Good Night, Then I Lost The Bubble Walker😭

16.5" Bubble Walker

3:30-5:45PM The Juice/F Flat
Conditions:  46-41 degrees, Mostly Sunny,  Calm, 46 degree Water Temp.

16" STX French Pearl

Calm and baitfish were all over the place.

It was on the cool side today, should have worn thicker socks and different shoes.  I started out catching 3 pike on the STX.  Under the calm conditions and with all the baitfish around I started throwing the Bubble Walker.  I spooked a fish on a cast by nearly landing on it.  I then worked the Walker super slow.  I made a second cast to the spot working it super slow again.  Sure enough a fish came and hit it.

15.33" R2S Bubble Walker

Where the Sun was at after the 1st bass

I continued to work over the juice with the Bubble Walker slowly.  Fish started boiling occasionally.  I then got the 16.5 fish.

16.5" Bubble Walker

Where the Sun was after that catch.

I pretty quickly a got a 14" inch fish, which I didn't take a picture of that ran straight at me full speed; I was kind of surprised it wasn't a pike.  I then had a good strike that missed the lure.  I couldn't get it to hit again.

I had a strike, set into the fish.  It was on for a couple seconds then nothing, not even a lure.  At first I thought a pike got it, but it came off the Norman Speed Clip.  I quickly ran to the area to look for the lure, but it was getting kind of dark and I didn't spot it.  Bummer, I caught 40 fish on that lure this fall and had total confidence in it.  Off to Ebay to buy more.  I did put on a Megabass Pop Max, the lure the Bubble Walker copied, but it was pretty dark and I didn't get another hit.

Beautiful Night

 

Nothing But Pike Tonight on F Flat

24" STX French Pearl

3:35-6:30PM GOMH, N side Don's Bay juice
Conditions: 50 degrees, Mostly Cloudy, Light NW wind turning calm, 47 deg. water temp

Nothing at the GOMH, didn't stay long.

Nothing at West Point.

I headed to the juice.

Missed the first bite on the STX french pearl.  Second hit was the 24" with full stomach.  I then got a 16".  I got a 19.75" on the A.T. Jig w/ Craw Fatty trailer.  I missed a fish on the Poison that ran towards me after it hit.  I got another small pike on the STX.  I lost a good fish on the Poison.  The was some baitfish activity on the flat and a couple of times fish boiled.

A Camera, A Jacket, And Some Fish Slime

16.25" Poison w/Fatty

5:00-6:35PM Trophy West Point, Rock, Bulldog, GOMH NE
Conditions: 41 degrees, Cloudy, some light drzzle, Light E Wind turning Calm, 45 degree water temp at the Lake Place.

So today I got 3 packages in the mail from auctions I won on Ebay:  A new Tatula CT 8:1 Reel, Another Canon Powershot A70 Camera, and a Clam Ice Armor Winter Jacket.  I needed a new winter jacket because the zipper on the red Arctic Armor Jacket Mike Thompson gave me was toast.  For some reason I thought Arctic Armor got bought out by Clam, but I was mistaken on that.  I got the camera because it went dirt cheap and while the A70's take good pictures, they tend to malfunction after a while.   It came with a surprise 128MB Card that wasn't in the Ebay description.  I have plenty of the compatible Flash Cards, but having another one doesn't hurt.  The reel will get spooled up tomorrow and go on the Zillion Swimbait Rod I've been using for pitching jigs on lately.

I had to pump water out of the Trophy from the rain we got today and last night.  After that was done I took the Trophy out for a brief trip to West Point and back.  I got the 16 incher there.  I also missed an even bigger fish on the Terminator Jig w/Chigger Craw (breen).

I then went to Rock to discover the Rock Dock was out of the water.  Didn't catch anything there or at Bulldog.

I went to the GOMH and slipped on to my back on the rocks which were surprisingly slippery.  That was graceful, Not!  I did manage to catch two toothy bullheads (22,17) on a French Pearl STX.

Fish Were Chomping, No Giants

18.75" STX French Pearl

2:50-7:10PM GOMH NE SW, Trophy West Point and East of Jenny's
Conditions: 71-66 degrees, Mostly Sunny to overcast with light rain, Very windy, water level continues to fall.  The standing rock is half out of the water now.  Water was flowing into Platte, then abruptly switched and flowed hard back into Sullivan.

16.25" Herb's Dilly

Bullheads were AWWWWWWWWWN at the GOMH. 9 jumpers and 3 toothy's.
The Herb's Dilly fish was the first one I caught;  I had a coupe other fish bump it including a huge swirl at my feet.  I then proceeded to get 2x16" and the 18.75" on the French Pearl Luck-E-Strike RC STX.  I then switched to a Tomato Jerk Shad and got a 14.25" jumper on that.  I put a cast across the way along the rice line and had a huge toothy hit me then immediately come up and do a head shake on the surface and throw the Tomato. I think it was probably a mid 30 inch fish.  I also caught 21" toothy on the Tomato.  I then caught a 15" and this 16.5" and missed a few bites on the craw tube.

16.5" Craw Tube pumpkin red flake

I got an 11" and 12" on a Purple Green Apple STX and a small toothy on it on the SW side.  I spent probably an hour and a half at the GOMH.

I briefly stopped at Jenny's and didn't get a hit on the Horny Toad and I didn't get a hit off the dock.  It turned 5 O' clock when I was bring my rods into the Trophy and it clouded up.  I drifted with the wind to West Point.  I got 3 pike on the Mills Spinnerbait while anchored to the East of the point.  I then moved so I was almost on top of the point.  I got this 15.75" and a 11" and 10" on the Spinnerbait.

15.75" Mills Spinnerbait w/Swim Fluke Jr. 

The clouds started looking dark to the West.  I got a 13.5", 11", and 13.9" on the craw tube and then I had this one hit.

18" Tonka Tackle Craw Tube

 That was the last bite at West Point.  I then fired up the motor and had a tough time pulling up the anchor because it was stuck on something on the bottom, but a did manage to free it fortunately.

I then drove East of Jenny's right into another pod of fish.  I got a 20.5 pike on the Horny Toad, then I had a good fish bury me on a reed.  I then had a fish miss the Horny Toad a couple of times taking the legs off the Ghost the second time.  I threw the craw tube at the fish and it hit.

16.5" Tonka Tackle Craw Tube

Next I got a 17" on the Horny Toad.

17" Horny Toad Gray Ghost

  And the last fish of the night was this 28" pike I should have gotten the selfie stick out for.

28" Horny Toad Gray Ghost

I did have one fish miss the Ghost on Beaver POint.  It was really windy out there tonight, but I was kind of protected on the SE shoreline.

18 Bass
7 Pike

Booyah, Small Fish Tonight

15.5" Booyah Spin w/Swim Fluke Jr.

4:30-5:30PM Lake Place Dock, GOMH NE SW
Conditions: 60 degrees, Cloudy, NE wind

I traded the Grass Pig Jr. for a Swim Fluke Jr and got the 15.5" Pike off the dock.  I picked up the Yum Dinger's and was off to the GOMH.  I got this small jumper there on the NE side.

10" Booyah Spin

I then got a small toothy on the NE side and two more on the SW side on the Booyah Spinnerbait.  I had a Secret Night Luck-E-Strike STX Jerkbait get bit off as well.  Water level was down about another inch or two.

Wet Morning

How big is it?

7:15-8:30PM GOMH NE SW, Culvert
Conditions: 57-54 degrees, Cloudy drizzle, NE Wind, water level dropping

I got out a little later than I wanted, not that it mattered.  The water level is now beginning to uncover my standing rock on the NE side.  If it drops another 10 inches I'll be good.  I got the first fish on the NE side on a pumpkin/red flk craw tube.

Getting a little smaller.

 I had the camera zoomed in accidentally. The second picture was framed just perfectly.  I got a 19" pike on the "Secret Night" STX Jerkbait and had a good bass jump and get off on the craw tube on the SW side.  I had a small bass hit the Booyah Spinnerbait at the Culvert.  Didn't get anything at the INlet.

14.25" Craw Tube

Good Day of Fishing, Especially at the GOMH this Morning

Blogged 9/30/16
7:00-11:30AM GOMH NE SW, Culvert, Jenny's, Dock, West Point
Conditions: 64-59 degrees, Mostly Cloudy to cloudy, Calm or Very Light South Wind

I hammered the jumpers at the Grumpy Old Man Hole this morning.  I left having caught 14 jumpers.  Nothing huge but a solid limit of 16 and 17's.

16" STX Secret Night

17.5" Chigger Craw Breen

17.25 Chigger Craw Breen

 With now a weeks worth of hind sight.  It looks like GOMH is now in decline for the season. Thank goodness I hit it on this morning.

14.5" Horny Toad

I got a couple fish at the Culvert, but nothing at the Inlet.  I also got a few at the lake place.

16.5" Horny Toad

5:00-8:00PM GOMH NE and Trophy to the North of the bay
Conditions: 72-65 degrees, Partly cloudy, Calm

16.25" Mad Maxx

I got me a good one on Maxx at the GOMH out on the NE side, was barely but solidly hooked in the corner of the mouth.

17.5" Mad Maxx

15.25" Horny Toad b/w

The fish were short striking the Horny Toad. I had at least 5 or 6 fish do that.

For the day I caught
3 Pike
23 Bass

My Low Expectations Were Exceeded This Morning

Camera took this picture while on the fritz

4:45-8AM
Condtions: Cool 55-44, Sunny, Light Wind NW

After fishing for half an hour on the NE side with just one small toothy to show for it.  I wasn't optimistic when I made the switch to the SW side.  I had a fish strike the Shiner Phantom, but was asleep at the wheel and gave a lousy hookset.  I was surprised that this fish wasn't a hammer handle.

13.5" Jerk Shad Crackle

I discovered that I had left one of my pliers on the NE side, so I went and got it.  Back on the SW side a put a cast under the bridge and had this jumper light it up.

16" Jerk Shad

I then got a few more small jumpers and toothy's on the Crackle.  When the fish stopped hitting that I got a few on the Chigger Craw and was left pondering about what I did wrong on tournament day.  The sun started getting in my eyes so I went back to the NE side.  I had a jumper jump me off on the Chigger Craw. I Caught a 14" jumper on my "last cast" with the Chigger Craw.  I then tried various STX jerk baits and got a 13" on the blue back/ clear one AKA Midnight Blue Silver.  That was the last fish.

9 jumpers, 3 toothy's, and 1 golden.  Not a bad morning at all.  I elected not to go to the Inlet.

Wasn't A Skunk or Muskrat Thankfully!

25" STX Deadly Black Illusion

8:15-40PM Bulldog (Had a pike bite off my craw tube)
8:45-9:10PM Rock Lake (Saw a Medical Helicopter do a U-Turn.)
9:15-10:45PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions: 50's, W wind getting lighter and out of the SW, Mostly cloudy, it did sprinkle some at Bulldog

I thought maybe I was going to get a skunk tonight, but then the Yabbie caught me a small toothy.  With that I went to the NE side. I was about to quit, but then something got blown up in the tunnel.  I decided to fish just a little bit longer.  After my cast landed I pulled the STX a couple of times, then something hit and immediately went to thrashing around on the surface for about 5 seconds.  Then it went back under and pulled really hard.  I thought maybe I had caught a muskrat.  It turned out to be the big golden bullhead.

A couple of minutes after I released it Peter W. showed up.  I didn't put his rod in the car tonight so I went and got it.  When I got back he had been pulling in bullhead after bullhead (real bullheads).  I decided to do a little more fishing but didn't get anything.  I wonder if the golden thought that Black Illusion was a bullhead.

GOMH Gives, Mille Lacs Doesn't, And Slop Slipping Rock

18.75" Horny Toad
Last Fish of the Day

4:30-6:40 GOMH NE
6:50-7:10 Bulldog (Nothing)
7:30-9:30 Mille Lacs
Conditions:  Mid 50's to low 60's, calm then a light N wind, cloudy

When I arrived there was somebody fishing the SW side who hadn't gotten anything.  We talked for a little bit then I went down to the NE side.  After about 15 minutes he got a golden bullhead and about 10 minutes later I got one around the same size that I gave to him.  Camera was not totally on the fritz.

18.5" STX  Deadly Black Illusion

About 10 minutes later I got me a jumper on the Deadly Black Illusion.

13" STX

Some other people showed up so fishing on the South side was  out.  Some fish had occasionally been breaking across the way along the wild rice line.  I made a good cast and got this one on the Stanley Phantom.

15" Stanley Phantom

A guy went to the NW side as I was releasing that one.  He got one small jumper on a worm.  I staid longer than I should have.  I went to Bulldog and didn't get a bite.

At Mille Lacs there was a guy fishing on the North Jetty where I got my fish yesterday.  I went to the Center Jetty.  The guy said he gotten 3 eyes and a pike. He said one of the eyes was 30".   Waves were coming in heavy enough to spray me occasionally.  The guy left and came back with his kid.  He got a 16" smallie and let the kid reel it in.  He did that with another fish, but it broke him off.  I didn't get a single bite.  I really should have brought a rod to throw Football Heads with.

I went home and watched Major League Fishing while it was raining and then got the trolling motor out of the box.  I had to turn the head 180 degrees.  Doing that took about 45 minutes.  I didn't get out to Rock until about 5:25.  I got the Slop Slip all set up and was on the water by 5:45PM

5:45-9PM
Conditions: 60's, Very light wind to calm, mostly cloudy

The pads are up

  I went to the Rock Platte River Outlet.  The water level has got to be pretty close to as low as it gets.  The plan was to run to the Beaver Dam and then fish my way back.  I ran aground and wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it so I started fishing.  I got a 16.5" almost immediately out of the pads on the Horny Toad.

16.5" Horny Toad

I missed what I think was a big Bowfin.  I then started getting pike on a brown Ish's Phat Frog.  I did get down by the Beaver Dam and missed a fish.  I caught a 15", 17" and a 16.5" down there on the Phat Frog.

17" Ish's Frog

 I also missed a few hits.  A young guy in a Skeeter came down by the Island.  I talked to him as I started heading back.  He was getting a few fish.  I got a 15.75" bass and an 18" and 19" pike on the Horny Toad as I fished my way out along the South side.  Another bass boat was also in the RPRO.  I missed what I thought was going to be my last fish of the night, but then I got the 18" in the Reeds when I was on my way to the landing.  I was surprised there were no trailers in the lot because there were a bunch of boats on the lake.

Bass Opener Score Card
8 Largemouth
6 Pike
1 Walleye

Rainy Morning And Evening

Train Wreck

4:45-8:30AM GOMH NE SW, Sullivan Inlet
Conditions:  60's, light winds out of the SW switching to the NW, humid, some light rain and fog.

I started out throwing the Jerk Shad but after 15 minutes of nothing I switched to a Rippin Rap.  After a couple of cast with that the train wreck happened.  The X-Rap Box is the absolute worst box to have totally flip over.  I had it loaded with baits and it held split rings as well.  I got most of the split rings back.  It probably took me 20 plus minutes to get things sorted out and back in the boxes.

First fish was a 19" toothy on the Spro 25 Crank baby bass color.  Then I got this bullhead on a black/blue craw tube.

15.25" Craw tube

It started to sprinkle and I switched to the SW side where I got this skinny 17.75" jumper.

17.75" D & M Baits Piranha w/Grass Pig Jr. trailer

As I left.

I went to the Inlet and got a 20" pike there on the silver/blue/purple STX and one on the Horny Toad as well on the South side of the culvert.

Rainbow over Bulldog

8:25-8:50PM Bulldog (11" bass on the Piranha and had the Yabbie get bitten off)
8:55-9:05PM Rock (Nothing)
9:15-10:15PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions: Was a hot day now post thunder storm, temps in the 60's, very light S wind, mostly cloudy some lingering sprinkles.

I lost a descent jumper that jumped me off and had a couple of other bumps.  It wasn't happening and the bugs were bothering me so I left.