One Last Open Water Trip

7:45-8:30PM Center Jetty
40℉,  Cloudy, 8mph South

After two weeks of temps well below average temps we got up into the 40's today.  After the disappointing Gophers loss today at Iowa.  I thought what the heck, I'll see if the Jetty is fishable.  The Jetty was rimmed with ice and snow, but there was open water to cast too. I decided to fish off of Center Jetty.  Don't know how I would have landed a big fish had I hooked up, but I didn't.  Not even a bite.   I'll probably get out ice fishing by Thanksgiving.  I'm pretty sure I could get out on Platte, Rock, and Bulldog right now.

I doubt out from Eddy's will have safe ice by December with the temps taking an uptick in this half of the month.

Good Night On The Jetty

26" Crackle Jerk Shad

26" Pike Crackle Jerk Shad

3/7,22" Grass Pig Jr.

3/9,25" Crackle Jerk Shad

6:30-9:30PM Harbor Mouth and North Corner
30-34℉, Partly Cloudy, 2-7mph NNW

Finally, a night above freezing before dark so I headed over to the Jetty.  The wind blowing in on the Northside of the Jetty was cold. It took me about half an hour to get acclimated to it.  I got a walleye (22.5) right away at the Harbor Mouth on the Grass Pig.  The second fish was off the North Corner on the Grass Pig.  I then switched up to the Crackle Jerk Shad and the eyes were all over it.  I got 13 eyes (25,25,24.75,24.75,24.5,23,23,22.5,22,22,21,18.5,18.5) and 1 Pike on the Crackle with fish coming at the Harbor Mouth and North Corner.  I had a Eddy's Launch Captain stop and talk for a little while.  The last fish of the night was 20.25" eye that bit the small green pumpkin Rage Swimmer at the Harbor Mouth.  The fish really quit biting by 9PM.

16 Eye
1 Pike

Ok Night at the Jetty

5/5,26" Rage Swimmer (Ghost Shad)

3/8,24.5" Rage Swimmer (Ghost Shad)

8:00-10:00PM South Jetty, North Corner

45℉, Clear, 3-18mph WSW

When I arrived at Jetty the truck on the Jetty guys were fishing the North Jetty and the lady went to Center so I went to South Jetty.  I got three walleyes (24.5, 18, 26) there on the Rage Swimmer and one (19.5) on the Crackle Jerk Shad.  The truck guys left at 9PM, so I went to the North Corner of the North Jetty and got three eyes (22, 20.5,17.5) there on the Crackle Jerk Shad and three on Tomato (24,19,18).  There wasn't much wind when I got there, but it was howling by the time I left.  The wind was at my back so it didn't affect fishing at all. 

10 Eyes

On The Jetty With Rasta and Jamar

Jamar & Rasta

3.88lbs/24.5" KVD Jerkbait (Sexy Ghost Minnow)

7:30-8:30PM North Jetty, Harbor Mouth
38-34℉, Cloudy, 6-10MPH NNW

Seeing as how it got dark so quick and I wasn't catching anything in the Trophy I bailed while it was still light out.  When I got to the Jetty there was a truck on the North Jetty and people fishing on all three Jetties.  I was sending a text to Pete to fill him in on me getting skunked on Platte tonight when lo and behold Rasta from the other night came strolling down the Jetty and motioned for me to roll down the window.  He offered me a shot of what he was drinking.  Then went on to tell me his group got a couple of northerns before it got dark including a big one for himself.  He also hit a $900 dollar jackpot on the slots the other night after they got done fishing.  He said they got 5 or 6 walleyes that night (I got skunked that night).  He said they were getting a few eyes and invited me to come and join his group which was at the North Corner.  He hadn't seen anyone else catch anything.

So I get my stuff and walk out to the North Corner and I was surprised to find out he is buds with Jamar who I met last year.  There was Jamar in the flesh.  Those two and one other buddy caught 5 or 6 fish in about 20-minutes and then called it a night. The people who were at the Harbor Mouth and other Jetty's left about 15-minutes later.  I couldn't get a bite, very frustrating.  Finally, I got a fish at the Harbor Mouth.  It was a good one and I was cold, so I called it a night.  I realized when I got home that I had forgotten to put my Vikings sweatshirt on over my Columbia hoodie, oops. 

Good Night at the Jetty

4/3, 24.5" Rage Swimmer

22.5" Jerk Shad

8:10-10:00PM Harbor Mouth, North Corner
54-51℉, Cloudy, 2-6mph SSE

I started out the night missing a hit on the Rage Swimmer on my third cast at the Harbor Mouth.  About 5 casts later I got the big one of the night.  That was my last bite on the 4" Swimmer.  I tried the Grass Pig and Rippin Rap and didn't get a bite.  I got a 16.5-incher on the X-Rap and lost a bite as well at the North Corner.  I got an 18.5" at the North Corner on the Tomato Jerk Shad sometime around 9:30PM after the wind had picked up a bit  My upper back was bugging me, but I had brought the GLX 782 with the small Rage Swimmer down to the North Corner so I decided to give it a  shot.  I got a 20.5" on what was going to be my last cast.

I went down and got my stuff and took a picture of my weight for the night and then zeroed the scale.  I got down to the North end of the Jetty to pick up the two rods I had down there and I thought I'd take a few more casts with the little Swimmer.  I ended up getting 5 eyes in about 20 minutes with 2 (20,21.5) on the Rage Swimmer and 3 (18,18.5,22.5) on the Crackle Jerk Shad.  Even though the fish were biting my back was hurting and I was hungry so I called last fish on the Crackle caught it and left.

4 Eyes
Then
5 Eyes

Skunked at the Jetty

8:30-9:30PM Eddy's Jetty North
48℉, Clear, Calm

They didn't have meatballs at Subway, bummer.  It was dead calm.  I did see a couple of eyes.  A very small fish at Standing Rock and about 20-incher swimming tight to the rocks at the harbor mouth.  I missed a bite right away at the Harbor Mouth on the Rage Swimmer. At the end of my night, a native with dreads from Leech that goes by Rasta showed up with a couple of buds and two chicks.  He wanted to show me his hot walleye Rapala but couldn't find it.  He also explained that I should have been using a treble hook lure and I wouldn't have lost the fish that bit.  He wasn't having my excuse that I couldn't get hit on a treble hook lure tonight.  Nice guy.

They Wanted A Feathered Treble

3/1,20.5" X-Rap 10 (Glass Ghost/Pearl)

8:00-10:00PM North Corner Eddy's Jetty

61℉, Cloudy to mostly cloudy, the moon did come out at 9:50 or so, 5-8mph SSE

Fish were sporadically getting busted along the Jetty all night.  I wasn't able to convert any of it into a bite 

The wave action was a lot less than I expected it would be.  I tried a Rippen Rap to start.  Nothing.  Then I tried the Shad Shallow, nothing.  I decided to go with the pearl X-Rap and the 17-20-inch walleyes ate that thing up.  I got 7 fish in about 35 minutes.  The bite had slowed a bit and I was thinking about switching lures when I backlashed and bye-bye X-Rap.  Should have re-tied my Power Clip as that is where my line broke I think.  I went to the Grass Pig and lost a good feeling fish on the first cast.  I lost one other bite at the North Corner Standing rock.  I then tried the Tomato and Crackle,  I briefly had a fish on one of those two.  I then went to the Rage Swimmer and got a 20-incher and missed a couple of bites.  I then thought to myself.  They really liked that feathered X-Rap, why don't I put one of them back on.  I put on my other Glass Ghost, but it didn't have many feathers left.  I put on a pearl/blue X-Rap with full feather and caught two fish pretty quick. My back was tightening up and I was hungry so I didn't wait to see if the moonlight would turn on the big girls.  All the fish tonight were between 18-20.5-inches.

10 Eyes    

Ok Night On the Jetty

4/1, Jerk Shad (Tomato)

8:15-10:30PM North Corner Eddy's Jetty, Standing Rock and Harbor Mouth50℉, Partly Cloudy/Moonrise about 9PM, 4mph SE

I started things off getting a 20-inch eye at the Harbor Mouth on the Green Tiger UV Rippin Rap.  I then got a 18.5 and 20-incher on the Grass Pig at the North Corner and the Standing Rock.  I then got a 19.5" on the Crackle Jerk Shad, but the fish were just not that into it.  I got 5 fish on the Tomato Jerk Shad (17,18.5x2, 19,23) off of the North Corner.  It was a slow but steady slog.  I got hungry so left at 10:30PM even though the last bite of the evening was the biggest.

9 Eyes

Couple Hours On Eddy's Jetty

3/11,23.5" Grass Pig (Swamp Gas)

2/5,21.5" Rippin' Rap (Perch)

8:25-11:10PM South Jetty, North Corner
43℉, Cloudy saw the moon a couple of times around 11, 0-3 WNW
Water High and temps are probably in the mid 40's

I headed straight over from fishing at Platte.  I stopped at Subway and got a meatball sub.  There was a boat in my parking spot, so I parked at the South Jetty and ate my sub.  I started out throwing the perch Rippin Rap.  I was just about to stop throwing it when I got a 21.5-inch walleye at the Harbor Mouth.  That was the only bite I got on the Rippin Rap.  Didn't get any hits on the Shad Shallow. On my second cast off of the South Corner with the Grass Pig, I got the big fish of the night.  I got two more fish (14,20.5) on the South Jetty on the Grass Pig.  I also had one come off shortly after hooking up.  A little after 10PM I went to the North Jetty.  I lost a really good one in close to the Jetty on the Grass Pig at the North Corner; The sucker stole the tail.  I caught a 19-incher on the new Grass Pig on the North Corner.  I finished the night with a 21-incher on the Crackle Jerk Shad at the North Corner.

7 Eye's

Cold Windy at Eddy's Jetty

24.5" Rippin' Rap (Perch)

6:20-8:15PM Standing Rock, North Corner
33℉, Cloudy light snow, 15-20mph SW

Windy as heck and cold.  I was getting myself acclimated for the Challenge Cup on Sunday.  Nothing on the Grass Pig.  Got two eyes on the Rippin Rap including the 24-inch big fish of the night.  After dark, I got three eyes (19, 19, 18) on the Chartreuse Shad and lost a couple fish that I had on.  It was miserable out and my feet were getting cold, so I called it a night after I got the 18-incher.

5 Eye's

Eddy's Jetty In Light Rain

25" Shad Shallow (Perch)

22" Rippin Rap (Perch)

6:30-8:20PM North Corner Eddy's Jetty
54-58℉, Cloudy light rain, 8mph SSE

I started out throwing the Rippin Rap and lost a fish on my third cast.  I got 22-inch fish on my next two casts. I got one last 20.5" eye while fast reeling the Rippin Rap.  Then nothing but weeds.  I tried the Chart Shad Shallow and had some hits, but none of them hooked up.  I then went to the Tomato Jerk Shad.  I got a 17.5" and two 19-inchers on that as well as losing a couple of bites.  I then went to the Perch Shad Shallow.   I got a 20-incher.  Then a fish busted about 10-feet out right in front of me.  I quickly reeled in and cast to the spot resulting in the 25-incher.  I got a 19" and 20_incher to finish off the night. I was hungry and it started raining harder so I went to Subway at 8:20PM.  The non-Rippin Rap fish wanted the lure slowly moving or stopped.