber down hard.  It was probably a jumpin bullhead as it jumped a  couple of times and got off.  As I was packing up, I decided to try for the bowfin with the D & M Piranha.  On about the 3rd cast I locked up with something good.

Just a golden bullhead.

23.75" D & M Baits Piranha

That was it for the night.

8 Silvers (I should have had double this)
1 Bowfin
1 Golden

Morning and Evening GOMH Trips

24.5" Glow Demon Evening Trip

5:00-7:30AM (This trip was the morning of the 21st)
Conditions: Calm, 58-48 degrees, Partly cloudy

9:00-12:45AM (This Trip started on the 20th)
Conditions: 50-47 degrees, Breezy out of the NE, Cloudy to mostly cloudy

I headed down at 5am to find out if the silvers were any more active or numerous.  They weren't I only landed two of them.

11" Glow Demon w/minnow

While fishing on the SE side I had a good fish hit.  I played it for a while before it buried me in gunk and got off. I never did see what it was.   I switched to the SW side at that point.  Then I got my first jumper of the morning.

15.5" Glow Demon

From that point on all I got were jumpers and a single toothy.  I was the only person there this morning.

Chunky 17" D & M Piranha

Evening Trip:

Black & Decker Tackle Wrecker strikes again.  I was able to fix it.

I got a late start tonight and when I arrived only Lantern Man's friend was there and he wasn't fishing.  No minnows.  Some guys had just left that told him they had to keep the bait moving and you couldn't hardly tell when you got a hit.  That was my experience on several silvers tonight.  I took up on the SW side and as I did Lantern Man arrived.  It started out fairly slow.  I got a couple close in by the rocks out from the steps.  LM was getting more bites than me on the SE side

11" Glow Demon w/minnow

Then the dogfish hit in the same spot I was getting the silvers.  I remained pretty slow for me.  I did get a jumper to take the minnow.

15.5" Glow Demon w/Minnow

 Peter and his brother showed up with a bright LED strip to look for bullheads but it was to windy.  Shortly after they left Lantern Man got his limit.  I got a couple more silvers on the SW side then I switched to the SE side.  The fish kind of went on a tear over there as the moon was attempting to poke through.  I landed 6 silvers in no time, a golden, and some good jumpers.  However, my upper back was just killing me, so I called it quits at 12:30 even though the fish were biting.

21"

19"

Jumpin' Bullheads Showed Up This Morning

15.25" 2"Storm WildEye Swim Shad

5:15-7:30AM GOMH SW
Conditions: Cloudy, Calm, 50 degrees

I headed to the GOMH this morning hoping to get into a bunch of silvers.  That didn't really happen.  I landed three and missed a few bites.  This was the biggest.

11.75" Glow Demon w/minnow

Once it got bright enough to turn off the lighted bobber.  I started casting with the WildEye Swim Shad and got my first jumpin' bullhead of the year, pictured above.  I got another one the same size.  I switched to the Panfish Chatterbait and got a toothy.

23.5" Panfish Chatterbait

I got 15.25" Jumper on a white craw tube and got my last and biggest jumper of the morning on T.H.E. Jig w/minnow.

16" THE Jig w/minnow

Got Some Bullheads

10.25" Glow Demon w/minnow

9:45-11:15PM GOMH SE
Condtions: 49 degrees, cloudy, calm to very light wind (I over dressed and had to take a couple layers off)

Thanks to a Chiropractic appointment this afternoon, my sleep got screwed up and I didn't get up until after 7PM.  I finally got out to the GOMH at 9:15PM.  Lantern Man was the only person there and was fishing the SW side.  He was getting a few bullheads including a 26" golden.  There had been people fishing on the SE side that left about 20 minutes before I got there that were getting a few.  I missed the first 3 bites I got.  First fish was 9.5" silver that went back.  I then got a couple of 10"ers that LM took.  A friend of LM showed up.  I got a 11" silver, but elected to give it to LM.  Didn't want to make my back worse by getting water.

I got me another golden tonight.

21" Glow Demon w/minnow

I got a couple more silvers then left because I was hungry.

1 Golden
6 Silvers

Morning & Evening Trips Today

24.25" Storm WildEye Swim Shad

Morning
5:30-7:30AM GOMH SW, Bulldog
Evening
7:45-9:30PM GOMH SE

Conditions: Temps in the Low 50's, Cloudy, Heavy NE wind in the evening, Moderate NE wind in the morning.

I hit the GOMH early hoping I might get some more silvers.  They either weren't there or weren't hitting.  I did have a pike jump me off.  Missed one other bite.  The Cook and his brother showed up.  They didn't get anything in the 20 minutes I was there with them.  I bailed to go try Bulldog.

At Bulldog I got 5 sunfish on T.H.E. Jig with a maggot including a 7".  Also had what was probably a small bass get off after battling it 3/4th of the way in.  I got sick of the wind so I left.  I went to the chiropractor this morning for the first time in a year in a half.  My lower back is in a little bit of pain.

Evening Trip:
I got up after 5PM and didn't get to the GOMH until 7:45PM.  It was WIND DEE.  The Rowdy Bullhead fisherman and a buddy along with a guy and his young daughter were on the SW side.  They brought in two silvers right away.  Apparently they had gotten a jumper and a couple of toothy's. They had been there 2 plus hours.  I started out throwing the WildEye on the Muse Gold Rod and the golden bullhead smoked it.  After not getting anything more after 10 minutes I switched the Cubby and a minnow.  I was reeling it in when a toothy nailed it right before I was going to pull it out of the water.

22" Cubby Mini-Mite w/Minnow

   A guy came down to fish by me while I was taking the fish off.  I threw it back on the North side.  It was now dark enough that I put the Cubby Rod down and went to the Glow Demon rod.  The guy next to me got a silver.  I got a silver.

11" Glow Demon w/minnow

The guy and his daughter and the guy who was next to me left.  He gave me his fish.  Lantern Man showed up and set up on the SW side.  He got a small one right away.  I got 3 more silvers before I left.  With the wave action it was tough to tell when I was getting hit as they were biting light.  The last two had the minnow really deep.  The RBF came over with his pliers and got the hook out on my last fish.  I had enough and was getting cool so I hung it up at 9:30PM.  It supposed to rain tomorrow.  I say bring it.

Bulldog & Slow at the GOMH

18" Bulldog Toad

6:30-8:30PM Bulldog
8:45-10:30 PM GOMH
Conditions: Mostly Cloudy, 74-68 degrees, Calm

I got skunked at both places in the morning.  Local walleye guy showed up towing his boat.  He did well yesterday at Gull.  Also did well on big slabs at the Golf coarse channel on Mille Lacs when ice was still on the lake.

For the evening trip I checked GOMH first.  South side covered up.  Still no jumpers, but they did report a couple of toothy's.  I left and went to Bulldog which was open.  I got into the sunfish pretty quickly.

5" T.H.E. Jig w/maggie

8" T.H.E. Jig

I also got some largies on THE Jig.

14.25" THE Jig 

 There was some activity in the hay that I waited for prime time to throw the craw tube into hoping it might be a dogfish.  Turns out it was pike and the toad.

22.5" Craw Tube

I ended up with the 1 pike, 4 bass (18,14.25,11,10) and 14 Sunfish 6 of which were bigger than 6.5 inches.

At the GOMH the SW side was taken, so I took the SE side.  Lantern Man showed up as I was bringing my stuff down.  He and who was with him came down and fished with me.  The guys on the SW side had gotten a couple.  The Rowdy Bullhead fishermen from last year showed up.  Shortly after that LM buddy got one.  LM got one and I had a bite that got off and screwed up my line.  I had to cut it, but then it came out easy.  The guys on the SW side left while I was getting my gear straightened out. LM went to the SW side.  I caught one.  They got about 5 before I left.

10" Glow Demon w/minnow