Rock, Bulldog, and GOMH Again Tonight

17.5" Chigger Craw

7:40-8:30PM Rock Lake got nothing again.
8:40-9:30PM Bulldog
9:45-11:30PM GOMH

Conditions- Cool low 50's falling into mid 40's, light to no wind out of the NW, mostly sunny

I got out a little earlier tonight, therefore I left Rock earlier.  I started out throwing the new Slush Daddy prop bait.  As Grumpy Old Man Willard was pulling up a good fish swirled on it, but didn't get it.  I kept throwing the Slush Daddy for 5 more minutes as Willard and I talked.  I then switched to the breen Chigger Craw and threw it right to where the fish showed itself and the 17.5" inhaled it.  I caught 3 more bass (12", 15.75", 15") on the Chigger Craw before a Pike bit me off.  It was getting dark so Willard left.  I got a 14.75" on the black/blue craw tube.  I then went back to throwing the Slush Daddy and this fish crushed it.

Slush Daddy

17" H2O Slush Daddy

After trying for about 10 more minutes I headed to the GOMH.  I was surprised there were two cars there as Willard said nobody had been there tonight.  Turns out it was the Meat Guy and his lady.  I went down on the NE side and started casting for golden's which I got.

19.25" Grass Pig

I went up and put it in the car, then went over to discover who the fishermen were.  They had been getting some smaller silvers.  A car pulled up, so I quickly went and grabbed my tackle bag and went back to the NE side.  Turns out it was Lantern Man just checking to see if anything was going.  I had another bite, but it got off.  I think it was a jumper because about 10 seconds after it got off a fish jumped out of the water in the same general area.  I put on a crankbait and pretty much immediately cast it into the bridge giving myself a minor backlash.  I didn't learn my lesson and on the very next cast gave myself a major backlash.  I spent 20 minutes trying to get it out, before deciding to bring it home.  I tied a Speed Clip onto my St. Croix Legend Xtreme, which is the rod I was using for the Chigger Craw that got bit off.    I tried for like 20 minutes and gave up.  Meat Guy wasn't having any luck either.

It took me about half an hour at home to get the backlash out.

Two Trips Today

15.5" Yabbie on the Legened Xtreme

6-8AM and 5-7:30PM
Conditions- Foggy, cool but warming up fast
Conditions- Front approaching windy out of the NW.  It did rain a little, but mostly that stupid wind

The morning trip was mostly about my new St. Croix Legend Xtreme rod.  The fish just weren't there to get me to put the reel with Fireline on it.  The 15.5" and a snag were the rods first real tests and it passed.  I also 3 more small jumpers on the Yabbie, a dink on the Kelly J, and a small jumper and toothy on the Pure Poison.  I decided while putting my gear together for tomorrows tournament to keep the reel with the Gamma Line on it for tournament day.

Normally, I don't fish the day before a tournament let alone go out twice, but the evening conditions set up for a possible repeat of The Great GOMH Whackfest of 2009.   If there was any chance of that happening when the front blew through tonight I wasn't going to miss it.  I got out about 30 minutes later than I should have.  Peter and some of his buddies were fishing on the S side.  I took the NE side.  I got a small jumper right away on the "Black Phantom", but immediately after I got it in a boat came through and shut them down for a while.  I did pick up a couple of jumpers on the Yabbie, then got a couple of small one's to go on Frenzy Popper, but the wind picked up out of the NW and I couldn't cast where I needed to.  I sprinkled a little bit, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would. I ended up getting one descent jumper on the "White Phantom" and small one's on Ish's Phat Frog, and Luck-E-Strike RC Squarebill.  I also got a toothy on the RC and 1 on a KVD squarebill as well. I stopping fishing at 7:30PM, had a conversation with the "old timer" then left.

15.25" White Phantom after the Front had passed

Good Afternoon Poor Evening at the GOMH

Rainbow from the evening trip

12:30-2:30PM 8:00-9:20PM
Conditions- Windy with light to moderate rain
Conditions- Storm just passed, sun came out wind much lower but still out of the South

I took Jenny to the hospital in the morning and went to the Grumpy Old Man Hole after.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera because I got a 22" bowfin on the b/b Yabbie.  Other than that I pounded the small jumpin' bullheads on the Yabbie and Tonka Tackle gp Craw Tube;  I also got 3 toothy bullheads on those same baits.  I couldn't get the jumpers to come up for topwaters for anything.  I left because the rain was getting heavier.  Due to the wind I only fished on the Platte side.

When I arrived home I discovered that the new rod tip for the 6'8" St. Croix Legend Xtreme I recently won on Ebay had come as well as a box of Yabbies I won on Ebay as well.  I got the rod for a steal because it was listed with a very cheap Buy It Now price because of the rod tip issue and I happened to see the auction before anybody had a chance to bid on it.  Naturally I had to get out and give the new rod a try.  I didn't get out until 8PM because of thunderstorms.  My plan was to try 2 different reels on the rod; one with Gamma Co-Poly and one with Fireline.  I ended up only getting to use the Gamma line, because I chose the wrong side of the bridge.  When I arrived a thunderstorm had just passed and I was surprised to see a guy fishing on the S side.  No problem, I planned to fish on the N side anyway.  I quickly learned the fish weren't there for the most part.  Unfortunately by the time I discovered they weren't there the S side was covered up by other fishermen.  I managed to get 3 small jumpers on a Yabbie, Lucky Craft Kelly J, and the X-Rap Prop.  I missed two really good hits on the X-Rap.   They may have both been toothy's.  One was a fish that showed itself under the bridge and the other was a fish I'm all but certain was a toothy East of "the juice".  I'm not sure how I missed the one under the bridge, I was ready for the hit and the lure was gone when the fish swirled on it.  I set the hook and the lure came flying back at me.  The other one I didn't really set the hook because I'm 95% sure it was a toothy.  Here is my first fish on the new rod.

12.5" on da Yabbie

 When I left, some of the people fishing the South side had gotten a couple of golden bullheads and several small jumper.