Pre-Fishing Gull/ Finishing In the Trophy

Pre-Fishing Cedar With Nate

After Vikings Loss Trip

Fish With Steve and Brett

Pretty Much Clueless Tonight

 

Got Lucky, Hooked it by the Power Clip

2.44lbs Terminator Frog (Yellow)

Forgot to weigh one bass

3:00-7:30PM Reeds Across, A. A. Cane to Big Rice Pt, North Inlet to CRRP, 3 Loon Flat to F Flat

67-72℉, PC to C, 0-5mph SE turning NW with periods of calm

60-63℉ Low rising

I started in the reeds across. There was a SE wind and it was cloudy. I missed the only bite I got on the Swim Jig. I got a couple of bass on the Terminator Frog and a few pike. Missed some bites as well. It was much slower than yesterday so I only spent an hour there. I then went to Access Across Cane and missed two bites because I wasn't paying attention. Both bites came as I had cleared the rice and was retrieving the frog. I think I might have miss one bite at Big Rice Pt. I went back to AA Cane and didn't get a bite. I then went to Inlet Bay working North to South.  I got one bass at Center RRP on the Terminator and missed a bite because I wasn't ready for it. There were hunter scouting for ducks. It was calm so I gave 3 Loon Flat a try. An NW wind came up and that took the wind out of my sails as far as moving. I did get a couple of bass along the docks on the bluegill Bubble Walker (15) and the bone Repo Man. As well as a few pike on those lures. On F Flat I got a couple of pike and broke off the Bubble Walker at the spool. Fortunately, a fish didn't hit it so I was able to retrieve it.

I got frustrated and didn't fish well because of it. Conditions said they should be going on topwater, but they just weren't and I kept getting caught with my guard down when they did hit. There were a bunch of people out fishing tonight as well.

5 Bass

14 Pike

Good Bite, No Size And I Got Better With A Swim Jig

Just a bunch of cookie-cutter 14 to 15-incher tonight

3:00-7:30PM Reeds Across South, F Flat, Access Across Cane and Big Rice, SPSI

55-62℉, PC, 3-7mph ENE

63℉ Low

I started in the Reeds Across and the bass were going on the swim jig, no doubt about it. So I spent a bunch of time in there trying to teach myself about fishing with one. I was able to land 12 bass and 5 pike on the Outkast Swim Jig landing about 2/3rds of what bit. I got a couple of small bass off a dock on the Repo Man at the lane between the two rice beds. That prompted me to give F Flat a try. I was just about to leave when a 16/17 bass nailed the Repo Man, but it jumped and got off. I then went to AA Cane which had wind blowing on it. Didn't get a bite there, so I went over to Big Rice. I got 2 bites on the Spinker Landing one of them and had a big fish boil on it, but not get it. I ended the night at South Point Small Island losing a 3lber at the boat that threw the Whopper Plopper when it jumped.

17 Bass

7 Pike

    

Started Good, Then A Grind

(Ridiculous Google making publishing photo's more difficult. I had to upload them to Google Photos because it wouldn't except them from my computer per usual. Hopefully, it's just a glitch)

3:00-7:45PM NPBI, Access Across Cane, Big Rice Point, 6LB Flat, West of Access Rice, North Inlet to Cookie Jar, Green Cabin Bay, SPRO, Intersection, SPSI, SPBI

67-78℉, Hazy sun to cloudy some light rain, 0-7mph SE

66℉ LOw falling

  

It was totally calm with Hazy sun and warm when I got out. I briefly stopped at NPBI and didn't get a bite. Then it was on to Access Across Cane.  I didn't get a bite on the cane wall, but the second it turned to a rice wall I had a 17-incher nail the Sparrow. I was totally ready for it. After last night's debacle, I did a couple of practice hook sets. I then got a couple of 14-inchers and a pike. A fish told me where it was at right before I got the pike, so I worked that area throwing multiple casts and eventually got another 17-incher. I got a pike farther down the rice line. I then headed to Big Rice Point where I got several pike. The only possible bass blow up missed the frog and I couldn't get it to refire. Something got blown up over 6lb Flat so I gave that a try. I got a couple of pike there. It got cloudy and it looked like rain was approaching. I went back to the cane and had a fish blow up and miss. I worked the fish for about 5-minutes and it paid off with another 3lber. The wind came up, so I went to the South shoreline where the rice starts West of the access. It rained briefly. I got a couple of pike. I stopped back at the Cane, nothing. Then I went to Inlet Bay North. I got 14 ad 15 in the rice, reeds, and pads. I got a couple of 14-inchers on the way to the Cookie Jar. I then headed to Green Cabin which was dead. I made a long cast got hung on some rice went to snap it free and my line broke a couple feet up from the reel. It was the darndest thing. I then went to SPRO in Sullivan. It was dead. I got my River2Sea Bubble Walker stolen at the Intersection. I ended the night getting two bass on the bone Repo Man at SPSI and blanked at SPBI. It was probably to dark by the time I got to the Big Island.

11 Bass

10 Pike

Good Night That Should Have Been Great

3.88lbs/17.25" Bobby's Perfect (Sparrow)

3.43lbs/17" (Sparrow)

Frog in the water as I shoved off

                       

Missed some giants at Big Rice. I was a little too amped up when they dogged me.
 

Tough Night, But Plopper Fish Made It All Worth It

3.70lbs/18" Whopper Plopper (RTT)

9" Fluke (Albino)

 4:30-7:45PM SPSI, NW Reeds, Intersection, SPRO, F Flat

68-73℉, PC, 0-8mph SSW

61-63℉ Low falling

When I was putting my gear in the boat a loon was making a racket because an osprey was flying around. I also ran by an immature loon on my way to SPSI. It seems all the adults have headed South at this point. I didn't get a hit at SPSI. I then headed to Sullivan to the reeds by the NW public access. The wind was blowing out of the SSW and there was way more wave action than I wanted. On the Northside of the first dock, I got a dink and small slimer on Zoom Super Fluke. I actually had what was probably the pike hit the Sparrow first and I got the fish when I peppered the area with the Fluke. I got one bass (15) in the reeds and missed a couple of bites. Spent way to much time working my through. I got a couple of pike at the boat channel and NE point of the Intersection. I got only one bite along the NSPRO. It was the 18-incher that absolutely crushed the Rat Ta Tat Whopper Plopper. The wind died shortly after I got the fish and so did the action. I tried SPSI again and F Flat not getting a bite at either place.

3 Bass

4 Pike

Slow Night IN the Trophy/Nothing Biting at Mille Lacs

2.99lbs Repo Man (Bone)

2.79lbs Northland Spinnerbait (Chuck's)

2.40lbs Chuck's

27" Chuck's

4:00-7:30PM Loon Sex Point, Sullivan Docks, SPRO, SPSI

8:30-9:15PM North Jetty Mouth

67-72℉, MS, 2-10mph SSE

61℉ Low falling

Started on Loon Sex Point. Missed a couple of bites. I then headed to the NW Reeds in Sullivan. Had a SE wind so I quickly left to fish some docks along the South shore. I got one 13-inch fish doing that. I then went and fished the SPRO rice lines getting a few bass (17,16.5,14) and pike on the Northland Spinnerbait. Nothing at the Intersection, but one small pike. I ended the night at South Point Small Island and got 3 bass (17.25,15,13.5) including a 3lber on the bone Repo Man.

Mille Lacs:

There was a large group leaving when I arrived. Not a good sign for biting fish. There was a guy bobber fishing the North Corner. I did see some small eyeballs swimming around in the North Harbor Mouth. I didn't get a bite and didn't feel like grinding out a bite, so I gave up at 9:15PM. Weeds were annoying and there was no wave action as the wind was blowing out of the SSW.  

Slow Night A Lot of Moving

2.27lbs Ish's Phat (Green)

 3:00-8:00PM Dock, Jenny's Reeds to West Point, Docks & Reeds Across, Double Cane, Cookie Jar, Green Cabin Bay, SPSI

50-60℉, PC, 0-4mph S

61℉, Low Falling

Got some sunfish fishing off the dock.

I started off of Jenny's Reeds working my way to West Point. I got one bass (15) out front of our place a green Ish's frog. Missed several bites on the docks. Went across to the platform dock and got one bass. Nothing on my way to "The Dock." I then went to Reeds across and got a couple bass (15,15) and pike on the Ish's and Sprinker. I then went and fished Double Cane and Cookie Jar Area without a bite. I then went to Green Cabin Bay and got 3 bass (15,14,12) there on the Sparrow and a couple of pike. I ended on SPSI and didn't get a bite.

Finally Got Some 3lbers Today (3 of Them)

3.13lbs/17" Sparrow

3.32lbs/18.75 Plopper 130 (Rat Ta Tat)

3.24lbs/17.5" Plopper

2:30-8:30PM Docks Across, Reeds Across S & N, Intersection, SPSI
50-67℉, PC to C, 0-7mph N
60-62℉ LOw

I started at the platform dock across the way. I caught 4 bass (11,15,12,11) and missed a couple as well. I headed east toward "The Dock" and got back to back 15-inch bass on the Sparrow out of the pads. I got one bass (13) on "The Dock" and 14-incher under the pontoon on the next dock to the East. I then went to the dock to West of the platform dock and worked my way West. I missed a couple of bites and got a 12-incher when I was up by the reeds.

Next, I started fishing the reeds with the Sparrow and I got quite a few bites, but a number of them weren't getting the frog. It was Platte Lake Specials and pike. It got cloudy and the wind came up which I wasn't expecting while I was in the reeds. I was over by the cane when I got the first 3lber of the night.  That was my last bite in reeds across.

I then went to the Intersection in Sullivan. I got a pike on the NE Point. I then took two good fish (16.25,18.75) on the Whopper Plopper out of the entrance boat lane in the wind. I got my last frog bite of the night as the sun came out in the rice. I switched to NSPRO rice at the second boat channel. I got a 16-inch bass on a Northland Buzzbait with Rage Toad towards the tip of the rice point.

I then beat feet to South Point Small Island where I got the final 3lber of the night on the Whopper Plopper. That was also my last bite of the night. I tried the NPSI, SPBI, and 3 Loon Flat

OK Morning and Evening Trips With A Little True Night Fishing

A Fish Here A Fish There On A Beautiful Night

2.53lbs/15.9" Sparrow

West Point Dock Dink

Fall Colors Starting ON the Small Island

3:00-8:00PM West Point, CIB, Access PT Docks, Access Across
68-75℉, Hazy, 0-6mph SW
61-64℉ Low

Started at West Point. Got a couple of dinks on the dock before the point dock. Didn't get a bite on the point yet again. Then I went to Channel Inn Bay. I started at the reeds and worked my way South. I finally got a bass at the North rice opening so I worked my way in and got a second fish at the corner of the rice. I worked my way to the boat lane and wasn't getting anything, so I headed to Access Point Docks. I got a few bass there mostly dinks. My casting was much better tonight and I got a 2lber on a perfect cast under a pontoon.  Nothing to the West of the Access. It got calm, so I went to 6lb Flat. I got a pike on the rice wall. A bass after one busted way out on the flat. I got a small bass on Big Rice Point and one last bass in the slop. The fish shut down by 7:40PM.

13 Bass
4 Pike

Minor Clown Show On A Windy Day

2.27lbs/15.9" Super Fluke (Bubblegum)

4:00-8:00PM East Docks, East Of Jenny's Slop, South Inlet,  Green Cabin to Chuck's
66-69℉, PC, 5-15mph ESE

Steve came down and we got the boathouse door squared away. I went to the docks on the East end of our Bay starting North working my way South. I had a pike miss the Sprinker along the first dock. I caught some dinks on the next few docks hanging up on pretty much everyone and breaking off once. I was really frustrated with that bad luck on what otherwise were good casts. I got one 16-incher on the docks. I got a couple bass along the Slop on the south shoreline East of Jenny's. I also missed a couple of bites and kicked the scale into the lake. Thankfully it floats. I then headed to South Inlet where nothing was going on until I was making my way out. I got hit close to the boat and missed it. Probably a pike, but who knows. I then ran to Green Cabin where I missed 3 bites. The second one was a quality bass that buried and got off. Frustrated I ripped the frog and my line broke. Thankfully I located the Sparrow. I actually bent the Power Clip as well. I got one last bite over by Chuck's that I missed a well. I left the lake frustrated.

10 Bass
3 Pike

OK Evening Trip After Vikes Loss To Pack On NFL Opener

2.55lbs Super Fluke

5:00-8:00PM F Flat Docks, Double Cane, Big Bass Pt, Starting Spot Rice
57-65℉, PC, 0-8mph North
61℉

Vikes lost to the Pack leaving me a little unmotivated to get out. I started at F Flat Docks. Got some lost some. There was baitfish getting eaten from time to time. I got one pike on the Shower Blows. I went to double cane and got a couple of bass there. Then it was on to Big Bass Point. I lost a Sparrow due to a clip issue when I got hung up in the grass. Did get one good fish toward the opening to Todd's Pond. I ended the night at Starting Rice having a couple pike swipe at me.

7 Bass
6 Pike

Bass Snatchers Little Boy/Wabedo Tournament

Conditions: 50-58℉, Cloudy to Mostly Cloudy with occasional drizzle, 0-4mph SE
The area received a pretty good rain overnight.

The Day: We started in the reeds just to the East of the YMCA Camp in Little Boy. I may or may not have missed a couple of bites. After about an hour and a half with nothing to show for it, we left those reeds and headed to some reeds on the NE side of the lake. Bill missed a bite along a tree in the water. I had something very pike-like attack my Fluke and get off quickly in the reeds. I had a couple other boils, but nothing hooked up. We then went to the dock by the outlet where Al had already taken a fish. We then headed to Wabedo. We started fishing to the east, right at the entrance to Wabedo. Bill was working the shoreline reeds, and I was throwing out with my orange Shower Blows knock-off. I had a 35 or so inch muskie jump over the lure and miss, thankfully. From there, we went and worked a weedline. Finally, I got the skunk out of the boat with 2.5lb bass on a junebug Piranha. Bill then caught a line burner on a Senko. Then he got a fish that almost went 2lbs. I got a pike on a craw tube. It was calm and overcast. Perfect topwater conditions. I started throwing a River2Sea Bubble Walker. Something boiled behind the lure. I let it sit for a few seconds, then popped it. Whoosh, the 6.5-pound pike took it. After putting up a good fight, Bill netted it for me. Thankfully, It didn't put up any fuss in the boat, and the hook came out easily. We fished Wabedo for maybe 15 more minutes, then headed back to Little Boy with maybe 2 hours left in the day. We went back to the YMCA camp area, starting to the West of where we did in the morning. There is a breakwater at the camp. I made a cast to it with a bone Shower Blows and good bass blasted it. It jumped, got down in the weeds, and came off. I was not happy. We worked the reeds again. I had something pike like take a shot at my Spro Sprinker knock-off and not hook up. Bill was pretty frustrated, as was I. I suggested we move in closer to shore into an area that was good for Al and me in the last tournament. We started working the pads and rice, nothing. Then we came to boat lane. I probably should have directed Bill on how to best approach the high percentage area. Sure enough, there was a couple of fish there. I got a decent hookset, but the fish quickly got off. It was 2 to 3lber. Bill put on the frog as I peppered the area. I think he got a bite on his third cast by a smaller fish that didn't hook up. We came to the next boat lane, and sure enough, there were two fish in the high percentage area. We both landed our bites this time. That happened right in front of Hammer and Checkbook, who were working towards us. We quickly ran out of slop. With 20 minutes left, we went to another slop area where Bill lost a fish, and I caught a pike. I was quite disappointed to only bring in two fish and thought I would be a bottom dweller for sure. But many guys struggled, so I reached my goal of a Top 8 finish.

Results: My fish weighed 5lbs 6ozs, putting me in 8th Place. The tournament was won by Tim Benson with 18/9, and he had lunker with a 4/8. Beau Bacon won the Co-angler Challenge out of Tim's boat with 14/03, putting him in 3rd Place. Al Steinbauer was 2nd with 15/8.

My Thoughts: I don't know what the fishes deal was. I would have thought everybody would have come in with limits under those conditions, but the fish were just not up and feeding like you would expect in the Fall. 2/3rds of the field caught 3 or fewer fish. Ouch

We figured out something that would work too late. Oh well, I am now in a three-way tie for 4th in the Angler of the Year. It looks like I stand a decent chance of making the Clubs year-end Super 6, provided I don't skunk at either of the final two tournaments, which are back to back the first weekend of October on Gull and Cedar Lake.

 

OK Morning Trip

OK Night Mostly Fishing Docks

2.35lbs/15.75" Super Fluke (Bubblegum)

3:00-8:15PM Docks Across & F Flat, N Reeds Across, S. Inlet Bay to Cookie Jar

57-65℉, Sunny, 0-4mph SW

58-64℉ Low falling 

Arrived an hour later than I wanted to. There was a guy pre-fishing out front when I arrived. The plan was to knock off the rust on my dock skipping with spinning gear and a Zoom Super Fluke. I started at West Point and missed my first couple of bites. I then went to "The Dock" across and got a fat 14-inch fish that weighed 2.09. I caught a bunch of bass on the docks across, but they were all on the small side 11 to 13.5" inches. At the platform dock, there was a Mexican Roofing Crew listening to Mexican Polka Music, I swear to God that was what it sounded like. Once I got to the point. I headed to F Flat and caught fish on the docks there. I only fished four then headed to the North Reeds across. Missed a couple of bites on the Craw Tube. For the final hour, I went to Inlet Bay. Only got one bass on the frog. Had a Color Me and Lime Sprinker get bit off in the reeds in a 10-minute span. Also had a black/yellow Ish's get bit off along Starting Spot Rice.

19 Bass

9 Pike 

 

Pre-Fish Little Boy/Wabedo

11:00AM-1:30PM Little Boy
46-48℉, MC, 3-7mph  NW S E

We headed up to the NW corner of the lake just north of the Camp in the reeds. The very first thing to happen was the screw that held the trolling motor handle in place fell out.  I didn't think anything of it thinking it was a simple fix. As it was we were limited to full speed or nothing. We worked our way South for maybe a hundred feet or so and then stared back to the north. We came to a spot that just looked prime where the cattails and reeds met and sure enough, Bill pulled a two-pounder out of it on a jig. We then went out and worked in some of the deeper reeds and Bill got a 3lber out there on a Yabbie. We came on by shore and I got a bite on a craw tube that didn't hook up. We went back out to the deeper reeds and I missed a bite out there on a Hack Attack Jig. The shallow rice and pads had nothing going on.

We then went to the North end to try a few docks and the outlet area. I thought it was an inlet, but Bill told me the water flows out which makes sense as the Boy River flows to the North. Bill had a 3lber jump him off under the dock where I caught my lunker the last tournament out. The reeds in this area and basically everywhere we fished weren't nearly as thick as the last time we fished the lake. It looked like we were going to get some rain, so we headed back to get Bill's rain gear at 1:30 or so. When we got back Bill had to call Bruce to find out what he did with the keys. Bruce had left them in the cabin. Bruce wasn't that far away, so he volunteered to get them. I learned a knot from Bill while we were waiting. Because Bruce was there we pulled the boat out so he could fix the handle on the trolling motor. The mechanical aptitude to take it apart and put it back together correctly was shocking to me. Bruce and Bill eventually got it figured out, but then the troller didn't work at all, no power.  It was now coming up at 4PM and I was chilled so I called it a day.

Although the day was short I learned some valuable lessons. The water is more tannic than I remembered for one. And the difficulty of catching fish behind Bill is another. This will be my fourth Tournament with Bill as my boater. The last two have been disasters with 1 fish on Mission and 3 fish on Pokegama. If the fish aren't jumping in the boat I am going to need to bring my A-game.