Rock Lake For the First Trip of 2026

 

1st Fish of 2026

4:00-7:30PM Rock Lake

32-40℉, PC, 2-4mph S

When I arrived, there were several trucks in the parking lot. A couple of guys were out where I planned to fish beyond the permanent. There were a couple of guys fishing NE of the permanent and a hub out from the Sunkin Island and a wheeler SE of them. I followed a track out to the NW of the Point. I think I drilled 6 holes in a circle around the first hole I drilled.  I then took the rods out of the rod case and sent the Chicken Nugget down. One or two marks showed themselves in the first hole. I then went to the next hole to the North. A number of marks came to the Chicken Nugget, so I put down the camera, and it was sunfish. The bright sun made for fairly good visibility. Nothing in the next hole, which was in 15', next hole, a couple of marks which I verified at Sunfish. I don't think I marked anything in the next hole, and marked a couple in the last hole. I then went and drilled my hole sets. And set up in the hole with all the sunfish. I wish I had just set up there immediately rather than checking all the holes. I burned too much daylight. I put a red tail down and then jigged with a Cubby and PB Switch. I missed a number of bites before I finally got my first fish of 2026 on the green pumpkin Switch. I think I fired up the Little Buddy around 4:15, and it ran for maybe 20 minutes before it ran out of propane. It took me 20 to 25 minutes to relight it. I finally took off the red tail, and that is when my fortunes switched around somewhat, as crappies liked the Glow Demon/crappie minnow. But I switched too late, and the action didn't last long. Things got slow, so I called it a night.

9 Crips 

1st Bullhead of 2024 (2/20/24)

 

17" eBay Spin/Goat (Glow/Black/FC)

5:15-6:15 PM GOMH SW 

40-44℉, PC, 1-3mph S

It was a nice day, but I was too sluggish after getting up to get my ice fishing stuff together, but I did want to go fishing, so I did. I thought maybe I underdressed my feet, but they didn't get cold. I was expecting a skunk, but you never know at The G.O.M.H. I was just about to switch to something else when the gator bullhead hit the spinnerbait. No skunk and the earliest open-water fish I think I have ever caught. I caught a pike at the GOMH on the 27th of February in 2016. Lots of swans flying around. I'm pretty sure there is open water on the southern side of Don's Point.

1Pike 

First Fish of 2024 on my Birthday

 

Only one decent Crappie

Broken hook

1st Fishh of 2024

23" Cubby Mini-Mite (Glow)

4:45-8:15 PM 30' Holy Family Hole at The Dog

20-30℉, MC, 3-8mph NW

30' of water

I was in angry turtle mode when loading up the car. I was the only one on The Dog tonight. I went to the Holy Family Hole and drilled three sets of holes from  NW to SE. The second set had marks so that is where I set up. I missed the first 8 bites on the Demon/Minnow. Finally, got a small crappie on THE Jig. I then broke off my first of three Glow Demons on the night. I got re-rigged caught 3 or 4 crappies then got broke off again. I put a Cubby down and got a 23" pike. The hook broke when I pulled it out of the pike's beak. I had to get into the rod case to get more line. I caught a few more crappies and broke off one last Demon up by the hole. I was getting cold feet so I called it a night. Thank goodness for the Smitty. Loading up the car was a bit of a cluster. Live and learn.

8Crip 

1Pike 

1st Bullhead of 2023

 

Bullhead

8:00-9:40PM GOMH SW

53-59℉ , MC,  0-4mph NE

I started by driving the lakes. Ice is still on Platte 25%, Rock 80%, and Bulldog 65%. Ice at the Platte Access. Arrived at the GOMH, a guy was looking at the fish kill. A bunch of floaters today. He told me about the kill in the 90s and how bad it stunk. I went down and fished the SW side. Somebody came by and told me the reason they didn't get the aerator in was no volunteers. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, didn't and now it's dead fish under the bridge; a bunch of sunfish, a few bass and pike. I fished for maybe half an hour and bounced to see what was going on at the Lake Place. Just saw a dead bass, pike, and sunny. No bites. I went back to the bridge. I got a bite, and it ran towards me and got off. 90% sure it was a Gator. About 10 minutes later, I snagged the jumper in the Pelvic fin. I stayed until after dark, hoping Silver might play, but all I saw was some baitfish.

Got Out On The Dog

 5:00-8:00PM 31' The Dog

24-26℉, Cloudy, 0-3mph SE

Getting the KIA loaded was PIA, but not in the back. There was one truck and three houses out fishing when I arrived.  Lake conditions kind of suck. Shoveled out a spot in the slush. Had fish down there most of the time, but they were small. Missed a few bites on the minnow and several on jigs. Disappoi ting to only catch nine fish. The water level rose as I wasn't reading bottom at 30'. Going ba k in the dark was even more difficult than going out. This was my last trip with the KIA, as dad traded it in for an Equinox.

9 Crips 

1st Bullead of 2022, Plus 1st Loon

18" Swim Shad (Purple)

 

Loons Have Arrived

7:15-8:30PM GOMH SW

45℉, Cloudy/light rain, 8-14mph E

Past experience says you never know what your gonna get at the Grumpy Old Man Hole. Tonight I came up with two aces. First was the first loon sighting and hearing of the year. I started on the NE side and didn't get a bite. As I was crossing over to the SW side, I heard a loon call and looked up to see a loon flying from Sullivan toward Platte. The bird that made the sound was in the water. I figured out that I could zoom in on the iPhone 11 to take a picture beyond the two presets I had been using. Cool! 

I tried throwing a few different things. Then I put on a 2" Storm Swim Shad and got the toothy bullhead on the first cast. Only bite I got. Before I left, I called Teena from the car. As we were talking, I started seeing some lightening in the South. When I heard thunder, I headed home. It was a very minor thunderstorm, very little thunder. I did have to run the side pump for over an hour.

1st Trip of 2022

9" Glow Demon/minnow

4:00-6:00PM Bulldog 2021 Spot

20℉, Cloudy, 4-8mph NE

Finally felt well enough to get out and fish. Been dealing with a cold/Rona since the day after Christmas or so. I thought I would be good to go on Monday as I felt much better on Sunday, but it wasn't to be. I had to take advantage of the nice weather before we slipped back into the deep freeze. Guys were set up out from Holy Family when I arrived, but they were packing up, and I passed them as I started out. They had a wheeler. There was a packed path most of the way out. I off-roaded the final 70 feet or so. Fish didn't show up for the first 45-minutes other than one looker that marked big; Pike maybe. I missed my first 4 bites; 3 on a minnow and 1 on THE Jig. I finally got an 8-incher in the hole on THE Jig. As I was taking him off, the bobber went down, and I hooked up with the 9-incher in the picture. The action was slow for the most part. I got more bites on minnows than on the spoon or jigs. I ran out of propane around 5:40 or so. And had my last minnow on the hook by 5:50PM. The last fish came on the Glow Demon Spoon. Called it an early night because it was cold. Should have filled up the tank when I got gas tonight. Oh well.

2021 1st Fish Goes to Rock Lake

13" THE Jig (Glow/Pink)

License On the Trophy today

Went down front after working on the boat.

 I fished 3 different times today. First was at the GOMH on my way to the Lake Place. Didn't get anything and had my hat blown off. I got the boat ready to go in the water tomorrow. I stopped at Rock Lake to see if the Rock Dock was in; it wasn't. I only had a few minutes before I had to get the car home. On my very last cast, a bass took the jig and made 2021 fishing history being my first landed fish out of open water in 2021. Turns out when I got home that the rents decided not to go to Good Friday. I ate pancakes for dinner then headed back out after 7:00PM. I stopped at Bulldog, Rock, and GOMH. Nobody else out fishing, surprisingly enough. It had calmed down enough that I was able to hear swans taking off on the other side of Rock Lake. I didn't get a bite, but I did get some clipping done at the GOMH.   

1st Bullhead of the Year and Ice Out

7" Cubby Mini-Mite/Minnow

6:30-9:30AM GOMH, Bulldog, Rock
38-44℉, Partly Cloudy, 3-8mph W

So I took my first-morning open water trip of 2020 this morning.  I got a bite, finally. It was none other than a tiger bullhead; First time that has ever happened for a first fish in open water.  I got it on the SE side.  John W. showed up as I was posting to Instagram.  I ended up getting his phone # before he left.
I was back on the SW side ad I made a cast into the hay area.  The bobber was drifting at a steady pace in the wind when it just stopped moving and turned sideway.  Thinking it was caught on a weed I didn't set the hook.  I'm pretty sure I rolled a big jumper because I saw a lot of white.  That was my last bite.

I also tried Bulldog and Rock without any success.

In the afternoon I vacuumed out the Trophy and discovered some treasure I had given to Steve three years ago that he left in Florida when he moved up here the first time. Two Madd Maxx Frogs (Big Sexy and Bluegrass).

I should have done this last year before I put it in the garage

Score

Clear at Jenny's

Heavy Wave with a brisk SW Wind

The vacuuming took longer than expected.  It was filthy and I had to stop for a break to get something to eat.  Steve gave me an energy bar that did the trick.  After I was done I went down to the boathouse and discovered the rods that I accidentally left there last winter.  I had intended to go back and get them late last Fall, but it slipped my mind.

Because I didn't get out of there until after 5 o'clock I went straight home rather than fish.  I ended up eating a Porky Burger which held me up until after 7PM.  When I crossed 27 conditions turned nasty fast.  Heavy snow and wind.  I was like dang.  By the time I got to Church the sun was beginning to poke out.  I went to Bulldog first, nothing biting.  It looked like ice was still on 40-50%.  Then I went to Rock briefly, the ice was out.  I drove Platte Lake drive and could see ice in the North Bay and some along the NW side of the Big Island.  I then drove to the Platte Lake Public Access which was totally ice-free, so Platte Lake ice out is official at Bass Pundit

 

First Fish of 2020

7.5" VMC Fly & Maggies (Pink)

5:00-7:30PM Sullivan 25' Sun Spot
36-31℉, Cloudy, 2-5mph SW
25'

It was lightly snowing when I arrived at the NE Sullivan Access.  I elected to walk out, but I could have driven.  I'm lucky I didn't fall before I came to my senses and put the spikes on.  I used the GPS to find the 25' Sunfish Hole. I drilled two holes.  I originally had something come in at 15-feet. Didn't feel a bite.  After whatever it was moved out. I put the Aqua View down, not much visibility but I did see a pretty good-sized sunfish.  I missed a few bites on a spoon and the VMC fly before I finally landed one.  One was all I got and I threw it back.  Think I'm going to try Bulldog tomorrow.

1st Bullhead of the Year

20.5" Cubby Mini-Mite (Glow)

About the same as yesterday

7:35-8:20PM GOMH SW NE
45℉, Cloudy fog, 5mph NE

I stayed to watch Auburn go down to Virginia at the Final Four then headed out expecting to get another skunk, but that was not to be.  I started on the SW side and didn't get anything.  I switched to the NE side.  Sure enough, a bullhead pulled my bobber under and I landed my first fish of 2019.

The weather was once again running at least 5 degrees below the forecast.  It was foggy as well.  The one positive is that it didn't get under 40-degrees last night.  Maybe it will be warmer tomorrow.

1st Open Water Fish Of 2018 Bulldog Lake

5" T.H.E. Jig /maggot Bulldog Lake

It can only get better from here.  The only bite I got tonight. I fished at Rock, Bulldog, and the GOMH.  Ice is out on Bulldog and Rock.  Platte is about 60% out.  I think I'll probably be able to call Platte tomorrow.

Rock Lake

1st Open Water Fish of the Year

19" STX

3:45-5:00PM
Conditions: 54 degrees, light S wind, mostly sunny, water level is really low.

My Fish Trap doesn't fit in the Kia Soul but my long rods do, so I went to the Grumpy Old Man Hole to try a little open water fishing.  I didn't expect to catch anything, but you never know at the GOMH.  I fished the SW side with a blue/silver STX and didn't see any signs of life.  I then fished the area with a bluegill D & M Piranha.  Still nothing.  Then I tried a chartreuse/white STX and a fish swiped and missed.  I let it sit for about 5 seconds then twitched it a couple of times and BAM! Fish On!  A 19" toothy bullhead is my first open water fish of the year on February 27th; The earliest first open water fish since moving North in 2003.  I fished a few more lures on the SW side and then tried the NE side where there wasn't very much open water.  Nothing on the NE side.

Fishing Season ends tomorrow for pike, bass, and walleye, so I may give the GOMH one last shot tomorrow, if it gets above freezing.  I might go ice fishing tomorrow as well.

All the open water I had to fish on the Sullivan side

1st Fish of 2014

I had been at Rock Lake for an hour and was just about to head to the Grumpy Old Man Hole at 7:30 when this 15.5" bass hit .  Only bite I'm aware of tonight.  It was kind of windy there at the access, so it's possible I had other bites and didn't notice them.  The ice was pretty much all gone on the lake by the time I left at 8:55.

Today had some sun and got to 51°F, but had pretty much clouded up by 7PM.

1st Bullhead of the Year

16"+

 I got lucky in that the rain held off after a brief shower, so I got back out for one last try and this bullhead was the result.  As you can tell from the pic, she bit when it was almost to late to see the bobber.  The pic makes it look darker than it actually was.  That's a pink Cubby Mini-Mite in her upper jaw.

This is my earliest 1st fish catch since moving North.

Bullheads Baby!!!

Today was delightful. Sun and it was almost to 70°F. I decided it would be a good night to hit up the Grumpy Old Man Hole (GOMH) and see if anything might have showed up. I left the house at about 7:20PM so I arrived about 7:30PM. There was open water on the Sullivan side beyond where I could see going towards the Platte River Outlet, but the PRO itself still has ice well along the Southern shore. The Platte side maybe had 5-8 acres of open water. The water is as high as I've ever seen it at the GOMH, almost all the rocks are under water on the SW side.

I started on the SW corner throwing a 2" Storm Wildeye Swim Shad. After trying that for a while with no luck, I had a hunch that I should go and try the Platte side of the bridge, so I went over to the NE side. On my very first cast to a spot that held lots of fish last year, it was bullhead on!!!

It was about 13" or so, I didn't measure it. I didn't have any luck and after about 10 minutes a young beaver started swimming around in the area and smacking it's tail every once and a while. I tried a few different things without any luck. At about 8:10PM I switched back to the SW side. Right before I switched sides another bigger beaver showed up.

Once again first cast, BAM BULLHEAD!!!

This one I did measure and it went a bit over 18". It wasn't very fat, so it might have been a male. After a few more casts with nothing I switched up to a Cubby Mini Mite under a bobber. I got a hit on that but missed it. Eventually it got to dark to fish around 8:35PM.

Nice to see my first fish of the year.

Rock ON

April 7th
I slept in late today. Around 5PM I thought I would see if the Rock Access was open enough for fishing yet; As it turns out the whole lake was open.

I got up on the back of the pick-up and gave it a try. The access area was protected from a faily stiff NW wind and the air temp was a cool 50 or so. I caught one sunfish on green flu flu and a small pike on the silver panther.

I went on a drive, Bulldog Open, Long Open, Sullivan Open, Platte Open. People fishing at the GOMH, I thought I saw one guy real something small in, but I'm not totally sure.

High Water and Jumpin Bullheads

Monday 11th 2005
It rained most of Sunday Night and Monday Morning, so I went down front to see how high its getting.


After dinner I headed out to see if the "Grumpy Old Men" are out yet, but it was starting to rain so they may have left. I started casting a small beetle spin w/sparkle twister tail. On about the 10th cast I got this 18"plus Jumpin Bullhead.

I talked with a guy who stopped who had gotten a couple of Golden Bullheads and Jumpin Bullheads yesterday. He thought it would be a few days before the Silver Bullheads arrived. I think they maybe there already but there was so much junk in the eddy's that it was tough to present there well.

Here's my other two Bullheads.
This one was over 16." and the last one was about 16" even.

I also had one more big Jumping Bullhead on, probably a 19 or bigger but in the current he got off probably because he openned up the wire on the beetle spin, I didn't lose the jig head but had I had him on much longer I most likely would have.

I then tried a Mini-Mite and Minnow as it got dark, but nothing and I headed in.