Morning and Evening GOMH Trips

1st Bullhead of the Morning 15.5" Ripple Shad

4:45-10AM
Conditions: Clear, Sunny, light winds to calm

NE Side
I got the jumpin bullhead in the picture right away on the Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad.  Then it slowed down.  I put on a Frenzy Minnow and caught a Rippin Rap.

The hooks looked OK, so I put it on.  Immediately I had a fish hit it and get off.  I had that happen two more times, when I got a fish that really wanted it.

17"

It took quite a while for me to get it out of the fishes mouth.  That was it for the time being on the NE side, so I headed to the SW side.

I picked up 3 quick jumpers on a Pure Poison with a Craw Fatty trailer and I got this and one other on the Yabbie.

16.76"

I got several jumpers as well on a Tonka Tackle craw tube, including a 15.25" and 16.5".  Then the toothies started trying to steal my Yabbie.

I got 4 of them total on it between the S and N sides.  The Yabbie body finally came off when I got snagged on something.  I did get one small one on the KVD Dawg as well as a couple more jumpers and one toothy on the NE side on the craw tube.  A guy had what he said was a big bass break his rod and line.  I left around 10AM.

Evening Trip-
7:45-10PM Sunny and Calm
I got 8 jumpers and 3 toothies on Yabbie, Craw Tube, and the KVD Dawg.  Willard was there and Peter got a dogfish.  The Mosquito's were terrible.  Got a pair of 16" jumpers. Everything was caught on the S side.

A Better Morning at the GOMH

16"

18.5"

23.75"

Conditions- Humid, with temps near 60 and clouds and calm turning sunny with a mild breeze out of the NE and reaching close to 70°F by the time I left.
4:45-10 AM

NE Side
I started off the morning with 2 golden bullheads and a 15" jumpin bullhead that wrecked my Grass Pig, so I switched to the Ripple Shad.  I cast way up under the bridge and had a hit on what felt like a good fish.  When bringing it in it got hung up on something that wouldn't move, but when I would give it slack I could feel the fish was still on.  I went up on the brigde and played with trying to free it from there.  It was stuck just outside from under the bridge.  Eventually the fish freed it's self and I landed the 23.75".  I let it go along with the 16".  It was pretty light out by this time so I went to the SW side.

SW side
I got a 15.75" jumper and 24.25" toothy on the Ripple Shad.  The toothy got hooked in the tongue/gills and wasn't going to make it, so I kept it.  I got one squeeker of a keeper on the Pure Poison.  I then started throwing a River2Sea Yabbie and it wasn't long and I was getting some action on it.

1st Fish on a Yabbie

1st Yabbie Fish

 Many of the fish showed signs they had been spawning.  I also got some quality jumpers on a black/blue Tonka Tackle craw tube.  I went back to the NE side just before the sun came out and got my biggest jumper of the day.

Yum Yum Yabbie

17.25"

 I got a few toothies on the Yabbie and lost a good sized one that was probably around 26" or 27."  I started messing around with various square bills, maybe a bump or two but no fish caught.  I got my last fish of the day on a watermelon red craw tube.  Willard showed up, but the toothy and golden were already spoken for.   He arrived about 20 minutes to late.

Well fishing got better, so there is that.

Devin's Belated Birthday Greeting From the GOMH

With all the fishing I've been doing I kind of lost track of time for got to get the younger of my two nieces who live down in Florida a birthday card this year.  Devin caught her first bass ever this year, so I came up with a plan to dedicate my first fish of the day to her. It had to be the day after her birthday because it was around 11PM on her birthday when I came up with the idea.  I was hoping it would be a golden bullhead, but it turned out to be a nice chunky 16" jumper that hit my Grass Pig first.  Second fish of the day was a golden bullhead.

17"

I got it way up under the bridge.  That was my only golden of the morning.  It looks darker in the picture than it actually was.  I arrived at 4:45AM and didn't get the golden until around 5:15AM.  A guy showed up who was fishing the Grumpy Old Man Hole for the first time.  He showed up just as I was contemplating moving to the South side.  We talked for a little bit.  Then he went to get his stuff and went down on the SW side.  I arrived on the SE side maybe 5 minutes later.  Turns out his name is Josh and is the Assistant Manager at Reeds Sporting Goods.  He and his wife just bought a house in the Hillman area, not sure if it was in town or not.  He is a multi-species fisherman who prefers toothy critters, which were biting this morning.  I ended up getting 8 toothy bullheads today, with a couple of more missed..

I think got Josh one or two toothies and a couple of jumpers as well.  An older guy came and started fishing on the SW side with Josh for sunfish.  He didn't have much luck.  Fishing slowed and I was contemplating going back to the N side when Josh picked up his stuff and started heading that way.  I told him I was just thinking about doing that and he was nice enough to offer to fish on the NW side, so I could go back to where I was fishing when he first saw me in the morning.  I took him up on the offer.  I buzzed off my first cast with a swim jig toward the channel buoys and was immediately struck by a jumpin bullhead.  I hadn't gotten anything but toothy's out there so far this year.  I had a fish caught or hit on probably my next 10 casts before it slowed down.  Josh got a jumper on a minnow and then had to leave.  As he was going a loon swam into the area I was getting bit in and Josh said something about it.  I took a picture of the loon as it came in, then it came in closer and kept diving in the area I was getting fish.  The loon must of pretty well scattered the bait fish that were in the area because the fish stopped biting for me.

I missed one last toothy and left around 10AM.  I got fish on the Grass Pig, Frenzy Crankbait, Berkley Ripple Shad and two different Brovarney Jigs one with Devil Spear and one with a Grass Pig Jr. for the trailer.

Good Morning at the GOMH

16.5"

4:45AM to 7:45AM
Conditions- Temps were in the mid-30's and there was some wind out of the NW and it was partly cloudy to mostly cloudy..  I didn't get cold at all.

After last nights trip I was raring to go and the fish were not shut off by the cold night.  I went down to the NE side first and had a fish nail my grass pig on my very first cast, but it got off.  I also had a hit on my second cast then nothing.  I only brought down one rod with me, so after trying up on the bridge I switched to the South side.  A guy showed up about 5 minutes after 5AM so I went down to the SW side where I got my first golden bullhead of the day, before the guy came down and joined me on the SW side.  He was trying for silvers.  After about 10 minutes with no more hits, I switched to the SE side.  I got nothing there, so I went back to the NE side and promptly got another golden bullhead.

19.5"

That was my last golden bullhead of the morning.  After I got two 15.5" jumpin' bullheads in a row I went back to the SE side and got a 3rd 15 jumpin bullhead on the Grass Pig.  At that point I went up to the car and got more rods out and went back to the NE side.  I started throwing a green pumpkin/chartreuse Brovarney Swim Jig with a swamp gas 3.5" Grass Pig Jr.  I started catching bullheads including 3 toothy one's.

21"

I also got a fourth toothy on a standard size swamp gas Grass Pig.  I also threw the firetiger D & M Baits Piranha and a firetiger Ripple Shad, but all I was getting now were jumpers.  I decided to leave at 7:45AM.

Moon Set, Sunrise, Moon Rise, My Day At the GOMH

(Click Picture to Enlarge to See the Heron on the 1st Dock)

I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole at 5am just in time to see the Moon set and about 20 minutes later the sunrise.  It was a cold morning with temps close to freezing when I arrived.  The fishing was slow but I managed a few bullheads.  These two were the biggest and both were caught on the Powerbait Ripple Shad.

22"

16.75"

I also caught fish on a Frenzy crankbait and Pure Poison.  I left at 8:30AM

Evening Conditions:  Mostly clear and cool/cold with the wind blowing out of the NW

In the evening I arrived at 8:45PM.  There were a few boats fishing in close on the SW side apparently getting silver bullheads.  The South side had 4 guys fishing it.  I talked to the guy on the bridge fishing for golden bullheads.  All he got were a couple of jumpin' bullheads.  I took a few casts next to him then went to the NE side.  I got a jumpin bullhead fishing on the NE side right away on the swamp gas Grass Pig then it slowed down.  I went up on the bridge and captured the Moon rise.

The fish started hitting.  I got 4 more jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig fishing off the bridge.  After the 4th one I decided to stay down on the NE side where I was landing them when I got hit by a big fish.  It came up and semi jumped so I saw it was a very good jumpin bullhead.  When I got my thumb on it's lip, I was like, "Dang, this IS A Good One! "

It went just over 21 inches on my Rapala ruler.  I had to go to the car to get my Rapala Spring scale which I am carrying with me this year.  It had her at just over 6.5lbs.  This may very well be my personal best MN bass.  I did catch a 21" out of Platte in 2003 or 2004 that was similar sized but had a gut full of food, not food and eggs.

While I was landing the fish another car with two guys showed up and they went down on the NW side and got a golden bullhead right away.  Not to be out done I got me a golden bullhead and then a toothy bullhead.

19"

23"

At 10pm I decided to call it a night.  Everything was caught on the swamp gas Grass Pig in the evening.

Morning and Evening GOMH Trips

17.25 Pure Poison

Morning Trip Conditions: Cool to cold a bit windy out of the W SW cloudy and it drizzled for a short time.
5:30 to 8:30AM

I may have missed two golden bullheads right off the bat yesterday morning.  The second one bit the tail off my Grass pig.  All I got for the morning were jumpin' bullheads fishing both the North and South sides of the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  I got fish on a Grass Pig, Mystic Minnow, Pure Poison, D & M Baits Piranha, and Powerbait Ripple Shads.

One guy that showed up fished off the bridge with minnows and could catch nothing but "green carp."  He wanted the golden bullheads like he got last night.  Another guy fished on the SE side and got some silver bullheads.  The toothy bullheads just weren't cooperating and my back was barking at me so I left at 8:30AM.

Evening Trip Conditions: Clear, Cool, Calm to light wind out of the SW
9:30PM to 1AM

17.25"

Originally I was going to rest my back after going to the Chiropractor at 6PM but upon seeing the Full Moon I just couldn't resist the call of the GOMH.  I arrived just as the 2nd period was about to start at the Wild Game.  Peter, his brother, and the guy from Wahkon were the only one's there and they were all fishing from the bridge.  Pete had just gotten there and the guy from Wahkon since 7PM or so.  I started out on the SE side.  I missed my first couple of hits,  I made what in retrospect was a foolish decision to throw my Grass Pig tonight on the swimbait head I got stuck in the rocks on Opener.  I had bent the hook out a little bit in addition to wrecking the hook point.  I tried sharpening the hook and it kind of worked, but it cost me several fish.  I got several jumpin bullheads and the guy from Wahkon landed a golden.  The action slowed and everybody left.  I tried the SW side, nothing.  Then I went to the North side.  Once I got down the NE side I missed my first couple of hits losing my swimbait tail to the second one.  I decided not to change swimbaits and was rewarded with the 17.25" jumper in the picture.  After getting a couple of more 16+ jumpers I got my swimbait stuck in the rocks.  I went up the bridge to free it and was rewarded with a  this 21" golden bullhead when I cast from up there.

After missing a couple more hits I finally came to my senses and switched out jig heads.  I was immediately rewarded with another golden who had obviously been feeding up.  The action quit so I went back to the South side where I had my 3rd tail bit off.  My back was giving me issues and I didn't want to stay to late, so I left at 1AM.  Everything came on a swamp gas Grass Pig.

19.90"

Cool Sometime Drizzely Morning at the GOMH

1st Unblogged from yesterday:

I actually was out last night at the GOMH for a couple of hours from 9:30 to 11:30PM.  Peter was there when I arrived.  He had a couple of goldens in the bucket and had gotten a couple others earlier in the day.  He said he saw some people get their limits, quite a few toothies and some jumpers were being caught as well.  He left shortly after I arrived.  There was a guy fishing with leeches on the SE side who sometimes was casting something on a 2nd line which I couldn't tell what it was because it was dark out. There was a guy and his girlfriend fishing bullheads on the North side.  After the guy on the SE left I went over there.  I stopped throwing swimbaits and started throwing jerkbaits with one hit that didn't hook up.  Lantern Man showed up and got a jumper on a crankbait.  It started raining, so I left. 

Ok, now to today:

Fished from 5:40 to around 9:40AM

Conditions: Cloudy with drizzle early and when I left.  Windy out of the N NE  temps just below 50 degrees

When I arrived no one was there, it was fairly light out.  I decided to hit the NE side because it had the wind blowing in on it.  I got one jumpin' bullhead on a Powerbait Ripple Shad.  I had enough of the wind after about 20 minutes and went to the SE side.  There I got a couple of jumpin bullheads on Pure Poison's and a Grass Pig.  A guy came and went on the SW side without getting a single bullhead.  I switched to the SW side.  Another guy came and joined me on the SW side and I had a small flurry of jumpers on the Poison including this 18.25" slobber.

The guy got a few silver bullheads, but most of them were small.  I got a couple of toothy bullheads on a firetiger Ripple Shad until it got bit off.  Here is the bigger one.

25.5" or so

The guy left and I got one more toother on a green pearl Ripple Shad.  I got a couple more jumpers on the Poison and on a Grass Pig as well.  It started drizzling.  I went back to the NE side hoping maybe a golden or two would be there in the wind, but a school of freshly arrived jumpers moved in.  Almost all of the jumpers I caught this morning were really pale fish.  After about 20 minutes in the wind and drizzle I had enough and left.

Good Morning and Evening for Golden Bullheads at the GOMH

This morning I got to the GOMH at 5AM in search of some gold.  I started on the NE side and it wasn't long and I was bringing in my first golden bullhead on a Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad.

18.5"

 I missed another one and got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then went to try the SE side, but only got jumpin bullheads there.  Because it was cloudy and windy blowing into the N side I went back and scored my second golden bullhead of the day.  Here's both of them from this morning.

I did get a couple of toothy bullheads, including one that had a jig in it's mouth.  Here is the one that didn't have the jig.

Here is my biggest jumper of the morning.

17.75

I lost several other really nice jumpin bullheads and a couple that I don't know what they were.

For the evening trip I didn't arrive until 8:30PM and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of people and withing 20 minutes of me being there all but my friend Joe's buddies were gone.  I started on the NE side and only got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then tried the SE side for a while and once again only got jumpin bullheads.  I switched back to the North side and immediately got a golden bullhead on a Spro 25 crank in parrot.

I got my last 2 golden bullheads on the night on a Powerbait Ripple Shad.

16"

17"

I think I missed one or two more.  I gave the fish to Joe's friend and he gave me some minnows.  John W. showed up. He had something big on, probably a pike he said.  I left a little before 10:30PM

Another Good Night at the GOMH with Dad

Dad and I got to the GOMH about 7PM.  Everywhere was filled, so we took up on the bridge on the Sullivan side.  I started out by weed whacking.  I found out Chris from the Bass Snatchers was there again tonight.  He ended up giving us some minnows, which was nice.  CO Kuske pinched another person tonight for no license  Dad got a silver bullhead and a jumpin bullhead and missed several other bites.

9.5"

 As for me I got 2 silver bullheads, a toothy bullhead, and 10 jumpin bullheads.  I possibly lost a golden bullhead as well after it got dark.  I missed several bites tonight.

All in all it was a good night.