Fishing With Pete

 

Pete, with the first of two LMB's
I didn't get any.

7:00-9:30PM SPBI, SPSI, E of GOMH, SW Channel INN Bay, N CIB Reeds, Loon Bay

70-73℉, Mostly Cloudy, 3-6mph ESE

Water Temp: Low 70's

Started at SPBI. Pete got a bass of all things on the Junebug Hammer. Pete chose his own rod, not the two I had for him rigged up with chatters; Pete. He caught a couple of pike as we worked our way toward the point. Pete thought Jackhammers were a rip-off when I told him what I paid. I don't think I mentioned they retail for $17, and when they were in short supply sold for $50 to $75. Why? Because they are a superior rat trap. I got a few pike as we rounded the point. Next, we went to SPSI. Wuss Weed is where cabbage and fish were last year. Pete wanted to go to Reeds across the way, where submerged weeds are always an issue. I missed a bite at SPSI, and that was it. We drifted a little to the West on the flat. No bites. Headed to 16 Hole. Pete wasn't feeling it like not even two minutes in. What? Perfect conditions for slow drifting through the rice with a history of holding fish, this year even. A couple of minutes later, our frogs nearly landed on one another, and a PLS busted on his frog. Other than one pike chasing my ToadZ, it was dead. We moved to SW CIB but too much wind. I did miss a blow-up that hit when I was reaching for the troller. Went to N CIB Reeds. Pete got a couple of pike follows, and I lost a couple of hits. We ended in Loon Bay. I lost a bite because the hook was buried in the ToadZ; if that isn't my 2023 season, I don't know what is. It was dead other than that one bite.

We stopped at the bridge on the way home. Peter W. Matt W. were just getting set up. We didn't fish, which was fine with me.

Pete: 2Bass 7Pike, 

Me:5 Pike 

A Fun Night In The Trophy with Pete, But Skunked At Mille Lacs

 

Pete's first fish

3lber

Another 3

3.30lbs Piranha/Billy Goat (June/Blk/Blue)

3.54lbs Jackhammer/Goat (June/Blk/Blue)

5:15-7:00PM F Flat

52-60℉, PC,  3-8mph S

46-47.5℉

Had a hit on the dock on the Fleet Spin as I was waiting for Pete.  Took us right to F Flat West Reeds. The wind wasn't too bad, and temps were warm enough to keep us from getting cold. I got two bass lickety-split on the Piranha, so I gave it to Pete, and he pretty much crushed them. I put on the Junebug Jackhammer and caught them as well. Even after the skirt came off. I missed more bites than Pete. I'd say I caught 60% of my bites, and Pete got 75% of his. We had three potential doubles but only managed to get it once. One time I lost the fish, and the other time we both lost the fish. Actually a fun time with Pete. Pete wanted a picture with almost every fish.

18.98lbs

Pete: 14Bass 1Pike 

Me: 7Bass 3Pike

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9:00-10:30PM Eddys Jetty North

Skunked (Fishing with Pete. Walleyes of various sizes were out there, just not biting. Not a surprise. Pete saved my Shadow Rap by wading in to get it. He snagged it on a big rock about 8 feet out at the center of North Jetty.)

 

DNF

 May started out cool, windy, and wet. Pete came up yesterday with Trigger. Kaylee did really well for being a psycho. We had dinner at Porky's. I wasn't really into freezing for one bite if we were to get lucky, so we ended up just hanging out with the dogs in the same room, relaxing.

Final Ice Trip/1st Open Water Trip

9" VMC Fly/Wax/Polli (Pink)

 7:30-9:30PM 5 Tul Hole 26' 

42℉, PC, 10-20mph SE

Amazingly enough, I was able to get up. Pete beat me to the lake by about 20-minutes. I set up in my spot and had a pike show up about 10' down. It loitered for a while then left for about 10-minutes then came back. I started seeing stuff near the bottom so I lowered the camera. There were crappies, sunfish, perch, and shiners down there. The crappies seemed more enamored with the barrel swivel. I had several of them hit it. I only caught one 8-inch crappie that I didn't take a picture of.  I released that right after I released it. Think I had the same pike come back around 9:00AM. Didn't see tullibee, neither did Pete who fished all over the place. Called it a morning at 9:30AM. One other guy came off with us.

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7:00-8:10PM NE SW GOMH

53℉, Cloudy, 3-4mph S

I got to the GOMH and there was a guy and a lady fishing off the bridges Southside. I went down the NE side. He asked me which side was better. I told him right now it probably doesn't matter much as it would probably be a couple of weeks before anything showed up. But I did tell him that indeed the Southside tends to be the better option. They left at about a quarter of 8. I switched sides. Nothing going on.  The water is low, but not as low as last Fall. It is probably going to be a week plus before anything shows up.

Sullivan with Pete

3:30-8:00PM 6'-26' Out from the NE Access On Sullivan

41-53℉, Sunny, 2-9mph S

Pete didn't want to listen to my plan. I should have shown him what I thought on the Navionics app. We drilled our way to where I wanted to go. I first saw a sunfish in 24' of water. We wasted a bunch of time out deep with perch. Finally, we reached the flat. I spotted a walleye and had a pike come through a couple of different times. Pete went to the South and caught a nice crappie and called me over to the area. Saw a pike down in a tuft of weeds and a sunfish. Hole hoped for awhile seeing a few sunfish and one last pike. Pete hole hoped getting a few gills, mostly little guys. I set up shop far too late and caught the one gill. Pete found some bigger gills and called me as it was getting dark. He kept the one crappie and four gills. I was done fishing at about 7:45PM. 

 

Short Warm Beautiful Evening Bass Not Biting/GOMH

7:50-9:20PM Out Front to East Of Jenny's and Reeds Across
80-75℉, PC, Calm
70℉ Did get some rain today, but not enough to raise water levels, unfortunately.

I went out and ran the Trophy, still no giddy-up and go so I went and fished out front.  There was activity tonight, but not by any bass. Got pike as I entered the reeds, up Pike Ally, over to the East of Jenny's. Hit all the good spots no fish. Ran to the reeds across.  Had a couple of boils and didn't hook up.

Got some ideas on what might be wrong with the Trophy from Pete.

Briefly stopped at the GOMH.  There was a guy bullhead fishing from the bridge on the S side.  I didn't have my H2O or X-Rap box with, doh! Bumped into something with the Poison at least that is what it felt like.

Pre-fishing with Tuma and Pete

3/4, 17.33" Poison/Fluke Jr (Bluegill)

9:00AM-2:00PM Sullivan and Platte
52-36℉, Partly Cloudy, 10-20mph SE
Water Level Very High

Pete didn't have a headache this morning so he got up and came with.  Tuma took us down to the South end of Sullivan and we worked our way up along the protected eastern shoreline.  Tuma got the first bass in the boat;  He got it on a jig next to shore and some wood.  It was a 2lber.  Tuma got a couple more bass and a pike or two.  Pete got a pike and bass on the spinnerbait.  I missed some bites on the craw tube. Pete had a pike choke a crankbait he was throwing.  He swung it in and the fish hit the deck, so Pete kicked it back into the lake, not realizing the line had broke and the crank was still in the fishes mouth.  We had a good laugh over that.  Tuma got a couple fish off of one of his spots on consecutive casts in the wind.  We got back to a protected shoreline and Pete and I both got a quality sized bass.  I got mine on the Poison.

We then went to Platte.  Keith talked with one of the Brainerd Lakes guys who was getting some fish.  Then we went to my bay.  We didn't get anything and talked with Chuck and Lois.  We then headed to the Big Island.  I got a 13-incher on the craw tube and got a 3lber to end the day on the Poison, right after Tuma got a pound and a half fish. 

Shore Fishing with Pete

4:30-6:00PM GOMH, Culvert, Sullivan Inlet, GOMH, Lake Place
66℉, Mostly Sunny, 15mph Plus
Water Very High

Pete switched out the ground fault interrupter.  Then he got a bug up his ass about cleaning the mower deck which resulted in us taking it off and him confirming to himself that we would need new blades.  It was super windy out of the South so Pete suggested we fish from shore, which was fine with me.  We arrived at the GOMH just before John W. showed up with a couple of buddies.  We didn't get anything and quickly split.   Nothing at the culvert.  Pete got a pike at the Inlet Culvert and had a bass miss his spinnerbait at the tree.  We went to the NE Sullivan Access.  Pete wanted to raise the dock, but we didn't have a wrench and a guy with a pontoon trailer showed up so we left.  We went back to the GOMH and Pete got a small jumper off of the bridge. I called Snatcher Tuma and he was fine with Pete coming along pre-fishing with us tomorrow.  We stopped at the Lake Place so I could pick up some stuff.  We got home around 6:30PM and Pete decided to cook spaghetti instead of going to Little Falls or Brainerd to get mower blades.

Fishing With Pete On Platte

15" Pure Poison/Grass Pig Jr. (Bluegill)

2/8 Poison (Bluegill)

13" Pete's Pike Jerk

15" Poison (Bluegill)

4:30-7:10PM Don's Point, Loon Sex, Big Island SPBI to NPBI via West Side
66-60℉, Mostly Sunny, 0-8mph WSW
Water Level Very High

Pete and I got out today. The first stop was Don's point into Loon Sex Bay.  Not even a bite, Amazin!  So then we went to SPBI.  Pete missed a bite there.  Then we worked along the South shore and up the Westside.  The pike and bass turned on and we caught several at various spots along the way.  Got the biggest fish of NPBI.

4 Bass
7 Pike

Pete:
3 Bass
8 Pike

Eddy's with Pete in the Morning and Evening

5.34lbs/27" Jerk Shad (Crackle)

20" Rippin Rap (Perch)

15.5" Rogue

6:40-8:20PM Eddy's Jetty
62-58℉, Cloudy, 0-12mph NNW

Pete didn't get up the first time I went down so we didn't leave until 6:15AM or so.  It was calm with sun when we got there with dark clouds bearing in from the West.  After 15 minutes and no bites, Pete hinted we should go to the GOMH.  I told him we weren't leaving until I was sure there weren't any fish around. The wind started coming up as the clouds moved in.  I switched from topwater to a Rippin and was quickly rewarded with the 20-incher as Pete headed to the car because he was cold.  I went and told him he could wear my fleece sweatshirt as I had my bibs and rain jacket. Pete came back out and I had a good size eye swing at my spinnerbait just before I took it out of the water.  I got a really good look at it, 26/28 for sure.  Pete got the smallie and I got the big girl.  Pete noticed the back of my hand was cut up from handling the eye and it was getting close to when we had to leave, so we left.
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25" Rage Swimmer (GP/P)

24.5"  Rippin Rap

25" Rage Swimmer

Final Fish of the night

5.04/27" Rippin Rap

5.98lbs/27.5" Rogue

7:00-8:00PM Inlet, Culvert, GOMH
8:30-10:00PM Eddy's North Jetty
66-62℉, Partly Cloudy, 3-8mph NW

Nothing at the inlet or culvert.  Pete got a dink at the GOMH.  We then headed to Eddy's.  The North Jetty had people fishing the harbor with suckers.  It was a young guy celebrating his birthday with family and friends.  One of the kids got a 24-inch on a snoopy pole and a guy got a 27-incher on a fly rod with a musky fly.  Anyway, Pete headed right off.  I had to get my Rage Swimmer and Rippin Rap rigged.  Eventually, I got out there and threw the first cast with the Rippin Rap a native guy beating a drum off of the shore dock. Bam, 5 pounda!  That is the way to start.  Pete left to go to Center Jetty. I hooked up with 24.5".  I then got a couple of 25-inchers on the Rage Swimmer and had a couple not hook up.  Pete got hung up and lost a lure.  The people left. Pete came back after 9PM and started banging fish left and right.  I got a 20" and a cigar on the Jerk Shad.

For the Day
8 Eye's for Me
Pete:
6 Eye's
1 SMB 

Long Lake With Pete

8" VMC Fly/Jamei/Wax

4:00-6:00PM Long Lake P30'
20-18℉, Partly Cloudy, 2-6mph NW

Headed to Long Lake with Pete on Don's recommendation.  There were two port's along the western edge of the hole.  Pete took us just little ways south of the southernmost house.  We talked to that guy and he said he got one small pike.  He drilled about 10 holes in a circle 4-5" of ice.  He lost a good fish right away.  Pete caught the first crappie at about 4:45PM.  I had my line get tangled up on my spring bobber.  Had to break it off. Lost the No-Knot Snap on the ice.  The other guy left and the farther North guy came to see if we had a phone.  I forgot mine and Pete didn't have service.  I had a good mark move in while we were talking with the guy.  He left.  I got a couple 8-inchers on the VMC Fly/Jamei/Wax Worm.  Pete ended up keeping 5 and releasing 1.

2 Crip
6 Crip Pete

Skunked on Platte With Pete

El Skunko

5:00-7:00PM Platte Lake Out from Access
30-27℉, Cloudy, 10-13mpn NW

While Pete's car is in the shop he insisted on coming up here to do some ice fishing.  We tried Platte tonight.  He had one bite.  I didn't mark anything.  He brought no bait, no spikes for his boots, and no slush scoop.  It's to bad it was so windy tonight.

Eddy's Jetty, Pete Was With Me Again

The camera on the fritz for first and biggest

7:00-10:00PM Eddy's Jetty Harbor Mouth & North Corner
50-37℉, Clear, 4-10MPH

3.85lbs/22.75" Jerk Shad (Crackle)

Pete went over an talked with some guys who were loading up their boat while I got dressed and headed to the harbor mouth.  It was blowing pretty good, but the crosswind was manageable.  I was throwing the Speed Shad first.  On about the seventh cast I had the walleye with the lousy pic hit right at my feet.   I took two pics and then set the walleye down next to the ruler to take a picture of it that way.  The walleye flopped itself right back into the lake.  I was like what just happened.  Pete was just making his way up the Jetty and wasn't aware I had caught a fish yet.  Pete fished for about half an hour or so catching one quality fish.  It took him a while to get it off and he was in such a rush to get it back in the water I didn't get a pic.  Shortly after that I got this 20-incher fishing off the North Corner and Pete headed to the car.

2.40lbs/20" Jerk Shad

Pete then went into Eddy's and disappeared for an hour plus.  About 5 minutes after Pete left I caught a 17.5" and 18" on back to back casts off of the North Corner on the Speed Shad.  I think I caught 1 more fish before Pete came back.  The wind had settled down to about 5mph.  Pete came back and I got 20.5" at the Harbor Mouth on the Speed Shad.  I went to the North Corner and had the Speed Shad get pulled down.  I had a bite which  I missed when Pete started hollering he had a good one.  He was fishing up on the high rocks.  Luckily his line held and he was able to lift the 26-inch fish onto the Jetty.  Didn't get a picture of this fish either.  I put some super glue on the jig head to hold the Speed Shad on and switched to the Jerk Shad.  Pete had his line wrap around his rod tip and he snapped off the Husky Jerk and the rod guide second from the top.  I caught a few more eye's on the Jerk Shad in the North Corner getting my last one of the night around 9:52PM.  It hit 10PM and we were done.

20.39lbs missing the biggest one of the night

10 Eye's for me
Pete: 2 Eye's 

Out With Pete Today

Pete's First Cast Walleye

Rock Dock Pike

4:30-5:30PM Sullivan Inlet, GOMH, Bulldog,  Rock Dock
7:00-8:30PM Eddy's Jetty
54-40℉, Sunny, 0-3 WSW

Sunset over Bordon Lake

After the Vikes beat the Jets, Pete didn't feel like going out in the Trophy, so we shore fished instead.  Nothing at the Sullivan Inlet, Culvert, GOMH, or Bulldog Lake.  I got the small Pike off of Rock Dock.  I then suggested we go to Garrison for Pizza.  That turned into us stopping at 3 places, none of which were Broadway Pizza.  Then Pete wanted to go to Grand Casino for the buffet, but then we decided to just go to Eddy's.  We checked out The Launch at Eddy's but didn't eat their either.

21.5" Speed Shad

I had to get into my cool weather fishing gear, so I was doing that while Pete was pretty much ready to go immediately.  Next thing I know Pete is yelling for me to bring him some pliers.  He caught a walleye on his very first cast off the North Corner.  I brought my tackle bag and camera out to him and took the picture.  I then went and got dressed and joined him.  I think I had a bite on my first cast with the Speed Shad.  I fished down the Jetty.  Pete took off for the South Jetty.   I was fishing the harbor mouth and was making my last cast with the Speed Shad when the 21-incher inhaled it.  Pete had a fish follow him in, but not hit.  He came back to the North Jetty.  I tried a Rippin Rap, X-Rap, and X-Rap Shad Shallow.  Pete had one get off.  I had one get off on the Jerk Shad.  Pete was sick of casting and went to the car.  I caught a 16-incher and called it a night even though I wanted to keep fishing.  A boat came into the harbor when I was packing up and we compared notes.  They had gotten 6 eye's with a  couple of 25-inchers.

My Two Eye's

Fishing With Pete Again, Morning and Evening

19? Spro Poppin' Frog

3.67lbs

7:20-11:40AM Out from 17" Hole, Access Across to Big Rice Point
56-60℉, Coudy, 4-9mph NE
68-66℉

16.25" Spro Poppin Frog

Was hooked by the speed clip when the frog came off

Pete was screwing around on my Chromebook, so we got started out about a half hour later than I wanted to.  I skipped the GOMH.  We started out on the flat in Big West throwing buzzbaits and getting pike for about an hour or so.  I then took us the bulrshes inside of the cane.  Pete was cold and tired so he took a nap for 45 minutes or so.  I worked the area very methodically getting a couple small bass and several pike.  Pete eventually woke up and started getting bass right away casting out.  He got the 16-incher first that was hooked by the Norman Speed Clip.  He threw the bass back before I had a chance to weigh it.  We recovered his frog.  He then got this 17.5-incher.

17.5" Spro Poppin Frog

He then got a dink and then the 19-incher.  Not sure it was a 19-inch fish.  It only weighed 3.6 something and it seemed to be a well-built fish.  My guess is it was 18.5 or so and Pete measured it with an open mouth.  Pete also missed a couple of bites.  We went out to the end of the cane.  I missed a good bite there.  I then took us back toward the pads.  We got a few pike.

16.75" Terminator Poppin' Frog

I finally got a good bass to stick on the front side of Big Rice Point.  I then took us back to the bulrushes and re-fished through the area.  I missed a couple good bites.  I gave up at 11:40AM.
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3.68lbs/19.25" Sprinker (Bone)

6:00-7:30PM Melon Patch, Access Shore West, Double Cane Point
59℉, Cloudy, 2-7mph NE
67℉

I should have woken up Pete the second I got up at 4:30.  Not doing that cost us a good half hour of fishing time.  I started us on the Melon Patch where Pete and I both had a case of the drops on our better bites.  We were getting a few small pike.  The action wasn't fast enough for Pete.  There was a boat fishing where we were this morning so I took us to where Pete pointed. Pete lost what was probably a good bass out from the first dock on a buzzbait.  We got a few pike as I worked to the East.  Eventually, I had enough of it and moved us to Double Cane Point.  I had the big girl smoke the Sprinker.  She was hooked under the gills in the tongue and got hung up on the reeds.  When I got the hook out she was bleeding like crazy as the picture shows.  Pete missed one bite and that was pretty much it for the night.