Shakopee Lake, At Least I Didn't Get Skunked

 

Took pic after drilling my second set of holes

 

Didn't Get Skunked!

Took the pic and then the phone died

3:45-8:30PM Shakopee Lake 8' and 9' just a little south of the access

-2 to 18℉, Mostly Clear, Calm

Unfortunately, not many people had been out on the lake since the snow dump this week. Not so much an issue getting out. Going back, I had to carry the auger and minnows and then go back for the smitty/Fish Trap. I got out to about 8 feet of water and drilled holes. I could see weeds. Not a whole lot going on. I marked a couple of disinterested small fish and saw one sunny on the camera. My Eddy's hat fell into the slush puddle. After sunset, I drilled another set of holes about 100 feet farther out and fished there the rest of the time. Around 7pm, I ran out of propane for the Little Buddy. I caught the first bullhead before I got the propane changed out. I had trouble getting the Little Buddy to fire at first. I had to unscrew it completely and put it back on, and that did the trick. I lost something that bit on a minnow. I put the camera down and saw bullheads. I caught one more small bullhead. Bullheads were still down there when I pulled my lines up for the night. On the way back to the car, my phone died after I took a picture. My bad for not having the second Mophie iPhone case along. I need to get with it, keeping the iPhone charged up. The second time this ice season, my phone died. It could just be that it gets too cold

Skunked At The GOMH Again & No Suckers at Shakopee

Fished for about half an hour tonight. No bites. Counted 44 swans, saw a couple do battle and a pair do a mating dance, cool.. Was super windy and sleeting/snowing the whole time. About a 100-yards of open water.

Saw two eagles as I rounded the curve to Kathio Bridge. The water is low in the river and in Shakopee Lake. No sign of suck activity. Nobody was fishing the Lake. 
 

Two Trips, Both Duds Plus Went By Shakopee and GOMH

9" Glow Demon Spoon/waxies

Blind Man Stood By the Road And He Cried

7:15-9:30AM Sullivan 27' Tullibee Hole
32-29℉, Foggy, 2-4mph SE

I didn't need to put on my spikes.  I walked out to the area but didn't see where my holes from the last trip were at.  So I stopped dragging the Fishtrap and went looking.  The second picture shows just how close I was to where I left the sled.  Duh! The holes weren't frozen over.  I got the camera set up first again.  There was activity down by the bottom.  Fish would occasionally act aggressively but not hit.  I got one crappie.  Viewed a few perch up high and down near the bottom.  I was hungry so I headed home at 9:30 AM.

I went into Onamia to pick up Vitamin D. I stopped at Shakopee Lake.  There were 6 trucks in the lot. I talked to a guy that had just finished.  He said he was getting sunfish with an occasional nice Crappie.  Couldn't see any open water toward the inlet.
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3:00-4:30PM Bulldog Lake Matt W. Spot 8'
43℉, Cloudy some light rain as I left, 5mph S

As you can see from the pick open water is intruding on the access so this will be my last trip to Bulldog.  I got out, put the camera down and saw sunnies.  They weren't interested and quickly disappeared.  The lighting wasn't great.  I really wasn't into it and it started to sprinkle so I packed up at 4:30.  I checked out the GOMH on the way home.

Nearly A Frustrating Trip

17" Horny Toad

This morning I decided to hit Mille Lacs at sun up. I started at the bridge at Shakopee and had my craw tube bit off the second it hit the water on my first cast.  I picked up a Pure Poison and got bit on my second cast.  It felt like a good fish but came off as it was racing into the current.  I've never seen the water that high.  I didn't get any more hits on that side.  I got a small one on the other side on a Frenzy Popper.  I was fishing Mille Lacs by 5:35AM.  I thought it was going to be calm but there was a slight breeze blowing out of the SE. Not ideal for topwater.  I fished on the North Jetty at the harbor mouth to start.  I've never seen the water as high as it is now.  I got nothing there.  I went to the far North side and fished towards shore I had a fish blow up on the Stanley Phantom but not get it. I made a cast a little farther out from the Jetty and had a small pike or muskie come out of the water after it.  I then cast back to where I got the first blow up.  The fish hit it about 6 times before catching a hook, but it got off right away. I think it was a smallmouth, but can't be sure.  I ended up back at the harbor mouth and I had a fish hit my Grass Pig but it didn't hook up.  I thought it was a smallmouth, but then a couple casts later I had a pike swipe at it as I was bringing it in.
On my way back to the car I had a pike or small muskie come out of the water after the Kelly J I was throwing.  I went and tried the South Jetty, but didn't get a hit.

So I was off to try Wigwam bay, but the water was really to high for fishing there.  So I headed to the culvert  that comes out of Whitefish.  I had a fish blow up on my Horny Toad but I didn't hook up.  I went and tried the other side of the road and had a pig nail the Horny Toad.  The fish cut my wire leader as it swam into the culvert. I was like "DAMN! I don't believe that just happened."  I retied a new Stanley Double Take Frog Hook, but this time I went with the 4/0.  I think the 4/0 is probably a better choice for the Horny Toad as it seemed to fit better than the 5/0 does.  I went back and started throwing the frog.  On the same side I had the break off I got the 17" in the picture.  This fish salvaged my trip.  I got home at 10:00AM.

Last Stop Saved From Skunk

Tonight I wanted to try hitting a new spot, but first it was old one's. I was under way just after 7PM.

GOMH-People there fishing, didn't stop.

Jenny's- Skunk

Bulldog- Skunk

Whitefish Outlet Culvert- Skunk

Whitefish Outlet at 169 Bridge- Skunk

Shakopee Bridge- People fishing so I went to Subway.

When I got done eating my Subway it was getting dark fast. I elected to try back at the Shakopee Bridge. I got chewed by mosquito's, but my Crawtube also got chewed by this 16.5" largie.

I did have a couple of other hits that didn't hook up. After it got sufficiently dark I decided to leave. I decided not to hit Eddy's Jetty as the skeeters probably would have been pretty bad there too and I didn't have a headlamp.

Shakopee & Mille Lacs

Today I had my ICD check and annual with my Cardiologist down in the cities in the morning. It was a scorcher in the cities in the mid 90's, as I came North there was a bit of cloud cover and I drove up Mille Lacs to Eddy's and down Shakopee Road. Wish I would have brought fishing rods as I was seeing fish at the Shakopee bridge. In the evening it was warm, humid, cloudy, and calm and I decided to head East around 7:20pm. First stop was the Shakopee bridge. I started with topwater and had a couple of hits that didn't hook up. Next I went to the exposed hook junebug CrawTube and caught 2 15" largies and missed one other good fish.

It was getting close to 8PM when I headed to Mille Lacs. It looked good with overcast and calm water, but all I got was 2 rock bass on the Berkley Frenzy Popper. Eventually the mosquito's drove me away.

Small Night

I had to run an errand into Onamia tonight, so naturally I made a trip up to Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs. As I drove up the lake I was not encouraged by the North wind that was putting good sized waves on the West shore. The waves were basically big enough to wreck any hope of topwater. I started on the South Jetty and didn't get anything. I moved to the North Jetty and was chucking a Texas rigged green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube, when I thought I felt a hit but it let go right away. A couple of casts later I got another hit and this time it took it and I brought in this one eye'd 18.25" Mille Lacs Mule.

I fished for about another 45 minutes and gave up because I didn't think the wind was going to diminish.

Next I headed to Kathio State Park to see if the MN Government shutdown meant I could go and fish the dam on the Rum without having to pay to get into the park. There was a gate across the road so that was a no go.

Next I headed to the bridge over the Rum on the North End of Shakopee Lake. I went down to the SE side and cast a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube on a tube jig. On the first cast I had a hit and brought in this 15.5" largie that wanted it.

I released the bass and cast back into the river and a fish just about ripped the rod out of my hand. First, I thought it was going to be a big pike, but then I saw it was a bass and by the way it was scrapping so hard I figured it had to be a smallmouth, which it was. Just like the one at Mille Lacs it went 18.25" but wasn't quite as chunky.


After a few more casts I missed a small bass, then I tried so topwater. I had a small pike hit a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper as I was lifting it to bring it in the fish came off and fell into the water at my feet. I could see the feathered treble still in it's mouth. The pike swam off before I could grab it. I thought maybe the split ring failed, but when I looked at the Popper the back end had cracked and given way, which sucks cause now that one is ruined. But better on a little pike than big bass in a tournament.

I threw the green pumpkin Crawtube and I think I missed a good hit with that or maybe I just got stuck in the rocks for a second, either way I didn't get anything. I went back to throwing the black/blue Crawtube and got one last small bass. I then went to see if I could fish the Rum at the South end of Lake Onamia, but once again people were already there, so I just went home. I decided not to hit the GOMH.

Mille Lacs Bust- Shakopee Action

Tonight I fished Eddy's Jetty at Mille Lacs. The wind was blowing out of the SE pretty good. It's been windy out of the East for 3 days now. Not even a hit. Heard from one of the Eddy's guys that someone caught a 19" smallie off the Jetty either last week or early this week when it was warm.

Next I headed to the bridge over the Rum River just North of Shakopee Lake. I started tying into little largie bass on a Berkley Havoc Deuce on the SE side of the bridge, I put on the Lucky Craft Kelly Jordan Jr. and got a small bass and pike. I got a little bigger pike on a Lucky Craft Gunfish. I went to the NW side and pulled this 15" from next to the Catails.


I also tried where the Rum flows out of Onamia Lake, but there were two kids fishing so I didn't get prime water.