4/10 Silver Season Begins, Rock Dock Not In

 

10.5" BT Demon/Minnow

Not Today

6:30-7:00 PM Rock Lake

7:30-11:30 PM GOMH NE, SE, SW

35-40℉, Cloudy/PC, Calm

Water Low

It was a cooler-than-forecast day with some drizzle.

I got to the Rock access and realised I had forgotten to put the minnows in the car, buzzkill; I was not a happy camper. I fished until 7PM, then headed home to get the minnows. Rock Dock not in.

I got the minnows, then immediately headed back North. A guy and gal were fishing on the SW side and bridge when I got there. He said he hadn't caught anything. I fished on the NE side for maybe 15 minutes, then switched to the SE side. He caught a nice jumpin bullhead. I was going to switch to my lighted bobber rod when the first silver bullhead of 2025 showed up (10.75). I did switch to the lighted bobber rod. They left at maybe 8:30. I texted Peter W a little after 9 PM after I missed a bite. Shortly after that, I caught fish number 2, just as I was going to switch to the SW sides. Peter showed up by 9:30. I caught my last fish of the night about a half hour after Peter arrived. I struggled to detect bites between my wonky bobber and the light bites.  At about 10:45, I switched to the SW side with Peter. He left a little after 11. I planned to call it quits at 11:30 PM if I didn't get any more bites. Right before 11:30, I put a cast to close to the Beaver Dam and got hung up. I got my lighted bobber back but broke off the Glow Demon. I did 6 laps and didn't get out of there until 1 AM. It was getting foggy. I didn't shine anything. When I was fishing on the SW side after Peter left, I had a muskrat beelining for my lighted bobber from the south. I could see it coming because of the bright moonlight.  I reeled up, and it just kept the same coarse after lighted bobber until. I reeled up all the way, and only then did it give up on its quest to get that glowing red thing.

3Crip 

Another Slabber Bullhead Night

14.75" BT Glow Demon/Minnow

 8:00-11:30 PM SW GOMH 

40-42℉, PC, 0-4mph WSW

Water Normal rising

I was amazed no one was at the Grumpy Old Man Hole tonight. 40m degrees isn't that cold and the winds were diminishing. I didn't get a bite for about an hour and about 10 minutes into fishing the lighted bobber. Missed my first two bites. There was an ultra-slow current into Sully tonight and all four of my fish came in the middle of the channel. They went 12.5",12.5",14.75",9" I thought the big one was only a 13-incher. I was amazed when it measured 14.75". I couldn't get the scale to read, but I'm pretty sure it weighed less than my PB. I think I probably got my last fish about 10PM. I didn't shine anything and did fish off the bridge and the SE side for about 15 minutes.

4 Crip 

12.5" Demon/minnow

Best Bite Bite Yet At the GOMH

 

11.75" BT Glow Demon/minnow

12.5" BT Glow Demon/Minnow

1..75lb THE jig/minnow

Doh, I forgot to take a picture of the 13 inch silver bullhead. I swore I took a picture of it.

6:50-11:40PM GOMH SW & Shining N.

48-60℉, PC until 11 or so, 0-3mph NW

Bear Trax got bought out of minnows today and R Skiba got out a pole saw and took it to the cattails and beaver dam. No one was there when I arrived so I quickly got my stuff down on the SW side. A guy showed up before I had all my stuff down. I got a gator in my first few casts, then not much. The other guy got a gator and a jumper eventually. Somebody showed up and took the N side. Kyle (No Brett) showed up and came down by me. He offered me the use of his minnows. The sunset happened and I got a jumper on THE Jig/minnow. Kyle picked up a couple of jumpers and got bit off. Skiba showed up and took LM spot in the puddle. I got the first silver of the night. A guy named Landon who is a hardcore guy that knows Kyle showed up and fished West of the Beaver Dam. Kyle got bit off again and decided not to retire. An older guy from Little Falls fished from the bridge.  Skiba got a couple of jumpers and we both started getting silvers after 9 PM. Kyle left and Landon went on the SE side when the guy who showed up when I did left and it was AWWWWWWWN, with everyone getting bit from about 9:15 to 9:45. Skiba left about 9:30 and gave me a bunch of minnows. The guy from Little Falls had joined Landon on the SE side around 9:20 or so. The Little Falls guy left around 10PM when there was a lull in the action. Landon fished Long Lake today and a dock owner gave him the tip about fishing the GOMH.  The fishing picked up again. I saw three shooting stars. Landon left around 10:30. The action was consistent until some clouds moved in around 11PM and the bite shut down. It didn't help that I couldn't keep a minnow hooked also missing a couple of opportunities. I gave up at 11:40 PM. I shined a couple of jumpers and 3 or 4 silvers on the N side and one big silver on the S side. The biggest silver of the night went 13.25. 

31Crip 

2Jump 

1Pike   

Slow Night On Rock

 

9' on Gem-N-Eye/minnow

Potato Chip

Two swans a swimming

4:50-7:30PM My Area Rock Lake

30-44℉, PC, 0-2mph S

I got a late start because Dad went to Walmart today. My back was barking at me on the way out. I drilled new holes right by the old ones and one set of three to the North. I don't know why I only put one camera hole. The one where I put the camera hole was near the 8" Sunfish Hole. Unfortunately, not much showed up there before it was getting too dark to see. I ended up catching 5 sunfish. I did hole hop for about 15 minutes. I came back and the bobber was down, but nothing on it. I put another minnow on and caught a crappie about 5" minutes later right before I was going to move to the holes where I had marked fish. Nothing more showed up and it was now dark. I hole-hopped with the Fish Trap and didn't mark much.  I ended at the first set.  I ended my Fish Swami trip with a minnow down. Sure enough, I got a bite but missed it. I sent down another minnow and the Cubby, which immediately got jumped. Giving me two crappies for the trip. No more life. It was making ice. I slowly packed up. Plan to be out in the morning and if that doesn't work I'll have to formulate a new plan. 

Oh yeah, open water at the PRO Opening narrows with Swans swimming and flying about.

2 Crip 

5 Sun

Saw a few small perch and sunfish on the Aqua-Vu 

I Was A Hot Mess At Prime Time

 

Only gill I caught

Bullhead

Oh yeah, I should take a pic of one of these

3:45-8:15 PM 16' Same Holes I've been fishing at Rock Lake

34-37℉, Cloudy,slushy, 0-3mph WSW

I went and checked out the GOMH and Bulldog as well as stopped at Bear Trax for minnows.

There were about 4 groups fishing Rock when I arrived. None in my area. I talked to a guy who had been fishing the point getting crappies and a bunch of pike. Turns out visibility is ok before 4:30 PM. I saw a bunch of sunfish, a few crappies, and at least one pike. The pike missed THE Jig, but wouldn't go for the Switch. I lost the first crappie that I saw take my minnow. It was slow for a while.  The bite was pretty good at prime time, but I was a  complete mess trying to fish two lines. I should have just rode the minnow as it was getting dusted soon after I dropped it. I got a bullhead during prime time on the minnow as well. It was over by 5:45 and I struggled thereafter. I did lose a good fish when I didn't get the Cubby up fast enough and the lines got caught on the transducer. I did check the other holes after 7:30 with the Cubby, no life. At the end of the night, I went and drilled some more holes; It was sloppy. At the access, a female lake owner came along with her two dogs wondering if I had left stuff on the ice tonight. Weird question because she came from the opposite direction I did.

32Crip 

11Sun 

1Pike 

1Bull 

Ok Night At Rock

10" T.H.E. Jig (Pink/Glow)

 

Dude was checking my spoon first drop

4:25-7:30 PM The Holes I fished yesterday in 16' My Area of Rock.

34-36℉, Cloudy/Fog,slushy, 0-2mph S

I arrived a little early than I have. I went to Reeds today and got more hooks for the Trap, a couple of rubber straps for the auger blade, and some maggots. I also scoped out Ice Fishing Jackets. It appeared like they began pairing down the ice fishing selection in mid-January. I decided not to get minnows, probably a mistake as my remaining minnows were on the large side. I put the camera down first. Spotted some gills. Put the spoon down to locate on the camera and pike was investigating. It didn't want the spoon. The pike left and I could no longer find the spoon. Prime time bite was OK and went fish kept coming through until 7 or so. I got 5 or 6 ten inch crappies. I called Pete before I left the access. It was sloppy and foggy. I went by Bulldog on  the way home and didn't see anybody out.

32 Crip 

5 Sun

1 Pike 

Only Crips Caught Tonight

 

9" & 7.5" Demon & THE Jig

1st fish 10" on Demon/CM

4:40-8:00 PM 16' My Area December Holes

33-35℉, Cloudy, 0-4mph S

I don't know how it was I arrived as late as I did, but I did. About 20 minutes quicker than yesterday and I was moving faster than turtle speed. A guy can't win. I drilled an extra set of holes today and that was where I fished the whole time. I saw sunfish with the camera. Only landed about 66% of my bites tonight. A fair number of 10-inch fish for the first time. I had a fish break me off at the hole Demon/minnow. Big mark down there that I got to bite 3 separate times but never hooked up with right after I broke off. I did double up once. I caught one or two fish in the final hour. It was above freezing the whole time and I didn't put my hoodie and sweatshirt on until after 7 PM.

23Crip 

5 Sunfish (Aqua-Vu)

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 

Rocky Solstice Action

 

23.75" Demon/Minnow

11" Demon/Minnow

6" EBay Blade Bait (Gold)

Famous Rock Lake Bullhead to end  the night

3:00-8:00 PM Rock Lake My Spot 12-16'

37-38℉, MC, 0-5 MPH SE
Visibility was about 5' to start, but by 4PM reduced considerably with the overcast and sediment in the water.

I took Mack out and visited with Belle and Bean. Nobody was out so I just parked where the dock normally sits. I waddled my way out and drilled four sets of holes starting at 12' by the Cane. I immediately had perch down the 12' hole. I caught a couple on a small gold-blade bait. The Perch scattered sure enough I had a pike come through and hit the bait, but it came off quickly. I saw a couple more pike come through. I put a minnow down and had a pike hit it. Unfortunately, the line got caught on the blade bait when I was trying to reel it up. As I was trying to get the line off of the blade bait, the 3lb test down by the Glow Demon broke. Who knows if I would have been able to land the fish if it didn't get caught On the blade bait. It got slow. I left the minnow down and checked my other holes for life, 2 out of 3 did. I got back and my bobber was down. I set the hook and landed the pike which was hooked on the outside of the beak, fortunately.  I saw one or two more pike and caught a few perch on the minnow. It was getting dark and the action shallow stopped, so I worked my way deeper, stopping briefly at the 2nd set and then set up shop at the 3rd set where I was marking something on the bottom. I switched to a glow Tubby Jig and finally got a bite, small crappie. That fired up the school. I got a nice crappie out of the hole that engulfed the Demon/Minnow, but the line broke before I lipped it. I took pics, got the Demon out of the back of its throat, threw it back, then got retied. Put the minnow back down and got hit quickly.  Once again I broke the 3lb test before I lipped the fish. Then I knocked my forceps down a hole when I went to reach for it. I didn't put it back where it belongs. To make it even more of a cluster of a situation I needed to cut myself a fresh leader of 3lb test off of one of my jigging rods to get the minnow back in action. By the time I was back in the action, the fish had gone inactive and it was like pulling teeth the rest of the time. The final fish was a bullhead. I think the crappies started hitting a little before 6PM when I was contemplating giving up for the night.

8Crip 

7YP 

1Pike 

1Bullhead

 

Bulldog, Didn't Impress Me

 

10" Demon/Minnow

3.55-7:50PM SE of the Access, then to Holy Family Hole

31-36℉, PC, 2-10mph NE

Hopefully, I finally got the seat secure. Was sore today so I moved extra slowly. Decided to go to Bulldog. Started out from the reeds just to the S of the access. I didn't think through what I was doing. I should have drilled single holes to look for fish instead of the full 4. I didn't see anything and quickly bailed for the basin. Some guys that were fishing the NE side passed in front of me. There was a wheeler and two guys fishing just to the North of Holy Family I set up about 30 yards to the SE of where they had their portable. Pretty dead until dark. Fish were in the bottom 10 feet. I missed my first 5 or so bites. Finally got one to hook up on the Demon/Minnow. Also caught a couple on T.H.E. Jig. I could call them in with a Northland Buck Shot Spoon. but didn''t convert any on it. The other guys left. I went and checked their holes and didn't mark anything. I caught my last crappie at 7:45. I moved like a turtle on my way to the Access.

5Crip 

Started Rocky Again, But I Ended Well

 

First Fish

2nd Fish

3rd Fish

I discovered something

Final Fish

4:15-8:00 PM 15-16' My Spot Rock Lake

15-25℉, PC, 0-4mph NW

Not much visibility today.

I was moving like a slow turtle getting the car packed. Once on the ice I didn't have the flexibility to get my left foot ice spikes on and also had to retighten the seat posts moving like a turtle. I drilled four sets of holes and started in the ones the Trap got blown off of last night. I caught a quick perch. I didn't have a camera hole in this set and the sun was setting. I quickly changed to the farthest North set where I did have a camera hole drilled. There was life so I put the camera down but due to sediment visibility was crap. Think I had a pike attack on the Cubby, but I set into nothing. It went dead, so I moved a bit South and spent the rest of the night on this set of holes. The first fish up was a nice sunny on the Cubby. Then I got a couple of crappie on the Cubby. Put a Glow Demon/minnow on a Meat Stick, because I forgot to get the bobber rod re-rigged last night. The crappies seemed to like the minnow tonight. I caught 18 total and missed as many. A bullhead was the last fish of the night. I called it quits at 8 PM. I think I'm close to being in a groove ice fishing after a rocky start to the season. My thought early on tonight was ice fishing for me this year was as smooth as rip rap; things had smoothed down considerably by the time I was done tonight

18 Crip 

1 Perch 

1Sunny 

1Bullhead 

Not Efficient At Rock Lake

 

8.5" Glow Demon/Minnow

6" Glow Demon/Minnow

4" Not Skunked

3:40-6:15PM Rock Lake 15' My Spot

30-36℉, PC, 0-4mph SW

3-4' visibility

I went to my spot and drilled 6 holes in a circle. I then put the camera down in the first hole and there were sunfish swimming around. I then drilled three more holes got the rods out and started fishing. I wish I would have hole-hopped with the Vex instead. I ended up just staying put. There were sunfish, perch, and at least one pike down there. Visibility wasn't great due to sediment in the water. I caught two sunnies and two crappies after I had pulled the camera up. I missed a bunch of opportunities because I wasn't patient. After dark when things slowed down I drilled two more holes at each of the other hole locations then scouted with the Vex and glow Cubby. Didn't mark a thing. I fished about a half hour longer in the Trap marking a couple of fish, probably sunnies. I really should have gone fishing yesterday, but I overslept in the afternoon. Not sure when I'll be able to get out again.

2Crip 

2Sun 

Saw:

1 or 2 Pike, some small perch, and mostly small sunfish but there were a couple nice ones that came through.

Fished Rock Lake

 4:30-7:00PM Rock Lake 6' and 16'

30-36℉, PC, 3-6mph W

The drive-in was rutted, icy, slushy, and bumpy, but I got down to the ramp. A guy had parked up by the driveway and drove a side-by-side down. I didn't go far from the access. Saw a pike in the first hole I drilled and a sunfish out deeper. Set up at the first hole. Had a few perch and baitfish move through. Missed a couple of bites. Fished there for about 45 minutes. A little before 5 PM I moved farther out to my spot. Set down right on some crappies. They were mostly small and eager biters for the first 35 minutes. I got one 10" and a couple of 9"'s the rest were 6-8". Action slowed, but I had fish down there; I gave up a little before 7PM. Thankfully, pulling the Trap was easy. I was worn out for the next couple of days. Still feeling the effects of Covid, no doubt.

24Crip 

5YP 

2Sun 

1Pike 

  

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 

Hurt My Back At The Dog Tonight

 4:40-7:40PM 29' The Dog 

14-18℉, PC, 3-5mph E

I was the only person out on the lake. My lower back got sorer and sorer as the night wore on. Didn't see any crappies on the camera during the little time I Had it down. I wasn't in the swing of things and missed a bunch of bites on the bobber and jigging rods. At the end of the night, when I was pulling the orange bucket out of the Trap, it got hung for a second, and I injured my back. Multiple trips to the chiropractor and a month plus without fishing resulted from that mishap. Ran out of propane at the end of the night. 

20 Crips 

Evening Ice Trip On Platte

 

No Skunk!

3:50-5:30PM 8' NW Of the Access Platte Lake

23℉, Cloudy, 6-16mph NW

Went to the same area I was in a couple of days ago. Drilled 5 or 6 holes. Saw a sunfish down the 4th hole I checked, and it had green weeds as well, so I drilled my three and fished the night there. Unfortunately, I had weeds blocking my view of the minnow. Had a small pike that I saw on the camera take the minnow. When I set the hook, my line broke immediately.  Had sunfish, crappies, perch, and pike all move through and inspect the minnow. I missed a few bites on the jig rod, or I wasn't patient enough to wait for the bite. The bobber only went down one more time, and it was the crappie that prevented the skunk. Once it was dark, fish stopped coming through. The wind came up about 5PM, and there was a minor and loud icequake as the ice shifted after it had been blowing hard for about 15 minutes. I was a little concerned a crack might have opened up between me and the access, but that wasn't the case.

1 Crip

    

First Ice Trip Of 22/23 Ice Season

 

1st Fish Of Ice Seaso

3:45-5:35 10' Out From the Platte Lake Access

26-35℉, PC, 0-3mph

Forgot to bring the spud, but there were a few people out, and there were old iced-over holes where I was fishing. I did a zig-zag pattern in 10-12' feet of water and spied a gill down in the third hole, so I drilled three more, and that is where I fished. Saw two gills catching one. Saw at least one pike, possibly two. It was about 10 minutes between appearances, and I didn't get a great look at the first one. A few marks came in, and looked, but I didn't detect any bites. Almost nothing as it got dark

1Sun 

(This is YT Report I did with the VN Video Editor App, first-ever time using video editing software)

(This is the YT Report before I got the VN app)

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.