Draining the Boat and A Little Fishing,Skunked

It rained most of the day. I went to the Lake Place and was on the surprised side by how much rain we got.  Well over an inch judging by how much was in the boat.  Water was to the base of the SW side.  I'm pretty sure that puts us at what I consider high water.  We are about 8-inches from this Springs high watermark.

I think I had a hit in the pads and standing rice out from the dock.  Only took a couple of casts at the GOMH because the skeeters were already out at 9:07PM

Snatcher Rabbit Lake Tourny

Typical Rabbit 2lber caught Pre-fishing in the Pads

Conditions: 83-65℉, Partly Cloudy, 3-12mph WNW
WT: High 70's

The Day:
We blasted off 4th right behind Chuck Fields and wouldn't you know it he went right to our starting spot as well which was off of the big point on the North of the pit side of the lake.  Darren set us down to the West of Fields and we started working towards him.  I had a 1.91lb bass jump on my 3/8 black/blue jig pretty much immediately.  I got it in the box and it was a repeat performance with a slightly smaller fish.  The fished seemed to shut down on the jig after that. I threw out a Neko rigged Yum Dinger and got a 1.30lber on that immediately.  I think Darren got his first fish shortly after that and I got a short.  We worked back over where I got the fish to start and didn't get anything, Fields worked to the East so we went to where he started and I got 1.70lb fish that hit my jig on the fall.  After maybe an hour and a half we went to our second spot which was in the NE section of the pit lake.  I made the mistake of checking our fish while we were running and I shut the livewell on one of my rod tips breaking it, doh!  I got a 1.19  and my 2/8 lunker to fill out my limit on the jig.  I then culled up with 1.71lb fish on the jig.  Darrin was getting a little better quality of fish on a blue/black craw tube, so I started throwing that and I got a  1.63lb fish on that;  I thought the fish was a weed at first.  We were just about to leave to go fish the pads when I got a 2.05lb fish on the jig next to a dock.

The pads didn't even yield a blow-up for me, but Darren got a couple of fish there and missed some solid blow-ups.  Next, we went out and worked the roadbed.  I think I got a 2.13lb out there along with a couple that didn't help.  We went back to our second spot and I got my last fish of the day there on the craw tube (2.20).

Results: My fish weighed 13/02 with 2/8 big fish which beat Hammers 2/06 big thus putting me in 12th Place.  Darren's fish weighed 14lbs with 3/04 big which put him in 10th Place.  The tournament was won by Jim "Smitty" Smith 17/03.  Lunker weighed 3/14 and was caught by Mick Ziebell.

My thoughts: I don't think I lost any fish that hurt me.  I just didn't have a shot at a kicker that would have put me in the top half of the field.

  

Good Morning In the Boat with Todd

4.58lbs/19" Hexa Chinooki (Cotton Candy)

17.5" and 16.25" Mad Maxx (SR/BS)

17" Teckel Sprinker (Bone)

16" Big Sexy

6:00-10:00AM SPSI, Intersection SW, SSPRO
70-67℉, Cloudy/MC was a pretty good thunderstorm that let up just before 5AM, 3-6mph SSE
WT: 76℉ got an inch or more of rain

I started us at the SPSI and the hawg just crushed the Hexa Chinooki.  Todd got the 17-incher on the bone Sprinker.  We tried the GOMH.  I don't think we got anything, but Todd may have gotten a fish.  We then worked the intersection.  Didn't get anything there until I went in deep into the junk on the SW side.  Todd and I got a double.  My fish was the 2.99lber.  I then worked us out and fish were on the rice line and we cleaned up on decent, but not big fish.  We missed several bites as well.

Me:
7 Bass
4 Pike

Todd:
9 Bass
3 Pike

17.50lbs for the Morning

Good Night In the Boat With Todd

3.24lbs/17.25" Ish's Phat Frog (Da Ma/White)

3.54lbs/18" Spro Shad TSKO

Got a double right away in NW Bay on Sprinkers

7:00-9:15PM Green Cabin, NW Bay
80-70℉, Partly Cloudy, 8-15mph SSE
WT: 80℉

Without Todd coming up, there is no way I would have gone fishing tonight with the wind being what it was.  I am glad came up because it turned into a pretty good night.  I started us in the reeds along the South shore of Green Cabin Bay.  Todd had a pike miss his frog immediately.  Then I think he missed two more bites and I lost one in the reeds as well.  I had a follow to the boat from something.   Finally, Todd hooked up and put the 3lber in the boat on Ish's Da Man.  Not to be outdone about 5 minutes later I got my big girl of the night on Spro Shad Sprinker knock-off.  I got another bass on the Spro KO and put the lure away.  Tournaments only for that bait from now on.  Todd missed a couple of bites.  I got a dink on the Ish's Cali in the rice.  we worked the out weed edge not getting anything so we headed to the protected water in the NW Bay.

I got a hit right away on my Sprinker and as I was landing it Todd got one as well.  I got an 11-incher and Todd put a couple more 14-inch bass in the boat on the Bone Sprinker.  I had a 26/27 pike miss the Ish's as I moved us down the rice line.  I then brought us back in by shore.  I caught a 14-incher on Cali Ish.  Todd missed a solid blow-up.  I missed a solid blow-up.  I slammed a 13-incher on the hookset sending the fish 5-feet through the air on the hookset.  Todd then had a good fish bury him in the reeds.  Then he had a 14-incher bury him again, but the fish didn't come off.  That was the last fish of the night I think.

I forgot to bring my notepad with, so I'm not sure exactly what was caught on what.  I think I culled 3 fish off of the scale and had another I didn't weigh.  Great night for action, but the size was slightly below average.

"Sometimes You Kick, Sometimes You Get Kicked"

5.04lbs/20" Shower Blows (Bone)

6:30-10:00AM NPBI, SPSI, GOMH, Intersection
76-68℉, Mostly Sunny, 0-3mph S
WT: 77℉

I got out of bed at 4:50 and didn't make it to the Lake until 5:30AM.  I was off to the Big Island by 6AM.  I caught one 12-incher on the Shower Blows then mother nature called and I high tailed it back to the cabin.  I was back to fishing by 6:30.  I stopped at the SPBI and didn't get a bite.  Next stop was the SPSI.  I caught a 12-incher on the bone Shower Blows, then the big girl struck.  She jumped twice and I was thinking 18-incher.  Then she bulldogged hard.  Thankfully there weren't any weeds to get tangled in.   It wasn't until I had her in hand that I realized it was a special fish.  Darn if she didn't go 20-inches and top 5lbs.  I then missed a quality bass caught a 16.5" and 13" on the Blows. They stopped hitting on top so I went to the junebug Piranha 2 and got a pike then a16-incher.  I then dropped a good one on the craw tube when I got a less than stellar hookset.  I was then off for the intersection after getting bit off at the GOMH. Got my last good bass of the morning from there out in the middle of the channel away from the emergent veg.  I went into the old juice.  It looks very fishy but nothing was doing.  I had a big pike miss Cali Ish out of the rice past the log.  Took a pass at SPSI on my way in and nothing happened.

7:00-9:15PM East of GOMH, CIB, SPSI
I thought for sure on my evening trip I would be able to add to my weight for the day, but I was wrong.  I think the high pressure had the bass buried and unwilling to take topwater.  I tried working the slop to the East of GOMH had maybe 2 opportunities there and didn't connect with either fish; they could have been pike or doggo's.  I then tried some boat lanes in Channel Inn and had a couple pike take swipes.  Went to SPSI to end the night.  Had a 12/13 bass jump and throw the craw tube and I landed my only fish of the night a 15-inch pike which took the craw tube.  A pathetic evening of fishing.   

Rabbit Lake Pre-Fish

12:30-6:30PM Rabbit Lake Pit Side
76-74℉, Partly Cloudy, 4-12mph NW
WT: Mid 70's

It's kind of a bummer when your boaters new fish finder's maps aren't matching up with the lake and don't have any of his old waypoints in it.  We managed OK, but those two things definitely cut down on our efficiency.

We only fished the Eastern/Pit side of the Lakes.  I suggested the starting spot.  The place where I got my lunker the last time the Snatchers fished the lake in 2016.  We actually started beyond the point with the buoy on it a good ways off of the place I got my lunker.  We both had a small bass bite our craw tubes right off the bat.  We didn't get anything off of Dennises Wood or the spot I got my lunker last time.  We worked our way down the roadbed and Darren got us 3 waypoints on good fish on a black/blue craw.  Next, we tried some rushes.  I might have missed one bit.  Then we went shallow and tried some pads.  I got two good ones on the Spro Shad Sprinker Knock Off and we both missed a bite a piece. After I got the second one we got out of there. We worked a weedline on the East shoreline and I got a couple of small bass on a Hack Jig and had a 14/15 keeper jump and get off.  I think Darren had a good one jump him off as well.  We fished the E corner where Dwight won the last and Darren got one or two good ones there and the pike in the picture.  However, we were unable to pin down the juice thanks to the first paragraph.  Then we headed North and worked the point.  Darren got fish on three consecutive casts so we headed to the Island where Darren got another good fish.  From there we tried to find one of Guy's spots, but Darren wasn't sure where to look.  We ended up fishing the two shallow humps between the islands.  Darren caught the last fish of the trip there, a rock bass.  I was hungry and it was after 6 so we called it a day.

Morning Run And Gun And A Night That Wasn't Fun Then Was

4.45lbs/18.75" Cali Ish's Phat Frog

16.5" Shower Blows 105 (Bone)

5:45-10:10AM NPBI, SFBI, SPSI, GOMH, Intersection NE
68-58℉, Mostly Sunny, 1-4mph NW
WT: 76℉ water level on the rise from the rain we got this week.

So my plan was to quickly hit the North Point Big Island then see if the bass were still on the outside rice edge at the starting spot.  I got 14.5" and 8" bass on the bone Shower Blows and then I snagged somebodies braided line that was stuck on the tree.  There was a lot of line and I needed to adjust boat position and the trolling motor sucked some of the line in so I had to take the time to remove the prop and get it out of there.  I got that done and changed plans hitting the South Point Big Island next.  I lost a bite and as I was about to leave something got shelled big time along the southern shoreline flat.  So I went to investigate.  I got a pike and 16.5" LMB on the Shower Blows.  I was disappointed by the lack of cabbage.  There was some baitfish activity.  I then went to the North Point Small Island and didn't get a bite.  Next was SPSI where a loon family was fishing.  I got a pike and 13-incher there as well as missing a couple of bites. Next, I headed to the GOMH. I had a 14-incher jump me off on the craw tube and got a 16-incher on the Shower Blows.  I did a little frogging and punching along the NW of the Intersection without a bite.  I then went to the NE and got a 16' on the Cali Ish's and a 14.5" on the Shower Blows.  Fish would bust out in the middle occasionally, but I didn't get a bite.  I lost a bite at the GOMH on my way back in.  I was going to fish the West Point docks, but they put up a swim area line between the docks, so I didn't bother.
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Well that sucks, no more 1.25oz Tungsten

2.93lbs/16.66" Craw Tube (Junebug Tokyo)

6:30-9:30PM Starting Spot Slop and Rice Island
70-74℉, Partly Cloudy, 2-5mph NW,
WT: 76℉

So I headed into the slop at "The Starting Spot."  It looks too darned good to be as devoid of fish as it seems to be.  There were some fish in there as I missed a couple of blow-ups that may have been bass and I spooked some fish that moved a lot of water.  I am just growing more convinced the lake suffered partial winter kills the past two years.  I left the slop after about 45 minutes and headed to the rice island in a deep state of frustration.  I threw a frog at the hole on the rice and had a fish boil on it big time when I got out of the hole and on to the rice.  When I couldn't get that fish to strike again that was almost the last straw.  I wasn't having any fun and I was hungry.  So I was going to try the Tokyo Rig and if I didn't get anything then I was going to call it a night early.  I put the 1.25oz Tokyo Rig on and went to punching.  Lo and behold I got a bite so I laid the wood and caught that hammer handle.  After I got the fish and rice off of the rig I discovered the rig isn't exactly the sturdiest thing in the world as the tungsten dropper wire was gone.  I got my Tokyo Rigs off of eBay from China.  So easy come easy go I guess.  I just wrote it off as I caught a line cutter, could have just as easily been bit off.  On the very next pitch, I got the 16.6-incher.  That's more like it.  Something got blown up big time along the deep rice line and also towards the back of the boat off of the rice island within casting range. I threw the Poison out were the blow-up occurred and got a pike on the second cast.  I worked around the island punching it.  Didn't get another bite.

I headed back toward the Starting Spot Rice where the big blowup occurred.   I had what I'm pretty sure was a big pike dog the Sprinker Frog, then swirl on it.  I set the hook and came up empty.  Bummer, but pretty exciting.  I worked to the East and had a 13/14 bass on briefly out front of a good-sized hole in the rice that that takes a fairly long cast to reach.  On my second cast to the hole, the days slobber knocker knocked my frog. Didn't realize it was that big until I got it in the boat. That fish is a year or two away from being a 5lber.  A total pig.  The mosquito came out soon after that and I hung it up around 9:20 when there was still at least 15 minutes of fishable sunlight.  The skeeters were bad.

Not a bad day weight wise

Out for a Short Trip Tonight Anyway.

Forgot Phone at Home

8:30-9:30PM Reeds Across, Chuck's, Green Cabin, NW Juice
72℉, Mostly Sunny, 2-4mph SW

I went up to eat dinner except Jeff and crew were out on the pontoon.  So I went out.  I started in North Reeds across but with the SW wind I made a quick switch to Chuck's Point.  Lost something there on the bone Sprinker, very pikeish.   Skipped across to Green Cabin juice.  Had one small pike.  I then headed for the NW juice where I thankfully got a 16.5" bass.  Also missed what was probably a big dogfish.

What Happened to MY Standing Rock?

I'm a little burnt out on fishing right now.  I went up to the lake place tonight and took close to an inch worth of water out of the boat due to this afternoons storms.  We had a tornado warning again.  I did a little casting off the dock then went to the GOMH.  WTF? Where did my standing rock go?  I am flabbergasted as what could have happened to it.  It sucks because now my angle under the bridge is cut off by a key couple of feet.  I did lose a bite on the craw tube on the SW side.

Thunderstorm, Shower Blows, and Needles

4.16lbs/19" Craw Tube (Junebug)

7:00-10:00AM SPSI, Channel Inn Bay
76-68℉, Thunderstorm to partly cloudy, 2-4mph
WT: 76℉

The forecast I looked at just after midnight said things would be partly cloudy to cloudy no mention of rain or thunderstorms.  I didn't re-look at the forecast before I left.  I arrived just after 5AM and was off by 5:30AM.  As I headed West I thought the cloud cover looked suspiciously like rain.  Before I got to SPSI it did start sprinkling.  I stopped the boat took out the iPhone to take a picture and there was a flash with an immediate crack of thunder from the direction I just came.  I took a couple of pictures then got back on the motor to the nearest dock.  I sheltered under a couple of porches.  I wasn't really thinking straight thanks to the lightening.  I left my note pad exposed to the rain and tackle bags in the boat.  Toward the end of the storm when the rain got heavier I went and retrieved that stuff.  I didn't get fishing until 7:00AM. 

I went back to the South Point Small Island and got three small bass, two of which were over 12-inches.  On the last cast before I was going to leave I caught a skinny 18-incher that didn't quite weigh 3lbs.  I forgot to take a picture after I weighed it.  Shortly after that, I headed to rice point in Channel Inn Bay.  I decided to try a craw tube out from the rice before getting to frogging.  I was listening to Perfect Day by EMFwhen two loons cruised by the boat.  I was just thinking I was looking for a needle in a haystack when the big girl struck.

I ended up in the calm sunny conditions looking at the weed makeup in Channel Inn Bay as much as fishing.  I ended up missing something big that bit on the crawtube.   It was either a bass or a dogfish.  I missed a couple of bites in the pads on the crawtube and caught one dink.  As got a dink out of the rice on Big Sexy.   Had the craw tube and had an Outkast RT Jig get bit off.  It was sunny and I didn't want to put sunscreen on so I headed in at 10AM.   

Adventure In Eliminating Water

First Cast Pike

2.13lb/16" Sweet Revenge Frog
My only bass tonight

Home again, home again jiggity jig jig.

6:30-9:30PM Our Bay, Inlet Bay South
82-76℉, Mostly Sunny, 4-8mph S
WT:82-78℉

Tonight I started my quest to find deep schools on Platte Lake.  Deep has to be where the fish are at because they aren't shallow to speak of in any numbers.  Deep on Platte is 8-feet because at 9-feet the weeds don't grow.  I kicked a couple of loons off of my first spot and caught a pike on my first cast. I caught 1 more pike there.  This is a spot East of Jenny's that used to have beautiful cabbage.   Now all that is there is some northern milfoil and coontail.  I went East in search of cabbage.  I didn't find anything but coontail.  Eventually, I moved in and gave some docks a look.  Nothing there.  I got a pike off of "the dock" across.  Just after 8PM I headed for the south end of Inlet Bay.  The rice really filled in way out in the SE corner.  I lost a fish when my line got caught under the hook hanger on my Tatula Frog Rod.  That issue has now been rectified.  I did catch one good bass on Sweet Revenge and got 3 small pike.   The coontail in Inlet behind the reeds is something I will have to explore farther.

When I first set down in inlet three small aluminum boats were right behind me.  It looked like the first boat was trying to get to Rock Lake.  The thick rice stopped that plan straight away.  The three boats then left and created mayhem with each other for about 20-minutes before leaving to parts unknown. 

Morning Bad Luck And Me Sucking Till 11

15.5" Sweet Revenge

5:30-11:00AM NW Juice, Todd Hole/BBP/Green Cabin
75-68℉, Partly to Cloudy, 0-3mph N
WT: 78℉

This trip convinced me I've got to figure out the deep fish. There just aren't enough slop fish up.  I started at the NW Juice.  First fish was a pike on Ish's "Ice" as I call it.  Had a good blow-up close in miss the frog.  I got a 13.5" on "Ice" and a 14" on Big Sexy up in the shore slop.  I then went through the reeds and missed a couple good blow-ups I was unprepared for.  I then went an tried the rice island, nothing.  Next, to the Todd Hole/BBP.  I worked this area methodically.  I lost a hot 15/16 due to some bad luck.  Had a couple of other takers not hook up due to bad luck on where the frog was sitting when they struck.  I got a 12-incher following up with the Dinger in a hole in shallow and got the 15.5" on Sweet Revenge working the outside of Big Bass Point slowly.  I went and worked the area along Double Cane where the battery quit working with Todd, nothing.  I got over by the reeds and had a 15/16 miss the frog, bad luck.  I then went to the reeds out from Chuck's, nothing.  Then on to Chuck's.  I got a pike right away on a Bobby's Perfect Sparrow.  Then I missed two fish in a row due to poor hooksets.  The second one was a 3lb fish.  I worked the outside of the pads in Green Cabin Bay getting a 13.75" on the Sparrow.  The sun came out and I had been on the water long enough.  Didn't get out in the evening because my brain was fried.

Last night and today

Yet Another Tough Evening On the Water

3.52lbs/18.5" Ish's Cali (B/Y)

7:45-9:30PM Channel Inn Bay
74-78℉, Partly Cloud to sunny, 3-6mph SW
WT: 78-80℉ water level rising a bit from last night's storm.

I got a late start due to lollygagging around. I got a 14.75" pretty quickly.  Then missed two bites.  One an atomic bomb blast and the other just a suck down.  I then had the 18.5-incher miss then got it a couple seconds later.  I proceeded to go in where we got 'em a couple of days ago and nothing was going on.  I worked my way back out and got a couple of pike.  Disappointing with the way the night started.  The skeeters were terrible.

Morning With Todd/DNF Due to Severe Thunderstorms

16" Mad Maxx (Grapes Of Wrath)

A Pike because we didn't know if Todd would land a bass

He got a bass out of the rushes

5:30-8:00AM Channel Inn Bay, East of GOMH, Green Cabin Bay
74-68℉, Mostly sunny, 3-6mph SE
WT: 77℉

Should have gotten out sooner as the topwater bass bite window was extremely short.  Basically I set down and caught the 16-incher and Todd dropped a 14/15 and from then on it was a pike fest.  He had Big Sexy get bit off, but we got it back.  We tried the slop East of GOMH without any success except for a couple of pike.  We went to Green Cabin.  I missed a couple of fish right away on the Sprinker. probably pike.  Todd got the bass after I told him to expect a bite because the area is to good for there to be nothing there.

Snatcher Farm Island Tournament

Co-Angler Champion for the Day

What my scale says I had.

Thoughts Coming In:  We had a very good pre-fish.  I was a little concerned because it was a deep jig bite.  While I can catch fish that way I know it is an area of weakness as I miss a lot of bites.  My boater Bill Lundenia is a jig master.  I figured I would see if they would hit a craw tube, which I'm much more comfortable with, and switch if Bill was catching them on a jig.

Conditions: 83-66℉, Some clouds in the morning turning sunny, 0-4mph WSW
WT: High 70s

The Day: We went South to start where the fish were bigger on average in pre-fish.  I started by throwing a River2Sea Bubble Walker over the calm lake.  A pike jumped about 5-feet in the air and was my first fish in the boat.  After about 10-minutes it was clear that any area fish didn't want it on top, so I switched to the craw tube and pretty quickly got a 2lber.  I got one other 2lber, but it was not happening so we went to the "Smallmouth Hole".  I picked up a quick keeper as did Bill.  Then Bill had a 3lber throw his jig. I got a couple more 2-pounders on the craw tube.  We then went to a hump and I got 2.66lber on the craw tube.  The sun came out.  We tried one more spot in Farm Island then headed for Little Pine.

Bill got a bass in Little Pine on the jig, so I switched to the jig immediately.  I missed 3 or 4 bites.  Bill was missing bites and getting bit off.  It was dead calm and minnows were skittering around above the milfoil, so I thought I would throw a few casts with the Bubble Walker.  On the second cast, a 3lber took it but immediately jumped and threw the bait.  Bill then had a good fish break off at the rod.  He was looking for his line; The fish he lost jumped and immediately my lunker of the day (3lbs) struck the topwater.  I got a bass that didn't keep on my very next cast.  That all happened in the span of about 6 casts for me.

We went back into Farm Island and fished some docks.  I tried out the Neko Rig like I said I was going to do.  I got one that almost helped me breaking my Techna AV rod in the process. I got a couple of dinks as well.  We went back to everywhere we fished in the morning and I had a few fish pick up a brown/green pumpkin craw tube.  We ended the day watching Checkbook snatch a good one.  Bill only got 5 keepers in the boat.

Results: My fish went 14/8 which put me in 4th Place and allowed me to be the Co-Angler Champion.  The tournament was won by Tim Benson with 16/2 and Tim got "Lunker" with a 3/08 fish.

My Thoughts: A good day for me, some tough luck kept it from being a good day for Bill as well.  I may not switch a thing up for the next tournament at Rabbit Lake.

With Todd Back At Channel Inn Bay This Morning

3.54lbs/18" Big Sexy

16.25" Big Sexy

15.25" Big Sexy

2.91lbs/16.75" Big Sexy

Where is Big Sexy?

There he is!

27" Big Sexy

Todd taking us in

5:30-8:00AM Channel Inn Bay
72-68℉, Partly Cloudy, 4-6mph SW
WT: 78℉

Todd had the first two fish in the boat before I even had the trolling motor in the water and took a cast.  The sun came out strong, but that didn't seem to affect the bite that much. We missed some solid blow-ups.  The 27" Pike went about 4-feet in the air when it hit.  Just a solid morning in Channel Inn Bay.

14.37lbs for the Best 6 this morning