Pike Fest At the Inlet in the AM

12.75" Yabbie
Getting the skunk out of the way.

4:45-8:00AM GOMH NE SW & Inlet
Conditions: LOw 50's, Cloudy, light W wind, Cloudy briefly some light rain turning mostly cloudy

When I arrived there were a couple of bullheads on the sidewalk down to the NE side.  They were still breathing so I threw them back.  After not getting anything to take a jerk bait or topwater I went to the Yabbie and got the small jumper.  I switched to the SW side and got a 14" pre-spawn jumper on the bone  Phantom.  I also got a 20.25" toothy on a b/b craw tube.

I then left the GOMH, nothing at the Culvert.

At the Inlet I missed the first two strikes on the S side on the Poison.  Then I picked up 3 pike.  I had the craw tube get bit off on the North side of the road.   I then got 3 pike on the Chart Shad Jerk Shad on the S side of the road.  I got a 17" on the Tomato on the N side of the road and got a 21.5 on the S side on the Tomato Jerk Shad.  I would prefer to be fishing bass, but with the low water I'll take what I can get.

Conditions were near perfect in the evening.  I should have gone to Mille Lacs.  I missed a couple of bites at Bulldog and one out from the access at the inlet on the Phantom. Didn't get a bite at the GOMH, but M & B had been there when I drove by on my way to the Inlet.

Hopefully we'll get some real rain tomorrow in the area.  

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.

Something at the GOMH Anyway

4:40-8:30AM GOMH NE SW, Inlet
Conditions: Temps 50's to low 60's, Fog and heavy overcast until about 7:30, calm then a wind out of the South.

I was hoping to get a golden bullhead this morning, but if they were there they weren't biting.  I had a fish blow up on the black phantom but not get it.  I got the first bullhead on the Piranha.

15.75" D & M Baits Piranha

I took a few rods over the the SW side and got a 10.25" dink on the tomato Phantom.  I got a 17.75" toothy on the Piranha, then lost it against the East Wall of the bridge.  I got 14" jumper and a couple of 19" toothy's on a black/blue craw tube and three small jumpers on a Yabbie.  I went back to the NE side and got a 14.5" jumper on the Phantom.  I then went to the culvert and had something hit at the Horny toad but not get it.  At the Inlet I got 22.75" pike on the Craw Tube on the South side of the culvert.

9:00-10PM GOMH
Conditions: Calm, 60's, partly cloudy

I got a late start due to waking up after 7PM.  Bulldog was covered up, went to HFA but didn't get anything in the 10 minutes I fished it.

The GOMH didn't have anybody there.  Fishing was pretty dead.  I got one 20.25" toothy on the bluegill Poison under the bridge.  Didn't get a bite on a craw tube or jerk shad.  The rain we got the last couple of days maybe added an inch to the lake level.  I wonder if there is going to be anything at the GOMH in the morning.

Bass at Bulldog, Bullheads at the GOMH

17.75" D & M Piranha

8:25-9PM Bulldog
9:05-10:25PM GOMH SW NE
Conditions: Post Thunderstorms, 64 degrees, SE wind turning calm, Mostly cloudy

The only thing that would have made getting that chunk of a bass better was if it would have hit the Whopper Plopper I threw over the top of it.  I got her and a 10" on the Piranha. Since the Canon didn't want to work.  I took the pic on the selfie stick with the Polaroid.  I thought I took two pictures, but only got one. I also got a 10" on the Piranha.

At the GOMH I got a 20" or so toothy bullhead on the Piranha and had another similar sized one break off the Yabbie right in front of me.  I didn't know it was a toothy until that moment.  I switched to the NE side and got me some gold.

23" Jerk Shad

A couple casts before I got it I thought I felt something bump the bait.  I tried a Rippin Rap and X-Rap, but didn't get anything on those.  My upper back was giving me grief because I didn't do any stretching so I gave up.  

Weird Morning At the GOMH

17.75" D & M Baits Piranha

4:45-7:30AM GOMH NE SW
Conditions: 47-64, mostly sunny, S wind

I wanted to get to the GOMH by 4:30 because it's the weekend, but Kaylee insisted on going out before I left.  I ended up forgetting a ball cap.  So there is a super rare look at my bald melon on this post.  I was going to take a picture of the full moon this morning but the camera was on the fritz and I couldn't get it to work. After a couple of minutes of that I gave up.

Baitfish were getting picked off under the bridge before I even had my rods rigged up.  Usually that means I'll be getting a bullhead sooner rather than later. Except no bite came.  After 10 minutes and plenty of other bullheads plugging baitfish someone else showed up and went down on the SW side.  The baitfish continued to get hit with me not getting hit.  I heard the other guy go up and get his bucket so I assume he got at least one golden bullhead.  Basically the same scenario played out as I tried to figure out a bait they would hit.  I hung a Grass Pig up and lost it.  After 45 minutes the sun was coming up and I was spun out.

I tried throwing the Whopper Plopper for a pre-sunrise topwater hit casting out by the buoy's and under the bridge.  Nothing.  The sun was now up so I tried the Horny Toad over the now floating rice to the East along the shoreline.  There hadn't been any activity there this morning and I didn't see a sign of a fish.  I was now over an hour without a bite.  Thoughts of more people arriving and me getting a skunk entered my head.  I retied a Norman Speed Clip on the rod that had the Grass Pig on it and put the silver Piranha with a swamp gas Grass Pig Jr. on the clip.  I made a cast along the near wall and it was jumpin' bullhead on.  I almost got the camera to work, but then the 14" fish flopped off the stairs into the rocks.  I grabbed the fish and threw it back.  I did get the camera to work.

As I went to go back fishing the other guy left.  So I immediately packed up and went to the SW side.  On about my 10th cast I got the 17.75" on the Piranha and a couple of casts later I got a 21.5" toothy.  That was it for the Piranha.  I started throwing the Whopper Plopper and got a toothy from under the bridge.

19.25" R2S Whopper Plopper

I then got three small jumpers (13.5, 12.5, 13.75) and a small toothy (17) on Yabbie.  The sun was now in my eyes unless I bent down about a foot. Baitfish were still getting bashed in the tunnel when I left.

I've had worse mornings at the GOMH on weekends at this time of year.  8 bullheads with one close to 4lbs isn't bad at all.  I'll take it all day on Sunday.

They Were Biting This Morning at the GOMH

19" Grass Pig

5:00-8:45AM GOMH NE SW SE
Conditions: 60-39, Calm very light SE, mostly sunny hazy

I managed to get out of bed, glad I did.  First fish was the golden bullhead.  I brought the bucket today, so it's gonna be dinner for someone.  Next fish was a small toothy which also went in the bucket.  I am starting a hammer handle eradication program.  I then put on the Crackle Jerk Shad and it was AWWWWWWWWN with a school of jumpers and hammer handles.  I was catching something on just about every cast for next hour.

17.5" Jerk Shad Crackle

Head First

The biggest jumper went 17.5" and was the only one close to that big.  The rest of them were from 11" to 15.5".  Toothy's from 17" to 22".  I had gotten 7 toothy's and 14 jumpers by the time it was over.  I then went over to the SW side and got one 15" jumper there on Crackle and a toothy. I got a toothy on the Piranha, one on a Yabbie, and one on the Horny Toad.

I went back to the NE side and got two toothy's on the Yabbie and a 10" jumper.

My one regret from the morning was not trying topwater on the active school

I did go over and try Bulldog, but got nothing.

Morning Trip GOMH, Culvert, and Jenny's

15.25" on a Yabbie

6:20-8:20am
Conditions- Post thunderstorm cloudy and windy out of the SE some rumbling, no rain

I arrived at the GOMH first and got the Yabbie fish first.  Then this 15.9" on Ish's Poppin' Phattie.

Then I went to the Culvert and got this pretty fish on a yellow Horny Toad.

Next I went to Jenny's and got an 18" pike on the Poppin' Phattie and that was it for my morning.

Good Morning At the GOMH

16.5" My camera started acting funny.

6:15-8:45AM
Conditions-  Cool, but it warmed up quick, little wind, hazy, clouds, and sun

I elected to start out with a b/b craw tube on the NE side.  I thought my line started moving, but I'm not 100% sure as I set the hook into nothing.  A couple casts later under the bridge I got the skinny 16.5".   I then went to the SW side and got nothing.  I had a hit on Ish's Poppin' Phattie on the SE side that didn't hook up.  I went back to the NE side and got a 15.5" and 16.5" on the black Phattie.  I got a 12" under the bridge on a bigger sized Yabbie.  I also got a 16" jumpin' bullhead and missed something that nailed my white Horny Toad.  Before I left I went back to the SE side and got a 15" jumper where I had missed the fish earlier.

I went to the Culvert and got a 12" bass on the Horny Toad and missed another fish.

Morning Trip 3 Spots

16" Craw Tube at the Inlet

Conditions- Cloudy, cool, windy out of the NE, but not as bad as last night by 5mph some mist from the lake.

I fished all 3 stops.  Missed the first hit of the morning on a Spro Poppin Frog.  Got first fish on a Pure Poison 13" jb, broke off a 15" jb on a b/b craw tube, and got a 10.5 on a b/b Yabbie.

At the Culvert I landed a 13" jb on the Spro Frog and at the Inlet I got the 16" and a 21" pike on a green pumpkin craw tube.  I also missed a couple of bites at the Inlet.

I fished from 5:35-7:45am

Bass Snatcher Lake Alexander Tournament

My Boater Chuck Johansen, 1991 MN B.A.S.S. Nation T.O.C. Winner 

The Weather- Calm, cool/cold and overcast in the morning, turning sunny with some wind out of the NW in the afternoon.

The Day- Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time we blasted off around 6:45AM because we made a long run up to the NE corner of the lake to fish some reed beds, floating bogs, and docks.  The reeds hadn't started coming out of the water yet.  As we worked our way East I started out throwing a Pure Poison, but in the calm conditions quickly switched to the chart/firetiger Stanley Phantom.  I had what I'm 90% sure was a muskie come up and wake behind that.  Eventually I switched to a gold Frenzy Popper.  I made a long cast out to some reeds.  I'm not sure if I had a little over run that I started taking out or what, but a fish hit the Popper.  I quickly, set the hook but I couldn't reel in because the line was caught on my reel.  It felt like a good fish, but by the time I got my line out of the reel handle it had come off.   I managed to catch a 9" dink on the Popper and missed another one that swirled on it.  We went into some docks and passed by a decent smallmouth that was on a bed.  Next I got a rock bass on a Yabbie and another 9" dink on a bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke.  Then Chuck got  the first keepers along the dock. We had to be at least an hour into the tournament when Chuck got the first keeper.  I finally got a 12" squeaker and we both got some that didn't measure and more rock bass as we worked our way along the bogs and docks on Flukes and the Yabbies.  Chuck got a couple of small keepers and  I got a 13.5" and a 13" off the docks, then we ran back to approximately where we started.  When we got close to the area where we had seen the smallmouth bed I threw my Fluke into the general vicinity and the fish crushed it.

15"

  That was pretty much all we got on our 2nd pass except for a few dinks and rock bass.  We ended up hopscotching with a couple of boats on the docks on the East side of the lake.  We got down to the SE corner and there was a prime looking area of an old reed bed.  I took a 14.5" on the Fluke and then I missed a good fish that may or may not have been a bass up by shore.  Chuck thought maybe it was a dogfish.  We ended up pulling a double much to the dismay of Chuck Steinbauer who was fishing towards us.  Mine was a 15.75" largie.  Steinbauer left and we worked the water he had been fishing.  Then we made the call to go back over the area again.  I tied on a Zoom Horny Toad with a purple head and chart. legs.  I caught a 24 or so inch pike on that.  The wind came up more than it had been and the sun came out.  Chuck thought we should move, but I suggested we fish down to a pontoon boat.  My suggestion paid off for Chuck when he landed a quality fish just on the other side of the pontoon.  We decided to keep going and I think Chuck got another good fish off of a bog point that had the wind blowing on it and I missed what felt like a good fish on a green pumpkin Lake Fork Craw Tube.  I got a couple of rock bass and missed a couple of bites on the Craw Tube before connecting with a 14" fish that culled out my 12".  I think Chuck got another keeper as well.

Next we went a little to the West of the area we started in and headed West.  I culled a 13" for a 13" and caught some that didn't help as we worked our way through the reed stubble.  We started working some docks and we both got some that didn't help and some rock bass.  I had a good smallmouth follow my Fluke out from a dock.  I let the fluke drop when I saw her. It turned to swim away. I jigged the Fluke again, the fish whipped around, eyed it for a couple of seconds than took it.  I set the hook and landed my biggest fish of the day 16"/ 2lbs 3ozs and final keeper bite.  Got several more that didn't help including one on a Gambler Ninja Spin as well as several rock bass on the Craw Tube.  I think I missed 1 that would have helped at least a little bit on a Craw Tube.  Chuck got one last quality cull off of a dock.

The Results- My 6 fish weighed in at 10lbs 1ozs and put me in 19th Place out of 26 fishing.  Chuck's fish went 12lbs 4ozs and put him in 8th place.  Jim Smith won easily with 16lbs 5ozs, more than 2lbs over Guy who got 2nd Place.  Big Bass only weighed 3-8 and was caught by Dave Branum; I think it was a largemouth.  Only 1 guy failed to catch a limit and weights were up an average of around 2lbs per person over the last two tournaments on Alexander (6-25-06, 9-22-12)

My Thoughts-   Other than the first hour which was fairly slow, it was a fun day on the water with a lot of setting the hook.  Had I got all my bites I guess I would have had around 12lbs as well.  For neither of us getting to pre-fish I thought the day went pretty well.  Chuck was a great guy to fish with, very considerate, and asking for my input from time to time.

Next Tournament- Serpent Lake June 22nd

Two Trips Today

15.5" Yabbie on the Legened Xtreme

6-8AM and 5-7:30PM
Conditions- Foggy, cool but warming up fast
Conditions- Front approaching windy out of the NW.  It did rain a little, but mostly that stupid wind

The morning trip was mostly about my new St. Croix Legend Xtreme rod.  The fish just weren't there to get me to put the reel with Fireline on it.  The 15.5" and a snag were the rods first real tests and it passed.  I also 3 more small jumpers on the Yabbie, a dink on the Kelly J, and a small jumper and toothy on the Pure Poison.  I decided while putting my gear together for tomorrows tournament to keep the reel with the Gamma Line on it for tournament day.

Normally, I don't fish the day before a tournament let alone go out twice, but the evening conditions set up for a possible repeat of The Great GOMH Whackfest of 2009.   If there was any chance of that happening when the front blew through tonight I wasn't going to miss it.  I got out about 30 minutes later than I should have.  Peter and some of his buddies were fishing on the S side.  I took the NE side.  I got a small jumper right away on the "Black Phantom", but immediately after I got it in a boat came through and shut them down for a while.  I did pick up a couple of jumpers on the Yabbie, then got a couple of small one's to go on Frenzy Popper, but the wind picked up out of the NW and I couldn't cast where I needed to.  I sprinkled a little bit, but not nearly as bad as I thought it would. I ended up getting one descent jumper on the "White Phantom" and small one's on Ish's Phat Frog, and Luck-E-Strike RC Squarebill.  I also got a toothy on the RC and 1 on a KVD squarebill as well. I stopping fishing at 7:30PM, had a conversation with the "old timer" then left.

15.25" White Phantom after the Front had passed

Good Afternoon Poor Evening at the GOMH

Rainbow from the evening trip

12:30-2:30PM 8:00-9:20PM
Conditions- Windy with light to moderate rain
Conditions- Storm just passed, sun came out wind much lower but still out of the South

I took Jenny to the hospital in the morning and went to the Grumpy Old Man Hole after.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera because I got a 22" bowfin on the b/b Yabbie.  Other than that I pounded the small jumpin' bullheads on the Yabbie and Tonka Tackle gp Craw Tube;  I also got 3 toothy bullheads on those same baits.  I couldn't get the jumpers to come up for topwaters for anything.  I left because the rain was getting heavier.  Due to the wind I only fished on the Platte side.

When I arrived home I discovered that the new rod tip for the 6'8" St. Croix Legend Xtreme I recently won on Ebay had come as well as a box of Yabbies I won on Ebay as well.  I got the rod for a steal because it was listed with a very cheap Buy It Now price because of the rod tip issue and I happened to see the auction before anybody had a chance to bid on it.  Naturally I had to get out and give the new rod a try.  I didn't get out until 8PM because of thunderstorms.  My plan was to try 2 different reels on the rod; one with Gamma Co-Poly and one with Fireline.  I ended up only getting to use the Gamma line, because I chose the wrong side of the bridge.  When I arrived a thunderstorm had just passed and I was surprised to see a guy fishing on the S side.  No problem, I planned to fish on the N side anyway.  I quickly learned the fish weren't there for the most part.  Unfortunately by the time I discovered they weren't there the S side was covered up by other fishermen.  I managed to get 3 small jumpers on a Yabbie, Lucky Craft Kelly J, and the X-Rap Prop.  I missed two really good hits on the X-Rap.   They may have both been toothy's.  One was a fish that showed itself under the bridge and the other was a fish I'm all but certain was a toothy East of "the juice".  I'm not sure how I missed the one under the bridge, I was ready for the hit and the lure was gone when the fish swirled on it.  I set the hook and the lure came flying back at me.  The other one I didn't really set the hook because I'm 95% sure it was a toothy.  Here is my first fish on the new rod.

12.5" on da Yabbie

 When I left, some of the people fishing the South side had gotten a couple of golden bullheads and several small jumper.

Morning And Evening at the GOMH

17.25" Tonka Tackle Craw Tube

6:10-7:50AM
Conditions- Mostly Sunny, warm enough
I don't remember why I didn't get out until 6:10AM.  Fishing was not as good as I hoped it would be after last night but I didn't do badly either.  The 17.25 was big fish of the morning in came off of "the juice."  I also got another 16" on the Craw Tube and 2x 16"'s and a 15.5 on the Pure Poison with Grass Pig trailer.  I got several 13" jumpers on the Tonka Tackle green pumpkin craw tube as well. Not a single toothy this trip. I got fish on Platte and Sullivan

8:20-9:20PM
This trip was a bit of a disappointment.  Only got fish on the Sullivan side, didn't really get to fish the North side due to people fishing there.  I got 4 small jumpers on the Yabbie and Poison and 1 small toothy on the craw tube.

Why I Haven't Gotten the Trophy Out Yet

18.5" Pure Poison

7:45-9:45pm
I caught a bunch of jumpin bullheads tonight and even "The Juice" gave up a couple on Topwater.  All told I got 20 jumpers and not a single toothy.  I did have one toothy jump over the "White Phantom" though.  I caught them on a mix of the Pure Poison, Stanley Phantom, Yabbie, Fight'n Bug, and Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.  I will say this about the Berkley Powerbait Fight'n Bug, I sure hope the problem with the bait is the rusty crawfish color not working on Platte/Sullivan.  I had been catching fish on the Yabbie and then I lost the body to a fish.  I put the Fight'n Bug on and only managed 2 small ones.  I switched to a green pumpkin Tonka Tackle Craw tube and smacked 3 good fish in the exact spot I had been fishing the Fight'n Bug without any luck.  Peter, Willard, and the Old Timer were all there tonight.  Willard gained himself a hook remover that somebody left. The mosquito's are getting terrible.

My best 6 went 18.5, 2x16", 3x15.25"

Toothy Bullhead Morning

1st Toothy of the Morning caught on Swamp Gas Grass Pig

25" That crushed the KVD 1.5, put up a good fight too.

4:50am to 9:15am
This morning started off with 3 toothy bullheads to start, for the morning I would catch 7 total on the Grass Pig, Pure Poison w/ Grass Pig, Stanley Phantom, Yabbie, and Strike King KVD 1.5.  As for jumpin' bullheads.

16.75 Likes the Yabbie

13" takes the "Black Phantom"

I only got 4 but 3 of them were nice 16"+ fish that all fell for the Yabbie.

I also briefly hit up Bulldog this morning and got a small bass on the Berkley Powerbait Fight'n Bug and a small pike on the Tonka Tackle Craw Tube.

Short Trip Tonight GOMH

15.9" Pure Poison with Grass Pig Trailer

8:15-9:30PM
Conditions- Cloudy with light wind out of the SE with thunderstorms to the South

When I arrived the only person there was just leaving.  Said he didn't have a bite.  I took the NE side and started by throwing the Stanley Phantom on the 6'8" Avid.  I had one quality jumpin bullhead get on it on the end of a long cast while I was letting it sit.  It came off 1/3 of the way in after jumping a couple of times.  I would say it was a 16"-18" fish.  The one in the picture was just short of 16" and hit the black/blue Pure Poison.  I also got a couple of fish on a b/b  Yabbie then a toothy frayed the line and I didn't want to take the time to retie.  I put the Phantom on the rod I had the Poison on 7'3" Lamiglas and put the Poison on the Avid and went to the SE side.  I had a fish miss the Phantom, then get it on a second try but it didn't hook up.  I went to the SW side after a boat went back through to Platte.  I got my last fish on the Poison as I was swinging it up it came off and got my line tangled around one of the guides.  It was now to dark to see and the mosquito's were getting bad and it looked like it could rain at any time so I called it a night.  As I zipped up the tackle bag I got the line from the Lamiglas caught in the zipper.  Couldn't get that out, so I put everything in the truck.  I got all my messes worked out at the pumps at J & D's because the bugs weren't bad and I was out of the rain that started.

What I Did Instead of Fish The Tournament at Lake Alexander Today

17" or so

9:40AM-3:20PM

Conditions- Warm Rain, drizzle, cloudy, sometimes calm mostly light to moderate wind out of the E NE but starting out of the S SE, turning partly sunny by the time I left

Our Bass Snatcher Tournament at Lake Alexander was postponed until next week due to a floating blog blocking the access and the thunderstorms today.  So I went to the Grumpy Old Man Hole to give my new Cabela's Guidewear jacket it's first real test.  It rained pretty good for the first couple of hours I was out and it performed well other than me keeping the notepad I write my fish catches on in the inside mesh pouch at the bottom of the jacket.  From now on anything more than a sprinkles and the notepad goes in the inside zippered pocket where I put the cell phone.

I left behind 7' H Avid Crawtube rod and took 6'6" MH rod in it's place and I also put the 6'10" Crucial I have the Mann's Classic Buzzbait on in the truck as well. I also left my dock/Super Fluke rod at home.  I switched all the other rods I was going to use today at Alexander into the truck.  When I arrived it was raining pretty good and I decided to only take out the buzzbait rod.  I started on the SE side and  I had something blow up and not get hooked on my second cast.  I didn't get hit again until I was casting across the channel along the rocks.  I missed that hit too, but eventually got the toothy to hit it again.  It was almost a 23 incher.  I moved to the NW side and got the jumper right away.  I also got a smaller toother.  I then went and got the 7'3" Lamiglas Pure Poison/Stanley Phantom, Crawtube rod, Senko rod, and Yabbie Rod.  I proceeded to catch fish on all of them including my first dogfish of the year on the Lamiglas.

20.5" on the Pure Poison w/Grass Pig Trailer

 

If my count is correct I got 17 jumpin' bullheads, 6 toothy bullheads, and 1 dogfish.  The bites came sporadically and I missed a few of coarse.

Quick Evening Trip

16" Jumper Taking a dump

8:40-9:50PM
Took a quick trip to the GOMH catching fish only on the NE side.  Peter was there and Mike B. came by in his boat and said fishing had been pretty good.  I managed to land 2 dinks and the 16" on the Yabbie and a 18.5" toothy on it as well.  I also got a 14.25" on the KVD Dawg. Peter got a couple of toothies on a Ripple Shad I gave him and a crankbait.

It was sunny and calm.  We went in and got the cupboards from Todd's today.

Morning and Evening GOMH Trips

1st Bullhead of the Morning 15.5" Ripple Shad

4:45-10AM
Conditions: Clear, Sunny, light winds to calm

NE Side
I got the jumpin bullhead in the picture right away on the Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad.  Then it slowed down.  I put on a Frenzy Minnow and caught a Rippin Rap.

The hooks looked OK, so I put it on.  Immediately I had a fish hit it and get off.  I had that happen two more times, when I got a fish that really wanted it.

17"

It took quite a while for me to get it out of the fishes mouth.  That was it for the time being on the NE side, so I headed to the SW side.

I picked up 3 quick jumpers on a Pure Poison with a Craw Fatty trailer and I got this and one other on the Yabbie.

16.76"

I got several jumpers as well on a Tonka Tackle craw tube, including a 15.25" and 16.5".  Then the toothies started trying to steal my Yabbie.

I got 4 of them total on it between the S and N sides.  The Yabbie body finally came off when I got snagged on something.  I did get one small one on the KVD Dawg as well as a couple more jumpers and one toothy on the NE side on the craw tube.  A guy had what he said was a big bass break his rod and line.  I left around 10AM.

Evening Trip-
7:45-10PM Sunny and Calm
I got 8 jumpers and 3 toothies on Yabbie, Craw Tube, and the KVD Dawg.  Willard was there and Peter got a dogfish.  The Mosquito's were terrible.  Got a pair of 16" jumpers. Everything was caught on the S side.

A Better Morning at the GOMH

16"

18.5"

23.75"

Conditions- Humid, with temps near 60 and clouds and calm turning sunny with a mild breeze out of the NE and reaching close to 70°F by the time I left.
4:45-10 AM

NE Side
I started off the morning with 2 golden bullheads and a 15" jumpin bullhead that wrecked my Grass Pig, so I switched to the Ripple Shad.  I cast way up under the bridge and had a hit on what felt like a good fish.  When bringing it in it got hung up on something that wouldn't move, but when I would give it slack I could feel the fish was still on.  I went up on the brigde and played with trying to free it from there.  It was stuck just outside from under the bridge.  Eventually the fish freed it's self and I landed the 23.75".  I let it go along with the 16".  It was pretty light out by this time so I went to the SW side.

SW side
I got a 15.75" jumper and 24.25" toothy on the Ripple Shad.  The toothy got hooked in the tongue/gills and wasn't going to make it, so I kept it.  I got one squeeker of a keeper on the Pure Poison.  I then started throwing a River2Sea Yabbie and it wasn't long and I was getting some action on it.

1st Fish on a Yabbie

1st Yabbie Fish

 Many of the fish showed signs they had been spawning.  I also got some quality jumpers on a black/blue Tonka Tackle craw tube.  I went back to the NE side just before the sun came out and got my biggest jumper of the day.

Yum Yum Yabbie

17.25"

 I got a few toothies on the Yabbie and lost a good sized one that was probably around 26" or 27."  I started messing around with various square bills, maybe a bump or two but no fish caught.  I got my last fish of the day on a watermelon red craw tube.  Willard showed up, but the toothy and golden were already spoken for.   He arrived about 20 minutes to late.

Well fishing got better, so there is that.