Skunked In the Morning/Some Bullheads In The Evening

 

6:45-8:30 AM GOMH SW

33-34℉, PC, 0-3mph W

Water Low and falling

I got minnows at Bear Trax then headed to the GOMH. I only got one bite that didn't hook up later in the morning. Nice sunrise and the red wings were singing away. Some swan and eagle flybys. Disappointing trip.

6:45-9:15 PM GOMH SW & NE

48℉, Cloudy, 10-15mph SW

I had just arrived when Lantern Man's son and two buddies showed up. The wind was hellacious but fishable. I missed one jumper on a jig. Brett moved over to the SW side with me. His buddy on the SE side got a gator. A couple of minutes after that I got a jumper and then Brett lost a 3 to 4lb jumper. Then a long lull. Lighted bobbers came out. Brett missed one bite. I headed to the NE side just as Lantern Man arrived. I didn't get anything. I put my stuff in the car, then went to talk with the crew. Kyle on the SE side got the first silver. Lantern Man got two and Brett missed a bite or two. I had enough of the wind and left at about 9:40. Those were the only three silvers they got.

2Jump 

Rock, Bull, and GOMH With Steve, LM & Son

12.75" THE Jig/Minnow (G/Pink)

 

Some Bullheads Night with LM and Son

11.75" Glow Demon/Minnow

7" THE Jig/Minnow

6:00-11:00PM GOMH NE, SE

43℉, Cloudy, 2-7mph NNW

When I arrived at the GOMH, there was a guy down on the SE side that hadn't caught anything. I had been there about 10-minutes when Lantern Man's son and granddaughter arrived. He came down by me. A little before 7PM, I went over to the NE side and immediately got a small toothy on the Rocket Shad. I also missed a bite on the rocket Shad and white craw tube. At 7:20, I split for Bulldog and Rock, which were dead. In the time I had been gone, the other guy had gotten a jumper, a couple of toothies, and a couple of tiger bullheads. LM Son had one silver in the bucket. I went down on the NE side and didn't get a bite. I went and fished with Brett. I think he landed his second keeper. LM showed up. The other guy left, and I went to the SE side. I quickly picked up two dinks and solid 11-inch silver bullhead. They engulfed the minnow each time so I thought I was on to something, but then it went dead. LM caught a couple. I lost a fish when I went to turn on my headlamp and my anti-reverse stopped working, which resulted in a cluster. I got one more solid silver after a light boat came through. A second light boat came through. Nothing was going on so LM and son left a little before 11PM. I left shortly after when I quickly lost my decider minnow. If I caught a fish on the minnow I would stay. The minnow came off, not sure why, so I packed up and left.

In the Trophy Morning And Evening

17" SBKO (Orange)

6:00-9:00AM  NGOMH, NSPRO to River Mouth, East of GOMH
60-56℉, Cloudy to PC, 0-7MPH SE

Elected to straight to the Trophy this morning with the late start.  I had to be off the water by 9AM.  I drove straight to the GOMH picking off a 17-incher immediately on the SBKO (orange).  I then got a couple of pike and a Platte Lake Special as I got to the bridge.  Nothing on the S side.  I then went to Eagle Look Point working my way quickly to the second buoy picking off one pike on a buzzbait.  I had caught bass here and there as I drifted across the NSPRO Flat picking up Platte Lake Specials.  I anchored several times, but didn't get bit much when I did.  I lost a Platte Lake Special at the boat that went for the Sprinker.

I spent the final half hour in Platte East of GOMH.  Panfish Guy was fishing the hay on the Platte side when I drove by the GOMH.  I think I got a couple of bass and pike on the flat related to pads.
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17" Right Off the Bat

Typical Day of Platte Lake Specials

8:00-9:15PM East Of GOMH
65℉, Cloudy, 2-8mph S
60℉

 Caught the Sunny off the dock.

I went East of GOMH.  While I was getting set up a fish boiled within casting range. That little tell ended up getting me two quality bass in the first three casts with the black herringbone Shower Blows Knock Off.  I thought it was going to be AWWWWWWWN with stuff busting to the West of me.  Turns out that was a school of little hammer handles.  I got one more 14-inch bass near some pads on the flat. Big disappointment.

2020 Opener Success

25.5" X-Rap Shad Shallow (Pink)

20" Shad Shallow

24" SK Colorado Blade (Black/Red)

12" Senko KO (GP)

12:00-2:30AM Eddy's Jetty North Corner
3:00-4:00AM Mac's Twin Bay Point
5:45-7:00AM GOMH SE
33-30℉, PC, 0-3mph N

I arrived at Eddy's with 10-minutes to spare.  There were two guys with a boat that decided for whatever reason to fish from the Jetty.  Winds were ideal for being out on the lake.  They took the North Harbor mouth.  As I was getting my baits set Casino Security stopped.  He told me it was closed, but he wasn't going to kick us out, but if the police stopped we'd have to go.  At about a quarter after one of the guys at harbor mouth caught one.  Just after that, a truck with two guys arrived.  They went to the center jetty and one of the guys caught several fish.  Around 1AM my guides started freezing up, but I didn't realize it.  I ended up breaking off a Jerk Shad when my line cut at the spool. I didn't check my line and ended up breaking off my first bite losing a Shad Shallow.  It wasn't even a big walleye.  I missed a bite then caught one on the chart Shad Shallow.  I missed a good hit on an X-Rap.  I put on the Pink Shad Shallow and that was the ticket.  Unfortunately, the Security guy came back and kicked us out just when I had the fish dialed. Lantern Man's Son showed up as I was putting my gear in the car. He had gotten some silver, but no gold.

I decided to give Mac's Twin Bay a try.  It's not the fishing spot I had hoped it would be, but I was able to make casts and catch a big (25.5).   I hooked into another big, but it broke me off when it went on a run.  I think it must have got me on a Zeeb because that was Fireline I had just put on.  A little while after that a mid 30's ski or pike swam by.  At 4AM I headed home for a quick tackle change and then I was off to the GOMH.

Wheel House Guy had been there since 4:30AM and didn't get a thing.  I started on the NE side and missed a toothy that hit on the craw tube.  It wasn't happening so I went to the SE side. I got two toothies. One on a Strike King Spinnerbait (24") and one on a Grass Pig (19.5).  Delroy's Boys got a couple of jumpers.  I bounced and went to Bulldog and got one small bass on a Neko Rig.

I called it a morning at 7:30Am

I got word that the Trophy was ready.  I put off going to get it until 4PM and it was sleeting so I didn't try her out.

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

10.25" Cubby/Minnow

16" Craw Tube (White)

17" Glow Demon/Minnow

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

50-68℉, PC, Calm

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

Still No Silver Tonight

17.75" X-Rap Size 6 (Firetiger)

7:00-9:30PM GOMH SE
52-49℉, Cloudy to Partly Cloudy, 3-8mph S
High

Lantern Man's son along with his two girls was fishing down on the SW side when I arrived.  All he had gotten was some jumpin' bullheads.  That would be all I would get at well.  Lantern Man joined them around 9PM.  Didn't see a single silver get caught except for maybe in that boat. They definitely pulled in some kind of panfish.  If it's not too windy tomorrow I may take the Trophy out.  As I was putting my stuff in the car Pete called and Peter W. showed up.  Heard back from Peter at 11PM that nobody caught anything.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be warm like they are forecasting and that will bring the silvers back.  If not, it's a week until Opener.

Waylayed 'Em at Bulldog

8.9" T.H.E. Jig (chart/black)

6:00-8:00PM Bulldog Access
8:15-10:45PM GOMH SE
Conditions: Cool low 50's to mid 40's, Windy out of the SE, Partly Cloudy

I was so glad that no one was at the Bulldog access, because the plan was to lay a beat down on the bluegills there.  And lay a beat down I did even in that wind.  My first fish was actually a bass.

16.25" THE Jig

After that is was a bluegill parade. I caught 70 of them in the next two hours.  You might say I got the kinks in my game worked out, so I was more efficient in catching and counting them.  Most were 6 inchers; I caught 33 of those.  5 were over 8 inches with the one bull just shy of 9 inches.

8.9"

All of them went back.  I did get one more bass and no crappies.  At 8:00 I headed to the GOMH and was surprised to only see one truck.  It was Lantern Man's kid with a buddy.  They had gotten a couple of nice jumpers, but nothing silver.  They were on the SW side, so I took the SE side.  I missed a bite on my first cast.  It was probably 20 minutes before I got another one.  It was a good one.

12.5" Glow Demon & Minnow

I threw it back.  I got 3 more that I gave to them.  They missed quite a few bites before they started hooking a few.  Just like last night the action on the SE side died at about 10:15.  I called last minnow at 10:30.  At 10:45 the minnow was gone.  I didn't see a bite.  They were planning on being out until midnight or so.  They were getting more action than me.  Basically in the same area as last night.

2 Bass
70 Sunfish
4 Crappies