1st Bullhead of 2026 And Rock Visit(3/22/26)

 

7:30-8:15 PM GOMH SW

33℉, Cloudy, 5-7mph NW

Grouse on my way to the Rock Access. Also saw an Eagle and red-wings while checking the open water at the PRO in Rock. There was a guy scoping the PRO for coyotes. I realised I forgot to pack my tackle bag, doh! There were 5 ducks on the S side of the GOMH when I arrived. They flew off when I opened the back of the car. I started with the 782 GLX and the Mepps Spinner. On about the 10th cast, it was bullhead on. It came off as I was pulling it on shore. It wriggled back into the water. I didn't make an effort to grab it. It got dark quick. A couple of big Eagles were at Eagle Perch Point. I switched to the Rage Swimmer and got a gator on that as well. The gator had something in its stomach. Two Canadians flew in a honking while I landed the second gator.  I shined but didn't see anything. I was in winter boots, so I didn't do any laps.

2 Pike 

3/31 Rock Twice and GOMH

 

Dude had been eating good

Little Guy on THE Jig

3:20-5:20pm Rock Lake

6:20-7:05pm Bulldog and Rock Lake

7:30-8:30pm GOMH SW

37-45℉, Sunny, 0-3mphNE

Low Water

I think I had a hit on the EVo Chatter, but ended up snagged and broke it off. Nice sunny afternoon. Nothing for the first hour plus after the snag. I got two bites in short order on a Size 6 X-Rap . The first time the fish was on for maybe 3 seconds. The second bite was on for 10 seconds. I saw it rolling, and then it came off. I was chilled, so I headed home to get a bite to eat and warm up.

I stopped at Bulldog first and threw a few casts, but there was nothing. Bulldog is maybe 1/3rd open. Long is open. Rock 80% open. Platte 90%. I fished for a half hour and got a pike with a full belly on the Swim Shad.

I drove North Platte Lake, and the North Bay is still locked up. Still some ice in our bay and East of GOMH. I caught a small gator just as the guy from NSPRO showed up on the Mini Rage Swimmer.. He said there were people fishing on the ice at Mille Lacs today.. I caught a little bit bigger small gator about ten minutes later on THE Jig. There was some surface activity tonight. It got cold quick. I did 10 laps, and the first one was sub 3 minutes.

3 Pike

Morning and Evening Trips On A Cool Dreary Day

  

Platte Lake Access

Looking East of GOMH

Rock Lake looking North

Rock looking South

I caught a gator in the morning

8:10-8:00am GOMH SW

37℉, Cloudy, 4mph NE

It's a amazin that I actually fished after going back to sleep after my alarm went off. A good-sized mink crossed the road in front of me when I parked in my spot. It was cloudy, cool, and windy out of the NE. I just got the one bite. I decided to hold off on getting minnows. If today would have been warm I would have got some.

1Pike 

6:15-8:00PM GOMH SW

38℉, Cloudy, 13-20mph NE

The NE wind is doing a number on the ice in Platte Lake. Ice-out could very well be tomorrow. I only fished the SW side. Maybe a couple if bites, maybe not. It sprinkled on and off. The wind when I was putting the rods away was something. No laps, in gale force around freezing, screw that!

Skunked!

Not Skunked!

 

Muskrat headed South

 

6:50-8:30pm GOMH NE SW

33-37℉, MS, 0-2mph NW

Water Low

Thankfully, there was not much wind because it got cold after dark. I think swans were swimming off of SPSI, and E of GOMH is starting to open up. I thought maybe I had a hit on consecutive casts with the Rocket Shad on the SW side, but then again, maybe not. As I was about to call it a night due to darkness, I got hit halfway in on the same exact cast I got hit two times earlier at the beginning of the retrieve. Gator Bullhead, no skunk on the boot tail shad. I thought maybe i saw a small walleye when I was doing my shinig at the end of the night after I did 7 laps.

1Pike 

Not Skunked Again!

6:30-7:50pm GOMH NE SW

65-71℉, PC, 0-6mph SE

Water Low

Banga of a day. I opened the Tackle Warehouse. About a hundred yards of open water on the S side of the GOMH and the SW GOMH is just about ice free. There were good numbers of swans, geese, and ducks on the S side. I opened the car door to the sound of red-wing blackbirds. I could reach the ice on the N side with a long cast. The Fish Swami app loaded slowly because of an update. I fished on the Sw side for about 15 minutes and thought maybe I had a bite. About 10 minutes later I caught a gator from the same spot. No skunk tonight. I think I did 9 laps and walked for about 35 minutes. I didn't shine anything.

1Pike 

Final Bullhead of 2024

 

4:45-5:30 GOMH SW NE 

50℉, PC, 0-2mph NE

It was a beautiful November Day in the Northland. I got one quick small gator on the SW side. I was thinking about and praying for Mel the whole time until I got home.

 1Pike 

Checked Lakes And Got A Gator Bullhead @GOMH

 

Last cast

Ducks were out there

It will be interesting to see if this area refreezes 

5:55-6:20 PM GOMH SW

48-53℉, PC, Calm

Opened my Tackle Warehouse today, then took a nap.

I checked lakes first. I think Lantern Man was out on Bulldog. I saw some deer on the way to Rock. Rock also had a guy out fishing by Rice Island, his truck was at the access. Open water is now past the N GOMH Point. I heard ducks quacking but didn't see them. I had a gator steal my Cubby/Minnow. I think I got the thief on my last cast of the night with a Rocket Shad. I saw a muskrat tonight and had a lone Canadian flyover as darkness descended.

1 Pike 

Fishing With Pops and Peter At The GOMH

 

Dad took me to the bridge as I had the ICD replaced today. Peter W was there along with a dead dear on the NE side. We started on the North, but the wind was too much. I got a jumper. Dad had two small jumpers jump him off. Peter got a few oranges and small jumpers. Peter left. Dad went to the car. I tried the NE side again and had a couple of gator hits and had a jumper jump off in the tube. On the way home Dad just missed a small deer. It may just be that the pain medication wore off, but I regretted my decision to go as the pain level increased a bit after I got home. I will now be taking it easy for a couple of days and heal.

Papa: 2Jump 

Me: 2Jump 1Pike 

Short Mid-Morning And Long Evening GOMH Trip

10:00-10:30AM GOMH 
53℉, Sunny, 3mph E

1 JUmp (Just a quick trip to see if anything was happening. It wasn't. Hopefully, I'll have the Trophy in Platte tonight.) 

5:30-11:30PM GOMH NE SW

63-71℉, Sunny, 0-6mph ESE

Another guy arrived a little before me and took the SW side. Amazingly no boats when I arrived. The other guy got one jumper about 45 minutes in. Shortly after that, Lantern Man Son and Kyle showed up. I gave them the SE and went to the NE side. Two dudes showed up and fished off the N bridge. I caught a small toothy. I had a bigger one follow me in. I started seeing baitfish activity. Got more toothys and a few jumpers as well. One of the Jumpers buried me in the shore weeds, but thankfully Dock Guy had rubber boots and a net and was able to net the 2.5lber. The bald dude finished the shore East of GOMH and got one silver. I got into three oranges, and then some wind came up. Got a couple more toothy and jumpers. I went to get my sweatshirt and hoodie, which were on the SE side, with Brett. And behold, Drinkin Dave was up on the bridge fishing, sober. So we talked for about 10 minutes. When I finally returned to the NE side, Dock Guy and his dad had left. I didn't get any bites, and the guy who was there when I arrived left, so I went and joined Kyle on the SW side. We both got a couple of silvers, and Brett got 3 or 4. We called it a night after 11 PM. Wild beat the Blues 3-0 and are now up 2-1 in the series.

Good Night at The GOMH Catching Bullheads

 

Bullhead Bullhead

Lantern Man's 2nd 14-incher of the night

12" THE Jig (Glow/Pink)

17.5" Cubby/minnow (Glow)

Hunting Pack of Pelicans

5:00PM-Midnight GOMH SW SE

41-59℉, cloudy clearing late, 0-4mph 

Water high and rising

1st person there tonight took the SW corner. I got done stretching than an old-timer named Richard S. stopped, and we talked for 10 minutes. He didn't have any minnows, so he left. Think I got 3 small jumpers before a friend of LM showed up and took the SE side. I got a few more jumpers and a toothy on the Swim Shad after I caught a weed right away on the previous cast and spooked it. Some guys fished on the NE side for about 20 minutes. LM showed up around 7:30. His son was on his way. Skibidi showed up and joined the guy on the SE side.

We all got a few bass. Brett showed up and caught some jumpers. We watched several groups of pelicans fly in and land. We got to see them hunt and start a feeding frenzy. I missed my first two silvers. They started catching them on the other side. LM's wife showed up while I was missing those first two. As it got dark, the action picked up but not as fast as last night. Beautiful night. LM got two 14s, and Brett got a 14.25" as well. The SE vacated after 10PM. Brett started getting smaller ones. I went to the SE side. and they kept catching fish. I got a 9" and missed a couple of bites. They left at 11 PM. I didn't care for the current, practically to the cattails. I got a 14" bullhead and headed back to the SW side. I Got two more silvers, and my last bite was a 17.5" jumper with melanated spots. I stopped fishing a bit after midnight. The sky was clear when I left. A lot of loon chatter after 11PM, and I heard an owl as I was packing up

3 Trips to the GOMH On the 3rd

14" 

Egret on Eagle Perch Point

Morning Bullhead

 The first trip was an attempt to get the bobber light that fell off when I set the hook on my last silver last night. Had the light on the shovel and would have gotten it except for that dang tree I was bringing up with it. Didn't get any bites.

Took a sunrise trip: 

Slow, but I got bullheads, so I can't complain. They wanted meat, and I used up my last 3 minnows. Had a 3-pounda bury me in the cattails when John W. stopped. I Got visited by a guy who was out yesterday afternoon getting a few big jumpers. Left at 8 AM to get the car back

5:00-9:45PM GOMH SW

32-52℉, Sunny, 3-8mph NE

Dead for the first hour, Ruh-roh. Then I got a couple of quick jumpers. Nice, a sign of life. Dock Guy showed up. Had two C-130 roar in at just above treetop level. It was incredible. Started to see activity on the surface and caught a few more jumpers. Skibidi showed up. Lantern Man showed up and came down by me on the SW side. He had minnows from Prince's. He started getting silvers almost immediately and offered to let me use his minnows which I accepted. I got a 13 and then a 14-inch crappie on THE Jig. LM got a 14.25. LM caught the fire out of them. I texted LMS and diddled while the fish were AWWWWWWN!. They were getting a few on the SE side. LM had his limit by 8:45 PM. He gave me a scoop of minnows and left. I caught a couple more fish, and then they shut down at 9:15. I called it a night when my minnow came off at 9:45 PM.

Bullheads Moved In And So Did Others

 

12" Cubby/Minnow

7:30-11:45PM Rock, Bulldog, GOMH SW

42-47℉, PC, 2-5mph E
Water High rising

Nothing at Rock or Bulldog. 2 Cars at the GOMH when I arrived at sunset. The guy on the SE side, who I'll call Skibidi 3 jumpers. The guy on the SW side, who I'll call Dock Guy 3, jump 1 tooth. Dock Guy has a beautiful German shepherd that was interested in some swans that were hanging close. I went on the NE side in the wind, which was fairly light. Nothing. I heard some splashing. After putting on a lighted bobber, I decided to fish on the bridge. S. Dock Guy didn't have a headlamp and was ready to go. He had one silver, and Skibidi had 3 silvers. Dock Guy and I talked for a while while I fished. His car was stolen and driven into Redd's Gas Station in Pierz. Skibidi caught a couple while we spoke. Dock Guy left. Skibidi missed fish and caught a couple more. I caught my first silver around 9:45 PM. Skibidi left around 10:20 PM just as I was catching a 12.25". I went and fished the Se side and couldn't buy a bite. I went back to the SW side. I was just about to call it quits at 11:45 PM when I got a bite. Caught the silver but lost the light on my bobber. I could see it glowing just beyond the weed canopy. Decided to head home and get rubbers and a shovel.

3 Silvers

Saw Toothy And A Bunch Of Loons

 

Cubby Rod Has Seen Better Days

Bulldog A Little Separation heading North

Water to the foot of the steps SW side

Maybe 14" from the high watermark

Toward SPSI

Spot Stealing Barbarian

Saw a small pike swimming along the NE rocks, Loon night at the GOMH; saw many birds flying South when I was on the SW side and several flying North when I was on the NE side. Didn't get a bite. Stayed after dark. Cool, but calm. Loons calling from the south and north. No signs of life with the spotlight. 40% of the way to SPSI. Some areas on Platte with significant separation from shore and others none at all. Bulldog and Rock didn't change much with today's rain. But I think there will be a significant jump toward open water in the next few days as it warms up.