Sullivan Aborted, The Dog Produced Again

 

1st Crappie Demon/minnow

One of 5 or 6 ten inchers

5:00-8:30 PM The Dog Holy Family Hole 30' 8 to 12' off of bottom.

3-14℉, PC, 0-4mph W

Ice maybe 8" or 9" thick

The plan today was to fish out from Jaimen's Reeds in Sullivan. I got the car unloaded and discovered that my safety ice picks were missing. WTFrick! Not happy. As I was making my way out it looked like there was a pressure ridge from shore right through the area I wanted to fish.  Without picks, I wasn't going to chance it and turned back. I didn't get the car loaded until after 4 PM. 

I was grateful no one was at the Dog. I made it about halfway out before I slowed down. I put my holes close to where I was last time and only drilled one set. Only crappies again tonight. The size was about the same 8" to 10" maybe a couple more 10 inches than last time. It got slow by 6:30, but didn't die until about 7:45 PM. After I had my rods in the case I swear there was a pike that came through; Biggest mark I saw all night. I turtled it back to the car. Thank God there wasn't much wind; It was 3 °F. Twenty fish for the night, it could be a lot worse. Never did send THE Jig down, probably a mistake. My mind got thrown off by the missing ice picks.

20 Crips 

On The Dog Again

1st Fish on Demon/minnow

Doubles

5:00-8:00 PM Holy Family Hole 30' fish  8 to 12' off the bottom.

20-24℉, Cloudy, 3-8mph N

(Nobody was at the access, so I did a quick unload and made good time getting out. Drilled three sets of holes just like last time. This time it was the third set that had activity. I set up and iced a crappie pretty quickly. A wheeler with a portable went farther NE from me 35 yards or so.  Not as many fish moving through tonight, but I was landing my bites to start. As the night wore on it got progressively slower and started missing bites. I did double up one time. The final hour was really slow. Nothing on the Demon and I would occasionally have something nip, but I would either miss or couldn't keep them hooked. No pike tonight. Fish were mostly 9-inchers, maybe a few 10"'s)

20Crip 

 

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 

1st Bullhead of 2023

 

Bullhead

8:00-9:40PM GOMH SW

53-59℉ , MC,  0-4mph NE

I started by driving the lakes. Ice is still on Platte 25%, Rock 80%, and Bulldog 65%. Ice at the Platte Access. Arrived at the GOMH, a guy was looking at the fish kill. A bunch of floaters today. He told me about the kill in the 90s and how bad it stunk. I went down and fished the SW side. Somebody came by and told me the reason they didn't get the aerator in was no volunteers. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, didn't and now it's dead fish under the bridge; a bunch of sunfish, a few bass and pike. I fished for maybe half an hour and bounced to see what was going on at the Lake Place. Just saw a dead bass, pike, and sunny. No bites. I went back to the bridge. I got a bite, and it ran towards me and got off. 90% sure it was a Gator. About 10 minutes later, I snagged the jumper in the Pelvic fin. I stayed until after dark, hoping Silver might play, but all I saw was some baitfish.

Morning and Afternoon Trips

6:40-7:20AM GOMH SW NE

56-62℉, PC, 3-4mph S
Water on the rise

I should have gotten up sooner; it was nice out and great color in the sky.  Arrived just before sunrise. Fished both sides. Saw a flying loon and heard the first loon call of the year. Checked out Bulldog and Rock, not much progress.

Skunked

 Here is my morning fishing report

3:45-4:10 PM SW NE GOMH

68℉, Cloudy, 6-8mph S

Water high and rising

Short stop, briefly fishing both sides. It darkened up considerably as I left to head to the lake place. I didn't get the boat vacuumed because of the rain. Trip fail. Got home and was too tired to eat dinner or get an evening trip in. I slept until 11 PM.

Skunked

The Dog Again

 

5:00-7:00PM The Dog 8' 

30-33℉, Cloudy, 3-6mph SE

Not as many fish around as yesterday. Visibility was slightly better. Got that pesky weed out of the way with a jigging rap. Had a big bass come through. Saw one other little guy. Only caught one 9" pumpkinseed. I was a hot mess packing up and getting the car loaded. Two other guys arrived as I was unloading the car. They went to the Holy Family Hole. I almost bounced to go there at 6 PM when it wasn't happening but decided that would be too much work. I got the smallest minnows ever at Beat Trax.

1 Sun

Out On The Dog

 

5:15-7:45PM The Dog 8'  

30-35℉, PC,  0-3mph NE

Dropped off Dev, then went to Brainerd with Mom. Got back by 2 pm and felt like going fishing. Headed to Matt's Spot at The Dog. Sunfish and Pike were in the first hole. Ice is 23" thick, making drilling holes a PIA. I set up there. Unfortunately, visibility wasn't great, and I had a weed in the way I couldn't get rid of. Caught 3 nice sunfish. I saw LMB, bullheads, and even a dogfish swam through. Stayed after dark, hoping to get crappie, but no luck.

3 Sun

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 

Platte and The Dog With A Sore Back

 

Old Dog Special

w/waxie for the crappie

Only fish that bit on Platte

7:45-9:15AM 8' out from Platte Access

10:50-11:40AM 29' Holy Family Hole The Dog

32℉, Cloudy, 3-6mph SSE

I wrenched my back, putting the Fish Trap into the KIA. Got a cool pic of the sunrise before I set up. Had something good on right away take the cubby, but didn't get a good hook set, and it came off. Had a few perch and sunfish swim through. Got the pike on a Blade Bait, and that was it for action. Visibility wasn't very good.

1 Pike

There was a guy out fishing when I arrived. The ice was 4' and cracking when I drilled holes. Just a bit unnerving. Didn't mark anything so I just started fishing my holes. Marked a few towards the bottom.  Missed a few bites. I'm rusty, bad hooksets. Landed one crip, and it was time to go. My back was sore all morning.

1 Crip 

DNF

Stuck In The Slush, Said Screw It

 The wet sloppy slush kept me from fishing tonight. Was a lovely day in the mid-forties. Heard my first red-wing blackbirds of 2022. Also, there were ducks and swans flying about.

Caught Something Other Than Crappies, Got A Few Of Those As Well

 6:30-9:00PM Matt's Corner and Out from Holy Family 

30-41℉, PC, 2-6mph NE

Got the low down from Steve and then headed to the lake.

Pike down in the first hole, I put the camera down. I checked 6 or 7 of the holes somebody else drilled in Matt's corner. Saw a bunch of perch toward the bottom in the weeds, and sunnies were up high. Fished the second Sunny Hole. They were all over. Down Viewed 'em. I got bored with that quickly. Headed out to my area before sunset. It started slowly had a flurry on the Glow Demon and minnow. Good size fish up high. It was a Clown Show, or I would have caught more. Fish shut off for the final hour. Beautiful Moon!

31 Crips

20 Sun

10 Perch AV

1 Pike AV

Late Start at The Dog

7:15-9:00PM Out from Holy Family at The Dog

30-34℉, Cloudy, 

Short trip. Don't remember why I procrastinated on getting out. Didn't get to writing this because the rents left for FL the next day. Deer walking across the lake with me and had one hit me on the way home. Should have listened to John W. closer about the heard in the road N of Club of the Pines. I caught some, but I was a bit of a clown show.

5 Crips

A Little Better, But Not by Much

First fish on the Demon

After the Pike swam out of view.

 5:00-7:30PM Bulldog about 25' to the SE of where I had been fishing. 28.5' of water 

14-19℉, PC, 3-15mph WSW

I was the only person on the lake tonight. Caught the first crappie right away about 15' down. He showed up from above. I adjusted the camera higher and watched a pike swim off. Got the second fish on a Rippin Rap. Had a few pods move through, but nothing stayed around for very long. Fish were on the small side tonight and most were caught 10-feet or under. I forgot the maggies and waxies, oops. It pretty much died by 7PM. The ice seems to be melting from below. Forgot to check thickness, but I am no longer almost bottoming the auger out.

4 Demon/Minnow

3 Rippin Rap

3 Cubby

3 THE Jig

Another Slow Night at The Dog

 

Whew!

10.75" VMC Fly/Maggie

4:20-8:00PM Bulldog

23-32℉, PC, 5-15mph WNW

I drilled a little to the West of where I was last night. Didn't see a thing until about 5:45PM when three crappies came through; I snatched one. Had another pod of three come through before I brought the camera up. A few fish started coming through when it got dark, but it was slow. Only landed 11 fish tonight, but 40% were keeper size and the good fish were 12' and up. I'll try a new plan tomorrow.

8 Demon

3 VMC Fly

Back At It After the Classic, Where Did The Fish Go

1st one was a good one

March 7 GOMH Picture

 5:00-8:00PM Bulldog

24-29℉, Sunny, 2-8mph SSW

Something changed because fishing was a lot slower tonight. It took about 45-minutes for the first fish to come through. I tried two of my old hole locations and didn't mark anything. I was a bit of a clown show tonight getting hooked on things and getting packed up and into the truck. Should have just stayed in place.

Only saw one fish before it got too dark. The size was good on 1/3rd of the fish.

7 Glow Demon

8 VMC Fly

March 1,2, & 3 The Dog En Fuego

March 2nd

Even was catching them on the Rippin Rap

March 1st

4:40-8:00PM Bulldog

21-31℉, Sunny to cloudy, 0-4mph NW

I was the only person in the hole tonight. Fished my holes from last night. Fish ran on the small side and were mostly 15 to 18ft deep. Consistent action all night with it slowing down after 6:30. Was comfortable, Didn't turn on the heater for about an hour and I was only wearing my performance hoodie. Should have gotten out sooner.

72 Crips

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March 2nd

4:30-8:30PM Bulldog

23-28℉, PC, 0-3mph N

Moved slightly to the North. Fish all over the place. Should have gotten out earlier. Fish were on the small side.

81 Crips

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March 3rd

4:00-7:00PM Bulldog

14-20℉, MC, 0-4MPH N

Guys who didn't get 'em were coming out as I was headed out. Fish were in 17' but small. Mostly a Aqua-Vu bite. Hot on THE Jig to start. They would mouth the bait and spit and didn't care for minnows. Good thing I got out early as the bite tailed off at dark. 5 Days in a row had me pretty beat up that final walk-in.

72 Crips

Ended up taking a break to watch the Bassmaster Classic.