Pre-Fishing Birch and the GOMH on the Way Home

33.5" Pure Poison w/Craw Fatty Black/blue

10-6PM
Conditions: Low 50-mid 60's, Windy out of the SE turning S, Cloudy with light rain turning partly cloudy in the afternoon.

Well that wasn't what I expected to find, which was easy catching of bass in shallow water.  It wasn't easy at all. I don't think I caught a bass after noon.  My boater Darren did get a few nice one's to give us something to go on.  I did get the nice pike which kind of made my day.  I also caught quite a few small pike.

9:15-30PM
I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and got 17" jumper on the Piranha and a 20" toothy on the Poison.  The mosquito's drove me out.

Pierz Lake and Slop Slipping Rock Again

18.85" Horny Toad

9:30-10AM Pierz Lake
Conditions: Sunny, Warm,

13" Fluke

Since I ran into Pierz on some errands and had rods in the car.  I decided to give Pierz Lake a try for the first time.  I caught the fish in the North Culvert.  I really needed a spinning rod.  I ended up breaking off the Fluke on a branch in the water.  I saw several more bass swimming around.  Nothing bigger than 14". Earlier in the year or with higher water, this spot would rock.

14" White Horny Toad

6-9:30PM Rock Lake RPRO

Conditions: 70's, SE wind diminishing towards sunset, partly cloudy

Because of the wind I decided that Rock Lake was the place I needed to be.  I was glad to see no one was fishing in the RPRO.  I started out more towards the mouth.  First fish was pike on the Horny Toad.   I had a few fish wake but not hit, then I got the 14" in the picture.  Shortly after that fish I was throwing the Lunker Hunt Frog and a fish boiled within casting range.  I got 16.5" on the Lunker Hunt.  I missed something that hit the Craw Tube in the pads.  Then I got this 17.25" skinny one.

17.25" Horny Toad

   I also got 16.75" on the Toad.  I had something big blow up on the Toad and not get it when I wasn't looking.  Maybe I spooked a carp, who knows.  It was getting close to 8PM so I headed down to the Beaver Dam.  That is where I got the 18.75".  I then caught a mini pike, but the camera was on the fritz.  The Beaver came out and splashed around a couple of times.  I ended up missing a blow up right after a cast landed and somehow also had a really good hookset not get what I think was a pike.  I saw a fish boil on something by the Island.  I caught a 16" there on the Horny Toad.  I got one last 15" on the Horny Toad as I started heading back.  And my last fish of the night was a 16.5" on the Lunker Frog.

Bass Opener Final Score:
Largemouth 17
Pike 10
Eye 1
  

Didn't Get Skunked, Didn't Get A Bass

8:15-8:45 Bulldog
9:00-10:00PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions:  LOw 70's, calm, mostly sunny, surprisingly few mosquito's

I didn't get up to fish in the morning because I needed some sleep.  Since the parents took the Expedition to run some errands tonight I was boatless and being Memorial Day Weekend the prospects for my shore spots wasn't looking good.  I decided to go fishing anyway even though a skunk was a definite possibility.

I stopped by the GOMH first thinking with the way fishing has been this year just maybe it might be open, but there were people on both sides.   I elected to see what was available at Bulldog.  Nobody was at Holy Family, so I fished there.   I blew the hook set on something that hit the Horny Toad and I caught a pike on the LunkerHunt Lunker Frog, so no skunk for me.

I then went back to the GOMH and tried to get something to hit the PHat Frog. I did have a small fish swirl at it.  The people left, so I went down on the SW side to see if they missed anything.  I got a toothy to hit the bluegill Pure Poison.  I went to the NE side and when the golden's didn't come easy for me I left.

Bass Opener Score Card:
Largemouth 8
Pike 8
Walleye 1

GOMH Gives, Mille Lacs Doesn't, And Slop Slipping Rock

18.75" Horny Toad
Last Fish of the Day

4:30-6:40 GOMH NE
6:50-7:10 Bulldog (Nothing)
7:30-9:30 Mille Lacs
Conditions:  Mid 50's to low 60's, calm then a light N wind, cloudy

When I arrived there was somebody fishing the SW side who hadn't gotten anything.  We talked for a little bit then I went down to the NE side.  After about 15 minutes he got a golden bullhead and about 10 minutes later I got one around the same size that I gave to him.  Camera was not totally on the fritz.

18.5" STX  Deadly Black Illusion

About 10 minutes later I got me a jumper on the Deadly Black Illusion.

13" STX

Some other people showed up so fishing on the South side was  out.  Some fish had occasionally been breaking across the way along the wild rice line.  I made a good cast and got this one on the Stanley Phantom.

15" Stanley Phantom

A guy went to the NW side as I was releasing that one.  He got one small jumper on a worm.  I staid longer than I should have.  I went to Bulldog and didn't get a bite.

At Mille Lacs there was a guy fishing on the North Jetty where I got my fish yesterday.  I went to the Center Jetty.  The guy said he gotten 3 eyes and a pike. He said one of the eyes was 30".   Waves were coming in heavy enough to spray me occasionally.  The guy left and came back with his kid.  He got a 16" smallie and let the kid reel it in.  He did that with another fish, but it broke him off.  I didn't get a single bite.  I really should have brought a rod to throw Football Heads with.

I went home and watched Major League Fishing while it was raining and then got the trolling motor out of the box.  I had to turn the head 180 degrees.  Doing that took about 45 minutes.  I didn't get out to Rock until about 5:25.  I got the Slop Slip all set up and was on the water by 5:45PM

5:45-9PM
Conditions: 60's, Very light wind to calm, mostly cloudy

The pads are up

  I went to the Rock Platte River Outlet.  The water level has got to be pretty close to as low as it gets.  The plan was to run to the Beaver Dam and then fish my way back.  I ran aground and wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it so I started fishing.  I got a 16.5" almost immediately out of the pads on the Horny Toad.

16.5" Horny Toad

I missed what I think was a big Bowfin.  I then started getting pike on a brown Ish's Phat Frog.  I did get down by the Beaver Dam and missed a fish.  I caught a 15", 17" and a 16.5" down there on the Phat Frog.

17" Ish's Frog

 I also missed a few hits.  A young guy in a Skeeter came down by the Island.  I talked to him as I started heading back.  He was getting a few fish.  I got a 15.75" bass and an 18" and 19" pike on the Horny Toad as I fished my way out along the South side.  Another bass boat was also in the RPRO.  I missed what I thought was going to be my last fish of the night, but then I got the 18" in the Reeds when I was on my way to the landing.  I was surprised there were no trailers in the lot because there were a bunch of boats on the lake.

Bass Opener Score Card
8 Largemouth
6 Pike
1 Walleye

2 by 2 by 1+1=2

4:15-6:30AM GOMH NE SW
7:00-9:30AM Mille Lacs Eddy's North Jetty
Conditions:  58-63, mostly cloudy turning cloudy, calm to light SE wind

10.25" H2O XPress Wake Bait

Not much was going on at the GOMH this morning.  I busted my pink X-Rap (8)  I got the one jumper on the NE side on the Wake Bait and I got a 14.25" jumper on the SW side on the Strike King Slither Rig with a Rage Space Monkey. I probably should have left for Mille Lacs half an hour earlier.

17.25" Jerk Shad Crackle

At Mille Lacs they didn't want the Whopper Plopper or Red Eye Shad, but a couple fish fell vicitm to the Crackle fished on the Muse Gold Rod. The first one came outside of the North Harbor Mouth and the bigger fish came to the North of the of the Harbor Mouth a little ways.

15.66" Jerk Shad Crackle

8:40-11:00PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions: Low 60's to mid 50's, Cloudy, light to moderate NE Wind, Perfect because there were no bugs

14.5" Poison

I was surprised no one was at the GOMH.  I'll take that every time.  I got the skunk out of the way on the Pure Poison and I missed a couple of bites on the Slither Rig.  I went over to the NE side in ideal conditions for some gold.  I got one nugget anyway.

22" Jerk Shad Crackle

Unfortunately that was the only bullhead.  It sure nailed the Crackle.  It was released.

Something at the GOMH Anyway

4:40-8:30AM GOMH NE SW, Inlet
Conditions: Temps 50's to low 60's, Fog and heavy overcast until about 7:30, calm then a wind out of the South.

I was hoping to get a golden bullhead this morning, but if they were there they weren't biting.  I had a fish blow up on the black phantom but not get it.  I got the first bullhead on the Piranha.

15.75" D & M Baits Piranha

I took a few rods over the the SW side and got a 10.25" dink on the tomato Phantom.  I got a 17.75" toothy on the Piranha, then lost it against the East Wall of the bridge.  I got 14" jumper and a couple of 19" toothy's on a black/blue craw tube and three small jumpers on a Yabbie.  I went back to the NE side and got a 14.5" jumper on the Phantom.  I then went to the culvert and had something hit at the Horny toad but not get it.  At the Inlet I got 22.75" pike on the Craw Tube on the South side of the culvert.

9:00-10PM GOMH
Conditions: Calm, 60's, partly cloudy

I got a late start due to waking up after 7PM.  Bulldog was covered up, went to HFA but didn't get anything in the 10 minutes I fished it.

The GOMH didn't have anybody there.  Fishing was pretty dead.  I got one 20.25" toothy on the bluegill Poison under the bridge.  Didn't get a bite on a craw tube or jerk shad.  The rain we got the last couple of days maybe added an inch to the lake level.  I wonder if there is going to be anything at the GOMH in the morning.

Post Storm Bullhead Bite

16.25" b/b Craw Tube

8:40-50PM Bulldog
Conditions: Low 60's, wind out of the East, cloudy to mostly cloudy, rumbling and some light rain

I would have gotten out earlier, but we had storms again tonight. I went to Bulldog first, missed a couple of pike bites and quickly left.

14.75" Piranha

At the GOMH it took a couple of minutes, but I got two jumpers (13, 14.75) and a toothy on the Piranha.  I then tried the craw tube and got the 16.25".  The Canon went on the fritz, so I had to go to the Polaroid.  I moved over to the NE side and lost one fish and caught a cigar on the Jerk Shad.

12" Jerk Shad

There were no bugs to speak of, but my upper back was starting to give me issues so I quit.

Rainy Morning And Evening

Train Wreck

4:45-8:30AM GOMH NE SW, Sullivan Inlet
Conditions:  60's, light winds out of the SW switching to the NW, humid, some light rain and fog.

I started out throwing the Jerk Shad but after 15 minutes of nothing I switched to a Rippin Rap.  After a couple of cast with that the train wreck happened.  The X-Rap Box is the absolute worst box to have totally flip over.  I had it loaded with baits and it held split rings as well.  I got most of the split rings back.  It probably took me 20 plus minutes to get things sorted out and back in the boxes.

First fish was a 19" toothy on the Spro 25 Crank baby bass color.  Then I got this bullhead on a black/blue craw tube.

15.25" Craw tube

It started to sprinkle and I switched to the SW side where I got this skinny 17.75" jumper.

17.75" D & M Baits Piranha w/Grass Pig Jr. trailer

As I left.

I went to the Inlet and got a 20" pike there on the silver/blue/purple STX and one on the Horny Toad as well on the South side of the culvert.

Rainbow over Bulldog

8:25-8:50PM Bulldog (11" bass on the Piranha and had the Yabbie get bitten off)
8:55-9:05PM Rock (Nothing)
9:15-10:15PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions: Was a hot day now post thunder storm, temps in the 60's, very light S wind, mostly cloudy some lingering sprinkles.

I lost a descent jumper that jumped me off and had a couple of other bumps.  It wasn't happening and the bugs were bothering me so I left.

Bass at Bulldog, Bullheads at the GOMH

17.75" D & M Piranha

8:25-9PM Bulldog
9:05-10:25PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions: Post Thunderstorms, 64 degrees, SE wind turning calm, Mostly cloudy

The only thing that would have made getting that chunk of a bass better was if it would have hit the Whopper Plopper I threw over the top of it.  I got her and a 10" on the Piranha. Since the Canon didn't want to work.  I took the pic on the selfie stick with the Polaroid.  I thought I took two pictures, but only got one. I also got a 10" on the Piranha.

At the GOMH I got a 20" or so toothy bullhead on the Piranha and had another similar sized one break off the Yabbie right in front of me.  I didn't know it was a toothy until that moment.  I switched to the NE side and got me some gold.

23" Jerk Shad

A couple casts before I got it I thought I felt something bump the bait.  I tried a Rippin Rap and X-Rap, but didn't get anything on those.  My upper back was giving me grief because I didn't do any stretching so I gave up.  

Weird Morning At the GOMH

17.75" D & M Baits Piranha

4:45-7:30AM GOMH NE SW
Conditions: 47-64, mostly sunny, S wind

I wanted to get to the GOMH by 4:30 because it's the weekend, but Kaylee insisted on going out before I left.  I ended up forgetting a ball cap.  So there is a super rare look at my bald melon on this post.  I was going to take a picture of the full moon this morning but the camera was on the fritz and I couldn't get it to work. After a couple of minutes of that I gave up.

Baitfish were getting picked off under the bridge before I even had my rods rigged up.  Usually that means I'll be getting a bullhead sooner rather than later. Except no bite came.  After 10 minutes and plenty of other bullheads plugging baitfish someone else showed up and went down on the SW side.  The baitfish continued to get hit with me not getting hit.  I heard the other guy go up and get his bucket so I assume he got at least one golden bullhead.  Basically the same scenario played out as I tried to figure out a bait they would hit.  I hung a Grass Pig up and lost it.  After 45 minutes the sun was coming up and I was spun out.

I tried throwing the Whopper Plopper for a pre-sunrise topwater hit casting out by the buoy's and under the bridge.  Nothing.  The sun was now up so I tried the Horny Toad over the now floating rice to the East along the shoreline.  There hadn't been any activity there this morning and I didn't see a sign of a fish.  I was now over an hour without a bite.  Thoughts of more people arriving and me getting a skunk entered my head.  I retied a Norman Speed Clip on the rod that had the Grass Pig on it and put the silver Piranha with a swamp gas Grass Pig Jr. on the clip.  I made a cast along the near wall and it was jumpin' bullhead on.  I almost got the camera to work, but then the 14" fish flopped off the stairs into the rocks.  I grabbed the fish and threw it back.  I did get the camera to work.

As I went to go back fishing the other guy left.  So I immediately packed up and went to the SW side.  On about my 10th cast I got the 17.75" on the Piranha and a couple of casts later I got a 21.5" toothy.  That was it for the Piranha.  I started throwing the Whopper Plopper and got a toothy from under the bridge.

19.25" R2S Whopper Plopper

I then got three small jumpers (13.5, 12.5, 13.75) and a small toothy (17) on Yabbie.  The sun was now in my eyes unless I bent down about a foot. Baitfish were still getting bashed in the tunnel when I left.

I've had worse mornings at the GOMH on weekends at this time of year.  8 bullheads with one close to 4lbs isn't bad at all.  I'll take it all day on Sunday.

That Kind of Sucked

7" Pumpkinseed Stanley Phantom Tomato

5:30-10:15PM
Conditions: 70's, light SE wind turning calm, mostly sunny, full moon

I put the Slop Slip in at the Holy Family access at around 5:10.  I then paddled to the center of the South shoreline by a downed tree.  Saw a lot of sunfish no bass.  I worked my way to the SE corner where I got the sunfish.  The older guy in the little bass boat and his wife fished by me.  He told me I was in his favorite spot.  He hugged the shoreline working N.  I staid out a little further slowly drifting North.  I had a pike try to get the Horny Toad on my first cast with it.  Eventually I settled into some thicker reeds and put the anchor down.  There was some activity but the fish just didn't want topwater.  I caught a 14" bass by letting the Horny Toad sink where I knew the fish was sitting. I didn't take a picture of because surely I would catch a bigger one.  The wind died after 7PM and there started to be some activity on the surface so I started heading for the SW corner.  I broke off the Tomato Phantom on a cast and went and got it.  Something got hit close by shore so I went in to investigate.  I learned there were more trees in the water and saw some crappies and one little bass.  I had something half heartily strike at Phantom.  I had a pike rush and strike at the Phantom missing it.  The beaver made a racket which I didn't appreciate.  I caught a 21" pike out of some pads by shore.  I had a small pike get off in the pads out front of the beaver lodge.  The sun was setting when I broke off the Phantom on two consecutive casts.  Going and getting it wasted precious minutes in prime time.   I finally had a good bass get after the Horny Toad, but it jumped and got off.  I think it was a 16 incher.  That was my last hit.  The mosquito's weren't bad and the moon was full so I staid out until after 10PM

I should have looked for fish and not stopped until I saw them.

Dev's Bullhead and A Bunch Of Toothy's

15" Grass Pig

5:00-8:45AM
Conditions: 50-60, Partly cloudy, calm then a light SE wind.

Today is my niece Devin's Birthday and I started dedicating my first fish of the morning to her two years ago.  I don't intend to break the tradition as long as I'm able to carry it on.  So today I was after Devin's fish.
 
I was admiring the moon on my way West to the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  I was a little shocked to see a truck there parked on the NE side.  It had a 13 Fishing sticker on the window.  I assumed the person was fishing on the NE side, but was pleasantly surprised he was on the SE side.  It was the manager from Reeds Sporting Goods who I met out here a couple of years ago. He had gotten one golden bullhead and was fishing with a lighted bobber.

I got my stuff and headed down to the NE side.  I was hoping the first fish would be a golden bullhead, but once again this year Devin's Fish was a jumpin bullhead.  As you can see it was a scraggly looking fish and only had one good eye.  Second time I've caught that fish this year.

After a few more casts with the Grass Pig I grabbed the rod with the Crackle Jerk Shad. I put a cast right next to the wall and snagged a spottail shiner.

 I actual hooked it on the middle treble, but didn't think to take the picture until I had taken it off.  Just a few casts later I was going to the truck to get the bucket out of the Kia.

18" Jerk Shad

That's right a golden bullhead. And a few casts later I had another one.

13" Jerk Shad

This bullhead went back in the lake to grow bigger.  Pretty soon after that the Reeds guy left and I got some toothy's.  A fish smashed something over by the pad roots.  The second time it happened I went to try and get it with the Horny Toad.  I couldn't get whatever it was to go.  But a fish hit something farther down so I tried for that fish.  Didn't get it either.  Then one farther down hit and I tried for that one.  I got this one to hit but missed it. It didn't seem like a very big fish.  I worked my way back to the pad roots.  A fish waked at the Horny Toad very dogfish like.  I let the Toad drop and it took it but I botched the hook set.  Wasn't to happy with myself.  The sun was now well up.  I caught a toothy with a broken off treble in it's mouth.

20" Jerk Shad

 I then went to the SW side and started by throwing the Piranha.  I made a throw into the tube and a good fish was on it immediately.

17" D & M Piranha

I got a couple of small toothy's on the Piranha and a couple on the Jerk Shad.  I got a 12.5" jumper on the Jerk Shad as well.  My last fish on the SW side was a small toothy on the H2O LCR.

I went back to the North side and there were no jumpers to be found.  I spent about an hour throwing the Horny Toad and got one small 13" jumper and missed a couple of toothy's.  I thought it was 7:45AM but it really was 8:45AM when I left.

10 toothy's
4 jumpers
2 gold
1 spottail

Mille Lacs Smallies

19.5" b/b Chigger Craw

4:00-8:00PM Mille Lacs off tip of Center Jetty
Conditions: Calm, 70 degrees, mostly sunny perfect for sight fishing.

I went to Reeds to pick up the shirt I got for entering a Facebook contest then headed to Eddy's.  Here are the rods I brought with me.

 I started out throwing topwater and was so distracted by doing that that I failed to notice what kind of visibility there was;  I could see out a 35 to 40 feet off the tip.  When I did notice I saw two big smallies and a 14-15" one.  They weren't interested in the Phantom.  So I tried a Slush Minnow.  One of the big smallies eyed it for a little bit, but never went for it.  Next I went to the Chigger Craw.  The little one showed some interest, but never went for it.  The same with one of the big ones.  Then they left after I had been fishing for them for about half an hour.  About 15 minutes later four 17 inch class smallies came swimming through from the SE to NW.  They didn't show any interest and were mildly spooked when a cast landed.  They left in about 2 minutes to the NW.  About a 15" largemouth came from the SE and swam into the North harbor.  I had my jerk bait suspending right in front of it.  But it looked at it for a little bit then continued into the harbor.  A 12-13" smallie came in from the NW and left in the same direction after getting spooked.

I didn't see anything for about half an hour and went up for one last look when three 17' class fish swam into sight from the NW.  I made a cast to them and they initially spooked, but  two of them quickly turned around to investigate.  I hadn't noticed that a 4th smallie came in with them.  I finally noticed him when it picked up the bait as a smallie I was watching went to try and steal it.  I set the hook and played the fish across the Jetty into the South harbor where I landed it.

17" Chigger Craw

When I got up on the Jetty there was a bigger fish a little bit off to my right (SE).  It was just on the edge of the rocks and the South harbor channel.  I made a cast about 10 feet to it's SE.  It spooked for about 2 feet then turned back toward the Chigger Craw when it got back within 10 feet, I hopped the craw and it sped right over and grabbed it.  She did some good head shakes on the surface, but I landed it.  It was full of spawn, probably just under 5lbs.  It is the one in the first picture.

There was nothing for quite a long time and I threw various topwater lures including the cool Salmo Bass Bug.  Which is basically a floating round rock with a lip and a single treble hook.  Darned if that little bug doesn't throw a wake and sound like a small buzzbait.  It didn't attract any bites or lookers.

What did attract a fish was a chart. 1/2oz Rippin Rap.  I could see something trailing it.  But that was no smallmouth.  It was a 40" ski and it nearly caught the Rap before I jerked it away.  The thing then stared me down.  I thought if your gonna do that then I'm going to get a picture of you and I went back to get my camera.  By the time I got back up on the rocks it was swimming off to the NW.   I put my sun glasses over the lens and this was the picture I got.

     Darn camera went on the Fritz.  By the time I got it working right the fish was gone.

I did take this next pic to show how close it came in.  I got a really good look at the fish.

One or two more small 12ish smallmouth's came through, but were spooked easily.  I packed up at 8PM because visibility was deteriorating and I wanted to get back to my area Lakes.

Here is the set up I got my fish on tonight.

TD-Z Type R
St. Croix Legend Xtreme 6'8" Medium XFast.  The rod is a medium light compared to the Avid, but quite a bit more sensitive.

Plopped A Whopper Tonight

17" River2Sea Whopper Plopper

8:15-9:30PM Bulldog
9:40-11:15 GOMH SW NE
Conditions: 66-60 degrees, light SE wind turning calm, mostly sunny, moon is almost full and was out from the word go tonight.

The plan was to hit Rock first, but two guys were on the dock fishing so I went to Bulldog which I was pleased to see was open.  I started out throwing a sexy shad H2O Slush Daddy and it nailed on like my second cast.

15.33" Slush Daddy

That was the last hit I got on that, so then I went to the bone Whopper Plopper.  On about my third cast the fish in the first picture nailed it.  The only thing that kept it from being a 4lber was it's length, only 17".  It was a chunk and full of eggs.  I would have gotten a couple other pics of it but I ran out of juice.  A couple of minutes later I cast the Plopper practically on top of a pad root sitting right by shore and a 15.25 jumped on it as soon as it hit the water.  That was it for the Plopper action.  Next I went to the "tomato" Stanley Phantom and had a 15.5" jump on it on the first cast.  After fishing it for 5 more minutes.  I tried the Craw Fatty.  I missed about 4 hits on that and caught a 10".  I thought about going to Rock or Holy Family, but I didn't make the move.  I cycled through the topwaters a second time.  Something small hit a the Plopper as I was bringing it by the tree in that picture above.  Could have easily been a small pike.  When it got sufficiently dark I put on the loon colored Plopper, but didn't get any hits.  I left at about 9:35.

The GOMH had the Rowdy Bullhead Fishermen on both sides of the bridge and a guy who knows me, possibly the meat guy, trying for silvers on the SE side.  He didn't catch anything.  A family was leaving when I got there and they had gotten one good jumper, some toothy's and some mostly small oranges.  I talked with the Rowdy Bullhead fisherman for a while.  He was pissed off at somebody driving a Ranger who went under the bridge too fast for his liking that blasted off right away.  Eventually I went down on the SW side and started casting.  When the other guy left I was going to leave as well, but then the RBF left as well.  I moved the car to my spot and through the Plopper for a bit on both sides and through the Crackle under the bridge without any success.  There was very little noise under the bridge the whole time I was there.  Just a couple of fairly week splashes.  I left at 11:15