Bass Pundit's Fishing Log Blog

Bass Snatcher Win!!! The 2011 Challenge Cup@ Fishtrap Lake

2011-10-11T06:08:00.000-05:00

(Bill Ludenia, Mark Munson, Dennis Lothspeich, Charles Steinbauer, and me. (Missing is Tony Bauer)

Well Team Baxter Bass Snatchers has done it again and won the Challenge Cup Tournament that pits the Brainerd area bass fishing clubs against one another. I fished the Challenge Cup Tournament in 2009 on Mission Lakes and 2010 on Sylvan Lake, and we won the Cup those years as well. Previously when I fished it was only the Snatchers and Range Bassmasters fishing against one another, but this year the Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters showed up to fish. The Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters had the Challenge Cup Trophy so I had never seen it before; As you can see in the picture, it's quite large.

Here is how it went down:
Baxter Bass Snatchers 66-5
Range Bassmasters 60-8
Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters 53-12

Normally each club provides 6 anglers to fish and the Challenge Cup winner is decided by the the best total team weight, but one of the other clubs was a person short; Because of that only the 5 best weights for a team counted towards each teams weight total this year. We went by the Range Bassmaster Club's rules this year and that meant a 5 fish limit. I had the Bass Snatchers worst bag, so my limit didn't count towards our winning total.

1st Place was taken by Snatcher Chuck Steinbauer with 14-14
2nd Place was Ranger Kevin Tengwall with 14-12
3rd Place was Snatcher Dennis Lothspeich with 14-8

Big Bass was 4-9.5 and caught by Ranger Mandy Uhrich who was in Brainerd Lakes Jim Eide's boat. She caught the fish around 9:30am on these Chompers Tubes:Mandy bought the tubes the day before at Gander Mountain just for this tournament. She had never used these tubes before but thought they looked good. I don't know if it was her instincts or training as a biologist but she obviously made the right call.

My Day:
The forecast was for clouds, showers and possible thunderstorms with 10-15mph winds out of the SE and temps starting in the mid-50's and getting above 70. Temps were on the money, and we had showers and clouds in the morning but around 11:30am the sun came out and never left. Wind speeds were about right, but out of the NE for most of the day.

I was suppose to be paired with Ranger Boater Brian Smude, but he dropped out so I fished with Ranger Jeremy Bjorgaard in his boat. While his boat wasn't much to look at it was actually really nice to fish out of as a non-boater. Jeremy was a really good guy and he went out of his way to try and make sure I caught fish. Still he kicked my butt pretty good with a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube.

Jeremy had pre-fished and was pretty confident we would be on quality and numbers. Our first spot, actually the very same first spot I fished the only other time I had been on Fishtrap Lake in the Fall of 2007, was a bullrush Island on the South end of the lake. We went around the whole thing keeping our distance and Jeremy got the first keeper in the boat on a spinnerbait. After we got around the whole thing once we moved in closer so we could pitch with a vertical presentation. Jeremy confessed that he thought we would both have a limit after one pass. I started throwing a green pumpkin jig with a orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug trailer and was rewarded with a nice 15.25 fish. That was the last fish we got on the bullrush Island. Next we went to a reed bed off the end of a point. Jeremy caught a small keeper on a blue/black crawtube which he immediately threw back. I had my green pumpkin crawtube get bit off by a pike.

Next we went to some reeds that were around an Island. I got a 14.5" bass on the jig with Wooly Bug. I missed a hit on a Herb's Dilly Buzzbait and Jeremy got a nice bass on the back side of the Island on a spinnerbait.

Next we went to another Island to an inside turn that went to a reed point. Jeremy proceeded to whack the fish, while all I could muster was a dink and 12.25" swimmer. It was kind of ugly as Jeremy must have gotten 10 good fish to my 2 and we were both throwing black/blue crawtubes.

Next we went to a weedline where Jeremy had gotten a couple of good fish in pre-fish. We were working our way up the side of a point where I told Jeremy we had caught fish the last time I was on the lake. Just about a minute later I had a hit on my spinnerbait and brought in a 12.5" swimmer. Jeremy said I pretty much called my shot.

Next we went back to our starting spot. I finished off my limit with a 14.5" on a spinnerbait and I had my green pumpkin jig bit off by a pike. I suggested we work the near by weed flat with the wind blowing on it. We were throwing spinnerbaits and I starting catching pike including a nice one we both thought was a bass at first. Jeremy got the first bass and then a couple of minutes later I got a 15.75", which was my big fish of the day. We worked up to another tournament boat and they said they hadn't gotten any bass on blades. At that point the sun came out and we headed to a weedline where Jeremy got quality fish in his pre-fish. It was dead.

We went to another weedline on the North end and that was pretty dead until we got to an inside turn and Jeremy pulled two fish in quick succession, but then that was it.

Next we headed to a saddle with a reed island. The wind was blowing in on it and it just looked prime. I got a 14.75 on a spinnerbait and I was very glad to have the 12 inchers out of the boat. On the back side of the reed island Jeremy pulled his big fish of the day on the crawtube. We worked along the back side of the saddle but nothing was home.

We went to another weedline where I missed a couple of bites on the crawtube.

Our last stop was the inside turn where Jeremy whacked them earlier in the day. I missed a bite that hit almost the second the crawtube hit the water. I decided to throw the Repo Man and I had a fish smack it, but not hook up. I threw back with a crawtube and got bit but I pooched it and that was it for the day. I think I had 9-12 or 9-14, which was on the small side for this day. Jeremy beat me by a little over 3 pounds.

As I said my weight got tossed and we won, so it's all good.

B.B.S. Birch(Hackensack) Oct. 1st.

2011-10-06T02:20:00.001-05:00

Conditions: Cool and clear Morning with moderate wind out of the SE growing to 15-20mph throughout the day.

We blasted everybody off as we were last boat out and we went right to our planned starting spot, which was the weed flat to the SW of the public access. Nobody else went that way. I put on a Paycheck Baits Repo Man "drag stripper" and within the first 10 minutes I had 15" bass in the boat. Within the next 10 minutes I had number two in the boat. My boater Owen then quickly caught 2 on a spinnerbait and we thought we were on to something, but it just died. Maybe we moved off the best area a little to quick. Unfortunately the two fish I pulled from this spot in pre-fish were both 16.5".

Next we headed into the West basin to the spot where Owen got his hawg in pre-fish. I saw a lot of baitfish, but we came up empty. We worked up to the other point and I had a hit on a crawtube, but didn't hook up. I cast back and got another quick pick up and drop. The crawtube had a pretty good rip in it, so it was probably a pike. As we were working down the point along the reed line. Owen brought in a small keeper bass and then so did I (12.5")on a black spinnerbait.

Next we headed to a point farther South where I wanted to go in and work the slop. We started along the point and I pulled a pike on the spinnerbait. Owen caught a bass a few minutes later out of about the same spot. We got down into the start of the slop and there were some reeds on both sides of the boat. I made a cast with a Zoom Horny Toad out into the lake and had a fish nail it right before I was out of the reeds. Wouldn't you know it but it got hung up. I watched the fish struggling back and forth and then it pulled free. I really should have muscled that one more. It wasn't a huge bass but it was a quality one probably around 2lbs or more. I was really hoping the slop would go, but it was dead. We worked some awesome looking stuff with wind blowing on it, but there was nothing there. On a long cast out across the weed flat with the spinnerbait I had a hit and brought in one just over 14". We then worked down in the wind along the weeds. I did have a nice bass that I could have used nip at a Cordell Spot and I got a couple of pike on the spinnerbait.

We got down around the big Island and I made a cast up by a buoy and got nailed by a 14.5". It seemed like a spot were a school might stack up, but that was the only one there. As we worked back around the island I had another bass that I could have used nip at the spinnerbait and not hook up. We got around the Island to where it was calm and I started throwing the Repo Man, but there was so much debris in the water that I kept getting hung up. We got a little past the debris field and I caught a small pike, then a 12.5" squeeker bass. I was glad to have a limit.

We only had a couple of hours left and with those topwater bites I thought maybe our starting spot would go, so we went there. I worked through several topwaters and couldn't get a hit. Finally Owen pulled a quality bass on a spinnerbait and I switched. I caught a 10 inch pike. We drifted along and I had one last good hit, but it got off about half way in.

Results: I thought I had 9 something, but my fish only went 8-12, which put me in 15th which was my worst finish of the year. Owen only had 5 for 7-00 which put him in 17th place. The winner had 15-8 and a little over half the field had 10lbs or better. Obviously we missed the quality fish.

Top 6 Race- Bill Ludenia placed 6th which tied us for 6th place in end of the year points (best 5 of 6 tournaments). Bill owned the tie breaker, so I dropped to 7th and out of "the wood". It's my bad as had I not counted that live fish as dead at Cullen I would have been in 6th free and clear. Also if all 6 tournaments counted than I had one more point, one more fish, and .88lbs more than Bill, so I actually had the better year statistically. I know I deserved 6th Place and I get to fish on the Bass Snatcher Challenge Cup Team, so it's all good.

Analysis- I don't think I was necessarily doing the wrong things in this tournament. We just spent far to much time on bad water. Some of that water I don't regret trying because it really seemed fishy. Our bites were just so random that there was nothing to key on. I am still flabbergasted that I was unable to pull a few fish on topwater at the end of the day. Between tournament day and pre-fish we may have just sucked that flat dry.

Great Night at the GOMH

2011-10-05T23:50:00.001-05:00

It has been very warm the last few days and so I wanted to get out. Couldn't last night with Dad getting home from the hospital. Today I had to go to the chiropractor again (I went yesterday) and then had to organize tackle for the Fishers of Men Fall Outing. I wasn't able to head out until well after 5PM, so I didn't take to boat but went to the GOMH with the intention of fishing there and at Jenny's.

I decided to start on the SW side and I noticed the water level was now down to about normal high. We haven't had any rain in more than a month. On my very first cast with a watermelon/red Tonka Tackle Halo Crawtube I knocked out this 15.5 jumpin bullhead.

I kept casting and on a cast across out from the bridge I had a pick up and brought in a 15" jumpin bullhead. Quite aways out on the edge of the slop something got blown up on. I thought maybe I could cast there with the Mad Maxx Frog on the Lamiglas Excel set up, but there was a bit of an incoming wind and I would have needed a tail wind to get it that far. I started casting "Big Sexy" about. On a cast across to some matted weeds I had a wake and then eruption. Nice!

It was regular big headed, but skinny 19" bullhead. It jumped several times, so I knew it was big. To bad it was so skinny. Probably went about 3.50lbs.
I went over to the SE side and tried a Zoom Horny Toad and had a big pike jump out of the water at it. I didn't want to lose the toad, so I didn't cast back.

Next I went to the NE side and started slinging the Crawtube. It took a few casts but I was rewarded with a 14.75" jumpin bullhead, then a 16" jumpin bullhead. I made a cast across to the rip rap and something took it right away. I set into a good fish.
I didn't realise how good it was until I had it out of the water. It was a filled out 19.75" and easily over 4.50lbs. Yes Derby Fish!!!

I proceeded to catch another 16" and a 14.25". I tried working a frog down the road but didn't get any hits. It might have gotten too dark.

Trophy Night

2011-10-03T22:23:00.005-05:00

It was a warm day and I needed to make sure the Trophy was running for the Fishers of Men Fall Outing this weekend, so I headed out a bit after 3PM. I stopped at the GOMH and I think I missed a couple of hits. I wasn't on the water until a little after 4PM. My original plan was to run docks in the big West bay but there were not many docks left in the lake.

At the first dock, I thought the Fluke got picked up but I set into nothing. No follow up bite. I worked in-between docks with a spinnerbait and Stanley Phantom (spook). At the second dock I had something boil on the Fluke but it didn't get it. I think it might have been a pike as I couldn't get a follow up. The 3rd Dock didn't give up anything. I was working to the next dock with the Phantom when this 18" blew it up.

It was a solid fish and I was off to a great start. The next dock had a pontoon boat on a lift and I casted underneath the side of the pontoon. I felt pressure and set the hook into something that felt good but then I got hung up. I had to break off.

Next I went into a field of pads and pulled out a nice 17.25" on a White Zoom Horny Toad. After that I think I got bit off by a pike and I switched to black and white swirl Horny Toad. I worked out on to the weed flat to some reeds and then back to a single dock. I pulled a 17.5" off the dock with the Horny Toad. The action hadn't been fast and furious, but these were nice fish and I wasn't even to prime time yet. I worked my way West and had a couple of nice follows from who knows what. I caught a small pike and on the last dock I pulled 3 bass from 11" to 14". I worked some of the most awesome looking rice, reeds, and pads but nothing was going. I worked my way out to where I saw a good swirl earlier, but nothing was home. It was getting dark and the skeeters sucked. I made a beeline for the standing weeds in the middle of the bay. I did well around that stuff late in the day last fall. As I was working my way around I had a swirl that didn't connect with the Phantom. I cast back and slowly worked the bait and it punched it. I think it was a nice bass, but it came off. That was the last bite.

As I was heading out in the dark I shut the cooler lid on one of my Shimano Crucial rod tips and broke it off. No warranty coverage from Shimano for that suck! Should have bought a St. Croix instead. And later the same night I just missed getting an awesome deal on St. Croix Avid Pearl 6'8". $80 shipped, are you kidding!!!!

Gomh and Jenny Sept 28th

2011-09-28T23:48:00.004-05:00

I don't remember this trip very well because I am blogging it a week later than I went. It was a good trip. I started at the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 6PM and there was no current and there was algae scum on the waters surface on both sides of the bridge but not everywhere. It had been a warm day and was calm by the time I fished. I think there were light winds that day. It was basically a trip to get my mind off Dad's by-pass surgery which would be the next day.

I started on the NE side per usual and I got this 14" jumpin bullhead on a watermelon/red flake Big Bite Baits Bio Bait Crawtube.
I think it was 14"
I think I might have gotten one more fish on the NE side and missed a couple of hits.

I then went to the SW side and pounded out 5 jumpin bullheads Crawtube from 12" to 14.75". I missed a few bites too.

The action died and I still had sunlight so I headed off to Jenny's. On my very first cast I had a hit on an orange and brown Zoom Horny Toad, but I missed it. I cast right back and it smoked it again. It was this fish:
I think it went 15". The toad came off, so instead of digging out a new bait I switched rods to a Mad Maxx "Big Sexy". I proceeded to pull a 14"+ from the same general area. I went over to Jenny's neighbors and popped a 16"+ that was in kind of close to shore. I think I missed one hit and also a pike try.

GOMH & Jenny's

2011-09-20T22:03:00.006-05:00

I headed out fishing around 4:30pm today. My first stop was the GOMH it was cloudy and windy out of the S SW. Around 5:30pm it started to sprinkle then light rain and the wind really came up for about 10 minutes. It then sprinkled off and on for the rest of the night with a pretty good wind.

I started on the NE side and the first lure I tossed was the bubblegum Ebay Chatterjig and I got a 12" jumpin bullhead on that.

I fished on the SW side and broke off a toothy bullhead that hit a grass craw Tonka Tackle Halo Craw Tube. I went back to the NE side and rigged up another grass craw Crawtube and got a 11.5" jumpin bullhead on that.

I casted around with a "big sexy" Mad Maxx Frog but didn't get any hits on that. I then switched up to a yellow nose/black River2Sea Bully Wa frog and got this 15.25" jumpin bullhead on that out of the pads.
I did have another hit in the same area but it didn't hook up. I started working East casting from the road and that is when it got rainy and windy. I traveled down the road quite a ways fishing in the various openings and it all looked good because there is no rice there this year. It's just sporadic pads turning into a big field of pads at the last and biggest opening to the East. I had one slap at it and missed one good hit at the end of a long cast. I don't know why I haven't fished this stuff earlier as it looks good.

I got to Jenny's about a quarter to 7PM. Over at her neighbors I had a pike go loco over a Zoom Horny Toad but it didn't get it. The pike jumped out of the water at it 3 times. I then went to the Bully Wa and got 2 nice bass on that out of the rice on long casts. I left around a quarter after 7PM.

Erskine, Bulldog, Jenny's Not Much

2011-09-17T20:19:00.003-05:00

After getting skunked at the Grumpy Old Man Hole last night I figured I would change it up for this evenings shore fishing excursion, so I headed to Erskine. I arrived at about a quarter to 7PM and started out throwing a brown/orange Zoom Horny Toad. On about my third cast the Pike in the picture hit it. Well I wasn't going to be skunked two nights in a row. A few casts later I had a very small pike or bass hit the toad. When I set the hook the fish went skipping along the lilly pads and came off. That was it for Erskine.

I tried Bulldog, nothing.

Last stop was Jenny's. First I tried the Horny Toad, nothing. Next I threw a white Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. I did get a hit on that but when I set the hook it came up empty. As it was starting to get dark I went with the Mad Maxx Frog. I made a cast over by where I got the hit and sure enough a pike went airborne while missing the frog. That was the extent of the action.

The Kathio State Park Dam

2011-09-14T22:54:00.006-05:00

There is a dam on the Rum River on the South end of Ogechie Lake in Kathio State Park. I've known this dam exists, but have never tried to fish it because I didn't feel like paying the fee to get into the park. However this year with the success I have had at the Shakopee Lake bridge over the Rum I figured I better check out what I have been missing. It's $5 for a day pass and $25 for a 1 year pass; Your first $5 day pass can be applied to a year pass.

Today was cold and windy, so I wasn't going to take the boat out to Platte/Sullivan, so I figured today would be as good a day as any to check out the dam. I arrived at Kathio around 1:30PM and after paying my dues and one wrong turn I made it to the proper parking lot. It's about an 1/10th of a mile hike from the parking lot to the dam. Thanks to looking at Google Earth I was aware of this and had packed my tackle into my small bag. I brought 6 rods with me.

The wind was out of the NW which meant the dam was sort of protected a bit. The water is on the high side and flowing fast. I started out throwing topwaters but didn't get any hits. Next I put on a Strike King Pure Poison with a Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty trailer. On my very first cast I had a good fish on. What would it be? Smallie? Largie? Pike? Muskie? Walleye? Carp? Dogfish? It kind of got caught up in some grass by shore, but I was able to pull it through and it was a nice largie.

It was a hefty 18.25" and with that being the 1st cast I thought I might be in for a whackfest. However I soon discovered there were not a bunch of fish stacked up and waiting to bite. Eventually I lost the Pure Poison to a snag. I cycled through a bunch of lures over the next couple of hours without a hit. Eventually I put on a pink chatterbait knock off that I bought on Ebay a couple of years ago. I made a long cast across the river and got hit by this little pike.
A little while later it started to sprinkle and then rain, so I went and stood under a tree as I didn't have raingear with me. After about 15 minutes the rain stopped and I went back to fishing. After about 10 minutes a guy showed up to fish. Unfortunately this was his first time fishing there, so he couldn't give me any information about how the spot fishes throughout the season. After about 10 minutes it started raining bb to pea sized hail. That lasted about 5 minutes then it rained for a couple of minutes and quit. At that point I had enough as I was wet and getting cold. I left around 5PM.

On the way in and out I hit the Shakopee bridge, but it was dead except for a hit from a very small pike.

Good Night At the GOMH

2011-09-13T23:23:00.007-05:00

I headed out of the house a little before 7PM and my first stop was the Grumpy Old Man Hole. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the South. Per usual I set up on the NE side. I started out throwing something new; A watermelon/red Big Bite Baits Bio Bait Crawtube. The BBB Crawtube is made of a biodegradable plastic that has "Bio Bait" scent which is slimy and stinks. They are on sale at Tackle Warehouse for $1.99 a pack and since I was getting some other things I couldn't resist picking up a few packs at that price plus a 15% discount for Labor Day. They are 4" just like a Lake Fork Crawtube, but they are more compact and less bulky than a Lake Fork CT.

Crawtubes have been my #1 bass catcher this season and obviously I was hoping these inexpensive baits would be fish catchers. I fished for about 10 minutes without a sniff and then on a cast to the middle of the channel just out from the bridge something nailed it, but when I set the hook nothing was there. I kind of figured it was a pike, but I kept casting to the area anyway. On about the 7 cast back something picked it up and this time I hooked it and it was a good fish.

She went 18.5". GOM Willard drove up just as I was taking pictures. He congratulated me on the nice fish and told me he had gotten a couple of jumpin bullheads yesterday, but nothing that big. I let her go and resumed fishing. A couple minutes later I had another hit and brought a 14"+ jumpin bullhead in. I offered it to Willard, but he didn't want it. A couple of casts later I got an 11" jumpin bullhead. After about 5 more minutes with nothing I headed to the South side. I got a couple of nibbles, but nothing to set the hook into. By the time I got back to the NE side it was getting dark pretty quick. I decided to throw a frog and on about the 3rd cast it got belted good up in the rice. It was obviously another good fish.

Choked the "Big Sexy" Mad Maxx

This one went 18.75"

I did get one more hit on the frog in the pads, but I think it was a pike. It got dark fast and I left a little after 8PM.

Rooster, Turkey, Duck, Geese, Dogs

2011-09-11T10:13:00.004-05:00

Got out before the sun rise this morning. First stop was the Bulldog PA. No Luck even though on a long cast I was able to get close to a spot where a fish came up. Next I went to Erskine. I started throwing a Zoom Horny Toad. There was a rooster crowing for a while, then I was joined by a turkey and ducks started quacking from the same direction as the rooster.. I had a couple of hits on a black/yellow River2Sea Bully Wa frog but I couldn't convert. A bunch of geese flew over me fairly low. I caught a pike on a white Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig off the dock. Right after that I had a small bass on that got off. On the next cast to the exact same spot I got a bigger bass, but it came up and tailwalked and spit the hook. Soon after that a pug showed up and I could see a boxer over by the houses. The turkey followed me around. Didn't get anymore hits.

I went to Rock, nothing.

I went to Jenny's, nothing even though there was some fish activity.

Got home a little after 9AM.

Morning Froggin'

2011-09-10T09:46:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I got my replacement rod from St. Croix for the frog rod I broke in July (I didn't mail it until the end of last week). So this morning I wanted to go out and throw a few casts to break it in. I decided the reel I'm putting on this St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Carolina Rig Rod is better suited to a weighted hook with a dipper rather than an unweighted Zoom Horny Toad, so that is what I rigged it up with. My older LTB Carolina Rig Rod was rigged with the Horny Toad.

A little after 7AM I headed out to Jenny's. Nothing doing on the Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig and the Horny Toad. The lure of last resort was a Mad Maxx Frog which I can throw out quite a bit further than the 1st two lures I tried. Getting out farther was the trick and I had a blow up which I missed. I cast out to the same general area and something exploded on it again and this time I hooked up.

It was a chunky 15.5". I did manage to get a couple of other weak hits, but didn't hook up with them. I think I left around 9AM

Small GOMH

2011-09-08T09:35:00.001-05:00

Headed out to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. Water is down just a bit but still really high even though we haven't had any rain in the past couple weeks. First order of business was testing a new topwater lure called a Ball Frog from Balsley Lure Company. Didn't get anything on that. Went through a battery of baits before catching this 10" jumpin bullhead on a Tonka Tackle Halo Crawtube.

This was all I caught. It seems that the fish may have vacated the GOMH for the year. I can't say I've ever done well there in the Fall.

B.B.S. Fish Hook Lake August 27th

2011-08-31T21:17:00.000-05:00

If this sounds like whining it is: It really bites when your best bag of the year is only good enough to be equal with your worst finish place wise of the season. The boys caught em' good in this one. New Baxter Bass Snatcher Club tournament record for average size of bags weighed (13.20lbs).

Here's how the day went.

Conditions: Mix of sun and clouds with overcast for the last couple of hours. Light winds. Cool in the morning warming up to the mid to high 70's.

The plan to start the day was to hit some docks that I pulled a 3+lber off of one of them in pre-fish. These docks had reeds around them that were sometimes thick and sometimes sparse. In one of the sparse area's I made a cast up by some weeds that were in the reeds and I had a pick up on my bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke, which turned out to be a 15.5" largie. In another thick area of reeds I had a fish which I'm 90% sure was a pike smack a white Berkley Havoc Grass Pig. The docks were a bust and we soon headed off to a weedline spot.

Right away at the weedline I brought in a nice 15.25" bass on a rusty Craw Tonka Tackle Halo Craw Tube. I was off to a pretty good start. As we were working our way down my boater Chuck got his first fish, which was in the same general size range of my two. I got bit off by a pike and decided to try a little lighter weight on my Texas rig Craw Tube. I got a 13.25" on that. Chuck also got another fish. With the calm to light ripple I decided to try a Berkley Frenzy Popper. That wasn't happening and while I was fooling around with that, Chuck caught his best fish of the day. Pretty soon Chuck was encouraging me, mocking me really, to keep throwing the topwater. Eventually I put down the topwater and tried a crankbait, as Chuck brought in a couple more fish. Eventually I did get back to the Crawtube but didn't get any more bites in this area.

After we fished through the area 3 times, we headed off to try some more docks, which was a bust. Eventually we got into some reeds where I think Chuck picked up his limit fish and one that went back and I got a 14.5" bass on a "big sexy" Mad Maxx Frog.

I think our next stop was Chuck's honey hole from the last club tournament on Fish Hook. I think Chuck got a rock bass. Next we headed to another weedline where I think got bit off so I changed to a black/red fleck Lake Fork Crawtube with which I had gotten some good fish in pre-fish. I stayed with the lighter bullet sinker. I got a 13.5" bass and a pike. We headed back to the first weedline we hit and I got a pike and maybe Chuck picked up a bass or two. We talked to one of the club boats, which was up working the reeds and Mark said it was slow, but he had a limit.

Next thing we did was go to the reeds. I threw a frog while Chuck threw a jig and maybe a Crawtube as well. We worked the reeds for quite a while and I don't remember if Chuck got a fish or not. I think he might have missed a bite or two. We got to an area where there was an open pocket back in the reeds and Chuck asked me if I wanted to go back in there. I said why not and so we did. I made a cast toward the far end of the pocket and a fish just lit up Mad Maxx. It jumped and we saw it was a big fish. I got it in and it had choked the frog. Here she is:
Chuck thought it might go 5. I measured it and it was something over 19 inches, but I'm not sure how long as the measuring board ended at 18inches. Turns out the fish only went 4-5, but this fish was huge for me and probably bumped me 5-7 places in the standings. That was it in those reeds.

It was sunny out so we went and re-tried the 2nd set of docks, but that was a bust again. We went back and re-hit a weedline spot that we had trouble getting on the first time because of another tournament boat. I pulled up a pike on the Crawtube and then Chuck landed several bass most of which didn't help him, but would have helped me. I think I got a 13" that didn't help me. Eventually we got up on this point and pitched into the holes in the grass that we could see, Chuck got a couple more that didn't help him.

It started to cloud up and we headed to either a marina or resort of something where there were 2 docks with lots of boats. On the very last boat on the 1st dock Chuck pulled a fish and I got a 14" on the bubblegum Super Fluke which culled the 13.25". I don't think we got anything on the 2nd dock.

Chuck remembered a reed and slop spot so we headed there next. We worked ourselves into the inside edge of the reeds and then there was a little open area before a big field of pads started. As we worked along Chuck fished the reeds with a jig or a frog and I threw my frog to the pads. Chuck pulled a fish out of the reeds, so I started working them too. I made a cast and something moved, so I just worked the frog in place for about a minute. Just as I was about to reel it in, a fish sucked in the frog and it was a 14.5". I couldn't remember if I wrote down my last cull or not, so I wasn't sure which was my smallest fish. I pulled out the two proper colored ropes and looked at the fish. They looked to be about the same size, so I threw back the one on the yellow cull tag thinking I had indeed forgotten to write down my last cull. I put the new fish in the box, then measured the fish on the orange cull tag, so I could write down the length. I was shocked to discover this fish was only 13.5" and was the one I should have culled out. It's hard to say if this error cost me because I needed 3 more ozs to move up and when I compared the 2 fish, they looked pretty even to me. Should have used Chuck's cull beam to be sure. Anyway Chuck got a good cull out of the reeds on a frog.

I think there was about an hour left and so we headed for the reeds where I had gotten my big one. I had several fish boil on the Mad Maxx, but only 1 took it and that was a small fish that I waterskied on the hookeset and it came off. Unfortunately most of the missed bites couldn't be followed up with another lure as they were at the end of long casts or in reeds to thick for anything but the frog. With about 20 minutes to go we took a 3rd pass on a certain set of docks, but they were worthless again and that was the end of our day.

Results: My 6 fish went 13-7, which put me in 12th place out of 22 anglers, which was actually a bit of a relief when I saw the official standings as I thought I was going to be 13th or 14th. The winning bag was 19-1 and big bass was 5-5. Chuck had 15-7, which only got him 6th Place.

Top 6 Race: In the race for the Top 6 at the end of the year, which was a 3 way race for the final 2 spots going into this tournament (Mark M., Bill L, and I), basically Mark guaranteed he will be there with a 3rd Place finish. I finished 4 spots in front of Bill and both of us tied our worst finishes of the year (we throw the worst tournament out so 5 of 6 count). A surprise was that another guy (Barry M.) moved into the race with his 8th Place Finish. Going into the last tournament I have 5 places on Barry and 6 places on Bill, so my lead more than doubled, but I really blew a chance to effectively close the door.

Analysis- Coming into the tournament I really wanted a Top 8 finish as I had a very good partner draw. I thought a 13lb bag would put me right there. As it turned out Fish Hook produced some of the best fishing the club has ever seen. There were four 13lb bags and mine was the lightest of them. I didn't even finish in the top half of the field. I can't be too disappointed as things could have gone far worse had I not caught the big one I did, but then again with the big fish a more competitive bag was well within reach. Chuck out fished me pretty bad in terms of number of bass caught; It was pretty close to 2-1 if not more.

One thing I'm left to wonder about is going lighter on my Texas Rig sinker with the Crawtube. The change produced a smaller grade of fish then what I got in pre-fish and my biggest Crawtube bass of the day came with the heavier weight. There were also several instances where fish picked up the Crawtube and dropped it quickly and wouldn't pick it back up again. The only fish that did that and picked it up again was a pike. The black red fleck Lake Fork Crawtube that gave me 3 nice bass in pre-fish was a bust, even though light conditions were close to the same. I never did throw a Yum Wooly Bug, which is something that produced 14.5-15.5 bass in pre-fish. I also never threw a jig.

Next Bass Snatcher Tournament: October 1st @Birch (Hackensack)

Fishing with Turkey's

2011-08-30T21:19:00.003-05:00

Pete was still around today, so we went fishing around 4PM. First we hit Bulldog at Holy Family and got nothing. Pete then suggested we try Erskine and so we went there. I didn't realize the Erskine public access is actually worth fishing. It has some nice pads right out from shore and there is quite a bit of area to fish. Anyway while we were fishing some domesticated turkeys came along and sat down right behind me. Pete was amused by this and took pictures. While the Turkeys were there I had a fish hit at my white Berkley Havoc Grass Pig twice. Somehow I didn't hook up either time. Eventually we left with the turkeys still wanting to follow us.

Next we went to Rock where Pete had 2 bites on his pink spinnerbait. The second fish got caught in the reeds and Pete's line broke. I think I had one hit on the Crawtube, but it dropped it before I could set. It started to rain.

Next we headed to Jenny's where we amazingly couldn't get hit.

Next we headed to our Lake Place where I got a 15"+ on the River2Sea Frog by a clump of pads up by shore. Didn't have the camera with. I had another fish show at the frog, but I couldn't get it to hit a second time. I think it might have been a dogfish.

Kelly J Don's Dock

2011-08-29T21:04:00.004-05:00

Pete is still here for one more night. We got out of the house at about a quarter to 8 and headed right to Don's. When we arrived Don was out on his dock per usual. He had been getting a few gills. I started out with a Crawtube, but quickly switched to a Repo Man. There was very little wind and a slight ripple on the water. Don got 2 more nice gills. I switched to a bluegill color Lucky Craft Kelly J and this bass blasted it.

I would say it was about 15.5". That was the only hit and about 5 minutes more fishing and we left cause of skeeters.

Fishing with Pete & Gordy at Camp Lebanon

2011-08-28T22:06:00.007-05:00

Pete talked me into heading out to fish with Gordy today. I think we arrived at Cedar Lake in SW Morrison County a little after 4PM. The lake has fairly clear water water and it was sunny. We fished shallow in some reeds where I got this 13" largie on a big sexy color Mad Maxx frog.
We then fished up shallow along the South shore in the shade of overhanging trees. I made a good cast and was distracted by something. I felt a tug immediately looked up saw my Mad Maxx frog was gone, so I set in this 14"+ fish.

A little ways down we came to a dock where Gordy got 2 bass yesterday and he pulled out this dude on a Senko.

Gordy had a couple more bites but was unable to land the fish. I think I had a fish pick my Crawtube but before I could set it dropped it. Gordy had to go in to head home at about 6PM.

Pete and I went to the GOMH and got nothing, then to Jenny's and got nothing, then to Don's Dock where Pete got a nice 15"+ bass and small pike on his pink spinnerbait. I didn't get a hit on the Crawtube and I really wished I would have brought my topwater stuff down as it was dead calm.

Pete & Don on Don's Dock

2011-08-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

I had all my gear packed for tomorrows tournament, so I just brought a rod to throw some 2nd tier topwater stuff. Don got that 1 Crappie and Pete caught a pike and that bass and sunfish. I was skunked, there was more ripple on the water than I would have liked for the topwater.

Night on Don's Dock with Don & Pete

2011-08-26T15:11:00.004-05:00

Went over to Don's after 7PM last night. I stuck first blood with a pike, that I thought we were giving to Don, so I put it up in his yard. Turns out Don, didn't want it, so Pete took it. Will it get cleaned or not? That is the question. Don caught a few gills and Pete got skunked. There was a nice sunset with rays coming through the clouds.

Mad Maxx Strikes

2011-08-23T22:55:00.001-05:00

Went to the GOMH a bit after 7PM. Willard was there. It was pretty dead, but I did manage this fish on a big sexy Mad Maxx Frog just out from the rice lining the West side of the North GOMH channel. I also had a toothy bullhead hit my crawtube; it came off at the rocks.

Water is very high!

2 Trips 2 Days 3 Fish

2011-08-22T21:55:00.008-05:00

Yesterday I headed to the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 3PM. GOM Willard was there along with another older guy. There was couple fishing the SW side and the NW side they both has a few nice orange bullheads and the guy on the NW side said he got a jumpin bullhead. I couldn't get anything. I thought I might have had something pick up the Crawtube way under the bridge, but it let go right away. The others left and I kept trying. A young lady all by herself showed up and started fishing. Neither of us got anything. I tried the SW side and there was a Rattlin Rap sitting there. I went up to the North side and asked if it was the lady's, but she said no. That is when I noticed it was cracked. No action on the South side, so I headed up to the car and started long casting to the slop from the road. The lady I gave a jumpin bullhead to the previous night showed up so I went and talked to her. She said after I left she had several bullheads bite, but was unable to catch any. She said the fish I gave her was good. Then she told me the story of "the Demon Fish" she encountered out there last year. Me and the young lady got a kick out of her story. From the description it sounded like either a pike or a dogfish. Tonight Willard told me it was a dogfish. Anyway I left and headed to Jenny's.

At Jenny's I was just about to leave when I had a blow up on "Big Sexy"

That is a Mad Maxx Frog big sexy color.

After that I headed to the Rock Dock. I was fishing a Crawtube when I got a hit and caught this little dude.

And that was it for the night.

Tonight I headed out to the GOMH a little after 7PM. As I was getting my stuff out of the truck GOM Willard showed up. The lady from the last couple of days was there as was another guy and his son fishing on the N side of the bridge. The lady says she caught a big fish last night. At first I thought it was a jumpin bullhead and I was bummed she kept it, but then it became clear it was a toothy bullhead instead, so I didn't care. I went down to the SW side, which was dead. After about half and hour I headed to the NE side. As I did the lady had a fish putting a serious bend in her pole, it ended up breaking her off. The older kid said it was a toothy bullhead. Willard came down by me and spotted a bobber that was under the water. I tried casting to it but the bobber disappeared, probably that lady's fish. We saw what we thought might be a dogfish surfacing out by the channel pads, It may also have been that lady's fish with the line stuck in the weeds causing the fish to swim at the surface. Whatever I couldn't get it to bite. I was pitching right in front of me when I had a hit on the grass craw Tonka Tackle Halo Crawtube. I set hard, but into nothing as a pike had obviously shredded my line and stole that Trokar Flippen Hook. Now I'm down to 2 hooks.

Not wanting to go back to the car to retie I started throwing the bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke. One time I pitched it out to the hole right out in front of me when something grabbed it. I thought it was going to be that pike, but when I set the hook I immediately saw it was a big bass. It stripped drag and almost got into the pads but I was just able to keep it out with the 14lb Fireline. I pulled it in to the kid who was down on the rocks and he lipped it. I figured this was the same fish I caught 2 days ago and sure enough it was the same length at 19.5"

This was the only fish I caught.

GOMH Derby Fluke

2011-08-20T19:52:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I wanted to get out to throw a Zoom Super Fluke and get more experience with the Trokar Flippen Hook. I headed out to the GOMH at about 5PM and started on the NE side. My first offering was the bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke and I caught a 12" jumpin bullhead right away. A little bit after that I missed a bite, which tore the nose up on the Fluke, so I had to go to the car to get another. I then started throwing up under the bridge and missed a couple of hits. Finally on the 3rd try I hooked up and it was a good one.

She went 19.5". Unfortunately when I pulled the hook out I stuck myself pretty good in the finger and started bleeding pretty good. I had to run up to the car to see if I could find a band aid or napkin. While I was doing that a lady showed up to fish. Before I could get back to fishing two boats also went under the bridge. The lady was after sunfish and she fished off to the NW side so I was still able to cast under the bridge. Unfortunately I think the boats spooked the fish I think that were there. Eventually I did pull a 14" jumpin bullhead. I tried the Crawtube and missed one hit. Then I worked the pads and slop with a Grass Pig and Mad Maxx, but didn't get anything. The lady hooked into a 13" class bass and was bringing it up onto the bridge when her line broke and the fish got away. I went and fished the SE side and got a 13" on the Fluke which I gave to the lady. I missed another hit. A thunderstorm started moving in so I left around 7PM.

Escape The Skunk

2011-08-19T08:47:00.003-05:00

I was up at 7AM and I decided to hit the GOMH. Yesterday I broke down and bought a pack of 5/0 Trokar Flippen Hooks because they were 50% off at Mills Fleet Farm and I wanted to test them out.

I get to the GOMH and got nothing on the Think Tank Triggerfish. No big deal. I then went right to the Lake Fork Crawtube with the Trokar Hook. Nothing. I went to the SW side and couldn't get a bite there either. I went back to the NE side and on my first cast this jumpin bullhead picked it up.
I was pleased not to be skunked. I made a cast way under the bridge and got hung up. Had to break off. Went to get another Trokar Hook and discovered there were only 4 in the pack.

I started pitching to the pads and my line jumped and I caught a toothy bullhead and that was it.

GOMH Morning Fun

2011-08-16T10:13:00.004-05:00

I got out to the Grumpy Old Man Hole about 6:30AM and no current was moving. The water is even higher than last week and there is a sign as you go into Sullivan that asks for No Wake in Sullivan. I don't know if the lakes are all No Wake now or not. I started out fishing with a Think Tank Triggerfish on the NE side and I got this 14.75".

That was the only one I could get on topwater and really it wasn't a topwater fish as I caught it working the bait sub-surface. I then switched to a green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube and got a couple of more jumpin bullheads. I went to the SW side and got a jumpin bullhead on the Strike King Pure Poison and a couple on the Crawtube. I then went back to the NW side and didn't get anything. I went to the NE side and made a couple of casts with a Zoom Horny Toad to guage my distance. I then switched reels and gained 10 to 15 feet. On one of my casts this 15.5" just smoked the Horny Toad.

A few casts later I broke my line on the cast. I tied on a yellow Horny Toad. I threw some casts with the Mad Maxx Frog and even had a good hit, but I didn't hook up.

I then went to Jenny's and caught a small pike on the Horny Toad. I think I have caught every hit I've had on the Horny Toad with the 7'3"MH St. Criox Legend Tournament Bass Carolina Rig Rod and now that I'm getting better casting distance, this is a combo I'm thinking about for the rod replacement I'll be doing.

Fuego GOMH

2011-08-09T10:05:00.006-05:00

I couldn't resist bidding on a couple of Team Daiwa Fuego reels that were spelled Diawa in there listings. The sellers error was my gain as I picked them up for an excellent price. I was the only bidder on both. They arrived yesterday and I had to try them out this morning.

Yes the new reels performed well and I landed some jumpin bullheads

I got 6x 14's"
4x 13's"
2x 12's"
1x 11.5"

3 were caught on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison with beat up black/blue Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty trailer.
The other 10 went to a green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube, pushing the Crawtube into the #1 spot for my bass catchers this year.

I got fish on the South and North sides. I missed a few hits as well.

GOMH Morning Trip

2011-08-07T15:15:00.004-05:00

I was up so I hit the GOMH a little after 6AM. The water has come way up again, about as high as it's been all year. I started out with topwater on the NE side but that was a bust. I threw out the green pumpkin Crawtube and my first hit was this toothy bullhead.

A few casts later and I pulled in this 13" jumpin bullhead.

I got one more 13" and missed a couple more bullheads (jumpin & toothy)

I did get a couple bites on a small Gander Mtn. Beaver, but didn't hook up. I tried the South side, but didn't get any bites. I left at around 7:30am.

Last Stop Saved From Skunk

2011-08-06T22:46:00.004-05:00

Tonight I wanted to try hitting a new spot, but first it was old one's. I was under way just after 7PM.

GOMH-People there fishing, didn't stop.

Jenny's- Skunk

Bulldog- Skunk

Whitefish Outlet Culvert- Skunk

Whitefish Outlet at 169 Bridge- Skunk

Shakopee Bridge- People fishing so I went to Subway.

When I got done eating my Subway it was getting dark fast. I elected to try back at the Shakopee Bridge. I got chewed by mosquito's, but my Crawtube also got chewed by this 16.5" largie.

I did have a couple of other hits that didn't hook up. After it got sufficiently dark I decided to leave. I decided not to hit Eddy's Jetty as the skeeters probably would have been pretty bad there too and I didn't have a headlamp.

August Morning At The GOMH

2011-08-05T08:28:00.006-05:00

I was up at daybreak, so I decided to do some fishing. So off I headed to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. I started out throwing the Think Tank Lures Triggerfish on the NE side.

BAM!

I got 2 13inchers on the Triggerfish and I missed one hit.

Next I threw a white Zoom Horny Toad. I had to work it subsurface to get the 13 incher I got on that. I also had a fish swirl on it subsurface.

I tried the Dagored, Kelly J, and Kelly J Jr. I switched to a green pumpkin Crawtube and got an 11", 12", and 13"

John W. showed up and told me he got 8 last night including a couple of 21's. Translated he caught a couple of bigger bullheads, who knows how big.

He managed to pull in 3 jumpin bullheads with his tube, which he kept.

I tried the South side but didn't get anything. Also skunked at Jenny's.

B.B.S. Mississippi River(Lum Park) July 31st

2011-08-04T03:52:00.001-05:00

(Tournament Winner Dennis Lothspeich 18lbs)

Conditions- Temps started in the high 60's and went up to the low 80's. Sun and light winds.

I believe we blasted off around 10 to 7AM and my boater Paul and I headed upriver. On the way we got passed by 2 or 3 boats. Thankfully none of them were headed to our starting spot. Our starting spot was a fair sized backwater lake with clear water and excellent looking weeds where we had a few bites in pre-fish. We started at the mouth of the lake in the river and worked our way in. It didn't take long and I was casting to the area I had a blow up on my hookless spook during pre-fish. Unfortunately nobody was home. We worked our way North against the East bank in excellent looking rice with pads. After about 20 minutes of working the East bank. I started throwing the big sexy Mad Maxx frog to the West out where there were some small pad clumps with submergent weeds that reached the surface. As I was pulling onto a pad clump I had a fish boil on the frog. When I came off the pads, there was no follow up so I reeled in and cast back to the spot. This time after I came off the pads something hit the frog but didn't take it. I let the frog sit than slowly started working it and this time the fish came up and took down the frog. I got a fairly good hooksett and felt the weight of the fish, but then my frog came flying back at me. I don't know if it was a bass or not, but missing my first bite was not a good way to start the day.

Eventually we started running away from the East bank and started fishing to the West while moving South. Man was this some prime looking water. On one of my casts to this fabulous looking stuff a 18" Largie that went 3lbs 10ozs smashed my rainforest yellow Spro Bronzeye Frog. Man was I glad to have her in the boat. Not only would I not skunk, but I had a quality fish. As we worked our way South and started moving to along out from the South Bank I started throwing a yellow Zoom Horny Toad. On a cast back out to the North to some isolated pads with submergent weeds that were to the surface I had a bass blow up the toad. I set the hook and my telescopic 7'3" St. Croix Avid broke in two at the telescoping point about 9 inches above the reel. Holding just the rod handle with the rest of the rod in the lake, I just continued to crank and was pleasantly surprised when a 14.25" largemouth was still attached to my hook in a mess of weeds. Breaking the rod really sux as it's one of my favorites and they no longer make that model. I had 2 of them, so now only 1 is left.

We worked our way back towards the mouth of the lake and my boater Paul had a blow up on his frog out by the river. The fish didn't get the frog, so I told him to cast back and see if it would hit it again. He cast back and sure enough he had another hit and this time he hooked up. In the process of catching the fish and getting it in the well we drifted out to where the lake mouth met the river. I cast a green pumpkin Lake Fork Craw tube upriver to a small point in the rice and sure enough I had a hit. I laid the wood and brought another 14.25" into the boat. We kind of sat there and worked the area and then started moving up river to the North. I had what I think was a pike flash at my Crawtube, but it didn't get it. Subsequent casts didn't produce any bites. We kept moving North in the river pitching to the rice wall. After doing that and not getting anything in about 20 minutes we switched to the opposite shore which is a big rice island. As we were making our way to the head of the island, I had a bite, but it was a rock bass.

At the head of the island we met another club boat and they only had 1 bass at that point. We moved up river aways and fished the West rice line down to up river of another backwater. Once we got about 25 yards past the mouth of the backwater, we fired up the big motor to run back to the mouth. We had a couple of bites in this backwater in prefish. Even though there was baitfish activity, we didn't have any luck and we headed out after covering about 50 yards.

We went back to our starting spot and basically ran the exact same loop. We got into the same general area where I had lost that first fish, but the boat was now West of the isolated pad clumps. I was throwing a white Zoom Horny Toad and had a bite in close to the boat. The fish pulled on the Toad but didn't hook up. I pitched the toad back into a weed opening and let it sink. As I was kind of working the Toad in place, something came and took the Toad. I set the hook, but didn't hook up and the Toad was pretty ripped up. Probably a pike, but who knows. I quickly got the Toad re-rigged and threw back into the weed opening. Nothing. We worked through the great looking stuff and as we were working off the South bank. I caught a pike casting out to isolated pads just like with my 2nd bass. Just a bit after I got the pike, Paul caught a small bass.

Eventually we worked our way back out to the mouth. We were sitting in the mouth when I had a bite. I had the fish on long enough to see it was a pike before it got off. I was pitching into the rice right behind the boat, when I saw my line jump. I thought for sure it would be a bass, but I pulled out about an 16 inch pike.

Next we headed to the spot where another boat started on the East side of the rice island we fished before. Another club boat was working the East bank on the channel of the river. They had 2 fish and 1 fish. One of the guys said he had caught 5 or maybe it was 6 species of fish. We worked our way up the East bank of the island, so we were casting West. I had a bite, but came up empty on the hooksett. I pitched the Crawtube back to the spot and it hit it again. This time I hooked up. Dogfish!!! As I was playing it next to the boat and it got off. Up river a little ways I got snagged and had to break off. I started pitching a small Gander Mountain green with multicolored fleck beaver. As we got up toward the head of the island I had a hit and set the hook. The tails of my beaver were gone. I tried pitching back to the spot tailless but didn't get anything. At the top of the Island we were able to talk with the boat we met at the top of the island before as these guys were working up the West side of the river. I think they had 2 fish a piece and had lost some fish.

There was about an hour and a half left at this point and as it seemed the main river rice just wasn't being productive so we headed up to Little Rabbit Lake. As we were taking the channel in, another club boat followed right in behind us. They were sitting at 4 and 0 with the 4 being smallies that they went way up river for in the morning. They started fishing a point and so we went to the next point down the lake. I had re-rigged a green pumpkin Crawtube and started throwing that. As we worked the point I got a few bites, including one that was very promising, but every hooksett came up empty. After we got around the point we moved to another weedline. It was pretty dead until we got to another little point. I had a bite and set the hook catching yet another little pike. With about 10 minutes left to fish we went and hit some slop, which was fruitless.

We got back with about 5 minutes to spare.

Results- My 3 bass went 6lbs 9ozs, but I had a 2oz dead fish penalty. Without the penalty I would have been 10th, but I dropped to 11th out of 24. 11th Place wasn't a bad finish as I placed ahead of all 3 guys that I am in competition with for the final two spots in Top 6 for the end of the year standings race.

The winning bag of 18lbs came from way up river and consisted of 5 smalls and 1 Larry. The 2nd (16-8) and 3rd Place (16-7) anglers reportedly stayed in Rice Lake and just whacked the snot out em' on weedlines with Crawtubes. 5 limits were caught, which is actually pretty good and there were 3 bags with 5 fish and 2 bags with 4. I was the only 3 fish bag, 8 guys had 2 fish, 3 guys had 1, and there were 2skunks. 6 of the Top 10 anglers came from the same 3 boats.

Analysis- I knew going in this one was probably going to be tough and every fish was critical. Losing that first bite in the morning was unfortunate, but it might not have even been a bass. I may have had the bites to get a limit, but probably not. The fish dying on me was just bad luck as it was a bleeder. Actually my big fish was also a bleeder that I didn't think was going to make it, but at the end of the day that fish was in great shape. I wish we would have had more time in Little Rabbit as a limit came out of there. I also found myself wishing I had a Zoom Super Fluke to try in the weed pockets of the lake where we caught our fish. After I broke the rod, I put a Horny Toad on my dipper rod. I could have put the dipper on my Herb's Dilly rod, but as it was I didn't throw a dipper at all.

Jenny's- 5 Fish Limit

2011-08-03T21:49:00.004-05:00

Tonight I headed out a little after 8PM to do some fishing. I was going to stop at the Bulldog access first, but there were people there swimming, so I went to the Holy Family access, which was a bust.

Next I headed to Jenny's and started chucking a white Zoom Horny Toad. On about my 10th cast I pulled a 12.25" largie from the same spot I got the one last night. About 5 casts later I pulled another 12.25" from the same spot. About 3 casts after that a 14.50" annihilated the Horny Toad. After quite a few more casts with nothing, I switched to Mad Maxx to hit some of the farther holes in the grass, but that didn't get anything.

I headed over to Jenny's neighbors and got a 15" on the Horny Toad. I worked the water over there hard but didn't get anymore bites. It was getting pretty dark and the skeeters were coming out, but I decided to give Jenny's one more try. On my "last cast" I pulled another 12" bass on the Horny Toad.

Smaller Than It Looks

2011-08-02T22:28:00.003-05:00

Tonight I hit up Jenny's at Sunset. I started out throwing a white Zoom Horny Toad and got this 14.25" Larry. A few casts later I had another hit, but I broke the line at the reel on the hookset. I was able to reach the line, but the fish was gone. Still I got my hook and Horny Toad back. I made a few casts with a big sexy Mad Maxx frog and had a small pike come flying out of the water on it, but miss the lure. I went over to Jenny's neighbors and had a hit on the Horny Toad. The line broke at the Toad, so it was probably a pike. Even though it looked good with duckweed and rice, I didn't get any more hits throwing Mad Maxx. The skeeters got to bad and so I quit.

Mississippi River(Lum Park) Pre-fish

2011-07-29T01:14:00.006-05:00

This post is a different more complete report than I am putting on Bass Pundit and the BP Tournament HQ at least for now. I don't think my fellow Bass Club members frequent this blog, so giving away the store isn't a big deal.

I met my boater Paul at the Lum Park a little after 7AM. He showed a bit late and I took a few casts from the park beach. I did get a bite on the Crawtube, but I didn't hook into anything.

Paul has the only Triton in the Baxter Bass Snatchers, almost all the other boats are Rangers.

Anyway Paul said we would start off by taking a tour and we ran up river a long way to Little Rabbit Lake. I was surprised by the clear water in Little Rabbit. We just looked and didn't do any fishing. We saw baitfish activity as the channel from the river entered Little Rabbit. As we were on our way out Paul wanted to take a side channel, but it was filled in with weeds, so we went back out to the river and entered the side channel from a different spot. It was a backwater with rice and pads that went back to a few docks and this is where we started fishing. Nothing.

Next we went back to the river and went to another back channel on the North side of the river. This channel had rice, pads, and a lot of duckweed. Paul pulled a nice bass out of the duckweed on a frog, but that was it. I was throwing a Strike King Rage Toad.

We went back out to the river and drove down aways to another backwater on the North side that's entrance was choked by rice. This was a long backwater with rice, pads, and duckweed. Paul missed a blow up on the frog. I was throwing the Rage Toad and a bubblegum Berkley Havoc Grass Pig. I had what I'm pretty sure was a pike swirl on the pig a couple of times. Paul tried to get it to hit his frog, but it wouldn't. After fishing quite aways in we went out under power of the big motor.

Next we started fishing by drifting along the rice on the main channel on the North shore. After drifting for a while Paul pulled a good bass that just smacked his Crawtube. Ron Lindner advised that I fish with cut off hooks, so I had put tubing over the hooks on some of my lures. I was fishing with a black/chart Terminator Jig with a green pumkin/chart Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty with the tubing on the hook. I thought it wouldn't hurt to stick a fish doing what we were doing because it would be unlikely to come across the same fish doing this in the tournament, so I took the tubing off. Well I got a bite and set into this 19.25" slobberknocker.

With this fish, Paul thought we should try the same thing on the South side of the river, but this time using the trolling motor to move up current. Almost right away Paul pulled a small keeper bass. I started pitching a junebug Crawtube. I did get a couple of bites, but they would only nibble a couple of times and let go. Paul had the same thing happen.

Eventually we moved into a backwater on the South side of the river. Once again it had rice, pads, and lots of duckweed. It looked phenomenal for bass and dogfish. I cycled through a few different things and I put on a gold Strike King Rage Shad. I was really digging working that bait. On one of my casts I got nailed by what I thought was a nice bass, I saw the fish hit. It was holding onto the bait, so I asked Paul if I should hit it and he said yes. Much to my surprise when I brought it in, I found a chunky 24" pike on the end of my line. We fished into this great looking backwater quite aways, but that was the only hit.

Next we moved out and went to a backwater on the North of the river. This one looked a bit different than the other backwaters we had been in. The water was clearer, there was good submergent vegetation, the rice had a good mix from thick to sparse with pads, no duckweed. We also saw quite a bit of baitfish activity. It looked like awesome dipper water, so I threw the Havoc Grass Pig in a couple of different colors. Paul missed a blow up on the frog. I was hauling water with the Grass Pig. A little later Paul pulled in a nice keeper bass on the frog. I decided to throw a spook that didn't have any hooks. The spook got hammered by a fish and we decided we had seen enough for the day and headed in around 1PM. It had been overcast the whole morning and only started to get hot and muggy around noon.

All in all it was a pretty productive pre-fish.

B.B.S. Le Homme Dieu Chain July 16th

2011-07-20T17:49:00.001-05:00

Weather: Fortunately the forecast for brutal heat was wrong. In the morning it was quite foggy with a very light drizzle, but it was over 70 degrees. It took a couple hours for the fog to go away, but it stayed overcast until around 2 when it would switch between mostly cloudy and mostly sunny. I don't think it got out of the lower 80's during the tournament day.

There was a bit of a breeze all day that would vacillate between about 3 and 10mph.

I arrived in Brainerd a bit before 5:30AM to meet my boater Dennis. My first question was if he had a life jacket for me, because I had forgotten mine. Luckily he did have one. Next thing Dennis informs me that he was given a spot to fish by one of the club members who had injured himself waterskiing and couldn't fish. The spot was supposed to hold a "super school." That sounded good.

The ride to the lake in the fog was uneventful thankfully. We didn't blast off until right around 8am, because one of the guys couldn't find the launch. We were suppose to have an idle only launch because of the fog, but some of the guys didn't get the memo and raced off. Because of this my boater Dennis decided to run to Alvin Lake. We got to Alvin in about 15 minutes and it looked fantastic. We started fishing pads, but it was dead. We pulled out on the weed flat and I got a little bass on the Repo Man. We spent about an hour and then left to go to the "super school".

We got to the spot, which was way off shore in Le Homme Dieu Lake. It was kind of a U shaped breakline with weeds. It didn't take long and Dennis had a couple of good keepers in the boat. My first bite was a rock bass on a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube on a tube jig head. I think Dennis got had got a 3rd keeper when I put a 14" largie in the boat. Dennis told me, it was a quality keeper for the lake. Next I got a 13.75", then a 13.5" then a 12.10" before a pike broke me off. I stayed with the tube jig head but went with the color junebug instead. My first fish was a nice 15" and I got my limit with a 13.25". Around that time Dennis switched colors to one a guy in the club told him was working and on the first cast Dennis got a 3-13, which was his best fish of the day. I think I got a 14.10" on the junebug and then I tried a green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube that was Texas Rigged with a fairly heavy bullet sinker. I think I caught a couple of fish that didn't help, then we switched locations to one of Dennis' spots.

I culled up with a 14.50" and caught a pike, along with a few that didn't help on this spot. I believe Dennis upgraded a little bit. We worked this spot just one pass then headed to a hump in Carlos. I pulled a 16.5" that went 2-11 off the hump and Dennis missed a couple of fish. I tried a little topwater on the hump but that wasn't happening. We tried one other spot in Carlos before heading back to the super school.

At the super school I got a 15.25" to cull up some and I caught several fish that didn't help. Dennis knew he had a good bag, but probably not enough to win and the sun was starting to peak out a little bit, so he made the call to run back to Alvin. We couldn't get the big pad fish to go at all. On our way out of the lake Dennis got a small cull off of a dock as we were headed out of the lake.

It was straight back to the super school. When we arrived there was a speed boat parked right on top of one of the points/spots. We just moved over a little and started fishing. Having this boat out there served as a marker buoy for me and I was able to catch fish on 3 consecutive casts, but unfortunately none of the fish helped. We kept catching fish and I made a small cull with a 14.10 with a 14". We continued to catch fish, but they didn't help. I did miss one that might have helped me some, but it would have had to have helped me by over by 10ozs to catch the person who was in front of me. We headed to the weigh in in Bugaboo Bay at about 10 to 4PM.

Results: My weight was 10-8 and put me in 6th Place out of 22 fishermen. My boater Dennis came in 2nd with 13-4. 1st Place was Mark Munson with 14-10 and the 4-8 Big Bass.

Analysis- If I had it to do over again I think I may have only thrown the Texas rigged green pumpkin Lake Fork Craw tube as that got my 2 biggest fish. On the drive home Dennis said I was using a weight that was too heavy. He may be right as he did throw back a few fish that I could have used, although had I had those I still don't know if I would have moved up to catch 5th.

Next Bass Snatcher Tournament: July 31st Mississippi River Brainerd (Lum Park)

Shakopee & Mille Lacs

2011-07-18T22:26:00.004-05:00

Today I had my ICD check and annual with my Cardiologist down in the cities in the morning. It was a scorcher in the cities in the mid 90's, as I came North there was a bit of cloud cover and I drove up Mille Lacs to Eddy's and down Shakopee Road. Wish I would have brought fishing rods as I was seeing fish at the Shakopee bridge. In the evening it was warm, humid, cloudy, and calm and I decided to head East around 7:20pm. First stop was the Shakopee bridge. I started with topwater and had a couple of hits that didn't hook up. Next I went to the exposed hook junebug CrawTube and caught 2 15" largies and missed one other good fish.

It was getting close to 8PM when I headed to Mille Lacs. It looked good with overcast and calm water, but all I got was 2 rock bass on the Berkley Frenzy Popper. Eventually the mosquito's drove me away.

Baptised

2011-07-15T21:21:00.005-05:00

My new St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass rod came through in the clutch tonight, sticking this 15.5" jumpin bullhead in the junk. It bit on a bubblegum Berkley Havoc Grass Pig.

When I arrived John W. was just leaving and he said he caught 5 or 6, which I knew didn't leave much for me. I actually did miss one under the South of the bridge that took the Yellow Magic popper. Those were my only 2 bites.

Small Night

2011-07-11T21:26:00.006-05:00

I had to run an errand into Onamia tonight, so naturally I made a trip up to Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs. As I drove up the lake I was not encouraged by the North wind that was putting good sized waves on the West shore. The waves were basically big enough to wreck any hope of topwater. I started on the South Jetty and didn't get anything. I moved to the North Jetty and was chucking a Texas rigged green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube, when I thought I felt a hit but it let go right away. A couple of casts later I got another hit and this time it took it and I brought in this one eye'd 18.25" Mille Lacs Mule.

I fished for about another 45 minutes and gave up because I didn't think the wind was going to diminish.

Next I headed to Kathio State Park to see if the MN Government shutdown meant I could go and fish the dam on the Rum without having to pay to get into the park. There was a gate across the road so that was a no go.

Next I headed to the bridge over the Rum on the North End of Shakopee Lake. I went down to the SE side and cast a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube on a tube jig. On the first cast I had a hit and brought in this 15.5" largie that wanted it.

I released the bass and cast back into the river and a fish just about ripped the rod out of my hand. First, I thought it was going to be a big pike, but then I saw it was a bass and by the way it was scrapping so hard I figured it had to be a smallmouth, which it was. Just like the one at Mille Lacs it went 18.25" but wasn't quite as chunky.

After a few more casts I missed a small bass, then I tried so topwater. I had a small pike hit a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper as I was lifting it to bring it in the fish came off and fell into the water at my feet. I could see the feathered treble still in it's mouth. The pike swam off before I could grab it. I thought maybe the split ring failed, but when I looked at the Popper the back end had cracked and given way, which sucks cause now that one is ruined. But better on a little pike than big bass in a tournament.

I threw the green pumpkin Crawtube and I think I missed a good hit with that or maybe I just got stuck in the rocks for a second, either way I didn't get anything. I went back to throwing the black/blue Crawtube and got one last small bass. I then went to see if I could fish the Rum at the South end of Lake Onamia, but once again people were already there, so I just went home. I decided not to hit the GOMH.

Morning Shore Singles and Theft

2011-07-11T14:54:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning at about 5:45AM, so I decided to head out to do some fishing. The sun was already up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and no current was moving through at the GOMH. I worked the North side and didn't get a bite. I switched to the SE side because there was a guy fishing for orange bullheads on the SW side. He was getting a few and told me he caught quite a few nice bullheads there last week. I ended up getting a 13" jumpin bullhead on a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube and that was it. Here's that fish:

Next I went to Jenny's where the deer flies were terrible. I made a long cast to a little open spot in the slop and this 14" jumped all over the Spro Frog.

Next I headed to our lake place for the first time this year. Right away I had a blow up in some thicker rice over toward our neighbor Jim's. I walked over closer so I could work the area a little better and was rewarded with this 16".

I went over and fished on Jim's dock and was quickly reminded why I don't think I can ever have enough hollow body frogs when a pike stole my Spro. I went and got a copperish colored Mad Maxx from the car, but that didn't get anything and then I was done for the morning. I fished for about 2 hours, not bad.

FOM Club E&W Sylvia Bass Tounament July 9th

2011-07-10T14:24:00.002-05:00

I couldn't resist the call of the lake that taught me to fish, so I signed up to fish the Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) Bass Tournament on East & West Sylvia in Wright County. My partner for the day would be Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson. I found out at the landing on tournament morning that Cyb hadn't paid his Club dues, so would be ineligible in the Club Tournament. Cyberfish didn't really care and was there to fish for fun anyway.

Tournament Rules: 3 biggest bass measured by half inches, with most total length winning. The Fishers of Men Club does "paper tournaments" so all fish are immediately released.

Conditions: Light Rain for the first 20 minutes or so with a pretty good breeze all day starting from the S SE switching to the S SW. It obviously was overcast early turning mostly cloudy around 10:30PM. It was a warm morning in the 70's and it got up to about 80 and it was pretty humid. The water on these lakes is very clear and the water was about as high as I've ever seen.

With the forecast calling for that South wind to be blowing by the time the tournament was underway I decided to start on a shallow rock reef on the back side of the island in West Sylvia. We ended up fishing West Sylvia all day. Mike caught a small bass right away, maybe on his first cast, on a slug. I think he got another small one and then I got a small one on a Herb's Dilly buzzbait. Mike caught 1 or 2 more smaller fish before we made a 2nd pass. The second pass was pretty much fruitless so we started drifting across the weed flat. Mike picked up a 15 on the slug. I was throwing a white Death Shimmer 2 spinnerbait and getting a few hits but nothing was hooking up. I know at least one of those bites was from a small pike as it came all the way to the boat. We drifted to a bullrush point and fished down the West side of that. I got a small pike on the Death Shimmer. Eventually we got into some pads and I got a 12.75" Larry on a bubblegum Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. We ended up fishing West along the shoreline where there were docks and some wood in the water. It looked awesome but all I got was a Sylvia Special (12") next to a dock. We rounded "Dink Point" and I got a 15.5" on the Grass Pig where there was trees overhanging and into the water. As you work the shoreline to the North a small point comes out before the lake opens to the main/biggest bay on West Sylvia. With the South wind this point was getting hit pretty good with the wind. I cast a black/blue Crawtube along the dropoff on the South side of the point (it drops pretty quick and I think there is a little zone of weeds there). I got hit and brought up a 15". I immediately checked the boat back into the wind to keep from blowing over the point as I thought there was a real possibility the fish might be stacked up here. Mike asked me what I was using and I showed him I was fishing a weighted Texas Rig, so he switched up to a green pumpkin jig. I think I just got done telling Mike all I needed was 1 really good fish and I would win the tournament, when Mike swung on that fish. Here it is:

It wasn't the fattest fish in the world, but it was 19" long which is an extremely good fish for Sylvia. I think I pulled a 12.75" on the Crawtube and Mike had a fish rip off the jig skirt and trailer on the hookset. That was all we would get so we headed North to the shoreline where my family's lake place used to be. Basically we worked an inside turn and then off the end of the point which was windblown. I caught a sunfish on the Death Shimmer 2 spinnerbait and had another bump or two. Eventually we worked ourselves in around the point where it was calm and there is a bunch of pads. This is an area I call the "Back Bay" as there is a man made boat channel that was on the back side of our old lake place. It was interesting to see that there is no longer an open boat lane and the Back Bay is overgrown with pads as nobody keeps a boat back there anymore. While fishing the mouth of the Back Bay I got a small bass on the Horny Toad and had another really good swirl close to the boat, but it didn't get the Toad. We worked a little ways into the Back Bay before it got too weed choked, but nothing was in there.

Next we headed to the NE corner of West Sylvia. It was interesting to see that a reedbed there had shrunk in size but cattails had grown close to shore. We fished the wind blown reeds/cattails and I missed a good hit on the Grass Pig, but it got into the reeds immediately. We got to "My Island" which used to feature an open spot behind reeds and rice. The rice is almost all gone and it's just reeds and cattails. I got a bite there from what was most likely a sunfish on a bed (I saw the sunny on the bed as we passed by). I pulled a Sylvia Special on a craw tube off the end of My Island point. We then fished into Turtle Bay. I told Mike that sometimes as you get here is "peanuts"/Sylvia Specials but sometimes there can be good fish too. We did get several peanuts, me on the Horny Toad, but I also did get a 15.5" on the Toad. It used to be that by late June Turtle Bay would be to weed choked so you couldn't fish into it very far, but now there are two docks with boats at the far back of the bay and there is a pretty good boat channel there. Combine that with the high water and I figured fish could be anywhere in the bay. The slop looked beautiful, but all we got were peanuts close to the boat channels, couldn't get anything deeper into the pads. As we worked our way back out it was dead and I got a bit frustrated as this water tends to be pretty good as you come back out of the Bay on the North side. We were almost out of the slop when I got a Sylvia Special out of the Cattails up by shore on the Grass Pig. We went out and worked a cabbage bed that was as in the wind as you can get and we didn't get a bite. We worked down "McGregor's" shore to the 2 docks. I missed a small bass in between 2 docks.

Next we moved to the "Sunkin Island" but we didn't get anything there, so we headed to "Lighthouse Point" with would be another wind blown point with a good drop off and weeds. I'm not sure I even had the trolling motor in the water yet and Mike was hooked up with a big fish and we knew it was a big bass because it jumped. He got it in and it was this nice 19.5" fish.

Needless to say we worked the point pretty good after that and we caught some fish but they were all Sylvia specials.

Next we moved into Flannery's Bay to the hump that I never knew existed until I got my Lakemaster Map. I pulled this 14.25" from there on a Crawtube, but that is all we would get.

Next we worked an inside turn and weedline in Flannery's and I picked up a few more fish on the Crawtube. I also missed several bites. There was about an hour left so we headed back to fish slop/pads in the Public Access Bay. By this time it was partly cloudy so there was quite a bit of sun. Right away I scored a 15.25" on the black Horny Toad. I caught several more Sylvia Specials including this one.

The tournament ended at 2PM. Mike's 53.5" destroyed everybody, but as that he was ineligible my 46" won the tournament. It was typical Sylvia in that everybody reported catching quite a few fish, but everything was small.

Analysis: What can I say but I love Sylvia/Twin and I know spots that have the potential to kick out better than your cookie cutter Sylvia Specials. I am a little surprised that I never made it to the channel between the lakes, but with the way the slop was going in Turtle Bay, I made the call to hit Lighthouse Point first and after that I didn't want to make the run across the big water in that wind. If you want to catch bigger than average fish in Sylvia, you might want to consider using a green/pumpkin bass jig.

Another GOMH Morning

2011-07-08T09:14:00.004-05:00

After yesterday, you kind of had to figure that I would be at the Grumpy Old Man Hole again this morning. I actually slept all day yesterday until about 4:45AM this morning. I didn't get to the GOMH until about quarter to 6 and the sun was already up and no clouds. I started with the Think Tank Trigger Fish and then went to the Kelly J Jr. but the fish didn't want topwater. I switched to the craw tube and got this 14.00"

A couple of casts later I got a 15.75", which I didn't take a picture of for some reason. I then moved to the SW side and got a small one on the Kelly J Jr.. I cast the craw tube under the bridge, had a pick up and when I set the line broke. That was it for the morning. It was bright, humid and getting hot.

GOMH BOOM!!!

2011-07-07T10:00:00.008-05:00

Once again today I was up all night. I took the dog out for a walk around 5AM and it was kind of cloudy. I thought that might be good for fishing. So I grabbed a few rods and headed off to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. First lure on was the Think Tank Triggerfish and I think I missed one hit on that. Next I put on my new bluegill Lucky Craft Kelly J Jr. and right away I connected with this dude.

I was happy to catch anything and a couple of casts later I hooked into this 17.25"

I think I might have gotten one more small fish on the Kelly J Jr. and then the action stopped. I then picked up the Mad Maxx Frog and fished the slop for about half an hour without even one hit. There were sunfish active in the stuff but apparently no bullheads. I back close to the bridge and started throwing the Kelly J again and picked off about 3 small jumpin bullheads real quick and I missed a couple of other bites. I packed up to head to the South side, but then I realized I hadn't fished the craw tube around the bridge yet, so I put everything down and started casting that. Good call. I missed a good hit right away and a couple of casts later I hooked into this 20.75" toad.

This is the biggest bass I have caught in a few years. I cast back in and had to let out some line, when I reeled back up I was caught in the rocks and a fish had picked the craw tube up. I didn't get a good hookset and the fish jumped and got off. I then went to the South side of the bridge and caught a few small jumpin bullheads on the Kelly J. and a 14.25" on the craw tube. I also caught a toothy bullhead out of the slop with a Mad Maxx Frog.

Next I headed to Jenny's. I mostly threw a Snagproof Ish's Phat Frog on my St. Croix because of the casting distance I can get on that rod. I can throw the frog at least 20 feet further on this set up than I can with the Lamiglass Excel. I missed a small pike, caught a small pike, and had one other bite that didn't get the frog. Around 8:45AM I went home.

Eddy's Launch With Dad

2011-07-07T03:35:00.004-05:00

Last night Dad thought it would be a nice night to go out on a launch on Mille Lacs and so I said OK and we headed over to Eddy's around 5PM. Being that we got to Eddy's early I brought rods to try for some smallies off the Jetty. As per usual this year, that was a bust. Dad and I went out on the Eddy's Flagship, which is the biggest launch on Mille Lacs Lake. Dad got me a spot on the back of the launch and he was one spot off to the side. I got us rigged up with beads and hooks. First we headed in the direction of Rocky Reef.

I drew first blood on the boat with a perch. The picture is actually my second one, because I didn't think to take a picture of the first. As we were out on this spot a kayaker went by heading much farther out in to the lake. Our first spot didn't give up any walleye in the first hour and a half, so we moved right out to where the kayaker was fishing. We did see the kayaker catch a few fish.
Anyway, at the new spot I got some bites right away, but it wouldn't take it. Other people on our launch started catching walleyes to big to keep and the action was pretty steady until it got dark. After shaking my bobber pretty good my bobber shot down, but when I set the hook the fish didn't hook up. As it was Dad got the first walleye for us.
I was beginning to think it wasn't going to be my night as everyone around me had caught a fish or two, but my bobber did go down and this time I hooked up. I thought it might be a keeper at first, but then it started fighting harder. It turned out to be this 19" fish being held here by our deck hand Jim.

Once it got to be about 9:30PM the bite shut down. The guy between me and Dad caught 4 eyes and the only keeper for the whole launch of 30+ people. However, some small eye's were thrown back. I think a total of 9 eyes were caught by the 4 of us off the back of the boat and I only got 1.

As you can see from the last picture there was a spectacular sunset, but I didn't really get to see it as I was facing the other way.

Morning Shore Trip

2011-07-06T15:24:00.000-05:00

I couldn't fall asleep and it was about 6:30AM, so I decided to do some shore fishing. My first stop was Jenny's and I went 1 for 1 with the Spro Poppin Frog. It hit right after the cast landed. I then put on a Mad Maxx frog and once again my casting distance with the Lamiglass Excel Rod wasn't the greatest. However the rod was excellent for walking the frog. I didn't get any hits.

I then went to Rock lake, mostly to play with the Think Tank Lure Triggerfish I just got. It was getting hot and a family came to launch a couple of boats, so I left around 8AM.

Early Morning Mille Lacs

2011-07-03T08:32:00.005-05:00

Today I decided that I would give Mille Lacs a try to see if I could get an early morning smallmouth bite. I arrived at Eddy's around 4:30AM and there was a fair amount of light at this time, especially in the East, but it was still dark. I set up on the North Jetty because you can cover more area there. I was kind of hoping there would have been a bit of a mayfly hatch, but there wasn't. I started out throwing my black Deps Buzzjet, but that didn't get anything. I switched to the Repo Man and didn't get anything on that. It was pretty calm and getting fairly light out so I put on a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I had a fish just barely take the BFP and it was only hooked for a couple of seconds. I don't think it was a very big fish. I kept moving down to the North and about 5 minutes later I landed this one. How big do you think it is?
That was the last action I would get on the BFP. I cycled through a number of baits. Around 7AM the sun was up and it was pretty bright out, so I tried a blue silver Lucky Craft Gunfish. A fish took a swipe at that but didn't hook up. I started switching lures and when I was using my Yellow Magic Popper a fish started swirling at something on the surface. I quickly reeled in and threw to the spot, but it didn't want it. I cycled through more baits with no more hits and left around 7:30AM. Not great, but better than a skunk.

Answer: The fish was 13.75"

Last Cast

2011-07-02T22:05:00.004-05:00

I put on my waders and headed out a little after 8PM. First I went to the GOMH but people were there, so I headed to the Bulldog Holy Family access, nothing. Then I went to Jenny's and that was dead. I figured I was going to get skunked, when on my last cast this fish boiled on my Spro Rojas Poppin' Frog.

I didn't even bother to throw anymore casts. I was happy.

Wading Bust

2011-06-28T23:19:00.004-05:00

I got to thinking that wading to the East of the Grumpy Old Man Hole on Platte might be productive with the high water. I didn't get up until about 6PM today and didn't make up my mind to go fishing until about a quarter to 8PM. Since it was getting to be so late I didn't hit Jenny's and went right to the GOMH. I had the Lamiglas Excel rigged with a Spro Rojas Poppin Frog and my 2 St. Croix frog rods were rigged with a Horny Toad and Ish's Phat Frog. I decided to start at the bridge and move East. I started with the Horny Toad which didn't get anything. Next I went to the Poppin Frog and noticed right away that I wasn't getting incredible distance on my casts. I am not sure if the Poppin Frog doesn't throw as good as other frogs or maybe it's the Excel rod or a combination of both. I had a big blow up pretty close in, but it didn't get the frog. I don't know if it was a pike or bass. It was unwilling to hit again. I started going East and popped this one on the Poppin Frog.
I had one more blow up that didn't hook up before I reached the end of the rip rap.

At the end of the rip rap I waded into the water towing my float tube which I was using for a rod carrier. I almost lost the Ish's Phat Frog in a tree. I broke it off at the not and it dropped into the branches of a tree that was closer to the water. I was looking for the frog in the water. I got under the branch I was stuck on, looked up and there was the frog on this other tree branch, amazing. I waded about a total of 50-60 yards before the mosquito's got to be to bad and I hadn't gotten a single hit while wading. I'm kind of thinking that wading farther to the East probably isn't worth my time at least not until I would get as far to the East as I could wade which is about another 120 yards or so.

Jenny's and Bulldog

2011-06-26T22:46:00.003-05:00

Tonight I headed out of the house a bit after 7PM, it was cloudy warm and humid and conditions seemed right for the fish to be on. My first stop was Jenny's. Right away I got a bite but didn't hook up off to the right. I threw back and it boiled on it again. 3rd time was the charm and I brought in this skinny 16" class fish.
I thought this was going to be a much smaller fish from the way it had attacked the Horny Toad. Off to the left I got a couple of similar bites, where I let the fish take the toad and it was there, but when I set the hook I got nothing. Right before I left I had a boil to the right.

I hit Bulldog with the float tube around a quarter to 8 from the access and headed South. All I threw was the Horny Toad and it was pretty dead. I caught a 11.5" and 12.75" bass and missed a few more unimpressive hits. The fish just are not in less than 3 feet of water in the rice and pads. I went around to the big pad bed again. I made my way back fairly quick and had enought time to hit Jenny's again, but that was a bust.

You would think with the high water the shallows would be supercharged, but that is not what I am finding. I think I'm going to have to put the float tube away.

Floating Rock

2011-06-24T23:19:00.002-05:00

Tonight I made a last minute decision to head over to Rock Lake for a little float tube fishing. I was probably on the water by 8:25PM. Today was mostly cloudy and a little warmer than it's been, but the sun came out around 8PM. Naturally I headed North to the reeds. I started off with a 12" largie pretty quickly on the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. I also brought out a rod with the Death Shimmer spinnerbait, but that wasn't working so hot with to much rice around. I ended up wishing I brought the Horny Toad or slop frog rod instead.

Just a little later I got a 14"+ bass and I was off to a good start. I had a good bite in the thick reeds and executed pretty well, but it buried me in the reeds immediately after the hookset. That was my last bite for the night. I made it out past the reeds and then made my way back. It was sort of a disappointment after how things started and went the last time I did this.

Jenny's Skunk and The Dog

2011-06-23T22:09:00.005-05:00

I slept most of the day, but when I got up I thought about going fishing. It was overcast with a bit of a wind out of the West (wind has been out of the East for last several days with precipitation). I got the float tube and gear ready, put on my waders and headed out around 7PM just as the sun came out. Jenny's was dead, so by 7:35 I was at Bulldog. I headed South from the access where I had my success last week. It started real slow at Bulldog other than something big waking at my Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. It got the lure within 10 feet of me and was coming towards me. I waited to feel something but almost as soon as I did the fish let go and was gone. I was throwing the Thumper and Ish's Phat frog and getting nothing. The water was up some more with the recent rain, but the fish were not at the bank. My first fish was this little guy on the Cane Thumper.

Next fish was a small pike on the thumper.

I had a couple of bites on the Ish's Phat Frog but couldn't hook up. Maybe hollow body frogs are not the best float tube baits, because it's hard to put the wicked into the hookset. I got all the way around to where a big pad field comes out and got a 14"+ bass out of the pads right before the big field.

Behind the field up by shore I missed a bite on the Ish and nothing was going in the pads and the mosquito's were starting to some out, so I turned around. I was throwing the Ish and had a really good blow up, but I didn't hook it. That was the last of the action for the night.

B.B.S. Tournament Cullen Chain June 19th

2011-06-22T00:08:00.001-05:00

Oh Man, where do I start.

I really thought this tournament was lining up just right for me to do really well and it almost did. We blasted off around a quarter to 7AM in calm overcast conditions with a slight fog and drizzle. We were 2nd boat out and 2nd boat to reach the channel from Lower Cullen to Middle Cullen. The boat that was in front of us didn't quite take the right path into the channel and ran aground. We passed them and were first into Middle. On the way up to Upper Cullen the boat that got stuck bypassed us about half way down the lake and they were first into the Upper Lake. We were 2nd into the Upper Lake channel. While we just got under way in the Upper lake, we watched the non-boater in the other boat catch a fish.

We headed straight to our starting area and there were two boats not in the tournament in the general area, but they were not up in the thick junk that we wanted to fish. Our starting area was moderately thick to thick pencil reeds with some pads and a little bit of rice and some other submergent weeds. I started off throwing a black Horny Toad in the seriously overcast conditions. I was the first to get a strike but it didn't get the Toad. I threw back and it took it again and it was a bass. I got it about half way back to the boat when it buried in the reeds and got off. This experience would happen far to often. After throwing the Horny Toad for a while and not getting anymore bites I switched up to a blue/black Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. I think I missed one bite on that before I put the first fish of the morning in the boat. It was a nice 15" bass. As I was putting on the culling tag my boater went to turn on the livewell pump and got nothing. Not Good! My boaters Ranger is a tiller boat with one big livewell and a baitwell. The baitwell pump was working so I put the fish in there.

We kept working the area and I had a 16.5" take the Grass Pig right by the boat. It helps if you don't have to fight a fish through the reeds. We moved out of our initial area and I think I caught a pike and missed a few bites. On one of the misses I threw back with a black/blue Lake Fork Craw Tube. The fish picked it up, but I pooched the hookset and it was gone. We got to an area where there was more rice laying down in the reeds and the wind was at our back, so I started throwing the Horny Toad again. I had a pike bite off most of the legs on my Horny Toad, but I continued to fish the bait without the legs. I had a bite from a good fish, 16 inch class at least (it jumped so I saw it). I got it about half way back to the boat and it buried me in the reeds and got off. I was miffed; It's one thing to have the fish bury you right away and get off, but quite another to have them moving towards you well and then get off. As we moved along the Horny Toad provided a 14.75", 14.5", before I lost the one with no legs. I put another Toad on and got a 14.25", and 12.5" and I got the limit monkey off my back. I also put these last couple of fish in the big livewell and had to use an ice cream bucket to scoop in water. The first cull came quick with a 14". At this point I think my boater only had one bass in the boat and had missed a few bites as well. I think he got his first fish on a blue/black Grass Pig that I gave him.

I think it was shortly after that 14" that we made a move to a deep reed bed in the lake where we had a double in pre-fish. In the deep reed bed my boater landed a small keeper and I caught a nice pike. After about an hour of that we headed back to our starting area. I upgraded with 15, but I can't remember what I caught it on. I think I caught a fish or two that didn't help as well as a pike or two. We got into an area that we didn't hit on our first pass that looked really good. I was bringing the Horny Toad in when either a big bass or dogfish purposed hard on the Toad. I laid the wood, but it buried me instantly and was gone. If that wasn't a dogfish, it was a game changer and I was quite bummed by missing it. A little ways down I got a bass that didn't help and another nice pike.

We made a run back to the deep reed bed and I pulled a 15.5" on a blue/black Craw Tube and also caught a couple that didn't help me. We worked this reed area, longer this time. After pulling out a backlash for about 15 minutes, my boater landed one that just barely made the 12 inch minimum size.

For a 3rd time we went back to our starting area, but we started a little farther South than we ever had. I put on a bubblegum Grass Pig and started throwing that. There were some really thick reeds, so I started throwing a brown Ish's Phat Frog and had a fish swirl on it fairly close to the boat. I threw back with the Craw Tube. On about the 4th pitch the fish picked it up and I laid the wood. It was a nice 16" class bass. I almost had it in when it jumped and spit the hook. I was like, What?!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRR! A little later on I made a long cast throwing the Phat frog up past the reeds into some shallow pads when I had a blow up and brought in a 16" into the boat. Those double hooked hollow body frogs are great for keeping a bass pegged if they choke it. In addition it helps when you can hook up where the cover isn't as dense and get them moving at you, at least usually. Today I was losing fish I had moving to me all to frequently. I had a few more swirls on the Ish's Phat Frog and a couple of bites on the bubblegum Pig that I couldn't convert. It was around this time that I noticed one of my fish was in trouble and I spent a while trying to revive it, but that was a waste of time. A couple of other fish started showing signs of distress, so I had to work for a while putting fresher water in the well.

My boater switched to a yellowish white Sizmic Toad and nailed a couple of fish, including a nice fish that was quite a bit bigger than anything I had. I switched the bubblegum pig to a albino Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper because the color and size were close to that Sizmic Toad and got a pike and couple of bass that didn't help. At this point in the day it was still cloudy, but it had warmed up into the mid 70's and my boater thought it would be good for our fish if we got out of the shallow warming water and got some water from out deeper in the lake. I think we hit the deeper reeds one more time then left the Upper Lake.

When we stopped in the Middle Lake I went back on water duty, but didn't check the bait well which was on automatic. That mistake allowed another one of my fish to get distressed and eventually expire. Anyway we were fishing down a reed lined point with a steep drop off. I tossed out a bluegill Megabass Pop Max and got a 14" that didn't help. I think my boater might have pulled a fish that helped him off this spot. We hit another point and that was when I noticed I had a second fish in trouble. Nothing at that point and with a little less than an hour left to go, we headed to the lower lake.

We got into the lower lake and there was a boat on the spot my boater wanted to go, so we hit another deep cabbage weed point and weedline. I started throwing the "Drag Stripper" Paycheck Baits Repo Man I got my big fish in pre-fish on. I was hoping this might be the bait to pull up a big smallmouth. I had a couple of swirls from seemed like a smaller fish, but didn't hook up. As we were working down the weedline I had a good bass that would have culled take a shot at the Repo Man, but it didn't hook up and it didn't come back for seconds. GRRRRRRRR! My boater landed a fish that was another good cull.

With about 10 minutes to go before check in, we closed her down and went to head in but the motor wouldn't start. Fortunately another tournament boat was close and came over. We were about a 1/4 mile from check in. My boater had some special hook ups for jumping the between batteries in the boat, but he couldn't find it. The other boat gave us their jumper cables and my boater worked furiously to get his batteries connected. He did and the motor started and we got back with pretty much, no time to spare.

The story doesn't end here, however. We got the boat pulled out of the water and started bagging our fish. There were 4 fish in the bait well, 3 of which had expired, two of which were mine. I handed my boaters dead fish to him, but somehow it registered with me that it was a 3rd expired fish for me. When I weighed my fish I said there were 3 alive instead of 4. When I dumped the fish in the lake and only had two dead one's to take back with me, I realized my mistake. At that point my weight was in the book and I was out of luck. Ouch!

My weight before dead fish penalties was 11lbs 6ozs. Each dead fish is a 2oz penalty, so my official weight was 11lbs even. Third Place (last to "get wood") was 11lbs 2ozs. Even if I would not have screwed up by an extra 2ozs, I would have lost on the big fish tie breaker as my biggest fish was a modest 2-4. However another angler had 11-1, so I dropped an extra place in the standings to 5th out of 26 guys fishing. If it were not for another guys dead fish penalty I would have dropped to 6th. Everyone caught their limit and 11 of us were stacked between 11-2 and 10-1. 2 Bags were less than 8lbs. My boater came in 13th with 10-1 (1 dead fish) and his big fish was only 2-15; I thought it was a 3lber for sure.

Analysis- What can I say? Had I had a bit better luck I probably would have won the tournament as the winning weight was only 12-13, although the winner was fishing thick junk too (we fished some of the same water) and I would assume he dumped a fish or two that would have helped his bag as well.

For the second tournament in a row my fish had to be post-spawners that were on the skinny side. Going in to weigh in I figured I had right about 12lbs. Frankly I'm surprised my fish weighed even less than at Platte/Sullivan because my average length here was a bit better (in fact it was one full inch more in total) and the fish didn't seem thin to me. Still I can't complain to much. I screwed up on that extra dead fish and losing fish in pencil reeds is just an unfortunate fact of life, but some of the fish I missed were really bad breaks.

Next Bass Snatcher Tournament: Le Homme Dieu on July 16th
I think I am going to try and get in on the Fishers of Men Club Twin
Cities Tournament for bass on Sylvia/Twin on July 9th. Sylvia/Twin is the lake I learned to fish on.

Jenny's and Rock (Short Trip)

2011-06-16T23:25:00.004-05:00

Tonight I wasn't off until after 7:30PM and my first stop was at Jenny's. Right away I nailed this 14.5" on a white Berkley Havoc Grass Pig. It took it off the surface. I let the fish take it down and felt it holding the bait, then I gave it the surge set and I had to fight it through some reeds to get it in. The Lamiglas Excel performed well on this one. I got one more weak bite at Jenny's that really didn't hold the Grass Pig, so I wasn't surprised when I set and nothing was there.

At about 8PM I headed over to Bulldog, but there were people at the access and a truck and trailer and I didn't want to launch at the Bingo access, so I decided to head to Rock. When I got to rock I decided to throw some casts from the Rock Dock. On one of the casts as I was getting close to the dock a fish grabbed the Grass Pig and bit off the tail. The bait actually had a pretty good walk the dog, flukish action minus the tail, but I decided to put on another Grass Pig.

I got in the float tube and headed North. I was into the reeds when I got my first bite. I set and the Grass Pig was gone, no fish. That sucked. At that point I put on a Gambler Big EZ swimbait. A couple of minutes later I got a 14.5 bass then a pike. I got beyond the reed bed and caught another pike, then a nice 15" class bass then a pike that broke me off right in front of the float tube. I rigged up with a different bigger hook with a smaller lead weight and another EZ. I went as far as I was going to go a little ways into the narrows of the Platte River Outlet. My next fish was another pike, then I got a bass that was 14" or so. I was casting back into the reeds when I had a good hit. I felt for the fish a while before setting the hook and when I did I seemingly didn't hook into anything. I cast back over the area a few times and on one of the casts after I had cleared the reeds and was in open water almost to the float tube I had a good bite. I figured it was a pike and didn't give it the best surge set. I was surprised when a big bass came up and tail walked about 10 feet in front of me. It then bulldoged down then shot straight up, jumped and came off about 6 feet in front of me. I was like, ohh man that was Derby fish for sure; It was in the 17-19" class. Right about this time the mosquito's started getting really bad, so I quickened my pace, but did manage to land one more 14" class bass that took the EZ off the surface as it was coming through the rice and reeds. Shortly after that the mosquito's got to be to much and I stopped casting and moved as quick as I could. I think I was off the water around 9:40PM. I didn't throw a frog at all.

Although I wasn't catching everything that was biting, I came away impressed with the Lamiglas Excel Bass rod. I had to catch several fish through pencil reeds tonight and it had the power to do it. The rod is also pretty sensitive and soft enough not to take the dipper away from the fish for the most part. Maybe tomorrow I will get out and use the rod from the boat, to see how that goes.

New To Me Rod, Jenny's and Bulldog

2011-06-15T22:28:00.004-05:00

Today I was pleasantly surprised to receive the Lamiglas Excel Bass 735C I got on Ebay (7'3"MH). I wasn't sure when it was shipped and I didn't know if I'd have it in time for Sunday's Bass Snatcher tournament. The rod is designed for frogs and small swimbaits. At this point I want to get a feel for how it works for "Dipper Fishing," since I broke the rod I really like for that and won't replace it until next month. The Excel is not as soft as that Croix LTB or the Rapala Long Cast I was now using for the Dippers. The Excel, however, is not as stiff as my 7'3" Croix Avid MH's that I like for frogs, but not dippers. So tonight I went to test it out.

I didn't get out of the house until after 7:15PM and I made Jenny's on Platte Lake my first stop. The thing is that the rice is now up and matted at Jenny's so it isn't the best place for dipper fishing. I gave it a try, but when I didn't get any hits right away I switched to a Snagproof Ish's Phat Frog.

I got this skinny 16.5" and a much more healthy 16", as well as missing a few hits. The mosquito's were bad and I wasn't getting to use the Excel, so I decided to bounce over to Bulldog a little after 8PM. I put the float tube in at the Public Access and headed South just like on Monday night. It turned out to be an OK decision because I got a few bites on the black Berkley Havoc Grass Pig on the Excel rod. First fish was a 14" bass and then a 12" bass. I made a cast up next to shore and as soon as the Grass Pig hit the water a fish nailed it and I landed this fat 17.5"

After that action I caught another 12incher and a nice pike. I had another good bass on that got off, half way in to the tube. The mosquito's started getting really bad, so I started to head back throwing the frog. I think I had a couple of fish slap at the frog, but nothing pounded it. I think I was done fishing by 9:20PM.

So far my impressions of the Excel for Dippers is positive, but the jury is still out at this point.

More Float Tubing Bulldog & Quick Hitter at Jenny's

2011-06-14T22:23:00.006-05:00

Tonight I was out on Bulldog about 1/2 an hour longer than yesterday and caught 9 less fish. I started at the Holy Family Bingo Palace launch. I fished a little to the South, but mostly went North. I got my first fish, which was a 13.5 bass on the brown Ish's Phat Frog casting into the reeds to the South of the Access. I had a few fish hit the frog but they weren't really taking it. Follow up with the black Berkley Havoc Grass Pig was mostly unproductive. I saw a dogfish. At around 8:30PM I had a little flurry of action before a front came through and it started raining. I got a 14" and 12" bass on the Grass Pig and missed a few bites on the GP and Phat Frog. The wind came up with the front and I decided I had gone as far as I wanted to go, which really wasn't that far I actually covered more water last night.

Here is the 14":

There was a little light left when I got back to the car and the wind was out of the S SE, so I thought I would give Jenny's a try real quick. That was a good call as I got this 16"

and another that went 15.5" on the Phat Frog. I also had a couple of other blow ups. It got dark pretty quick and the skeeters were bad, so I headed out around 9:15PM

Float Tubing Bulldog

2011-06-13T23:23:00.004-05:00

My last pair of waders leaked badly so I hadn't been out in my float tube for a couple of years. I got a new pair of waders this winter and so I'll be doing some float tubing this year and tonight was the first trip and I chose to go to Bulldog Lake. Bulldog is 141 acres and has a dirt access with limited trailer parking and only a few cabins on the lake. It's pretty much lined with slop almost all the way around (rice,reeds,pads). The lake kicked out a legit 8lb bass around 5 years ago. The lake doesn't get a whole lot of pressure, but I've been told by a guy who has a place on the lake that it isn't as good for bass as it used to be. Tonight there actually was a truck and trailer at the access when I arrived about a quarter after 7PM.

Conditions were overcast with a little light rain as I first started out, but it cleared up around 9PM. There was a light breeze blowing out of the SE.

The public access is on the SW shore and I decided to head South. I brought a rod rigged with a brown Snagproof Ish's Phat Frog and a rod rigged with a black Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. I casted for a while at the access without luck so I got in the float tube and started off. I can't even believe I got the first fish I did. By far the smallest hollow body frog fish I've ever caught.
Down a little ways I had a fish boil at the frog, but not take it. I followed up with the Grass Pig. I was just about to switch back to the frog when I got a hit. I set the hook and it was a good one.

It went 18.5 and was a total pig. Great way to start the trip. I mostly threw the frog, but I caught more fish on the Grass Pig and the 3 biggest. My biggest 6 fish were 18.5", 15.25",15",14",14",13". I caught a total of 11 bass and my last fish was a small pike on the Grass Pig. I fished until the mosquito's started getting bad, which was a bit later than usual because of the breeze.

Cullen Chain Pre-Fish And More From Shore

2011-06-12T22:22:00.009-05:00

Next Sunday is my 2nd Baxter Bass Snatcher tournament of the year being held on the Cullen Chain near Nisswa MN. I had the good fortune to draw Bill Bailey for my boater as he has a good history with these lakes. Bill was kind enough to agree to take me out for a day of fishing, so I could get a feel for these lakes that I had never seen before. I am extremely glad Bill took me out, because in a lot of ways it wasn't what I expected.

The Cullen Chain has pretty good to excellent water clarity and has diverse aquatic vegetation, but seemingly none of the troublesome invasive weeds. I really like the Chain as it has elements of Sylvia/Twin and Platte/Sullivan. Bill has a smaller boat so we are able to fish in all 3 lakes. I don't think guys with bigger boats can get into the upper most lake because of a narrow culvert with little headroom. Getting out of the lower most lake where we will launch is also a challenge. Bill had to get out of the boat this morning because we didn't take the right approach into the boat channel and ran aground.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fish size we discovered, although my first fish of the day didn't show it.

Shortly after this fish, I watched a 3lb+ largie engulf my lure. I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to set the hook or not because I got such a good look at the fish as did Bill. I think the fish kind of stuck itself and I had it on for a few seconds before it got off. I got another good take shortly after that.

Next we went to a weedline and I experimented with a bait, but that was a bust. After that we ran to the Upper Lake, which turned into a pike fest for me. Bill had a follow from a big dogfish. I tried to catch it, but just spooked it. A little later on we were getting close to one of the clubs more mercurial club members and we saw him catch a fish. I thought it was a nice bass, but he told us it was a dogfish. I'm not sure I believe that.

Anyway we found some productive water and ended our time in the upper lake with a quality double. This was my fish (I think it was probably 16).

Next we went back to the middle lake. It was cloudy with a light breeze and I thought in that clear water topwater might go, so I started throwing a Paycheck Baits Repo Man. We fished some good looking stuff without so much as a sniff for either us, but I just kept chucking the topwater. Eventually I was rewarded with this 18"+ pig that just annihilated the Repo Man.

It was awesome. I knew it was a big fish immediately because it tail walked then jumped a couple of times. I was worried it was going to bury me in the weeds and get off, but it was hooked well and I was able to pull it out of the salad. Man I was jacked after this fish.

We fished a little while longer and I added one more quality bass to my day on something that not get any play on tournament day, but the color will.

Overall it was a very successful pre-fish. I was impressed with the size we discovered and it's a fun lake to fish with lots of options. My boater Bill is probably going to get out for one more trip.

I made a few stops on my way home. I jacked this 14.25" fish at Bulldog Lake.

And I jacked this 13" fish at Jenny's on Platte.

I had one more really good bite at Jenny's but I choked.

I did try the GOMH, but was blanked. John W. was there and told me he caught a very big jumpin bullhead from under the bridge the other day. Maybe I need to get a clue and start throwing stuff under the bridge like John does.

Quick Morning Shore Trip

2011-06-11T22:24:00.006-05:00

I was up all night, so I decided to give things a try at first light. My first stop was at Bulldog. I got a 13.5" on a Lucky Craft Gunfish.

I had a fish bite off the tail of my Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper, so I put on a Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig that had been soaked in Powerbait Bass Formula. I got this 13.25" on that and a pike.

Next I headed to the GOMH where I got two little jumpin bullheads on the Lucky Craft Kelly J Jr. and one on the Gunfish.

I also tried Rock and Bulldog a second time, but didn't get anything.

Mille Lacs Bust- Shakopee Action

2011-06-10T22:14:00.004-05:00

Tonight I fished Eddy's Jetty at Mille Lacs. The wind was blowing out of the SE pretty good. It's been windy out of the East for 3 days now. Not even a hit. Heard from one of the Eddy's guys that someone caught a 19" smallie off the Jetty either last week or early this week when it was warm.

Next I headed to the bridge over the Rum River just North of Shakopee Lake. I started tying into little largie bass on a Berkley Havoc Deuce on the SE side of the bridge, I put on the Lucky Craft Kelly Jordan Jr. and got a small bass and pike. I got a little bigger pike on a Lucky Craft Gunfish. I went to the NW side and pulled this 15" from next to the Catails.

I also tried where the Rum flows out of Onamia Lake, but there were two kids fishing so I didn't get prime water.

Eddy's Launch Mille Lacs w/Dad and Don

2011-06-08T23:01:00.004-05:00

Dad, Don W. and I went out on an Eddy's Mille Lacs Launch on a cool and blustery night. Hard to believe it was almost 100 degrees just a day before. Temps during the launch were in the low to mid 60's. When we arrived at Eddy's just after 5:30PM the Flagship (Eddy's biggest boat) was already gone and there was a long line of people waiting to pay. Usually that early there is just a couple of people or no wait at all.

Anyway, we were among the 1st to be assigned to Boat #6 and we were able to get the back of the boat. I got Dad and I rigged up and we were off, just after 6PM. We headed North just SW of Indian Point in about 11 feet of water. First stop was dead so we moved closer to Indian Point within about an 1/8 of a mile West of Rainbow Island. Don had a fish on here and lost it. The anchor didn't hold in the wind and we soon moved back towards the general area we started in. That was dead so we moved again and then again. On the next stop Dad got a fish immediately before I had a chance to set his depth. I thought maybe he snagged in the rocks, but it was a fish. Unfortunately his line broke up by the rod.

In this spot a lady brought the first fish in, a keeper walleye. Then Don caught a keeper walleye. I had seen enough and switched to a yellow bead similar to what Don and Dad had. Dad missed a bite. A little later I got a keeper then missed two bites. A lady caught a smallie. I caught a cigar eye that I threw back and Dad caught a nice keeper eye and that was it. Once it got kind of dark the bite shut off.

It's always a good trip when you get fish. We gave ours to Don.

Also of note this trip was that there was a loud foul mouthed obnoxious woman who was putting down a few beers and almost never shut up.

Platte/Sullivan Pre-Fish with Video

2011-06-01T23:37:00.002-05:00

Today was the final day I could pre-fish Platte/Sullivan before the lakes go off limits. Unfortunately I didn't get out until around 5PM. It looks like we are going to have sun for tournament day and today was sunny, so it would have been nice to have a bit more time in under those conditions. I put in at the Platte Lake Public Access and headed East.

At my first stop I hit 3 docks and pulled a 14" off a boat lift with a "California" Havoc Pit Boss. I moved a little South onto the juice and fish were there. I got 3 OK bass and a pike, plus I shook off a few more hits on the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. I think it's an area I can count on for something come Saturday. I did a little by sight recon and didn't see anything so it was on to spot #2, the reeds off the South End of the big Island and the reeds behind the big Island. That was unproductive.

Next I headed North right to some docks. I pulled the beat up 16.5" off the second one with a red shad Zoom Super Fluke. Two docks down I got 14.75" on the orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug. That was the end of my dock fishing as I'd seen enough.

I shook off two that felt like good fish in an area that usually holds a couple. I lost the tail of the Cane Thumper on the first shake off. Then I went out farther into the lake and got a 14.75 on the Gambler EZ. I got a couple more bites on that and had the whole rig go bye bye when I set the hook on one. Not sure if it was a pike or damage I had done to the line on a previous bite that I'm sure was a pike.

I tied on a new Moaner Hook and tried a Yum Money Minnow. It got to be 8PM and I headed to Loon Sex Bay to work an area I didn't get to the other night. I threw the Money Minnow and Stanley Phantom. I think the Money Minnow was a mistake because it just wasn't drawing strikes. I did have a couple of possible hits, but they were just bumps. I pulled a little pike off Loon Sex Point. I moved into an area that at least should have been holding pike and finally I switched off the Money Minnow for a Gambler EZ. The EZ produced a bass and 2 pike pretty quick. It was getting dark and the mosquito's were coming out so I called it a night.

GOMH Quick Hitter

2011-05-31T21:13:00.003-05:00

I am keeping this one only on the Fishing Log Blog, thinking that most if not all of the Baxter Bass Snatchers won't see it.

Today was very windy out of the SW and cool (cold front) with occasional showers. I went to the Chiropractor and hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole on my way back from about 5:30-7PM. The wind was coming in hard on the South side and that is where I started. I couldn't get a hit on a reaction bait, but when I switched to a orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug I got a 13" and 14" jumpin bullhead. After about a half hour of that I went to the NE side.

I started out throwing a silver 3/16oz Strike King Pro Model Spinnerbait tandem Colorado blades. First cast I got a 13" jumpin bullhead. Right after that I got a small toothy bullhead, then a long thin one on the Strike King. I got a small 11ish jumpin bullhead and that was it for the spinnerbait. I switched to a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison with 5" Action Plastic Mag Grub electric blue and was rewarded with a couple of 15" class jumpin bullheads. After that action stopped I switched to a "California" color Berkley Havoc Pit Boss and got a 16" class fish and one that was probably around 14.5" (I didn't have the Rapala board out so all measurements are guesses.) The Pit Boss got destroyed by the 2nd fish and I switched to the Yum Wooly Bug Orange Craw. I got a 14" and 14.5" with that. That made 10 jumpin bullheads and I quit.

I was amazed at how good the fishing was considering the GOMH got pounded from shore over the Memorial Day Weekend.

Bass Opener Day 3

2011-05-30T23:15:00.001-05:00

Because it's Memorial Day weekend the Minnesota Bass Opener is a 3 day affair.

Today my lower back was giving me issues and I wasn't sure if I was going to get out. It was cloudy and breezy out of the SE. I eventually did get out on Platte Lake around 4:30PM. I headed East.

I started on a few docks that are usually unproductive and they lived up to expectation. After wasting 20 minutes I finally got into more productive water and nabbed this pike off a dock on a small black/red Hart spinnerbait.

As you can see I'm sporting my new cantaloupe Columbia Men's Airgill™ shirt with homemade hoodie. Columbia sent me the shirt to try along with some Drainmaker™ shoes. Today was in the 80's and humid, but with the breeze that Airgill shirt worked it's magic and I wasn't the least bit hot even with the sleeves down. I'm loving the shoes as well and they arrived none to soon as I've been getting my feet wet the past few days.

Anyway I made my way West and was into a good area and I popped this 16" on the Hart spinnerbait.
A little after that I got a 14.25" largie on the chart tiger Stanley Phantom topwater. Next I popped a couple of pike on the white Havoc Grass Pig, losing the Pig on the 2nd pike. I put a Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper on the 1/4oz weighted 5/0 Moaner Stroker Hook. I won those Moaner hooks earlier this year. It sure is nice to get to try something and see how it works for free. I popped one more bass on the Hart Spinnerbait, then I had a small pike destroy the spinnerbait. At that point I decided to head back East. I had my red shad Zoom Super Fluke bit off on the very first dock. It's possible I broke my line on the boat lift, but I think it was probably a pike.

As I worked my way West a guy came out to fish on his dock and got a crappie. I went around him and missed a fish, I think it was a bass, on the Cane Thumper. I covered an area that usually has rice and pads, but none were to be seen and no fish were there. Finally I got to some more docks. I popped a 15" largie on the PB&J Yum Wooly Bug along with an 11+" and a 12". That was the end of the PB&J bait so I tried a orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug and got a 12" on that. I was in the wind and struggling with boat control thanks to my broken trolling motor bracket. I did pull a 12" and 14.25" off docks with the Cane Thumper as I drifted by.

I made a move, a little later than I should have to Loon Sex Bay. I started working the Phantom and had a couple of misses on that before I connected with a 14" largie. I was covering water quickly and I decided to give the Cane Thumper a try and that paid off with a pike and 3 ok sized bass. I think I figured out how to set the hook on those swimbait bites. It's kind of a surging sweep set. I left the fish biting as I had to get back and get the boat on the trailer before it got to dark.

I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and didn't get a bite.

So that was
13 Bass
6 Pike

All told for Bass Opener weekend this year I landed 51 bass.

2011 Bass Opener Day 2

2011-05-29T23:33:00.004-05:00

I got out at around 3PM. Lots of people out on the lake today. It was pretty much overcast the whole time. Right about 9PM it rained for a little bit. There was a light breeze out of the NE.

I put in at the Platte Lake Access and headed North. Right after I stopped I saw a fish swirl, so I casted over there and was rewarded with a 14" bass on the PB&J Yum Wooly Bug. I had another bite and it felt like a good fish but it didn't hook up and that was the end of that. I switched to a white Stanley Phantom(spook) and nailed a pike right away on that. I had a few more hits on the Phantom maybe catching one more pike and a bass. I followed up a miss with a red shad Zoom Super Fluke and got a decent bass. On the next cast it got bit off. I cast out again and the Fluke got ripped right off the hook. I tried a pink X-Rap and got a few pike on that. I switched the Phantom to a chartreuse tiger and got a 16 bass right away. Then I nailed this 18.5"

Low and behold I looked down the way and saw the brown Tuffy of Bass Pundit blog reader Mike B. We chatted for a while. He told me a few things. He had mostly been getting pike and the bass were spread out. He went South and I continued North. I kept fishing the chart Phantom and was rewarded with a good bass every so often and there were several missed hits. I think I might have had 2 dogfish follows, but I couldn't get bit on a follow up bait. In one particular spot I got 3 bass in close succession. It started to rain and that was the end of the action.

I didn't have anything to write on but I think the official count was:
14 Bass (2 Wooly Bug, 2 Fluke, 10 Phantom) I had several 15 inch bass.
7 Pike

2011 Bass Opener Day 1

2011-05-28T21:55:00.013-05:00

It's that time!

I was not a spring chicken and didn't get to the launch until after 6AM. I wasn't fishing until about 6:45AM and much to my surprise I couldn't see anyone at the spot. As I was getting set up there was a red Lund heading my way. There was a bit of a SW breeze and I got blown towards the North Shore. I ran the trolling motor to get back towards the South shore. As the boat approached he was headed to go between me and the South shore. I yelled and pointed for him to go around the other way. I lined up my first cast of the morning with a white Stanley Jigs Phantom(spook) . Next thing I know the red Lund is passing between me and the South shore and headed right to where my bait is sitting. I was not happy, so I yelled at the guy (I have this on video and will post it when I figure out how to post to Youtube). Anyway if there were fish there, there weren't any longer.

Fishing the area I had one hit on the Phantom but it didn't hook up. Next bait in the quiver was a Havoc Lane's Grass Pig (Dipper). I could feel fish hitting it but they didn't hold on so I could set the hook. Next I tried a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper and had a fish hit that and not hook up. I went subsurface with a PB&J Yum Wooly Bug and finally I got a bass.

It was only 11.25". A couple of casts later I got my first "keeper" at 15".

I caught a few more fish but it was slow. Eventually the red Lund came back out of the river. I asked them if they caught anything and the guy swore at me, so I'm guessing that is a no. I could see another boat in the river fishing it's way towards me. They said it was really slow and only got a couple of small fish. I had to see for myself and they were right. The one notable thing is that I caught me first Dipper fish. Actually I got two, one on an unweighted set up and one on a weighted hook. Both fish smacked it and held on.

Eventually I left the river and went to fish the greater Pro. I was throwing the white weighted Grass Pig and I had it get bumped a few times but the fish were not taking it. Finally I had enough of that and switched to a black blue Pure Poison Chatter Jig and got a bass on that. After a while it became clear the fish just were not chasing so I started pitching the Wooly Bug to groups of pads. I was rewarded with my biggest fish of the day at 17.75".

I caught a few more and missed a couple of bites doing that. Eventually I went to where it was calm and looked for fish. Saw one good bass, a few average to small one's and one nice pike. Not a single dogfish. Eventually I got back into the wind and got one on the Pure Poison and an Orange Swim Jig with Havoc Devil Spear trailer. I got a few more hits that didn't hook up and on one of the hits the Spear tail came off. I switched the tail to a 4" pumpkin Action Plastics Grub and got a couple pike. As I was fishing down the shore a couple of guys from the Bass Snatchers came by. They were getting the lay of the land and hadn't started fishing yet.

I worked my way to the GOMH and into Platte where I got a 15.25" on the Pure Poison, along with a couple of pike.

I worked into channel in bay where it was calm and it was dead, not even panfish.

Eventually I worked my way into the Big West Bay. I tied on a baby bass Ninja Spinnerbait and the pike fest was on as I drifted the weed flat in the wind (and it was windy folks). I think I caught about 15 pike and two bass. Eventually I made a switch to a smaller black and red faux Ninja and the bass and pike evened out a bit. I think I finally narrowed down an area that was holding a few bass and I headed in.

It was an ordeal getting the boat trailered in that big wind on a NE shore access, but I did it and didn't break anything. I'm lucky I didn't swamp the boat and break stuff.

I ended up with:
24 Bass (Best 5:17.75, 16.25, 15.25, 15.25, 15)
26 Pike

Note: My "new and improved" trolling motor bracket didn't survive the first trip. I can still use it for now, but we are gonna need to try something else.

A Different Pete

2011-05-27T20:47:00.003-05:00

I got out on Platte/Sullivan with a fellow Baxter Bass Snatcher Peter Johnson. But before I met him at the launch I stopped at the GOMH. Nothing but jumpin bullheads. I tried out a Snakebait Baits California Shaker. A California Shaker is a spinnerbait that also has a chatter jig blade. I was impressed with the lure but I was a bit concerned as the chatter blade is attached to the spinnerbait with a Norman Speed Clip. In my experience Norman Speed Clips and spinnerbaits are not a good combination if you like to keep your spinnerbaits. My fears were justified. The spinnerbait came off right by shore. Luckily I was able to retrieve it.

When I got to the access Peter hadn't arrived yet, so I threw some casts from the dock. On a cast the Spinnerbait came off and all I got back was the chatter blade. You live and learn. I have one more of those California Shakers and I'm going to super glue the speed clip before I try to use it.

Pete and I went in search of dogfish and pike. Didn't see any dogs. And the pike were slow and small.

Here is a couple of our fish:

We fished from about 7:30 to 11:00AM

I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and connected with a couple of toothy bullheads. The only reason I got the pictures was because I needed the pliers.

Short GOMH Report

2011-05-18T22:47:00.002-05:00

I think I got out of the house around 7PM. There were quite a few trucks parked and Lo and behold I was suprized to see none other than GOM Lee Ander. Before I got my fishing stuff out I went to talk with Lee Ander. He said the info I got from GOM Willard was incorrect about him going blind. Apparently he had a blood clot in his lung this winter and had to be revived. He was there fishing with his daughter who caught a monster orange bullhead. He had gotten some jumpin bullheads and a small orange. However it seemed like it was pretty slow for the most part. GOM Bud was also there and he hadn't gotten anything. Eventually I got my stuff and fished between Lee Ander and Bud.

Earlier in the day I went to the Chiropracter and he recommended that I not do any casting for a few days, so it was fishing off the bridge for me. The wind was kind of nasty out of the N NE. I missed a couple of bites. My hook point on the panfish tube jig was a bit bent, so I changed to a pink Flu Flu with the minnow. I missed my first couple of hits, but eventually I got a couple of silver bullheads that I gave to Lee Ander. I didn't get a thing after Lee Ander left.

I left around 9PM.

GOMH Oh Yeah!

2011-05-17T23:42:00.009-05:00

Weather: Today was sunny and in the mid 60's with a breeze out of the NE about from 3 to 10. As I fished the wind would come and go.

Tonight I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole right about 5PM and I set up on the NE side. I started off throwing a clear smoke sparkle Berkley Havoc The Deuce double tail grub on a ball head jig and I was quickly rewarded with an 18 inch toothy bullhead.

I didn't bother to ask if anybody wanted it and threw it back. I started getting some small jumpin bullheads, several of which were jumpers. Next I tried a couple of swim jigs with no luck whatsoever.

I pulled out the River2Sea Wide Glide that I won in a contest and tried to work it. It didn't help that it was breezy and I couldn't work it right. I tried later when there was less wind and still couldn't get the hang of it. The lure is suppose to glide from side to side. It takes a different cadence than a normal walk the dog bait. I'm skeptical that I am going to like it, do to the difficulty in working it properly.

Eventually I put on a black/blue Strike King Pure Poison chatter jig with Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty black blue flake. It didn't take long and I got this 20" class fish.

I gave the toothy to a guy and girl that were fishing. The girl had just left to go to the South side and had been throwing a spinnerbait right where the fish hit. I proceeded to miss a couple of toothy's and then it got slow when the wind picked up.

I was hoping the Poison/Fatty off the bottom when I had a hit and it quickly was apparent this was no little fish. It took a couple of powerful runs pulling drag before I saw it was a toothy. I couldn't see the lure and the line was coming out the side of it mouth. I thought for sure it was going to break me off, but the 14lb Fireline held and I landed this 35 inch beast.

The guy who took the picture thought it was a good idea to take the picture with the truck as a back drop. I wish he hadn't. This pike went back in the lake. I wish all people would throw back pike that size so they have a chance to get to 40". At 40" I don't care if somebody keeps it for the wall. This is my biggest GOMH toothy bullhead and biggest Platte/Sullivan Pike. However Cyberfish caught one quite a bit bigger than this one a few years back in shallow slop in like July or August on a hollow body frog. I wish we had a pic of that fish.

After this one I might have gotten a couple of more toothy hits but nothing for sure. Of note I did get this 18.75" pig jumpin bullhead on the Poison/Fatty.

I'll tell you what, that Berkley Havoc Lane's 4" Craw Fatty is a good bait.

As it got dark GOM Willard came over to see me. He actually had been fishing tonight. He ended up giving his bullheads (orange's and 1 silver) to GOM Lee Anders grandson to take to Lee Ander. Willard didn't see the pike, so I showed him the picture on the camera.

Also of note tonight Conservation Officer Kuske showed up for a few minutes. He didn't come over to talk to me, so I didn't get to show him the pike pictures. There were several boats tonight fishing the South GOMH.

I left about a quarter to 10 or so. Didn't even try for silvers.

Another Night at Eddy's with GOMH Stop.

2011-05-16T15:22:00.012-05:00

The night ban goes into effect tonight at 10PM, so that leaves two and a half over nights to take advantage of the Eddy's Jetty night bite. Sunday was sunny and warmer with a good wind out of the East and that East wind should be good for fishing the Eddy's Jetty which is on the West shore, but if you read my last report Saturday night was inexplicably a bust.

I arrived at the Jetty around 9:30PM and it was pretty much slick with clear skies. I went to the North Jetty corner and threw out a leech with the lighted bobber. After about 10 minutes it got weird. With no hint of a bite my bobber started moving toward the Jetty and off to my right. I started reeling in and the movement to the right was more pronounced but there didn't seem to be a fish there and the bobber was up on the surface. The more I reeled the farther to the right it went. It seemed that I somehow my line got stuck in a rock that was well to the right of where I cast. As I got to were the "rock" was my bobber went under and I thought I was going to lose the bobber. But then the bobber came around and I was hung up, but not on a rock, but a very big fish. I had the fish on for about 40 seconds and then it came off. Could have been a muskie, pike, walleye, carp or smallie.

Here's my theory, my fishing line which was sinking got grabbed by a crayfish. A big fish then picked up the crayfish getting my line in it's mouth. As I reeled in the line passed through the fish's mouth until the fish got stuck by my hook. Man I wish I would have landed it or at least figured out what it was.

Anyway about 20 minutes later I caught this fellow on my line.

I had crayfish on my line 4 or 5 times throughout the night.

I tried Leeches and throwing raps but basically nothing happened until about 1AM when I put on an old clown Rapala Husky Jerk 14. I decided to give it a twitching action in the calm conditions and I got a hit but it got off. About 10 minutes later I landed one that was just over 18 inches and so in the protected slot.

After a little while I decided to change colors to a silver blue black Husky Jerk 14. I got a hit on that and landed my first keeper of the weekend at 16".

I went 15 minutes without a hit so then I tried a couple of smaller HJ12's without any luck. Because of the clear skies I thought maybe the glass white HJ14 might work. I had to the middle belly hook off so it wouldn't sink. This lure sort of turned out to be the deal. I missed a hit then on the next cast hooked up with a 17.25" keeper.

Shortly after that I caught a 18.5" that had to go back.

I then had 5 or 6 more hits a couple of which were ferocious, but couldn't hook up any of them. Then the action stopped. I tried switching baits but it went dead. This guy named Luke who I'd talked to a couple of times this weekend came out and got a bite on a leech, so I switched to a leech in the area where I had missed the most hits. After about 15 minutes the bobber went down and I got a 22". Here being held by Luke.

While it was still pretty dark but light on the horizon I got another bite but the fish let go right before I was going to set the hook. It took it down again for a couple of seconds, but then let go and that was it.

When it got pretty light out I caught 2 perch, one of which was nice which I gave to Luke. Luke put it on a stringer which he would later lose when he went to show a security guard the fish and he nearly fell in the harbor in the process. After that bigger perch Luke's bobber went down and he pulled in an eye that I think went 22".

I left just before 6AM.

I stopped at the Shakopee Lake bridge and I think I had a hit on my Strike King Pure Poison chatter-jig, but it got off right away. Wonder what it was?

I decided to go straight to the Grumpy Old Man Hole, where all I could catch was some jumpin bullheads, so I left.

Mille Lacs Gets Tough and GOMH Show

2011-05-15T10:26:00.002-05:00

On Saturday the wind blew out of the East all day. Normally that makes Eddy's hot. It didn't. I arrived at 8PM and set up on the North Jetty Harbor Mouth. Much to my astonishment nothing happened. Finally at 10PM I went to chuck raps off the North jetty corner and that didn't work. The wind was about 5 mph less than last night. I went to the lighted bobber and a leech and got bit around 11PM. I lost the fish more than half the way in. It may have been a keeper. About 35 minutes later the bobber was gone and this time I landed it. The fish went 19" and had to go back.

At 12:30AM I went to the truck to take a nap. I got up at 3AM and tried off the South jetty. The wind had picked up some. No luck. A little after 4AM I went back to the North jetty. I did get a bite but I waited to long and it spit the leech. Once the sun got up I tried the harbor mouth, nothing! I left at 6:30AM

I made a quick stop at the bridge North of Shakopee lake. Nothing, but I talked to a guy who said he gets walleye and northern there and bass occasionally.

After getting home and changing some things out I headed to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. There were several trucks parked, but nobody on the NE side so I was happy. My first lure was the Chuck Fall Pike Spinnerbait. I got a 14.5" jumpin bullhead on my first cast and 17.75" on my second. About 20 casts later I got a 16" jumper and that was it. I tried a bunch of lures but got nothing more.

I went to the SE side on the bank and made long casts with an orange swim jig I just won on Ebay with a Havoc Devil Spear Green Pumpkin dipped in Chart. JJ's Magic Dye. I got a 20" toothy bullhead and two 14.5" jumpin bullheads on it and missed a couple of hits. That Devil Spear is the bee's knee's for a swim jig trailer.

Gold Rush!!!

2011-05-14T08:25:00.007-05:00

Lord Have Mercy!

That was my reaction when I saw the conditions off of Eddy's Jetty. 10-15mph E SE wind so I went to the corner of the North Jetty. I thought it was going to be a serious whack fest, turns out the fishing was just OK.

I started casting a couple of minutes past midnight throwing a purple perch Husky Jerk because I whacked them hard on that color in similar conditions in 2007 (and 2007 Part Deux). That didn't pan out so I switched to a gold husky jerk.

After about 10 minutes it was "fish on" and I landed it.

It went 23" and had to go back because it was in the protected 18-28slot.

About 10 minutes later it was fish on again.

This one went 19"

I went for about 15 minutes without a bite, so I switched to a glass perch color and I got two on that.

This one, both pictures, went 25" and was big fish of the night.

This one went 24.5

I then had a long lull and tried several baits before getting this 22" on a white Shallow Shad X-Rap.

I got this last fish around 2:15AM. Soon after that my upper back started to really bug me and by 3AM I had to give up the rap throwing.

I went on got my bobber rod and went up the center jetty and fished the North harbor mouth. There had been 3 guys fishing at the North harbor mouth from the North Jetty and they got a total of 4 Eye's. After about an hour I got a bite and missed it. I quickly put on another leech and cast back to the same spot. Sure enough it got picked up and I reeled the slack and set the hook. This one looked like and eater, but it got off. That was my last bite. I stayed till a little after 6:30am but the fish were just not going like I would think they should be.

I'll be back tonight.

Two Trips

2011-05-13T20:56:00.005-05:00

Last Night I fished at the GOMH from 7:30-10PM. Weather was cool and cloudy with moderate wind out of the NW.

I started out fishing on the bridge with GOM Bud. Bucketman was there on the SW side as were a couple of other people I recognized. The SE side was filled with people I didn't know. The action was pretty steady. I used a plain leadhead panfish tube jig head with a minnow. I got a silver bullhead and two jumpin bullheads while on the bride.

Around 8:15PM everybody that was on the SW side left so I went down there. I was catching a few silvers and then I stared missing a bunch when GOM Willard came down to talk. Eventually Bud left with 9 silvers, 4 of which I gave him. John W. showed up and started nailing fish right away. I started giving him the one's that I caught. Eventually Lantern Man and a friend of his showed up. Lantern Man was once again up in arms about the GOMH being on the Internet. The friend had bow fished some dogfish at the bridge North of Shakopee Lake. Interesting. When I left at 10PM I had caught a total of 10 silvers with 1 of them being a dink.

This morning I got to the GOMH a bit later than I should have at around 6AM. John W was there and said he had caught 10 but only 3 were keepers. He was on the SW side so I went to the SE side. I proceeded to go through my last 6 minnows without catching a thing. The fish were real finicky and would often take it down for a second let go and not come back. When the minnows were gone I switched to a beetle spin and got several jumpin bullheads including an 18" and another real fat one that I didn't measure that was in the 17" class.

I left at 8AM and stopped to get more minnows at Bear Traxx, they didn't have bigger leeches in yet/

Another Double Trip

2011-05-11T23:45:00.001-05:00

Weather- A bit of fog in the morning with overcast and even a quick sprinkle. Light South Wind. Humid

Evening- 77°F was the days high, I think it was hazy with some sun.

Morning Trip:
I headed out the door for the Grumpy Old Man Hole a bit before day break and had to use the lighted bobber for about 20 minutes. I got 3 silver bullheads. After that it was nothing but jumping bullheads on both the South and North. Notable was this 18.5" jumper caught on a Panfish Chatterbait.

Evening Trip- I didn't get to the GOMH until a bit after 8:30PM, it wasn't as busy as last night, but the South side was well covered. GOM Willard arrived when I did. GOM Bud was there as was Bucket Man who was back to his bucket tonight. I was told the bullheads had been biting fairly good, so I got my rod and fished off the bridge. I was having zero luck. The guy next to me, John, said people were getting them on a plain hook. He started getting a few on a plain jig head. I tried a couple different colored tubes, then took the plastic off. Finally I got bit. Gave that one to John. Proceeded to lose my next 5-6 bites. It got dark and people started leaving. Joe from my bass fishing club the Baxter Bass Snatchers showed up with a buddy. A little later Latern Man showed up. LM got to talking to Joe about how more people were fishing the GOMH because they heard about it on the Internet. Joe didn't tell him about my blog. It's hard for me to tell if the Grumpy Old Man Hole is busier now than it was previous to my blogging about it. People have always fished there and if the bite is on the word gets out. Lots of people fished it 2009, but the bite was really hot that year. It seems like it was less busy last year with the prolonged Spring and a bite that just wasn't as good. This year it has been moderately busy.
Anyway I got 3 nice silver bullheads and gave them to Joe and friend. I left at 10:30PM.

Double Trip

2011-05-10T23:52:00.004-05:00

Weather: This morning started with a thunderstorm right when I wanted to go fishing at first light. I managed to make it out from 6:30am to 8:30am. There was a pretty good NE breeze blowing.

In the evening I arrived at the GOMH at about 8PM, there was thunder in the distance but it was dead calm and only sprinkled for a bit.

On the morning trip I fished the SW, SE, and NE side getting nothing but jumpin bullheads and one small tiger bullhead. I think the thunderstorm along with the NE wind blew the silvers right out.

When I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole it was full up with people on all sides of the bridge. GOM Willard and Bud were there along with Bucket Man, Kyle and son John W. plus a bunch of others. Not much was going on at first and I decided to watch. Apparently CO Kuske was there earlier and pinched a guy who didn't have a fishing licence. At about 8:20pm some of the guys on the SW side started getting some. By 8:45pm they had turned on and I just watched. When Bucket Man, Kyle, and John left the SW side I went down there. All I caught was one bullhead bullhead fishing from about 9:30pm to 10:30pm.

Bullheads- No Kidding Around!

2011-05-09T23:41:00.006-05:00

Weather: We had thunderstorms in the morning or I would have gone out. The rain quit about 8:30AM. The day was cloudy, breezy, and mild with a high of 63°F.

After a feast of silver bullhead for supper I headed out and arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 7:30PM. No surprise it was busy. The Bud the foul mouthed Grumpy Old Man was there, along with "Bucket Man" who now sits in a chair, a new guy this year who I'll call Turkey with his kid, and then there were several others fishing as well. I set up next to GOM Bud up on the bridge South side. Silver bullheads were coming in everywhere sporadically and after about 10 minutes I got my first and gave it to Bud.

I would give him a total of 3 and also get a 14" bullhead from the bridge. Around 7:50PM Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up. Round about 8:30PM Turkey and son left, so I went down on the SW side were they were. That turned out to be a bad move as I couldn't figure the fish out. Bucket Man filled his limit and I caught a little silver and missed one. Bud managed to fill out his limit up on the bridge. Some other young guys fished the South side of the bridge and got a couple of silvers and jumpers. The people on the SE side were getting fish, but by 9PM it was pretty much just me and Willard and those young guys who were now fishing the North side. Willard suggested I go to the SE side, so I went and tried that. Willard told me that GOM Lee Ander can't drive anymore because of his eye sight and it isn't very likely that he will fish at the GOMH anymore.

After about 5 minutes on the SE side I got a nice silver bullhead. Willard almost took it, but it went back in the lake. Willard left shortly after that. I started nailing a few silvers including this 12.25" fish.

Around 10PM the action slowed, but I did catch a bullhead. Yes a real live bullhead.

I had 3 more bites that I couldn't hook and I left around 10:30PM.

All in all I got
11 Silver Bullhead
1 Jumpin Bullhead
1 Yellow Bullhead

Morning GOMH Trip

2011-05-07T13:39:00.004-05:00

Note- Date is correct even though this post was written and posted the next day.

After the slugfest that was Friday night, I figured it might be a good thing to hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole first thing in the morning and so I did. I left the house about 5:20AM and as I did I wished I had left about 10-15 minutes sooner because of how light out it already was. Wouldn't you know it but a car turned in front of me from 27 onto 8 and they headed straight to the GOMH. The guy was quick about unpacking his gear and went straight to the SW side where I was going to go. I decided to fish on the bridge to the SW, where the people were having lots of success yesterday. I popped 3 nice silver bullheads immediately on the pink Cubby with minnow. The other guy started catching some and a guy and lady showed up and took the SE side. Then after about 15minutes I got a 4th. A man with his son who fished last night showed up and started fishing next to me on the bridge. I got a bite from a nice bass and had to go down to the SW side to land it. I'm not sure what happened but my line broke and I almost lost my wing it bobber, but I did get it back.

I went back up on the bridge and re-tied. I decided to try a tube, but I picked a ball head jig that was just a little to big to get the jig head inside the tube. I did catch one small silver that I threw back on a smoke tube. I tried a lemon tube, then I decided to switch jig heads, to an elongated lead tube jighead. I went with a red sparkle/smoke tail color and snapped two nice silver bullheads right away and I thought I was on to something but unfortunately the silver bullheads almost totally shut off at that point. My next 7 fish were all jumpin bullheads caught on the SW side. I stayed until about 10:30am.

A Bit of Frustration

2011-05-06T23:55:00.006-05:00

Weather: Nicest day in a while, high of 67 with sun and little wind.

Today was the day the fish made the big move into the Grumpy Old Man Hole. Unfortunately it was also the day other fishermen showed up to fish it. I headed out the door early today around 6PM and there were quite a few trucks parked as well as 2 boats. One of the boats was sitting right by shore on the SE side of the bridge. I got out of the car to do a little recon and the people were slamming the silver bullheads in one little spot just out from the bridge on the SW side. A couple of old guys could just drop there line down straight from the bridge and they were right in the spot. A guy on the SW side stairs was fishing out and to the west of the stairs and catching orange bullheads. I overheard the guys in the boat at the bridge say they only had two more to go to get their limit, so I quickly went to the car and got set up on the SE side where no one was. Within 15 minutes the boat left. I was able to cast in to where some fish should have been but it was mighty slow for me. I probably should have started experimenting with stuff, but I just stayed with the pink Cubby and a Minnow. I think one of the old guys on the bridge was using waxies and the other guy said he was just using a tube. A third old guy on the bridge had minnows and wasn't doing as well but he was like me and not quite on the spot. I eventually did pop a couple of nice silver bullheads. Two of the old guys up on the bridge got their limits and left. It had kind of slowed down at that point.

The last old guy remarked that it had gotten slow and I said well there were 4 limits just taken out of here and the guy fishing the SW side said there were 3 limits on top of that gotten by people who were there before I arrived. Sheesh!

I would say it was around 7PM when blog reader Mike B. showed up. He had been fishing Little Whitefish and dropped by to see if I was fishing. We talked for a while and I didn't fish. Eventually he went up to his boat to get a rod and I started throwing a beetle spin around. I started catching some small jumpin bullheads on that. Mike hooked into a dogfish but before he could get it on shore it broke his 4lb test line.

Eventually I switched back to the Cubby and Minnow and started getting some silver bullheads. Mike caught some jumpin bullheads and silver bullheads which he gave to me. The guy on the SW side left but was quickly replaced by 3 young guys. Eventually the old guy on the bridge left and kid took up that spot. I got a few silvers and missed some bites. The kid on the bridge started whacking them and the guys on the SW side got into them pretty good. As it got later it seemed like there were at least a few silvers spread out. I ended up throwing a couple of 10 inchers back, hoping for bigger.

Mike left about 9PM and so did the kid. The guys on the SW side kept catching them pretty steady while I just couldn't get anything to go with lighted bobber with the Glow Demon and a minnow. Once those guys left I went to the SW side and got 1 that I kept and that was it. I left around 10:15PM.

Seriously, I got smoked by the other fishermen. This was my haul:

Think I might hit it at first light tomorrow and see if I can't put on a whackfest.

GOMH Bullhead Slam!

2011-05-05T23:53:00.009-05:00

Weather: Early this morning it was in the low 40's and rained/showered from 1AM to about 9AM; We got maybe a quarter inch. After that the day was partly cloudy giving way to sun occasionally and 60°F was the high.

I headed out of the house after 7PM and was fishing by 7:30PM. When I arrived Lantern Man and his brother in law were fishing one on the SE (LM) and the other on the SW. I moved my stuff by LM and went to fish to the East of him in the rough.
First bullhead of the night was this 16.25" jumper on the black/red Pit Boss. After about 15 more minutes I moved next to LM on the steps and tried the pink Cubby with a minnow. LM's BIL went to the North side, so I went over the SW side. I had the bobber pulled down twice in the same spot but couldn't hook up. I switched to the beetle spin and banged a toothy bullhead. Shortly after that GOM Bud aka the foul mouth GOM, showed up.
We had more visitors watching for a while, but they left as nothing was going on. Eventually I switched back to the Cubby and Minnow and was in the vicinity where I had gotten all the bites when my bobber went down and I pulled in an 11" silver bullhead.

As it was getting to be bullhead prime time I stuck with the Cubby until it was quite dark. I was just about to switch to the lighted bobber when I got a bite right next to the rocks. It put up a good fight and I knew it was no silver bullhead. I had to get my headlamp on while fighting the fish and once I did I was able to see a golden bullhead. That's right I got a Bullhead Slam!
The GB went 21" and because they are not open until the 14th, it went back in the lake.

I stayed until almost 10PM and on my very last cast I got a 10" silver bullhead that was sitting right where the golden bullhead was caught. This one was caught on a Glow Demon.

Slower GOMH (And GOM Willard Was There)

2011-05-04T22:10:00.003-05:00

Weather: Sunny most of the day, but turning overcast by the time I fished. It got to 63 and was kind of breezy when I first arrived but it quited down pretty quick.

I had to get minnows at Bear Traxx, so I was at the Grumpy Old Man Hole by 6:45PM. There was a truck parked, but I didn't see anybody so I set up on the SE side. I wasn't there long when Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up in his truck. As he was getting out of the truck I got the first jumpin bullhead of the night. Talked to Willard for a bit then he went to check and see if somebody was on the North side. Sure enough there was somebody there but he said he didn't catch anything. The guy never did come fish the South side, so maybe he tried it earlier and didn't get anything.

While fishing for dogfish with the red/black Havoc Pit Boss I had a fish in the cattail stocks bite 6 times but never hook up. Bowfin maybe??? Anyway I got a few jumpin bullheads on the Pit Boss and a beetle spin. By 7:45PM the action died.

I was fishing the pink Cubby and had a few very light nibbles that didn't take it. Finally when it was quite dark the bobber went down but I missed it. I put the light on that rods bobber and had another bite, but missed it. Eventually I switched up to the Lindy Lighted Bobber with the Custom Jigs and Spins Glow Demon. I managed to get two 12" silver bullheads on that. Here's the 1st one.

6 jumpin bullheads
2 silver bullheads

Bullhead Is Back (and a Dogfish too)

2011-05-03T23:42:00.006-05:00

Weather: Today it got to 58°F and it was sunny with light winds. That was enough to bring the fish back in.

I didn't get to the Grumpy Old Man Hole until 7:45PM. I set up on the SE side and I got rid of the skunk on the first cast when a small jumpin bullhead bit. I proceeded to get a bunch of jumpin bullheads over the next hour.
This one was the biggest (18.25") and bit on a pink Cubby Mini-Mite with a minnow.

Once it got sufficiently dark I started getting into the silver bullheads. I caught 3 nice one's, and missed 2 more on the Cubby with a minnow. I then got a bite that was a little different, I set the hook and thought for a second I had hooked into a muskrat. It wasn't a muskrat, it was about a 19" dogfish. I fought it for about 45 seconds and then it got off. In the coarse of the battle I lost the split shot on my line, so I decided to go up and get my other lighted bobber rod that has a Custom Jigs and Spins Glow Demon on it. On that set up I got 1 silver bullhead on the SE side and 1 silver bullhead on the SW side. This was my total haul.

I stopped fishing at 11PM.

One Bullhead is Better Than None!

2011-05-01T23:55:00.004-05:00

I didn't get out until 7:45PM. Today was cold and windy but the wind was more out of the West so the GOMH was protected a little better. I didn't get bite in the first hour fishing the SW,SE,and NE side. I decided to end the night on the SE side and that kept me from the skunk. I was fishing the pink Cubby Mini-Mite with a minnow close in to the end of the old cattail stocks when the bobber went down. It was the 12" silver bullhead in the picture. I had to go and get my stuff, which was on the SW side. I did have the bobber go down one more time about 10 minutes later but I missed that bite. It was cold, dark, and I figured my chances at a fish were pretty low, so I quit at 9:15PM.

Wind City

2011-04-30T23:11:00.005-05:00

I arrived at the GOMH by 7:30PM and it looked a bit windy out of the South. I was surprised no one was there fishing. I got out of the truck walked around back and when I cleared the truck I found out it was "a bit windy" all right; Try 25-30mph sustained. I tried to fish the SE and SE side but the wind was pretty much blowing straight in and there were white caps hitting the shore. After giving it about 10 minutes I headed to the North side. On my way I discovered my Rapala Measuring Board laying up on the road under the car barrier. I figured it had blown out of my bad, but it turns out I had left it there on Thursday night and Lantern Man put it up there hoping I would find it.

Anyway I got to the North side which is a bit protected and started flinging and I was rewarded with a 15" jumpin bullhead. I was very glad there wasn't going to be a skunk tonight. The bite gave me hope. A little while later I got another bite on the beetle spin and brought in this 22.5" Pike.

(Yeah I know, lousy pic. This was the best of the 4 I took)

A little after getting that fish Lantern Man showed up. He said it was pretty windy last night too. Said he got a 21inch 6lb+ jumpin bullhead last night, but it was the only fish he got. After about 10 minutes LM caught a small toothy bullhead. He fished for about 10 more minutes then went to try the South side in the wind. Just after he left I got a 26" toothy bullhead on the beetle spin. A little bit after that I had the beetle spin bit off and that was the end of the action. I think I left around 9PM.

Nothin' But Jumpin' Bullhead (For Me)

2011-04-28T22:27:00.007-05:00

Weather: Today was warmer sun and almost 60 with little wind.

I arrived at the GOMH around 7:30PM and I fished the SW side and for about 5 fruitless minutes on the NE side. Here is the run down.
15.5" Jumpin Bullhead Red/Black Pit Boss
14.25" Jumpin Bullhead " "
14.50" Jumpin Bullhead Beetle Spin
14.25" Jumpin Bullhead " "
14.25" Jumpin Bullhead Pink Cubby Mini-Mite w/ Minnow
15"+ Jumpin Bullhead " " " " (long line release)

Lantern Man showed up around 8:15PM and fished the SE side. He caught more bullheads than me. When I started fishing with the Cubby I discovered I didn't have the light for the bobber. I did a 2nd long line release on a smaller jumpin bullhead when the hook on the Cubby broke. I went to switch to my lighted bobber rod only to discover there was no light in the bobber. AGGGGGHHHH!

I tied on another Cubby and fished with my headlamp on. I did get one bite while doing that but I didn't hook it. I fished to about 9:30PM, not much was happening by that point.

Sorta Slow GOMH!

2011-04-27T22:24:00.004-05:00

Weather: Today was cool with intermittent snow throughout the day, overcast. Wind out of the North from 5-10.

I went and got minnows at Bear Traxx before they closed at 6:30PM and I was fishing by 6:45PM. I didn't get any bites in the first hour. Around 7:50PM I popped a 13.25" jumpin bullhead. About 15 minutes later I popped this 17.25" jumper.
That was all the minnows could get me, no silver bullheads tonight. I did miss a couple of bites.

Some Bullhead

2011-04-26T23:10:00.005-05:00

I headed out of the house a bit after 7PM tonight. I started out the night playing with the new Think Tank Triggerfish topwater I got in the mail today from Tackle Warehouse. I was getting it to perform all it's little tricks, then I promptly lost it to the lake on a bad cast. Bummer Man!!!

So then I started fishing and got this 17" jumpin bullhead:
A little bit after that I got a 14.5 jumpin bullhead. I got both on a red/black Havoc Pit Boss. I threw the beetle spin with the Storm Wildeye Swim Shad for a while and didn't get anything. As it was starting to get dark I switched to the pink Mini-Mite Cubby below a bobber. I could just barely see the bobber about 12feet out when it tipped over on it's side and stayed there. I set the hook and got this 11" silver bullhead.

That was the last fish of the night. I stayed until 9:15PM.

A Little Bullhead!!!

2011-04-25T23:14:00.001-05:00

I headed out tonight at about 6PM and my first stop was Rock Lake. Last year the ice was off area lakes before April 1st. The Rock Dock didn't go in until May 6th. This year the ice was off Rock Lake on Tuesday April 19th and the dock was in today. Go figure that one out.

The Rock Dock didn't bring me any luck, not even a bite. I left at about 7PM to head to the Grumpy Old Man Hole.

I parked on the NE side and started fishing on the NE side, Nothing. I then headed to the SW side. I was throwing the Vampire Orange(Red/Black) Berkley Havoc Pit Boss for dogfish and on about my 3rd cast I got a 13.5" blind in one eye jumpin bullhead. I switched up to a beetle spin and caught a little toothy bullhead. About 10 minutes later I got a 16.5 jumpin bullhead on the beetle spin. A couple of minutes later I had a small toothy bullhead swipe at the beetle spin but not get it. Then there was nothing for a long time. I decided to try to put a 2" Storm Wildeye Shad on a beetle spin, didn't get any hits on that. It was starting to get dark and so I decided it was time to break out bobber with the pink Cubby Mini-Mite. I was working it just a little ways out and the bobber started scooting off. I set the hook and the fight was on. I pretty sure it was a nice, but not huge, jumpin bullhead, don't know for sure because it got off. A couple of minutes later in almost the same exact spot the bobber tipped over, so I set the hook. Sure enough a silver bullhead had just inhaled the Cubby. I didn't have a bucket with me so back it went.
. It got dark enough that I had to put a light on the bobber. After about 5 minutes with the light on the bobber started moving to my left, so I set the hook and got another silver bullhead that just inhaled the pink cubby. I had the bobber move off one more time but I missed it. I left a little after 9:30PM.

Bullheads Baby!!!

2011-04-12T22:14:00.001-05:00

Today was delightful. Sun and it was almost to 70°F. I decided it would be a good night to hit up the Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) and see if anything might have showed up. I left the house at about 7:20PM so I arrived about 7:30PM. There was open water on the Sullivan side beyond where I could see going towards the Platte River Outlet, but the PRO itself still has ice well along the Southern shore. The Platte side maybe had 5-8 acres of open water. The water is as high as I've ever seen it at the GOMH, almost all the rocks are under water on the SW side.

I started on the SW corner throwing a 2" Storm Wildeye Swim Shad. After trying that for a while with no luck, I had a hunch that I should go and try the Platte side of the bridge, so I went over to the NE side. On my very first cast to a spot that held lots of fish last year, it was bullhead on!!!

It was about 13" or so, I didn't measure it. I didn't have any luck and after about 10 minutes a young beaver started swimming around in the area and smacking it's tail every once and a while. I tried a few different things without any luck. At about 8:10PM I switched back to the SW side. Right before I switched sides another bigger beaver showed up.

Once again first cast, BAM BULLHEAD!!!

This one I did measure and it went a bit over 18". It wasn't very fat, so it might have been a male. After a few more casts with nothing I switched up to a Cubby Mini Mite under a bobber. I got a hit on that but missed it. Eventually it got to dark to fish around 8:35PM.

Nice to see my first fish of the year.

1 Little Pike Platte Lake Dock

2010-10-23T20:36:00.003-05:00

It was raining today and so I had to go an put the cover on the boat. Naturally when I was done with that I threw a few casts from the dock. I used a white Monsoor Swim Jig with a Pearl Essence 5" Action Plastics Super Mag Grub. I had a follow from a small pike and then a couple of casts later I caught a small pike and that was it for action.

Platte Lake Oct 16th: Something Anyway

2010-10-16T20:22:00.006-05:00

Conditions: Today there was sun and the high temp was 61. It was breezy with a 15 to 20mph wind out of the NW. It settled down to a 7mph wind around 6PM. I was out from about 5PM to 7:10PM

The Report:I headed straight back to the spot that was so good to me yesterday and there was nothing there. I fished the area and eventually started working my way down "The Trench" breakline and I got the 15.25" bass in the pic. It hit on a white with white single Colorado blade spinnerbait with bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke trailer. I did throw a marker and worked the area hard with the spinnerbait. I caught a little pike and that was it. If I had it to do over I would have thrown a lipless crank and the crawtube as well. I worked my way around "The Trench" catching 2 more pike. I gave the point off the South tip of the small island a try but didn't get anything.

Around 6PM I made a move to hit up by the maidencaine across from the public access in the Big West Bay. Unfortunately the wind was a little more out of the West than North and I didn't have mostly calm water until I got right up by shore. That was unproductive and a little before 7PM I made a move to hit the rice patch in the middle of the bay where I got into some fish about a week ago. There was still a ripple on the water but the wind had calmed down to under 5MPH, so I tried throwing the Repo Man. It was getting a little dark and with the ripple on the water I kept getting hung up in weeds. Finally I was going to make one last cast with the Repo Man. Sure enough a fish swirled on it a couple of times before hooking up. It felt like a good fish but it got down in the weeds and got off. A couple casts later a little pike came shooting out of the water at the Repo Man, but missed. That was the extent of the nights actions.

Platte Lake Oct. 15th: Hmmmm...Yeah!

2010-10-15T23:54:00.009-05:00

Conditions: A very nice day but a bit cooler than it's been. Sun with temps in the high 50's. Wind was out of the SE at about 4-7 turning calm around 6:40PM. I fished from about 4:30PM to 7:10PM

The Report:I started by hitting the first dock to the West of the lake place. Nothing. I then continued in that direction and had a hit, missed it. In fact as I kept going that direction I missed the first 5 hits I got. Visions of another skunk were running in my head until I got this dude on a spinnerbait.

Yeah, no skunk!

I fished the last 3 docks on the South Shore of the Big Middle Bay. That wasn't happening and it was coming up on 6PM and I needed to make a move. I decided to go to the South shore of Platte just to the SE of the small island. I don't think I've fished in this area for at least 3 years. I started out on the weed flat fishing in extremely sparse reeds. I managed to catch one small pike out there on a white Monsoor Swim Jig with pearl essence 5" Action Plastic Super Mag Grub. I worked my way West and towards shore eventually getting to a thicker reed bed. I was working my way around those thicker reeds throwing the swim jig when I got on the lake side where the reeds thinned out considerably. I made a cast by a couple of isolated reeds and I got hit, then hit again, then on the third hit the fish hooked up. I fully expected it to be a pike, but it was this 14.25" bass.

The end of the tail got bit off the grub, but I cast it right out over the same spot and had another bass on that was the same size jump off right at the boat. I cast back to the spot again and got a 13.50" largie. I decided to give the Repo Man a try and it took a couple of casts, but I got 13.50" on that. Then nothing, so I tried the swim jig and nothing. I cast a junebug crawtube to the spot and got bit, but I missed on the hookset. Same thing on the next cast. On the third try I got a 14.75" and that was it. I tried throwing a few more things and it seemed the bite ended. I put a new Super Mag Grub on the swim jig. I cast over the hot spot from a different angle and had a hit that didn't hook up. Cast back a couple of times more and nothing. I then cast back with the crawtube and got a 13.75" and 14.25" on consecutive casts and that seemed to be it for the spot.

It was now about 6:50PM and getting dark quick, and I made the decision to fish the point that comes off the South tip of the small Island. It was a good call. I smacked this 17.5", obviously on the Repo Man.

A couple of casts later a 17.25" largie just lit up the Repo Man right after it landed. I had one more blow up on the Repo Man but it didn't hook up and it didn't come back for seconds. As it was getting dark I moved the boat off the end of the point and was casting over the tip before the drop off with a white single white Colorado blade spinnerbait when I got the last bass of the night, which was 14".

It looks like the secret to catching bass on Platte right now is to find a pod of fish. Easier said than done as the previous two days of no bass proves. I'm not sure what was so special about that one little area to give up so many fish. I plan to go back there tomorrow and try it again and GPS it.

Platte Lake Oct 14th: Skunked, Yes Skunked

2010-10-14T21:53:00.006-05:00

Conditions: Wasn't much different than yesterday with temps in the mid 60's, but today the winds were blowing much harder 20mph+ out of the NW. Just as I was heading out I heard on the radio that a front had come through today. Water temps seemed to be 55-57. I got out for a couple of hours until dark.

I ran across the big middle bay to protected water where a couple of docks that are still in the water are located on the end of North Platte Lake Road peninsula point. Nothing on the docks. I out to try the edges of the reed bed and had a good hit with a baby bass Zoom Super Fluke. Unfortunately I didn't hook up. I tried topwaters and spinnerbaits, but nothing happened so I headed across the weed flat heading NE.

The spinnerbait I was getting the pike on yesterday wasn't doing anything, so I tied on a white spinnerbait with white single Colorado blade. I got a couple of hits that I didn't bring in near of in the the reed bed in the middle North of the bay. Topwater wasn't happening at all.

As it was getting dark I made a quick move to fish the outside edge of the big Eastern reed bed. Didn't get any hits there.

Unfortunately I think the topwater bite might be done for the year. To be honest I am not really sure where to go to find bass in Platte now.

Platte Lake Oct 13th: Bassless

2010-10-13T21:41:00.004-05:00

Conditions: Today was sunny with temps in the mid 60's with about a 12MPH WNW wind switching to the SW around 6:30PM. I fished from about 4:30PM to 7:15PM

The Report:
My first stop was the reed bed off of the end of the Platte Public Access Peninsula Point. It was nice because it was semi-protected from the wind. I started with topwater but quickly switched from that to a 1oz brown, green pumpkin, and orange spinnerbait with large tandem copper Indiana blades. On the first cast I smacked a small pike. A couple minutes later I got another small pike, and after that I got a 25" pike.

Something got lit up in shallower water and I went in to investigate, but I couldn't make anything happen. I went back to where I was getting the pike, but now the area was dead, so I headed out onto the weed flat. After catching a couple more small pike. I switched to a 1oz brown, green pumpkin, and orange spinnerbait with large tandem copper Willowleaf blades. I ended up catching 5 more small pike with that.

I worked my way across the weedflat to the Southern shoreline of Channel Inn Bay were there is the remains of the summer rice beds. It looked good but it was dead. It was around 6:30PM and sunlight was diminishing quickly, so I was making my way out of the rice when I had a hit on a white Horny Toad. I wasn't paying attention and didn't really get a hookset and the fish came off.

When I got out of the rice I headed to the Big Middle Bay to the reeds where I got into the bass last night. One big problem, the wind had shifted out of the SW and it was blowing on the area pretty good. I gave up on topwater pretty quick and went to the spinnerbait. I got a couple of hits but didn't hook up. Eventually I went in closer to shore where it was calm. I had a hit on the Repo Man but didn't hook up and that was it for action.

I caught 10 pike total.

Platte Lake Oct 12th: Topwater Flurry Late Saves Trip

2010-10-12T20:25:00.004-05:00

Conditions: Today was cooler than it has been with temps in the mid 60's and sun. It was windy out of the W NW which I didn't like, but it seemed around 6:30 the wind lowered a bit and shifted more out of the North thus giving me almost calm conditions. Water temps had dropped into the high 50's from the low 60's yesterday. I fished from a little after 5PM to about 7:15PM

The Report:
I was hoping the North shoreline would be protected so I headed across the bay to the North Shore just a bit to the West of where I started yesterday. The shore was sort of protected but only very close in as the wind was more out of the West than North. Basically I fished the same water I started on yesterday. There was nothing on the docks. I had a hit on a spinnerbait that didn't hook up and I got a small pike somewhat close to shore on the Repo Man.

Around 6:30PM I made a move to hit the weed flat on the North End of the Big Middle Bay. Due to the wind I went much farther to the West than where I fished yesterday. I stopped in the middle of an area that had space reeds that had stalks that were cut off. The wind pushed me to the SE. I just kept working the back side of the reed bed and eventually I happened into a school of bass with the Repo Man. I got a 14.25" and a 14.75" then I missed 3 consecutive bites including what looked to be a 16" largie that got off right at the boat. I then got a 14.5", 15", missed a strike, 14.25", small pike, and a 14.75" all on the Repo Man.
The way things started out I worried that I might get a skunk, because I was going to try and make topwater work no matter what, but it turned out to be a fun and productive night.

Platte Lake Oct. 11th: A Little Better Night

2010-10-11T23:48:00.007-05:00

Conditions: Today was in the high 70's with hazy sun. When I went out around 4PM there was about a 8MPH wind but I fished in protected water and it was calm by 6PM. Water temps were in the low 60's. I stopped fishing at about 7:05PM when it was quite dark.

The Report:
I started out by going to the other side of our bay (North) to fish docks. On the first dock I got a bite on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke and missed it. I switched to a baby bass Fluke and got hit again and missed again. Finally after casting back in a bunch of times I pulled out a 13.25" largie on the Fluke. I then got a 11.75" largie up shallow on a Paycheck Baits Repo Man. I fished a dock to the West missing a bite (I think it was small) and then I went back to the 1st dock and caught a 14.25" bass. Next I caught a 9.5" bass and 7" bass on the Repo Man. Here is the eager 7 incher:

I got a 13.5" largie between docks on a bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. Then I missed yet another dock fish with the Fluke. I pulled off the shoreline onto the flat where there had been surface activity and got a 15.25" largie on the Buzzjet Jr.

It was about 5:30PM and I wasn't getting anymore bites out on the flat so I headed out of our bay and into the Big Middle Bay and I stopped at the first dock as there were 3 in a row still in the water. I missed about 4 bites on the baby bass Fluke before finally catching a 15" largie. I think there might have been more fish under the dock but I hung the fluke and didn't get a bite with the crawtube.

I cast out towards the reeds and got a 12.75" largie on the Repo Man. On the next dock I got a small pike on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke and I pulled a 14.25" bass out from the end of a small tree laydown.

Next I headed out onto the flat where I found the schooling bass last week. My first fish out there was a little pike on the Repo Man. After covering lots of water with the Repo Man I finally had a bass fooling with the Repo Man and after hitting it about 5 times it finally hooked up and was my biggest of the night at 16.25". I didn't take the time to get a pic of the fish, just in case I was on the school. There wasn't a school there. I covered a bunch more water on the flat as it was getting dark. And in about a 10 minute period got a 14, and 2x 14.5"'s on the Repo Man also had a couple of pike attacks. Two of those bass took multiple strikes to hook up. Finally it was pretty dark and I had to leave to catch the Vikings game kickoff.

Platte Lake Oct 10th: Attack of the 14 Inch Bass

2010-10-10T23:13:00.004-05:00

Condititions: Today was in the high 70's with sun for most of the day, but it got kind of hazy for about the last hour of fishing. There was wind today, but I didn't notice it where I was fishing and it was calm by 6PM. I fished from about 4:30PM to 7:20PM

As I was was pulling out from the dock there was a boat I thought I recognized heading my way. Sure enough it was one of my blog readers Mike B. and his wife. They were out enjoying the nice afternoon. He had gotten a couple of small bass and pike on a little topwater lure he made; It is a jig with a blade and plastic trailer that kind of has an action on top of the water similar to a Jitterbug. We talked for a little while then I was off the hit some docks on the South shore of the big middle bay of Platte Lake .

On the first dock I pulled a 14" and 10" bass on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke. Didn't get anything on the 2nd dock. On the 3rd dock I lost what looked to be about a 17" bass right next to the boat. I cast the Fluke back under the dock and got a 14" bass. Unfortunately that was it for the docks for about 150 yards because the docks that are usually there have been pulled out. There were 4 docks toward the end of the peninsula point and I missed a pike off the last one.

Next I headed to Loon Sex Point and that was a bust. I fished away's into the slop in Loon Sex Bay because I saw some activity, but nothing would hit my Horny Toad.

Next I headed off to fish in the area that has been productive near the maidencaine across from the Platte Lake Public Access. There was a duck and goose hunter sitting in the maidencaine which would prevent me from fishing some of the water I wanted too. I hit the far outside of the rice and had a fish wake on the Horny Toad. I cast back and it waked again, I let the Toad sit and the fish hit it, but I messed up the hookset by not letting the fish take it a little longer. I worked down the rice a little ways to where I saw some activity but nothing was going. I decided to head out to where there was still some standing rice farther out in the bay. I wasn't going to fish the area much longer when I got a 14" largie on a "Drag Stripper" color Paycheck Baits Repo Man. A couple of minutes later I got a 13.5" that just lit up the Repo Man. Then I had a couple of bass come all the way out of the water hitting the Repo Man but neither hooked up despite striking multiple times. Both of these fish were 14 inch class. Before it got to dark to fish I got a 14.25", and two more 14" bass, plus missing one more bass and a pike.

Sure the fish were not huge, but I had fun.

Platte Lake Oct 7th: Prime Time

2010-10-07T20:47:00.006-05:00

I wish I would have gotten out sooner on this lovely day. Today had a light SW wind with sun and temps in the 70's. As it was I didn't start fishing until about 5:40PM. I started on a weed flat in the Big West Bay (Public Access Bay). First I went with the Repo Man, but that didn't get looked at. I switched to a white spinnerbait and caught a small pike on that. Eventually I switched up to a purple (blue shiner) Berkley Frenzy Popper. I got a 13" bass on that, then had a pike steal the lure, glad I've still got tons of them. I tied on another purple BFP and threw that some more along with a Herb's Dilly Buzzbait. Eventually I worked myself in shallower where there was sort of a dense patch of brown rice; Here I was throwing a white Sizmic Toad and on one of my casts through the rice it looked like a little pike was waking the thing. I cast back and it happened again. I cast back one more time and when the fish showed behind it, I killed it in place. After a second there was a big swirl. I made sure the fish had it and set the hook. It wasn't a little pike, but a 19.75" bass that was close to 5lbs(pic).

I worked my way over to some thicker slop (rice, reeds, and pads). I had a hit on the end of a long cast that didn't get the Toad. I worked the area hard with a number of lures but couldn't get another strike. With the sun setting I made the call to head across the bay by the maidencaine where I got fish a few nights ago. There was a little breeze and ripple on the water. I went with the Herb's Dilly but that hauled water. The farther I got into the weeds the calmer it got and I started fishing the Sizmic Toad quickly hoping a fish would show itself. I got something to wake a few times but it wouldn't hit. I kept moving in towards shore and had a hit on the Toad on the end of a long cast in the pads that didn't hook up. I got a second chance at this fish on the Toad and missed it again. I pitched a junebug crawtube into the pads and sure enough it got picked up. It was a 13.5" bass. I was now close enough to cast to the last patch of bullrushes. Something waked on the Toad. On a subsequent cast a fish lit it up but I missed it on the hookset. That was my last bite of the night.

Platte Lake Oct 6th: A Good Night That Could Have Been Great.

2010-10-06T20:59:00.005-05:00

Unfortunately I forgot the camera.
Conditions: Today was sunny and in the high 60's with a 10MPH wind out of the NW that turned calm a little after sunset. I fished from 4PM to 7:10PM.

Naturally I tried to catch that fish off Sherman's dock that I missed yesterday, but it was a no show. I worked a bit on the other side of Sherman's dock, long enough to know that the area to Jenny's probably wasn't going to give me much. I decided to hit wind protected docks on the North End of the big central bay.

On the very first dock I had a good pick up on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke but when I set the hook the line broke. Not sure if it was a pike or maybe part of the dock cut my line. The tag end was frayed up pretty good. I decided to head West 1 dock and give the fish a chance to recover. I think I ended up going two docks with nothing. I got back to the original dock and had a pick up that I whiffed on. I threw the white/chart tail Fluke back to the area and as I was bringing it back I spotted a 12" class bass following. It picked up the Fluke by the tail, and so I couldn't set the hook. After a couple of seconds the fish spit the Fluke instead of sucking it in.

On the other side of the dock is a shallow reed/slop patch that was holding baitfish and there were lots of leaves in the water. I couldn't get anything. About half way across the shallow reed patch I decided to chuck a white single spin white Colorado blade spinnerbait out to the edge of a reed bed that is in a little deeper water. Sure enough I hooked up on a very hard fighting fish that turned out to be a 18" largie. I made several more casts out with nothing and then fished the rest of the shallow reeds. I was casting well beyond the end of the shallow reeds when a 11.5" bass hit the spinnerbait. Next I worked myself out to the deeper reeds but nothing was happening and after about 20 minutes I headed back to the shore. Next fish was a 14" on the Fluke that I think was on the inside weedline in-between docks. The next fish was a 14.75" bass on the Fluke on the inside weedline; I missed this fish about 4 times before I finally caught it. I pulled a 9.5" bass off a boatlift. Next I caught a little pike and the Fluke was done for, so I switched up to an electric Chicken Fluke (bubblegum top, Chart belly, red tail). I got a 13" largie again on the inside weedline.

I skipped the Fluke under a dock to a boat lift and had a fish pick it up. I pulled instead of set and the fish got hung up and got off and the hook hung on the dock. As I was going in to get the hook un-hung I pitched a crawtube over the dock and under the boat and I ended up pulling out a 11.25" largie. I got the crawtube rigged up and pitched it back to the same spot and had another fish pick it up, but I missed it on the hookset. I pitched in several more times. Finally one of the times when I was working the bait up and down it got picked up and I ended up catching a 15" largie. I couldn't get any more bites so I got the hook un-hung and moved on. I got a 13" off another dock and missed a couple of bites. As I was approaching the last dock I was going to hit, I tossed out a bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. and it got hit by a 13.25" bass.

It was now after 6:30PM and I headed out onto the weed flat trying to pull a fish on topwater. I had seen some good swirls on the flat while working the shoreline. I was throwing the Buzzjet Jr. and Paycheck Baits Repo Man and nothing was happening so I was about to make a move to the Big West Bay. I decided on one last cast with the Repo Man and sure enough it got hit by a 15" bass. On my next cast I brought in a 12.25" largie. On the next cast I connected with a 18.75". On the next cast I had another blow up, but it didn't hook up. On the next cast same thing. And then I missed another fish on the next cast. Obviously I had found and active school. On the next cast I had a huge bass come all the way out of the water but it didn't hook up. I paused the Repo Man and started working it slow and the fish blew up on it hard again. It was hooked for a second then got off. I think I had one more cast missing a fish and then it settled down. After about 5 minutes of nothing I had a fish that I think was probably a small pike repeatedly strike at the Repo Man. About 5 minutes later I missed another blow up and that was it.

It was cool to get into a school like that, but my execution was pretty pathetic.

I recorded 13 bass caught and 1 Pike. I think I might have forgotten to write down one small bass.

Platte Lake Oct5th: Avoided the Skunk

2010-10-05T21:45:00.004-05:00

Tonight I got out fishing for about the last hour before dark. Today was warm (70+) and sunny with a pretty good SE wind.

I didn't stop at Jenny's, but did fish from the dock. I cast next to Sherman's dock and a fish boiled on the Ish's Phat Frog, but didn't get it. I cast back and this time the fish really swirled on it, but somehow I didn't hook up. Several more casts produced nothing, so I threw a Zoom Horny Toad and let it sink and sit. On about the 3rd cast of doing that, it got picked up, but I missed the fish.

Finally I got the boat untied and headed towards Sherman's/Jenny's (East). I worked the area with the missed fish hard but didn't get a thing. On the other side of Sherman's dock I made a cast up by shore and had what was sure to be a small pike swipe at and finally get the Horny Toad. When I set the hook the line got cut. I kept working my way East and when nothing happened I decided to move.

I headed to the North side of the bay where I caught fish last week on Monday. I think I got a couple of bites on docks with a crawtube, but I didn't hook anything. The sun set and I decided to head back to the South side of the bay and fish the water that would be calm near Jenny's. I got the skunk out of the boat with a small pike on a white Sizmic Toad. I figured that was going to be my only fish as it was getting dark quickly. I was making my way out of the weeds when I got another hit. I was pleased to get the 15" bass in the pic on the Sizmic. I fished for maybe 5 more minutes and then headed in.

Platte Lake Sept 30th: Avoided the Skunk

2010-09-30T22:21:00.004-05:00

Tonight I got out from about 6PM until dark around 7:30PM. Today was near 70 degrees with a 10MPH W NW wind. The wind steadily diminished and was non-existent by 7PM.

I headed out to the Big West Bay (Platte Public Access Bay) and planned to fish water that I caught 3 fish on Tuesday Night. I started quite a ways West of the area I got the fish and drifted with the wind along the sparse but definite rice edge. Right away I missed a hit from what I think was a small pike. I threw a Herb's Dilly, Buzzjet Jr., Repo Man, Texas rigged Yum Wooly Bug, and a spinnerbait. Nothing was happening and there was very little surface activity, whereas on Tuesday night there was a fair amount.

At around 7PM when the sunset I bailed to try the North side of the bay by the maidencaine. As I was getting close to the start of the rice I saw some rings in the first area of rice. I shut it down and started fishing a pumpkin Zoom Horny Toad. On about my 4th cast it got nailed by a big bass, but I didn't hook up. A few casts later I had a little pike harass the Horny Toad. I saw a little bit of movement on the surface and quickly moved to cast in that area. I made several casts with nothing, but on about the 5th cast something waked behind the bait, so I killed it and the fish took it. I set the hook and landed a 18" bass.

A couple minutes later I had a 15" class bass blast the Horny Toad, on my hookset the fish skipped across the water which caused it to get loose. I got a hit a few casts later and landed a little pike. That was my last bite.

Platte Lake Sept 29th: Slow But a Couple of Toads

2010-09-29T21:17:00.006-05:00

Today I fished from about 4PM to 7:15PM. Conditions a first were mostly cloudy with a 15-20MPH wind out of the NW. About 6:00PM the sun came out and by 6:30 the wind died down to nothing. Temps were in the mid to high 60's. It turned into a beautiful night for fishing.

To get out of the wind I headed to the NW corner of the lake and I went shallow. I started off in the reeds near a rice bed that was practically non-existent at this point. Right away I got a small pike on a green/yellow Herbs Dilly Buzzbait. I moved up very close to shore into pads and sparse rice and scored a 13.25" bass on a watermelon red Zoom Horny Toad. As I moved North I got a 24" pike on the Horny Toad, which came off during the fight. I went a long way in great looking water with nothing. I wasn't seeing any fish activity at all.

I got to a spot that has traditionally been good where there is pads and rice that give way to reeds and sparse rice. I cast into the reeds with a pumpkin Zoom Horny Toad when I brought it out into the open space before the pads start a fish blew up and missed 10 feet from the boat. I figured it was a pike, but cast back anyway. The fish blew up on it again about 6 feet from the boat. I quickly discovered it wasn't a pike, but a big bass.
She went 20" and looked to be a touch over 5lbs on my Rapala spring scale, which I believe is pretty accurate. This is my biggest largemouth in several years.

I ended up working out of the reeds and into the deeper sparse rice when I had a swirl on the Herb's Dilly. I cast back a couple of times but it wouldn't go. So I cast back in with a crawdad color Yum Wooly Bug. The fish hit just as I got into some weeds and it didn't hook up. I cast back and it flashed but didn't get it. I was right next to the boat and it flashed again but missed. I saw it was a nice pike. I just kept shaking it right next to the boat and finally it slammed it and hooked up, fortunately with the hook safely in the side of it's mouth. It put up a good battle and finally I netted it.
The fish went 31".

Conditions basically got perfect about 20 minutes before sunset and the stuff I was fishing looked awesome, but it was totally dead water. Didn't get another bite.

Platte Lake Sept 28th

2010-09-28T20:39:00.006-05:00

Today I got out from about 4 to 7:15PM. Air temps were in the low 60's with sun and it was pretty much calm until about 7PM when a 5MPH wind came up out of the E SE.

All my equipment was at the lake, so I didn't fish Jenny's. Off the dock I had a strike in the exact same spot I got a pike yesterday, but the fish didn't hook up and didn't go after any follow up casts.

I headed out in the boat and my first stop was at the reed bed off the North point of Channel Inn Bay. There was some activity off the deep edge of the reeds, so I started there. I had a nice bass come completely out of the water as it hit the green/yellow Herb's Dilly Buzzbait but it didn't hook up. I was seeing some activity off the reeds on the weed flat so I went that way. My first fish was a 14.25" largie on the Herb's Dilly. I also got a pike out there on a bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. Eventually I got back to the reeds and in closer to shore where it looked awesome but there were not any fish. I started working North and picked a 11.75" largie from open shoreline by where a dock used to sit. I kept working around the point to the west. This water was now shaded and the docks were worthless. I did get a couple of hits between docks on the Buzzjet Jr. but the fish didn't hook up.

Eventually I decided to motor farther West to some docks that have historically been better; They weren't. I decided to go deeper onto the flat into some reeds. I started seeing some activity. I had a 15" largie jump all over the Buzzjet Jr. in the sparse reeds. I worked west to where there were the remains of a rice bed. I nailed a 18.25" largie just before the sparse rice.

I did work into the rice edge with the Herb's Dilly but didn't get bit.

I decided to motor back to the weed flat reeds. The wind had come up at this point. I was throwing my new jet black Buzzjet and had a pike come out of the water after it but not hook up. Eventually I switched to the Paycheck Baits Repo Man and I got a 13.25" largie and a small pike on that. It was getting dark and the fish seemed to shut down so I headed in.

Platte Lake Sept 27th

2010-09-27T22:19:00.007-05:00

It was a nice day. 70+ degrees, partly cloudy to cloudy, and a 10 to 15mph West NW wind. I got out around 3:30PM.

First stop was Jenny's and I got bit of by a pike on a white Sizmic Toad.

Off the dock at the Lake Place I got a 22" pike on a wht/silver Herb's Dilly Buzzbait. I took the boat and mostly drifted towards Jenny's fishing a watermelon red Horny Toad and a green/yellow Herb's Dilly. I only got a couple of hits and didn't hook anything.

Around 6PM I moved to the North side of our bay to try around some docks. At the first dock I think I missed a fish. On the second dock I had a bass flash on my brand new bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. but it didn't get it. I pitched back in with a crawdad color Yum Wooly Bug and on about my 4th cast it got picked up and I got a 13+" bass. On the next dock down I pulled 2 bass on an electric chicken Zoom Super Fluke. Next came a big open area with scattered weeds between docks. I was throwing the bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. when it got crushed by this 15.75" largie.
In this open area I also got a 14" largie and a pike on the Buzzjet Jr. Also had a couple of blow ups that I missed.

On the next dock I got this 15+ bass, obviously on the Buzzjet Jr.

I pretty much worked to the bend South and didn't get any hits, then I quickly worked the reeds in the area I missed that big one a couple of weeks ago. Then I headed to the place I got a 19+" last week. There was baitfish activity and a couple of big swirls that I was able to cast too fairly quickly, but those fish wouldn't hit. It got dark and I went in.

Fishers of Men Club Twin Cities Fall Outing Report

2010-09-25T13:34:00.007-05:00

(FallEE WallEE the Fall Outing Tournament Trophy)

On Friday it was cold very windy and wet in the morning. Nobody wanted to go out in it. Around 1PM it dried up, still overcast, and I was willing to go out but nobody with a boat wanted too.

On Saturday I fished with Gary Pflipsen on Mule Lake. Conditions were clear, then cloudy, then clear again with little to no wind and it got warm enough that I fished for about 3 hours in a T-shirt.

When Gary and I arrived we motored a fair ways North of the access and started fishing the West shoreline. I got the first fish which was this largemouth.
It bit on a green pumpkin Strike King Pro Model tube on a leadhead jig. Gary got then next bass which was a 15+ largie caught off a dock. I got another decent bass on the tube. I was missing a few bites.

In the calm and overcast I started throwing topwater and I caught an 18" pike on a Lucky Craft Gunfish. Gary caught a nice mid 20" pike off a dock with a Senko. Finally we got down to the Narrows and on the North point I got largies number 3 & 4 on a PB&J Yum Wooly Bug. 4 Bass was the limit for bass in the FallEE WallEE Tournament. I believe bass #4 was 15" and my biggest of the day. To the East of the narrows we started seeing a lot of baitfish activity on the surface so I started throwing topwater. I got an 8" largie on a clear bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. I put on a motor oil Yum Wooly Bug and caught my second pike which was a meager 14 inches long. 2 was the tournament limit on pike and it was this fish that won me the top spot for 2010 on FallEE WallEE. I caught one more 11" largie on the bluegill Deps Buzzjet Jr. and a 12" largie off a dock on the Strike King tube.

When the sun came out in the afternoon the fishing got tough and I didn't catch any more fish.

As it turns out fishing was kind of tough on everybody. Several of the guys had their 4 bass, but didn't get there limit of pike. Because of this and Gary Pflipsen and Mike Thompson not participating in the tournament I won the top spot on FallEE WallEE. Gordy got second and Jim Druk got 3rd. Gordy was fishing out of his new boat on Boy Lake and Jim got his fish on Three Island Lake fishing with minnows.

Tough, But A Good 1

2010-09-22T20:56:00.005-05:00

In anticipation of the rain we are suppose to be getting, Dad and I pulled the dock up on to shore about 8 feet, so it won't be underwater. We got done with that around 2PM and I went out fishing.

Conditions: Overcast with a 8-12MPH East wind. At times it seemed like it was more SE and at other times more NE.

I started fishing across the bay in the reeds where I missed a big fish a little over a week ago. The reeds were dead and I don't think I even had a hit.

Next I went to a slop patch on the North End of the big middle bay. I was throwing the same Herb's Dilly buzzbait as yesterday, when it got plastered by a good one.
It was 19.25" .

Down the way a little bit I got a 13.5" close to a dock on the Dilly. I worked down to the last slop patch which is basically nothing but a few pads at this point.

Next I moved all the way around the point to the NE bay where it was calm. There was some activity in this spot but all I could raise was pike. I didn't catch any. I made a move to fish the entrance to the North middle bay. I got a 13.5" on the Dilly along some bullrushes by shore and got a 14" on the Dilly in some rice with reeds. Fished some good looking pads and rice but nothing was going. On the back side of the maidencaine I got a little pike. Next I moved to where I got the big one yesterday but the whole area was totally dead, not even a pike strike. I decided to call it a day a little after 5PM