Slow Start, But I Got On 'Em at the GOMH

 

3.04lbs TurboFattyZ (Houdini)

6:54-9:30 PM Channel Inn Bay, GOMH N & S, Intersection NE Reeds

60-67℉, PC, 0-7mph W

Water Temp 58-62℉ High

I didn't get to fishing tonight until almost 7 PM. I had a bunch of small hold-ups tonight that added up like putting gas in the boat. The plan was to cover water in Channel Inn Bay and only stop if I started catching them. All I got was 2 pike and a couple of bumps that didn't hook up. I then stopped at the Grumpy Old Man Hole because nobody was fishing on the North side. I had to check and see if the jumpers were stacked, they were not. However, I pulled my first two bass of the night from under the bridge on the Turbo FattyZ, including the night's big. I got into a willing school of pound to pound and half-size fish immediately SE of the bridge in the old rice on the TFZ. I put on a Terminator Popping Frog and a hawg trucked it. Unfortunately, it got off about 8 feet out. I then lost fish on my next 3 casts. I caught two two-pounders, and then they only slapped at the frog, so I switched frogs, but the fish were done. I moved across the channel and got a pair of pounders on the TFZ. I then moved to the NE Intersection Shallow Reeds, nothing. But I did get a couple of Platte Lake Specials on the currently invisible point/juice spot. Too bad I didn't start at the GOMH. THe other brother of the Casino Bro's was fishing the SW side and Lantern Man showed up about the time the topwater action stopped. I dropped off Brett's pliers  when I came back through. LM said there was a lot of activity on the surface as it was getting dark. I shined two suckers on the N side, no eyeballs.

16 Bass 

3 Pike

2 Suckers 

Snatcher Tournament Pokegama (Grand Rapids)

Snatcher Ludenia Gets the W

Conditions: 55-67℉, Cloudy to Partly Cloudy, 0-7mph SE NE

Water Temp: 66-68℉

The Day:

We got a bit discombobulated on our way to the river. At one point, we lost power on Darren's console GPS. We did eventually find what we were looking for: the Hot Pond Convergence. I suggested we backtrack a bit and fish our way back, seeing how no one followed us into the river. About 20 minutes in, I put a small keeper in the boat that hit a ToadZ. About 10 minutes later, Darren had a pike steal his frog. Darren missed a bite from a good-sized bass along a mat in the rice. I pitched a Turbo FattyZ into the same mat and immediately caught one just shy of 2 lbs. Darren had a pike steal the LiveTarget Frog I gave him with a  huge blow-up. I think Darren had three frogs get bit off in total, along with a couple of jigs and Texas Rigs. I think I got bit off once on a Texas Rig.  Hammer and Jon showed up and fished a bit in the area we were heading for before heading farther upriver. 

Eventually, we got to the Convergence, and I got a nice bass on the ToadZ off of some isolated pads. A couple of minutes later, I lost a similar-sized fish. We then went into the hot, and Darren had his third frog get bit off. It was dead in there other than that. We went back to the convergence to talk to Hammer and Jon. They were catching more fish than us, and Hammer told us what was working for them. We fished back over the area where I had caught my third bass. Darren got bit off a time or two. I started pitching a Turbo FattyZ and got a pike, then a bass over 2 lbs. Darren caught a pike or two more. 

At about 1 PM, we decided to bail on this area just as it was clouding up again.  We fished some slop on our way back to the lake, where I got my final two bass of the day. The first on a swim jig, and my last bass of the day came on a LiveTarget Frog. Darren got a dink that he didn't measure. We got to Tioga Bay with about an hour and a half left. Darren's front mapping wasn't right. Despite that frustration, Darren did put three nice bass in the boat in the final hour. I missed one bite on a jig in Tioga. Turns out it was a tough day.

Results: My fish weighed 11/12, which put me in 5th Place out of 11 Anglers, and I won the Co-Angler Challenge for the first time in a couple of years. Snatcher Ludenia blew the field away with 19/4. Dennis got 2nd with 14/14, and Snatcher Chuck came in 3rd with 14/9. Snatcher Mick had Lunker with a 4/14 brown bass.

My Thoughts: I really thought the largemouth would be on fire, but it seems that was not the case. I also thought there would be multiple fish over 5lbs caught, but it didn't happen. My boater Darren has very little experience on this body of water, and we went in blind, with neither of us getting to pre-fish. That definitely hurt us. I should have fished a swim jig and the Turbo FattyZ more and a Frog less. On the positive side, it was my best finish of the year; I won the Co-Angler Challenge and have a shot at being in the Super 6 going into the last tournament. It could be worse. 

Grade: B 

I was energized and fished hard all day.

4/14

Fishing On the Slow Side Tonight

7:20-9:50PM SPSI, E of GOMH, S SPRO to SW INT, NE INT PT

68-72℉, Hazy, 0-2mph SE
 

Late start because I was moving like a turtle after I got up this afternoon. I stopped at SPSI first. No, go on top and on a Chatter. The last call was a TurboFattyZ. I had a "come to Jesus" talk with myself before throwing the TF; I have been missing almost all my bites on this lure. I caught my biggest bass of the night on the first cast. I also got a small pike. 

Next, I headed to the 16"Hole, but it was dead there. After 10 minutes, I had enough and headed for Sully, hoping to find a school in the SPRO rice. That did not happen, not even a lone wolf.  I had a pike attack a couple of times. I had a good pair of blow-ups from the same fish at pike point, but they didn't hook up. Did get a couple of pike. I finally got into a few bass in the reeds. I lost the only one that bit that was over 2 lbs as I was boat-flipping it. Had a few fish dog me in the reeds. Hit NE INT and SPSI quickly to no avail. 

There were a couple of kayakers fishing the INT boat channel. The one was a woman who talked loudly. Apparently, she caught a walleye and quite a few pike. She called her mom, who was babysitting the kids, to find out what the walleye regs were. She thought she was on Platte, but they were in Sullivan.

4Bass 

6Pike 

Morning And Evening Trips June 1st

8:40-5:00AM GOMH NE

Water level; Normal Falling

Skunked (Skeeters were vicious, I bailed for the Trophy.)

5:30-9:50AM SPSI, GOMH, INT NE, NW INT, SPRO, River Mouth 

I got the boat ready quickly and I was off. A bunch of missed bites yet again. Nothing at SPSI; I got a pike on the Jitterbug on the N side of the GOMH. I missed a bite on a frog on the  S side of the GOMH that left me saying, WTF Dave set the hook. I got bit off several times in a shallow pike fest along the shallow INT reeds.  I got a couple of bass, finally throwing the Turbo FattyZ. Under perfect conditions to score post-spawn girls, I figured out the puzzle and put some fish in the boat, but I really should have landed more. I stayed out longer than I had planned, by an hour.

6Bass 

12Pike 

7:30-9:30PM Channel In Bay S SPRO

75-80℉, PC, 3-6mph SE

Water Temp: 74℉

I got a late start due to a long nap. Headed right to Channel INN Bay. Traded off bass and pike blow-ups, but it was slow, so I headed to the SPRO and got more of the same. Blow-ups were nice, but once every half hour is slow. Nothing at the River Mouth, but it was fairly dark when I arrived. I landed my bites tonight, which was nice.

4Bass 

4Pike

 10:50-11:30PM GOMH NE

I decided to hit the GOMH on the way home. Skeeters weren't terrible. I got gold on my very first cast and thought this would be good, but all I got was one more jumper, and that was it. Tried a few different lures and left.

1Jump

1Gold

I didn't weigh fish for some reason.