Nice Night Fishing Not So Great, Should Have Stayed at the GOMH

10.25" Cubby/Minnow

16" Craw Tube (White)

17" Glow Demon/Minnow

6:30-6:50PM Rock
7:00-9:15PM GOMH NE S Bridge
9:20-10:15PM Bulldog
10:20-1:00 AM GOMH NE SE

50-68℉, PC, Calm

I arrived at the GOMH around 6:30PM.  There was a big pontoon parked close in on the SE side.  An older lady was fishing on the SW side. I didn't see anything get caught. As I was about to leave Lantern Man's son pulled up.  I informed him of when the silvers were showing up.  His buddy jumped down on the SE side pronto which was a great call because he just beat out another guy who showed up.  I then went to Bulldog and the guy with two chicks from last night was back.  I could have gone to the Bog Spot but made the mistake of going to Rock instead.  Nothing at Rock, so I went to go to the bog spot.  The guy and one of the chicks were there. The other chick was stationed at the juice.  I went back to the GOMH and the NE side was open.  Buckman D & D were there. Ella was fishing with the older lady.  LM's son had gotten a few jumpers and the pontoon was still there.  I tried for oranges for a while and didn't get a hit.  A guy in a Stratos came through and told me the water temp was 62℉, dang!  I caught the one jumper shortly after he left. I missed some bites.  The 8:45 PM witching hour came. I wasn't hearing much going on from the Southside.  They were getting a few silvers though.  I got one small silver. At about 9PM I decided to make a move to the Southside. John W. and his girlfriend were on the bridge with some other guy. I fished for a little bit and bounced just after Lantern Man arrived.  I went to Bulldog and missed three straight hits before connecting with a 10-incher.  I called John to let him know I was getting bites.  Then Pete called.  I got back to fishing just before John arrived. I got one little dink crappie and had a couple nibbles. John took off and I went back to the bridge.  Buckman D & D were gone. It was just the Lantern guys. I went down on the NE side and got three quick silvers and a toothy. LM Son left around 11:15PM.  I fished the NE side until about midnight then went to the SE side.  Not much was going on. I think LM got one silver.  A beautiful night though. LM left at 1AM and I left shortly after.

Morning And Beautiful Evening At The GOMH And Bulldog

16.5" Poison/Swim Fluke Jr.

5:30-7:30AM GOMH NE
42℉, PC turning overcast, 10-15mph ENE

I got out later than intended because I was putzing around.  Missed a hit right away in the tube. Then nothing for an hour plus.  I went back to the NE side one last time and caught 6 quick jumpers on the Poison and that was that. I bounced.
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12" Glow Demon/minnow

5" THE Jig

6:30PM-12:00AM Bulldog GOMH NE Bridge SE SW
58-64℉, PC, 0-15NW

I think I started the night at the GOMH. The Buckman Dad and Daughter (Mike and Ella) were back. I hadn't seen them in a few years. Daughter is now a Freshman in college, Amazin! They were getting a few jumpers.  I filled him in on when the silvers showed up last night.   There were people on the SW and the NE side so I bounced to Bulldog.  Not much was going on there.  I caught the one pumpkinseed and one bass.  A guy and two chicks stopped and fished.  He got a small bass out on the Bog Spot. Amazin! I fish this spot for years not knowing people fish just to the South of the access and within a couple days I see two different people fishing there.  I went back to the GOMH and it was only the Dad and Daughter.  I went to the NE side.  There was basically no current.  D & D started getting some silver.  I got a small one and then a boat came through immediately after.  That wrecked my confidence on the Northside, so I went and fished off the Southside of the bridge.  We were all catching them.  I delivered one over to Dad.  He threw my line back in the water and it was immediate fish on with a toothy.  As Dad was trying to wrangle the slimer it broke me off.  He grabbed ahold of it twice, but it managed to steal my Cubby.  They left around 10:30PM.  I stayed until midnight fishing both sides getting more action on the SE side.  I missed a jaint when it went berserk on the SW side.  I also saw a shooting star that lasted about 5 seconds. I called it night at midnight.

Fair Fishng at the GOMH

12.25" Cubby/Minnow

14.25" Pure Poison/Swim Fluke Jr.

7:30-10:30PM Bulldog, GOMH SW
47-52℉, PC, 3-14mph NE

Got a bit of a late start tonight.  Started at Bulldog.  The wind blowing in had the fish vacate the area. I quickly left.  Thought the better of going to Rock and headed to the GOMH.  When I arrived there were people on both of the South sides.   The guy on the SE side didn't get any bites and left within a couple minutes of my arrival.  I took up the SE side.  It was a guy with his wife and kid on the SW side.  He had a toothy bite him off.  They left after 10 minutes, so I quickly packed up.  I got a few jumping bullheads and a toothy to start when I was throwing for dogfish with the craw tube and Pure Poison.  Around 8:30PM a guy with a boat showed up.  He told me the loading dock isn't in on Sullivan yet which I thought was strange as the docks went in on Platte and Rock two weeks ago this Friday.  At about 8:45PM I got my first silver.  It was AWWWWWWWWN for about an hour and then they were done.  I landed 7 and missed 4 or so more bites. I also got one jumper on the Cubby.  I'm going to need to get more minnows tomorrow.  The guy in the boat went home with 6 or 7.  I gave three I kept to John W.  If he would have called me 5 min earlier he would have gotten a fourth.

7 Crip
6 Jumpers
1 Toothy

Two Trips On A Beautiful Monday

19" Craw Tube (White)

5:50-8:00AM GOMH SW NE
50-48℉, Cloudy to PC, 0-7mph SW

I should have been fishing at 5:30AM because that is when the rain stopped.  It was pretty light out by the time I arrived and the silvers had left.  I did get 4 jumpers for the morning and picked up minnows on my way home.
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13" Cubby/Minnow

8.5" Hair Jig/Wax (Pink/White)

9.5" T.H.E. Jig (Chart/Orange)

16.9" THE Jig (Chart/Org)

 4:30-5:15PM GOMH
5:20-5:35PM Bulldog
5:40-6:10PM Rock
6:20-9:00PM Bulldog
9:10-11:00PM GOMH NE

71-60℉, PC, 0-7mph NW

Uf dah! A week later and I don't really remember this trip. I started at the GOMH and didn't get anything.  So I went to Bulldog and caught one small potato chip.  I then went to Rock and had a hammer handle flash at me.  I went back to Bulldog and actually had some action consisting of bass, crappie, and sunfish. I think I was just about to head for the GOMH when the 8.5" sunfish hit. I had bass swirling on my bobber and there was a lot of fish activity finally. I left for the bridge after 9PM.  I fished the NE side, so Lantern Man and somebody else must have been there.  I did get the one nice crappie.  I must have been tired to leave so early.

Not An Ideal Day For Me

15" Cubby/Minnow

Dad checking the plugs

So I got the muffs hooked up to the motor and it ran pretty good no knocking.  So we put her back in the lake, the knocking was back.  So we put her back on the trailer.  Next step, find a marine mechanic.  When we got back home mom wanted to go to Susie's in Pierz, so I drove.  We got back around 8PM.  I didn't get to Bulldog until 8:30

8:30-8:50PM Bulldog
9:10-10:30PM BSing at the Bridge With Bullhead Jim from Buckman
10:30-1AM GOMH NE SW
47-63℉, PC to Overcast light rain when I left, 3-17 ESE to SW

So I wanted to check and see if the sunnies were in at Bulldog yet. No, but I did catch a couple of bass.  There was some baitfish activity as well.  I then went to Steve's to drop off the knives.   Then it was off to the GOMH.  Lantern Man and D-I-L were on the SE side and his son and a couple of guys from Harding were on the SW. And a Bullhead fisherman was by his lonesome down on the NE side.  I struck up a conversation with the guy that went on for 45 minutes or so.  His name was Jim and he is a true man of the land. Hunting, fishing, gardening, trapping you name it.  He has a true passion for hunting dogs which was very interesting for me to learn about.  His latest pup Patti, named for his deceased wife, just had 12 pups; 7 Golds and 5 Blacks.   Eventually, we moved over to the Southside where I introduced him to Scott and they talked hunting for a bit.  After Jim left around 10:30 I moved the Kia to my spot and went down on the NE side.  I got a 9.5" pretty quickly which Lantern Man's son gladly took. I gave it to Brett's wife who met me up at the road.  We introduced ourselves.  We may have briefly conversed about how the fishing at some time, but I don't remember it. LM's son got two or three goldens and a 14.25" pound and a half silver bullhead along with a mess of other silvers tonight.  They were stacked up on the SW side with the way the wind was.  By the time Brett left at midnight, they were either shut down or mostly caught.  I got one 11" on a giant stickleback. LM got a couple of shorts.  We left at 1AM when it started to sprinkle.

3 silver bullheads

Two Trips, DD Was Back In the Evening

1st Jumper of 2020
Crawtube (White)

1st Toothy Bullhead of 2020
Crawtube (White)

5:50-7:30AM GOMH Bulldog
38-35℉, Sunny Fog, Calm

A bit of fog this morning thanks to the cool down.  Unfortunately, the camera just didn't capture the fog and pink clouds on the horizon well.  An eagle flew up on a tree on the SW point just as I was getting out of the car.  My old Canon was pretty good at that.  I missed a couple bites than finally connected with a couple jumpers and toothy's on the SW side.  I gave Bulldog a quick try, nothing.  I think I got minnows on the way home.
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18" Cubby/Minnow

5:40-11:00PM GOMH SE NE SW

50-67℉, PC, 2-7 NE

The plan was to see if the GOMH was open if not or nothing going on give Bulldog and Rock a try.  There was nobody on shore fishing, but there was a boat right off of the SW side.  I went down on the SE side, nothing.  I then went to the NE side.  The way the wind was blowing in told me this was my best bet for a bullhead or dogfish.  I missed a bite in the tube and out from the stairs about 15 feet.  Unfortunately, there weren't dogfish.  After about an hour of trying to reconnect with the bites and missing several times, I caught a jumper in the tube and a toothy that cut me off; Both fish came on a white craw tube.  I managed to get the tube and hook back as it was visible and in reach of my rod underwater on a rock.  There was quite a bit of boat traffic through the area.  I went back to the SW side at 8:30PM when the boat finally left.  I got a bite on the Cubby in the mud and the fish ran straight to the cattails about 10 feet down to the west.  I managed to pull her into a cut when her mouth was open and up on the top, but before I could reach her she dove down and to the left straight into a cattail clump.  I had to get down on my knees and was, fortunately, able to dig her out without falling in.  18" of jumpin' bullhead hooked in the roof of the mouth on 4/1 fireline.  I cut my right thumb with the Fireline.  About 8:45 Dave from last night showed up with his two buddies.  I lost a good silver when they were getting set up.  I got a 9" just before Lantern Man showed up around 10PM.  Lantern Man got a couple silvers and one of DD's buddies got a golden.  Dave didn't do a whole lot of talking tonight. They left at about 10:45.  I had enough at 11PM, it just wasn't happening.    

Slow at the GOMH

I helped Steve clean my crappies today

5:00-5:30PM Bulldog GOMH SW SE
60℉, PC, Calm

I had to go get the muffs for the motor, which were at the Lake place.  I helped Steve clean the crappies.  On the way back I stopped at Bulldog and the GOMH.  There was a guy fishing from Shore to the South.  Never seen that before. I'll have to check that out sometime. Lantern Man stopped as I was getting out of the car.  He went home with 5 last night and stayed till midnight.

8:50-11:30PM GOMH NE SE
48-68℉, PC, Calm

I thought the rowdy bullhead fishermen were fishing off the bridge on the Southside so I went to the NE side.  I spotted an eyeball in the water the second I turned my light in the water.  I threw my first cast out toward the middle.  Bobber did something funny then went back to drifting.  My minnow was gone.  I hooked into a bullhead same spot I got the 13-incher last night.  At first, I thought maybe it was going to be a golden, but it was another 13-inch silver.  Maybe the same one as last night.  As I was landing the fish. Dave came over to see what was going on.  Dave is a talkative guy who has a place on Sullivan.  Turns out it was him, not the rowdy bullhead fishermen that I heard earlier.  He was curious about what I was using.  He went back to the other side and talked Lantern Man's ear off when he arrived.   I missed a couple of bites then a light boat came through.  They informed me there were a lot of crappies on the western shoreline but way out of my casting range. At about 10:15PM I switched to the SE side.  Lantern Man had gotten a couple. DD talked and talked.  Turns out he worked for Federal Ammunition and was an international salesman.  The gift of gab, who would have guessed.  Turns out he and LM share a passion for duck hunting.  The guy also knows his fishing as he was describing in detail something that was working out on Tonka this ice fishing season. LM got a couple more silvers before DD left at about 11PM.  A light boat came through at DD was packing up and I got 10" silver just after the boat passed under the bridge. That was my last bite of the night. LM got 4 more I think, but two of them went back.  I packed up at 11:30PM. A third light boat came cruising through as I watched from the bridge.  I didn't see anything.

Vikes picked O-Tackle Boise State Ezra Cleveland and CB Cameron Dantzler from Mississippi State and they traded away the second to last pick of the night which didn't make the Kfan staff happy as that they had been waiting all night for that third pick.  Buzzkill for them.

Morning Trip, New Garmin Fishfinder, Motor Problem and GOMH

13" 1lb 5oz

5:50-7:20AM GOMH NE, SW, SE
33-30℉, MC, 4mph ENE

I decided to give the GOMH a go this morning.  I got skunked, but the loons were calling when I got there.  An eagle watched over the scene.  An Osprey flew over and redwing and other assorted birds were doing their thing.  I got to Bear Trax and they were almost out of minnows so I held off until the afternoon.

The Scotty Transducer Arm and Mount came in the mail today.  So I got that put together and headed to the lake sometime before 4PM, stopping to get screws and minnows at Bear Trax.  I took my sweet time replacing a rod holder and fliping another one and getting that Scotty Mounting Bracket on.  When I was all loaded I headed for Sullivan a little after 5PM.  I discovered when running I will want to tilt up the transducer because it catches water at full speed.  I thought maybe on plane it would be out of the water but it's not.  When I got around the small island I noticed a knocking sound.  I continued on to the GOMH.  A guy fishing on the SW side asked for the water temp.  I put the transducer back in the water. 47.20℉.  I fished for little ways in the intersection without success.  It was 6:15 or so I decided to head for F Flat.  The knocking in the motor prevented that.  I called Dad and asked him to get the trailer and pull me out at the Platte Lake Access. Bummer Deal.  I think it might be the lower unit, but not sure.  When I removed the lower unit oil I didn't notice any metal shavings.

8:45-10:45PM GOMH NE SE
40-55℉, PC, 0-6mph NE
47℉ Water

John W. was fishing the SE side and his girlfriend was on the SW side. I watched him catch a 23/24 golden as we were shooting the breeze.  That was my cue to go down on the NE side.  I got the 13" 1lb 5oz silver bullhead first.  I took the picture and threw it back. Lantern Man arrived.  After John left I got a 10.75" which I gave to Lantern Man.  I wasn't having any action and the wind came up so I went down on the SE side. I only got one silver there.  At 10:45PM I had enough.  Lantern Man wasn't getting anything either.

Viking picked WR Justin Jefferson LSU and CB Jeff Gladney TCU.  I hope Jefferson works out better than Treadwell.

Sunny Warmer Slowish Fishing

12" Cubby/minnow

17.25" Picasso Jig

6:15-9:00PM F Flat Brown Boathouse
40-58℉, Sunny, 0-20mph I was in the protected area, but there was some gustiness after it got calm after 7PM.

My new Garmin Fish Finder GPS arrived today.  Mom had to run a few errands in Onamia, so I was going to take the Expedition up to the lake place.  I wanted to be fishing by 5PM.  I went down to the pole barn to get the truck when I realized mom had my tackle bag in the Kia.  So I scrubbed the Expedition idea and got the Garmin mounted on the portable carrier that I originally used for my Vexilar before I replaced it with a different better one.  I am still waiting on a Scotty small craft transducer mount.  That should come tomorrow.  Mom got home at about 5:10PM and had Porky Burgers, so I ate half of mine before I left. I started fishing at 6:15PM.  There was a slight ENE wind when I arrived.  I had failed to notice previously that I only had about a dozen minnows left.  I started at "the dock" on F Flat than worked my way to the juice like I did yesterday.  When I got to the spot I dropped anchor not leaving any slack in the line. First fish was the 17-inch bass, which somehow pulled me out far enough that the anchor was no longer on the bottom.  Right after I caught the bass those two large loons came in to investigate what was going on. I ended up drifting right over the juice not realizing I was moving.  When I finally looked back towards shore I had moved about 35-feet to the SW.  I was like dang how did I not notice that.  I then used the trolling motor and caught a 13-inch bass on the Cubby.  Finally, around 7:45PM I got a crappie on the Cubby.  I didn't get another one until after the sun had set.  I managed to pick up three more pretty quickly and missed a few bites as well.  I put a stickleback on at one point and fish would peck at it but not take it.  Finally, I took it off and put on a regular crappie minnow and got bit immediately by a crappie.  I think a small bass was the last thing I caught.

I stopped at the GOMH on the way home.  Lantern Man and his kid were there.  They had gotten one jumper, one toothy, and one golden. No silver.  I didn't fish.

Successful Trip On F Flat

12.5" Panfish Hair Jig/minnow

19.25" 4/4 Panfish Jig/minnow

18" 3/3 Pure Poison/Swim Fluke Jr

Two Loons over the juice

6:00-9:00PM F Flat Brown Boat House
38-41℉, Overcast turning PC, 0-5mph ENE

I got a later start than I had planned on.  I woke up from my nap at 4PM but had other distractions.  I started to the East of "the dock".  Didn't get anything there.  I was about 10 feet to the west of the dock when I got a 13" bass on the Cubby and minnow.  I anchored but didn't draw anything more.  As I got closer to the juice I anchored again in about 3' of water in front of the Brown Boat House.  I got the 18" and a 16" bass throwing the Poison.  I then got the pig bass on the pink/white Panfish Hair Jig.  Steve sent me a text about a 3lb bass that an eagle had dropped on the road. The sun finally showed up and so did the crappies.  I got one on the Cubby.  On the very next cast, I had another bite hang me in the weeds and my line gave way.  I went back to the Panfish Hair Jig Rod.  A number of crappies would grab the minnow and just sit there in place leading me to believe I had caught a weed.  I missed about 5 bites that way.  I caught 6 crappies total throwing the big one back.  As it was getting dark I realized I hadn't put my headlamp in the jacket, doh.  The last bite of the night was 13-inch bass on the Panfish Jig.  I fished with the lighted bobber until 9PM, didn't get any bites.  I called ahead for Steve to put the boathouse outside light on.  When I got in I took my time and retied a new Cubby on the Cubby Rod.  I got to the GOMH at 10PM.  Lantern Man had gotten two silvers.  Since he wasn't crushing them and I didn't have my headlamp I decided not to fish.

6 Crappie
5 Bass

Skunked ON Windy Cold Day

8:00-9:00PM GOMH SW SE
35-40℉, PC, 12-17mph NW

Windy day, the ice really piled up on the East side of Mille Lacs today. I didn't go out in the Trophy because of it.  I was the only one at the GOMH.  Think I may have gotten a couple of bites on the SW side.  Another skunk.

F Flat Produces Again And A Silver Bullhead (No Picture)

11" Cubby/Minnow

17" Hair Jig/minnow

22" Hair Jig/minnow

17" Hair Jig/minnow

Fish stopped biting at Sunset

5:00-8:30PM F Flat
9:10-9:35PM GOMH SE
38-48℉, Mostly Sunny, 6-15mph W SW S

A little later start then I wanted to get.  I made a mistake and set the anchor down right away to the West of where I got the fish yesterday. The winds were lighter when I first arrived and I should have located the fish before anchoring.  I got the 17" bass right away, then nothing for the next hour until I pulled anchor.  I controlled drifted toward the area where I got the fish yesterday and had a crappie bite pretty much immediately on the Cubby.  I got one more crappie on the Cubby, then switched up to the Hair Jig.  I got 6 crappies on that lost about 4 more, 2 pike and the last fish of the night was a 16-inch bass.  Not fast and furious, but there was action.  It got pretty cool out there bobbing on the waves.  The wind was blowing 12mph out of the South when I left.  The motor worked fine on the way in.  I thought it made a couple noises on the way out.

I went to the GOMH and Lantern Man was fishing.  John W. was there talking to him. Not fishing.  I stayed for about 20 minutes and caught a small silver on my last cast.