Good Evening On Rock By The Cane

8.5" THE Jig (Chart/Org)

7.5" THE Jig

Should have hand landed it, oh well

Crips started with a double

 4:00-9:00PM 8' and 10' By the Cane 

33-40℉, Cloudy, 3-15mph WNW

 (I started in yesterday's 12 holes, but it was dead there, so after 20 minutes, I moved to the 8' holes and drilled a new set to the south in 10'. Schools of something came through every 10 minutes. Shiners and perch tended to be together. Had a couple of small schools of sunfish quickly come through. Had a good 3 to 4lb pike hit the stickleback when I was fiddling with the camera trying to get a picture. I tried to pull it up out of the hole as it was hooked in the snoot, but the line broke a couple of inches from the dropper; oops. I decided to give the other holes a try. Lost a small pike that came out of nowhere and hit the Cubby. It came off just after I got the camera up, not even a nick in the line. Had a good size school of gills move through and a couple of smaller schools. Right before it got too dark to see, the crappies showed up. I used up my last couple of minnows. Had a hot bite with the Cubby, and then it was looky loo's and pulling teeth. Think I saw a small bass in the 8' hole.)

Three swans were flying around, and as I was packing up, two were calling back and forth. One was to the West and one to the East. The PRO narrows opened up a good bit today.

Not An Ideal Day For Me

15" Cubby/Minnow

Dad checking the plugs

So I got the muffs hooked up to the motor and it ran pretty good no knocking.  So we put her back in the lake, the knocking was back.  So we put her back on the trailer.  Next step, find a marine mechanic.  When we got back home mom wanted to go to Susie's in Pierz, so I drove.  We got back around 8PM.  I didn't get to Bulldog until 8:30

8:30-8:50PM Bulldog
9:10-10:30PM BSing at the Bridge With Bullhead Jim from Buckman
10:30-1AM GOMH NE SW
47-63℉, PC to Overcast light rain when I left, 3-17 ESE to SW

So I wanted to check and see if the sunnies were in at Bulldog yet. No, but I did catch a couple of bass.  There was some baitfish activity as well.  I then went to Steve's to drop off the knives.   Then it was off to the GOMH.  Lantern Man and D-I-L were on the SE side and his son and a couple of guys from Harding were on the SW. And a Bullhead fisherman was by his lonesome down on the NE side.  I struck up a conversation with the guy that went on for 45 minutes or so.  His name was Jim and he is a true man of the land. Hunting, fishing, gardening, trapping you name it.  He has a true passion for hunting dogs which was very interesting for me to learn about.  His latest pup Patti, named for his deceased wife, just had 12 pups; 7 Golds and 5 Blacks.   Eventually, we moved over to the Southside where I introduced him to Scott and they talked hunting for a bit.  After Jim left around 10:30 I moved the Kia to my spot and went down on the NE side.  I got a 9.5" pretty quickly which Lantern Man's son gladly took. I gave it to Brett's wife who met me up at the road.  We introduced ourselves.  We may have briefly conversed about how the fishing at some time, but I don't remember it. LM's son got two or three goldens and a 14.25" pound and a half silver bullhead along with a mess of other silvers tonight.  They were stacked up on the SW side with the way the wind was.  By the time Brett left at midnight, they were either shut down or mostly caught.  I got one 11" on a giant stickleback. LM got a couple of shorts.  We left at 1AM when it started to sprinkle.

3 silver bullheads

Windy Cool Wet Night at the GOMH

18.25" Piranha/Swim Fluke Jr.

7:15-9:45PM GOMH NE SW SE
Conditions: 53-50℉, Cloudy some light rain, Windy ENE,
Water High but falling

17.5" Crawtube

When I arrived at the GOMH tonight the same guy who was there last night was there with an additional kid and his wife.  They had the S side all covered up.  That left me in the wind.  I didn't mind, although I wish I had some fishing gloves with.  I caught jumpers on the Piranha, Crawtube, and Storm Swim Shad I also missed quite a few bites.  The guy from the other side came over to talk.  I told him what I have been catching this year.  They left shortly after he went back to the south side.  I went down on the SW side shortly after that.  It must have been a little after 8:30.  It was pretty much the same story on the south side.  Jumpin' bullheads.

23" Storm Swim Shad

I did get the one golden on the 2" Storm Swim Shad and I think I lost a silver on it as well.  Shortly after I got the gold it started to sprinkle.  I missed one hit on the Glow Demon/stickleback on the SW side.  I eventually went over to the SE side and got a bite.  It was definitely no silver and unfortunately swam toward the bullrushes. It buried itself under the weed mat in front of the hole in the rushes. Somehow I was able to get my line past the rushes so I had a straight shot to the fish.  I went and got the Piranha rod and pulled away some of the mat.  I was then able to pull the jumper on top and land it.  Catching that fish and getting my whole rig back was a minor miracle.

The bobber was originally under the mat and I couldn't set where it was.

17.5" Glow Demon/stickleback

 

Bulldog & GOMH

12.25" Glow Demon/stickleback

6:45-9:30PM Bulldog
10:00-1:30AM GOMH SW
Conditions: 72-58℉, Mostly sunny, Light wind NE, calm

8.25 THE Jig

There was a high school kid fishing at Bulldog when I arrived.  He had been there about half an hour and had gotten 3 crappies and some tiny sunnies.  The big sunfish was like the third one I caught.  It wasn't a crazy bite tonight at Bulldog, and most of the sunnies were small, but I was entertained.  It's really too bad Devin was up to other things because it was such a lovely night, and she would have gotten a lot of practice setting the hook.  The crappies were pretty sporadic at first but came on the darker it got.  Most fish were caught on a THE Jig, a few crappies tipped with a stickleback and a Cubby/stickleback.

9.5" THE Jig

10" Cubby/Stickleback

 I got 13 crappies (8 kept) and 31 or so sunfish (4 kept). Jan is gonna be a happy camper.

I eventually decided to leave the crappies biting at Bulldog to see what was up at the GOMH.  The Bullhead Boys were fishing off the Northside and had gotten one dogfish.  There was a family fishing bullheads without much success on the SE side, and  Lantern Man was on the SW side.  He had gotten three throwback silvers, a toothy, and a small jumper.  I went down with LM.  I was just about to head back to Bulldog when I called the last cast for a fish, or I leave for The Dog.  Luckily, I caught a nice bullhead bullhead that I gave to the family.  The Dad told us about the crappie fishing out on Rock this winter.  I caught the 12 incher about 5 minutes later on a small stickleback.  I got a couple of 9.5" that LM didn't want.  The Bullhead Boys and the Bullhead family left, so LM went over to the SE side.   Not much was happening over there.  He did get a couple to keep, and I got a couple that he found acceptable.  He left at about 12:15AM.  I caught a 10.5" and an 11" in the next hour before leaving.  I caught 10 silvers total.

10 Silver Bullheads
13 Crappies
31 Sunfish
1 Bullhead 

Morning and Evening

5:30-8:30AM GOMH
Conditions: 63-46℉, Partly cloudy, Calm light W wind.

7:00-9:00PM Bulldog
9:30-11:00PM GOMH SE (With Lantern Man, LMS & friend)
Conditions: 74-68℉, Partly Cloudy, Calm to light NE wind

Another beautiful morning at the GOMH.  After I hadn't caught anything in the initial half hour I just stood up on the bridge and observed things for about 20 minutes before resuming fishing.  Some shiner minnows moved in on the South side and I caught 5 of them.  4 went in the bucket.  I didn't think to put the first one in the minnow bucket and then transfer it to the Clam Pail.   I caught the jumper on the NE side on a white crawtube.

Evening Trip:
7:00-9:00PM Bulldog
9:30-11:00PM GOMH SE (With Lantern Man, LMS & friend)
Conditions: 74-68℉, Partly Cloudy, Calm to light NE wind

9.25" THE Jig/maggot

6" THE Jig/wax

The action at Bulldog wasn't exactly furious, but it kept me entertained.  I only got the 1 crappie, which ended up going back.  All the sunfish were small but a single 8 incher.  I got 16 sunnies and the 1 crappie before I bailed to the GOMH.

Lantern Man was down on the SE side and his son with a friend were on the SW side.  They had all missed a few bites.  I went down with LM.  I lost my first couple of bites including something more substantial than a silver bullhead.  I ended up getting my first silver bullhead of the year but didn't get a picture.  I ended up getting 5 silvers all of which went to LM.  Some of the buoy's in Sulivan Lake have blinking lights on them.  Buoys aren't in Platte yet. I should have stayed later because it was so nice out and when I got home TV and internet were both down.  I forgot my lantern. Lantern Man brought it by the house on Sunday afternoon.