Rush Lake Fransen Park 5-4-08 & ML

After the Spring Outing GEM Director Dave Lindmark, Cyberfish, and I headed down to Fransen Park at West Rush Lake to do a little shore fishing. We arrived about 10:30 and by then the place was hopping. We elected to fish the little cut that opens into the main lake. Dave started out catching little crappies right away and once Mike got his gear together he did too. I was getting bites on a white Cubby but was having a hard time hooking anything. I finally got on the board with a half way descent sunfish. I did start catching fish but Mike and Dave schooled me. Eventually this kid started fishing in between me and Mike and I decided I would try the main North Bay. I almost took Lindmark's jacket and keys with me. Mike and Dave left shortly after I went exploring. On the main bay I got 1 good bite from what felt like a very solid fish, but it came off half way in. I did not get another bite. I fished the main bay about 45 minutes and decided to call it a day. Fransen Park was a zoo by now on such a nice Sunday.

On my way back home I did some exploring on Mille Lacs. No one was fishing at McQuoids or the "Dogfish Nirvana" State Park fishing Pier. Some people were shore fishing in the RV parks channels, but I did not stay long enough to watch. I then headed to Izaty's channel. There were several people fishing off the docks and 1 boat out. I think I saw two little fish get caught for about 1/2hour of watching. I headed up the West side and the lake appeared to be mostly open with a few small areas where there was some sheet ice. There were a few significant sized ice piles including one super tall one about 300yards south of Eddy's. Much to my relief the Eddy's Jetty did not have a pile up of ice. It appeared that the North side of the Jetti had been worked on this winter. It looked like some of the larger boulders had been removed from the lake face and that the whole thing had added mid-sized rocks put in. Apparentlty the water level is up about 8 inches from last Spring and a foot or more from it's low point last fall.

Fishers of Men Spring Outing-Big Sandy

Things went about as expected. On Friday it was cold and it rained so water temps could not go up. On Saturday it was windy, but sunny. I fished with John Cummins and Gordy. We braved the waves and headed to the Islands in the middle of the lake. We found a great looking protected bay, but there were not any fish in it yet. The warmest water we found was 42 degrees, the main lake was 38. We headed back for lunch and I got drenched. I wore my rain bib but did not have my rain jacket with. When we got back to camp, the dock had been pulled half way up on shore and so John had to beach the boat. The wind was blowing in at this shoreline so waves were coming over the back of the boat. John has a bilge, but still it made a royal mess.

At lunch we learned from Marshall and Jeff Dad that there was a lagoon on the camp property. We elected not to go back out and try the lagoon. I ended up losing a glow Cubby in a tree on my first cast. After a little shore fishing, John Cummins was able to get a plank so we could get onto the two long floating docks. Several of us fished off these docks but caught nothing. As the afternoon wore on, Gary Ellis and Bobber showed up fishless, and Lindmark and Cyberfish had caught 1 perch and missed a small pike; these were the only one's with any fish. Later on Lowell and Art showed up and that was the last of the fishing. No one fished Big Sandy on Sunday even though it was a nice day.

The GOMH 4-30-08

Can you tell what kind of fish this is?

It was this jumpin bullhead.

A hard fought hammer handle bullhead

Got a little bullhead.

I doubled my best silver bullhead haul of the year


Got to the GOMH about a quarter after 7PM. No Grumpy Old Men, I am starting to be concerned. The wind was whipping out of the NE and water was flowing into Platte at a slow but steady rate. The wind really blew my bobber around, so I could only keep it in a limited amount of the bullhead sweet spot. It did not take long and I had my first taker, a jumpin bullhead (pictures 1&2).

After a while of getting my bobber blown around I decided to try the SE side. After a little bit of effort my bobber went under and the fight was on. A small toothy bullhead ran himself straight into the shoreline bullrushes. I got him up but he was really hauling the weeds and I was not sure if I would be able to pull it out with the 8lb Fireline or not. While I was slowly trying to pull him in, the fish started squirming around and a good chunk of the weeds that were holding him back fell off. I was then able to pull him in, Cubby saved!!!

I tried the SE side for about 15minutes then went back to the SW side. As it was starting to get dark the bobber went under and I fought a 15.5" jumpin bullhead. Then I caught a 13" jumpin bullhead. And a little while later I had another decent but not huge jumpin bullhead pulling on my line. I fought him for a little bit and then my hook came out when he was at the surface. Little Bass Lake Rules, it counted as a catch.

It was getting so dark I could hardly see my bobber when the first silver bullhead struck. It was a small one about 8inches. About 10 minutes later I nabbed another bullhead, this one was about 9.75inches. I didn't fish to much longer as that it had gotten quite dark.

Rock and GOMH 4/29/08

Boat in the water, motor started right up. I got up to 19.8MPH on the GPS which is about right.

Fishing Report: After I got the boat broke in I did some fishing for a few hours at Rock Lake. I caught a pike and two 14" bass. I did try for panfish a little bit without even getting a hit, but my main quarry was dogfish and I didn't get any of those. I fished the whole Rock Platte River Outlet(RPRO) which is a text book shallow dark bottomed bay on the NW side of the lake. I found water temps as warm as 47 but there was zero activity in the bay, I didn't see a single fish. At about 7PM I pulled out and headed to the GOMH.

GOMH Report: No Grumpy Old Men, I was the only one there. The water was flowing steadily into Sullivan. I didn't get any action until it was getting fairly dark. I was in the bullhead sweet spot and the bobber went down and it was no small bullhead. Unfortunatly this bullhead decided to go into the shoreline weeds a couple of times. Eventually it did swim out but then my hook came out. About 15 minutes later my bobber jumped then went under slowly and I landed a nice 10" silver bullhead. Unfortunatly that was the extent of the action. I stayed a while after dark and tried with a lighted bobber and glow Demon, nothing. Both fish bit on a glow Cubby and Crappie Minnow.

At least I caught something.

Fishing Report 4-28-08: Since the ice went off 5 days ago the weather has been cold the last 3 days. Today it only got into the low 40's and by the time I quit fishing I had problems with my guides icing up.

My fishing trip started out with a visit to Bear Trax to get my 2008 fishing licence and some minnows. On the fishing licence in big letters it says Expires: February 28,2009. This part of the licence is incorrect. A little lower on the licence in much smaller print it indicates the licence is good from 3-1-2008 through 4-30-2009 which is the correct information.

I like the fact that Minnesocold went to a 14 month licence that expires at the end of April instead of at the end of February. I had always thought it stupid that you had to buy a new licence before the ice fishing season is finished. The DNR would pinch people who would simply forget. The way they have it now makes much more sense because by the end of April ice fishing is done and May is the month of the "Fishing Opener."

Anyway headed to Rock first and the ramp was fixed and the dock was out. Unfortunately no fish were around. I tried for probably an hour and a half. I left for the GOMH with about 30 minutes to sunset. As I arrived a truck with a guy and 2 teenagers was leaving so I don't know how they did, but my guess is they got nothing to be leaving before the prime time bite really begins.

I got set up on the SW side of the GOMH and started fishing with a glow Cubby and a minnow. The water was at least a inch higher than yesterday and the water was slowly flowing into Platte. After about 20 minutes with no action I occupied my time by casting an X-rap to catch some floating weeds that could easily end up being a nuisance. After clearing those weeds to my satisfaction I went back to the Cubby and in short order when I got into the bullhead sweet spot my bobber jumped and quickly went under. I had hooked into a 2lb toothy bullhead. 3 Fish so far at the GOMH this Spring and 3 different species. I went through a long lull, during which time a pesky Beaver who is building a house 30 yards East of the bridge was swimming around and being annoying. During this time the water switched directions and started running slowly into Platte.

As it was getting quite dark my bobber went down and I landed a 16.25" jumpin' bullhead. A short time after that I land a small 1lb toothy bullhead that stole my glow Cubby body. Both of these bullheads also came out of the bullhead sweet spot. I tried for about 15 more minutes without a hit and left.

Double Whammy 4-27-08

Fishing Report: I got my first "silver bullhead" of the year at the GOMH. The water was flowing in the right direction but not exceedingly fast. I also caught two 17.5" bass at Rock Lake. No Grumpy Old Man sightings.

The water level in Platte/Sullivan rose another 2 to 3 inches with the snow storm we had on Saturday.

Rock On!

Fishing Report: Despite the nasty weather (cold and wet) I decided to go out fishing to see if just maybe I could catch anything. I started at the Rock Lake Public Access. The ice was off the lake but the dock was not in the water. Last year the dock went in the same day the ice went out.

Sure enough I was able to luck into 3 Larry bass (17",14",14"). No crappies, sunnies, dogfish, or pike.

As it started getting dark I headed to the GOMH in the off chance that maybe the crappies moved in in this awful weather. The water was flowing into Platte lake despite the fact of high water and a slight wind out of the North, What is with that? I don't think I have ever caught a fish at the GOMH when the water was flowing into Platte. You need the water to be flowing the other way, the swifter the better. I didn't give it long and left.

Skunk the GOMH

Fishing Report: I headed to check the lakes and go fish the GOMH around 7PM. It had stopped sprinkling by the time I started fishing and it must have been over 60 degrees. I tried the Pink Panzer and White Panzer without success. I tried a glow Cubby Mini-Mite with a pink gulp maggot and did not get any bites. I did take some time out from fishing to "clear some brush" from the lake shore so that more area of the shore was fishable. Despite knocking down most of the tall weeds, there are significant sized weed mats in the water lining the shore which will make landing fish, especially bigger one's, difficult. I made the SE shore much more fishable than it has been in the past couple of years. When it got to dark to see my bobber I left.

Cranker In 2008

BAM- Due to a late-day trip to Brainerd (see "Bummer"), I did not get out fishing at the GOMH until slightly after 8PM. I believe the sun had set by then, and it was just starting to get dark when I arrived. The current was running into Sullivan at a good clip. There was open water as far as the eye could see on the Platte Lake side. At first, I ran the Pink Panther and got nothing. I then switched to a glow Cubby Mini-Mite under a small Wing-It Bobber. The bobber is small and kind of hard to see. I may decide to upgrade the bobber size at some point. I was giving it the old "Thompson Shake" on the second or third cast, and I thought I saw the bobber go under, so I set the hook, but nothing was there. I fished the glow Cubby for probably another 15 minutes without any action. Then one time, when I was bringing it through the bullhead sweet spot, the bobber went down, and I hooked into a hawg. It started pulling drag, and I knew it was no silver bullhead. It didn't take long before it showed itself to be a famous GOMH "Jumpin' Bullhead." It put up a solid fight and even swam under the bridge for a time. Once it got back on the Sullivan side, I was able to keep it out of the shoreline cattails and land it. It was between 18.5 and 19.25 inches and fat; I'll call it a 19". I unhooked the Cubby, which was firmly stuck in the upper lip, and released her ASAP. Unfortunately, no camera for pic's again tonight. I tried the Cubby again for a while, then I tried a new bait which I will call The Pink Panzer; it is a close relative of the Pink Panther. After a few casts with that, I thought I had a fish on for a moment, but then the lure came free. I am not sure if it was a fish, or maybe I just snagged the bottom, but my guess is that it was a fish. I tried the Panzer for about 15 minutes, then returned to the Cubby. It was getting dark by now, and I had difficulty spotting that little Wing-It. I didn't get any more action.

Mille Lacs Skunk

Well I finally got the boat hooked up and headed to Mille Lacs. I arrived at the access around 5:30PM and barely had enough daylight to accomplish my mission. My mission was to head out to Indian Point and log the same waypoints in the new GPS that were in the old GPS. Normally you would not have to go on the lake to do this, but my old GPS has lines in the Liquid Crystal Display missing and so you can't see what the coordinates of a given way point are; So for me to have the same waypoints I would have to physically run over the same spots and mark them in the new GPS. There was no wind and so it was easy to just use the electric trolling motor. There were 8-10 bobber fisherman on Indian Point but they were all far enough to the south that I was able to log in all my points. By the time I was done it was dark. Since there was no wind and still quite a few of the bobber brigade around I decided not to fish Indian Point.

I headed into Casino Bay (Sha bosh Kung) and made a full pass out to Sherman's point and back. I didn't even have a strike. Finding my way back in to the access was a little hairy, but I got it done without to much trouble. I got in around 9PM.

I talked to two boats at the access. One had gotten a couple and the other was skunked.

So that's it for my first Fall 07 walleye trip, Skunked.

Eddy's launch with Dad 7/25/07

The only fish of the trip for us.

Dad on the way off of Sherman's Point.

The Story: The weather was sunny mid 90's with a slight wind. We elected to fish out of the back of the launch again and where fishing out of the Flagship which is Eddy's Biggest Boat. The Bait Boy said the Flagship was the biggest launch on Mille Lacs and probably the world.

We headed out from Eddy's on a long haul north to Sherman's Pt. We set down in 8ft of water and before you could say fish on some lady caught a keeper walleye and then a 2lb smallmouth. Sherman's point turned out to be more of a smallie than walleye or perch spot. Dad had the first bite and it was a nice smallie that jumped and broke dad's line. More than an hour later dad got another bite but didn't convert. Right after Dad's miss my bobber went down and I landed a walter. This was to be my one and only bite. At Sherman's the launch got 6-8 smallies about 4 walleyes (3 Keepers) a few misses and 1 perch. At about 8:30PM we headed out deeper to try and nab some deeper water eyes. In this spot Dad maybe had a bite but I'm skeptical. Out in the deep water 2 walters came in and 1 was lost by the lady right next to Dad.

We were in right at 10PM. The other 2 launches were nowhere to be seen. All in all a nice night but I could have used some water to drink, the two pop's didn't keep me adequately hydrated.

With Jeff Sullivan 6/24/2007

Jeff's first fish, a Larry.
Finally a pike.
Last fish of the day, a foul hooked Pumpkinseed.

The Story: Jeff arrived a little after 3PM and we were on the water right around 4PM. We headed to the South end of Sullivan to try for some Pike. We started out fishing in the wind and weeds and had no luck. Finally as we got out of the wind I brought in a little Pike. A lot of the water on the SE side was barren of weeds. When we finally hit a patch of good green weeds Jeff brought in a 13" bass on a spinnerbait. We fished this area for a while but didn't get anymore bites. I missed a bass off of the last dock we went bye.

At a quarter to 6PM we headed to the North end of Sullivan to try some reeds in the wind. We did one drift through and Jeff caught a small pike and the pumpkin seed. We called it a day right about 6:20PM. Not a great trip but not a skunking either. Where have all the Pike gone?

Platte Lake 6/22/07

The Story: I put in at the E Sullivan access around 7PM and headed into Platte to fish Loon Sex Point. I only managed a single 12" fish on the Spro Bronze Eye. The wind was out of the SE, so I decided to fish the S shore of the big Western bay in Platte. I decided to hit a few docks before getting into the slop. This paid off with a 18.25" and 13" both on Bubblegum Zoom Super Flukes. Once I got to the slop I started throwing a black Zoom Horny Toad. I lost the legs off of 2 different toads, probably to small pike. I fished with a toad with stump legs and caught a nice 17.5". I also missed a bite from a smaller bass on this frog.

To end the night I elected to go to the North end of Platte rather than the Sullivan PRO. I managed a single 13" on the North End. I called it a night around 9:35PM.

6-15-07 Mille Lacs

1st fish of the day...

My second smallie of the day and largest.

The Story: I woke up at 4am and was out the door by 4:30. I headed to the Isle public access and was on the water by 5:10. First spot I hit was Malone Island Point Reef. The wind was blowing 5mph out of the SW and I worked my way accross the point as the sun came up. I was throwing a Purple Frenzy Popper. I had one very light take that I pulled away from the fish. After trying for 45 minutes I decided to head to Hawkbill Hump.

At Hawkbill Hump I made my first pass with the Frenzy Popper and got nothing. I switched to a pink X-Rap and caught a 25" walleye (pictured). Soon after that I caught a 15-16" smallie. My reel started giving me trouble and I switched to a white twister tail on a 1/2oz gold jig head but got nothing on this.

I got tired of fighting the wind and waves and headed into Twin Bay to hit some docks. On the 2nd dock I got the 18.5" smallie on a bubblegum Super Fluke. I just wasn't feeling to much like doing boat control and precision casting so I decided to call it a day at about 7:20am. I was satisfied with what I caught.

Fishing with Todd 6/13/07

I forgot to bring the camera, sorry no pics.
The Story:

My youngest brother Todd arrived at the house just before 6PM and we headed out to The Brothers Porky Pine for dinner. We arrived at the lake about 7PM and were under way by 7:20PM. We ran from the East access in Sullivan to Loon Sex Bay. We had a double Grumpy Old Men sighting at the GOMH. Willard and Lee Ander weren't catchin nothing. In Loon Sex Bay we got to watch two Loons chasing each other all over the place like mad dogs.

We started fishing the base of the point into Loon Sex for northerns, I caught a couple of real small one's and Todd had one flash at his spinnerbait. As we worked down the point I changed to Spro Bronze Eye Frog and connected with a 17" just off the end of the point. Todd started throwing the Bronze Eye and caught a 15". We then drifted through the middle of the bay with buzzbaits around the isolated weed clumps. I caught a pike and missed a good swirl on a spinnerbait. Todd missed a good blow up on a buzzbait. We then worked the N/NE rice bed with frogs, but that didn't get us much. At 8:40 I pulled the plug to head to the PRO.

On the way we saw a deer in the water. We arrived at the PRO river mouth right around 9PM. I tried to let Todd have first shot at the good stuff. He had a few minor blow ups but came up short. We then started into the river where I caught 4 fish on the Bronze Eye including the nights big fish at 17.5". Todd caught a 14-15" and missed several hits.

We called it quits around 9:40PM. The tally Me 5 bass and 4 Pike, Todd 2 bass with a few misses between us.

Platte/Sullivan 6/10/07

Not the biggest guy in the world but I decided to take his picture anyway.
Once again my big fish of the day is a 17incher

The Story: I got up at 4:40am and was on the water by 5:20. I forgot to tie the rope off on the trailer, so I sent the boat off into the lake. I ended up wading in to get it, thankfully the area around this access is shallow and sandy. If it would have come to it there was a boat putting in after me. It was a sunny and clear morning with a light SE breeze, but mostly it was perfectly calm.

I first hit the Crossroads reed point, didn't get a bite. Next stop was the PRO river mouth. I got a 16", 15", and 12" (picture 1) on the Spro Bronze Eye Frog. Instead of following the river in, I decided to run to Platte. My first stop was just North of the GOMH fishing the Western shore. I managed to pick up a 15" there, then headed on to the North shore of Platte. The North end of Platte looked extremely fishy but all I caught were the 17" and a 11". Around 8am I headed back to the launch.

Had the GPS out in the boat today and the trophy did manage to hit 20mph, but mostly top end was 19mph.

Rock Lake (PRO) 6/9/07

This was the first fish of the night. He gave his position away by hitting something. I moved in and capitalized. This was the only fish I got by that method tonight, though I had several tries at others.

This was my last fish on the night and the biggest by an inch.

The Story: I was up and fishing by about 6:40PM and stayed out till about 9:20PM. There was a slight SW breeze when I started which dwindled to calm. Temps in the mid 70's and the skies were mostly sunny/clear. I worked my way from East to West staying more to the North.

The action was far from fast and furious. I only caught 4 bass and these were the only serious blow ups I had. Maybe 2 other times fished swatted at the frog. Most of the time I was throwing the Bronze Eye Frog pictured; I threw the white swim jig too. All fish were caught on Kermit. The first fish was 16.5" and the last fish was the biggest at 17.5". All in all I don't think the Rock Lake PRO is holding the quality fish anymore, they have moved back into the lake.

Rock Lake 6/7/2007

The main lure of the night a swim jig either white on white or white gold w/rootbeer. This particular swim jig was soon lost to a pike or dogfish.
Big fish of the night 17.25" caught on white/white swim jig in the pads.

The Story: After a warm and thundery afternoon a cool front swept through. I got tricked into thinking the winds were going to let up, but by the time I was in the Rock Lake Pro it was gusting 15-20mph out of the SW. It was partly cloudy when I started and overcast with light sprinkles when I left with the temp falling from near 70 to the lower 60's. I fished from about 7:30pm to 9:30PM.

Things started off quickly with a first five cast 13" bass. I then missed a couple of hits by the Beaver Lodge. I slowly made my way against the wind back into the river. I missed a couple of small fish in the river then turned around and headed out. I decided to drift with the wind as I left the river. I missed a strike on the Zoom Horny Toad but I was mainly throwing a white gold swim jig with rootbeer grub. On my first drift I got a few strikes and probably caught 1 bass. I had the tail of the grub bitten off a couple of times.

I decided I would use an all white swim jig on my second drift. I quickly got hit by a 14" bass by the Beaver Lodge. I then caught a dink. As I drifted out I got a solid hit and then my line broke. I retied with another white/white swim jig. I missed a few bites, had a tail bit off and caught 2 bass including the 17" (pictured) on my second pass.

I tried a third pass but don't think I got anymore fish, though I missed a strike or two. It was getting dark and the wind was a bear so I called it quits. On my way out of the PRO I stopped to fish the South side mouth along the bullrushes and weeds I managed to get a 16" on a Spro Bronze Eye Frog.

So I got about 6-7 fish total with the 17.25" being the biggest.

Sullivan Lake 4/6/07

My alarm went off at 4:40am. I turned it off and tried to go back to sleep, but when that didn't work I got my sorry but out of bed, ate breakfast, and went fishing. I was on the water and heading to the Platte River Outlet (PRO) on Sullivan Lake. My first few casts were to the North Shore rice with a white Spro Bronze Eye Frog and they produced nothing. I made a couple of casts to the West shore rice and got nothing. I then cast to the PRO mouth just off the West side and missed a fish. On the next cast I hauled in a 17incher that had a nasty scar in the middle of it's body. I think it must have encoutered a pike as a young fish. A few casts later and I landed a 16.5incher just a little farther in the river on the West/South side. I got a 13" and a 14" off the North side, one of those fish was on the Horny Toad. I missed a couple of strikes on the Frenzy Popper as well at the PRO mouth. I headed into the river where a Beaver was swimming around and occasionally slapping it's tale. I missed a couple of hits and finally got a 15" about 300-400 yards into the river. It was starting to warm up and get pretty windy so at 7:30am I called it quits thinking that fishing would be tough.

The Trophy is ready!!!

We finished the transom repairs yesterday and so today was the inagural voyage of the Trophy for 2007. The motor didn't start on the first pull but it did start and soon I was off for a couple of hours fishing at Rock lake.

16incher takes on Kermit.

Fishing Report 6/5/2007: I arrived at the landing sometime after 7PM and put the motor through it's paces. Had a little issue with the fuel line becoming unbuttoned at the motor, but eventually got that fixed. Once I was satisfied with the condition of the motor I headed to the Rock lake Platte River Outlet (PRO). The entrence to the bay was already significantly weeded up with Rice and other weeds so the motor got bogged down pretty quick. I started at the Eastern edge of the pads and worked my way west. I was set to throw a Spro Bronze Eye, a Zoom Horny Toad, and a swim jig; I never did get around to throwing the swim jig. I fished from about 7:30 to 9:30 getting about 8-10 bass from 13" to 16". All but 1 of the bass came on the Bronze Eye (pictured), the other one came on the White Horny Toad.

During a cast, I had the reel handle come off the reel I was throwing the Bronze Eye with. Fortunatly the handle landed in the boat, but I could not find the nut
I decided to do a rod and reel switch and kept right on fishing, although my distance was significantly cut back on the replacement reel.

The action on the fish was spread out with the action improving as it got darker out. I fished a fair distance West, but about 120 yards short of the beaver dam. There was a big beaver swiming around.

Memorial Day 5/28/07 Bordon Lake

The fish that made it all worthwhile, 18"+ Smallie!!!

The Story: Once again I was to be fishing with "Shake" Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson and "Bake" Jack Halverson. The plan from the night before was to hit Bay Lake. However, we made a last minute decision at Tutt's Bait to give Bordon Lake a go. So we ended up going to Bordon flying by the seat of our pants/no lake map. As we launched the boat it started to drizzel and by our first stop it was raining with a SE wind. We hit a hump/rock pile somewhere on the western side of the lake. This spot produced a small largemouth for me on a spinnerbait and a pumkinseed for Bake on panfish plastics. After giving this spot a fair amount of effort we headed to the Western Shore line where a steep break abutted some reeds. We tried in shallow and got nothing. Along the break Bake nailed a couple of nice 12" to 14" largemouth. Shake switched to a watermelon tube and started catching 12" to 14" largemouth. We worked our way North along this reed/weed breakline with Mike catching largemouth on a steady basis. Jack struggled for panfish and I cast spinnerbaits, Flukes, Frenzy Poppers, and RattleRaps all to no avail. Finally up by the point that leads into the Western arm of the lake Jack got a single Crappie. We fished the point which had a steep break and Shake nailed several bass on the tube while Bake hit a Jack fish (Pike). We worked our way around the point along the Southern shore of the Western Arm. Mike picked up a rock bass and a couple of more larry's and that was it, I switched to a tube and started catching largemouth too. At this point the sun had come out a little bit and it was starting to warm up. Working that Southern Shore of the Western arm I got a solid tap and the fight was on with the big fish of the day; the smallmouth pictured above.

The South shore started to be more weeds than inside weedline and we weren't getting anything so we switched to the Western arms North Shore. This shore was windblown and had beautiful weeds but we could not get a spinnerbait or rattlerap to go. Jack did catch one 9" crappie, but the sunfish and schools of crappie were nowhere to be found. Eventually Jack gave up and turned over boat control to me. We started hitting points on the North shore of the Western arm. Mike and I caught largemouth on most of the points and Mike even got a 15-16" smallie. The day started to warm up significantly and the wind started to blow. Bake really wasn't into fishing and so we called it a day at about 2:30PM. The size of the Largemouth wasn't big but they provided a fair amount of action and the big smallie once again made my day.

Bass Opener Sun. 5/27/07 Mille Lacs

No skunk for me. My only Larry of the day.

Solid Smallie caught on our first reef. 18"+!!!

2nd and last smallie followed quickly on the heals of the first. (I think this is the same fish as the first pic.)

The Story: I met "Shake" Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson and "Bake" Jack Halverson at the Wahkon Park access just after 10am. It was cool bright and sunny with a brisk wind out of the NW; the wind would diminsh throughout the day, thank goodness. Upon boat launch we headed a short ways West of the launch and anchored due to the wind. Shake had hammered the panfish in this spot the previous weekend. I was fishing the reeds for Largemouth Bass with a white swim jig and Chart/White Spinnerbait. Shake and Bake were fishing panfish plastics under bobbers trying for monster Crappies and Gills. Bake got on the board first with a 10" Crappie. Neither Bake nor Shake could follow that fish up with anything. For the next couple of hours we worked ourself East along the reed bed anchoring up because of the wind; During this time Mike caught a little perch and one small bass and I got the Largemouth pictured above with the swim jig. I did miss two strikes on the swim jig, one probably from a bass and the other from a dogfish right under the boat. The fishing was not happening in the shallows at all, so we tried out a little bit farther; the wind had layed down significantly by now. On the trip farther out we saw a big smallie, but that was about it.

With the wind down we decided to hit some reefs out by Half Moon and the Twin Islands. It didn't take long and I landed a big 18"+ smallie on the Chart/Wht spinnerbait (pic above). Shortly after that fish I landed another smallie that was a little smaller. Shortly after that Bake landed a nice smallie and we thought we were off to the races. We worked the reef for another hour to hour and a half without getting anything. We tried the reef running West from Upper Twin and got nothing there. We headed back in to Wahkon to see if the panfish had moved in shallow with the warm sun and less wind. Mike caught 1 crappie and a couple of perch, but that was it. We decided to pull out and give Isle Bay a try.

Isle Bay showed us some sight fish: a couple of big muskies, 1 crappie, 1 Dogfish. We didn't catch anything. We then tried the Malone Island Reef for some smallies and got nothing. We tried one reef farther out than called it quits around 8:30PM. All in all a very slow day, but I was happy due to the two nice smallies I caught.

Lakeview Eddy's Launch 5/29/07

On 4/29 I went with Dad and the people of Lakeview Community Church on an Eddy's Launch. Dad strikes first again with a nice eater. Pictured with Launch Captain Tom.

One of the guys with a fish that had to go back. All totaled the launch had 6-8 that were to big to keep.

Dad's 2nd fish, this one may have to have gone back, 20+.

Dad with a big smile as he racks up #3

Dad packs in with #4, a good eater.

Dad catches his 4 fish limit with this one.

The Nights haul 7 plus one from 1 from Don Weinmeister.

The Story: The people of Lakeviw decided to take out a launch, this was spearheaded by Dad. It was cloudy with gathering rain showers as we headed South from Eddy's down to Rocky Reef. Our launch parked in 13ft of water and Dad landed the 3rd fish of the trip. I missed my first one of the night in this spot. After about an hour and a half of pretty sporatic action and a rainstorm we headed out by one of the other launches in about 22ft of water. In this spot Dad had the hot hand landing 3 eaters 1 over and a rock bass. On the night I went 3 keepers from 10 hits and got 1 rock bass. Dad and I did the best of anyone on the launch. We fished off the back of the launch this time and I now will seek the back out because it's easier to fish from there. All in all our launch probably landed 20+ fish with 6-8 overs and 6-8 cigars with about a dozen keepers, 7 of which were caught by Dad and I.

And God smiled on the Basspastor...

5-26-2007 Minnesota Bass Opener
The forcast was calling for descent SE winds in the morning, so I set my alarm for 5:15am thinking I might head to Mille Lacs and give Eddy's Jetty a shot for some walleyes. I managed to roll out of bed and prepare myself to go fishing. I packed a swim jig rod and spinnerbait rod thinking I would try for some smallies off the Cemetary Jetty after I got done at Eddy's. The winds didn't seem that strong when I left at 10 till 6 and I made the call on the way to hit the Cemetary Jetty first. From what I can tell Cemetary Jetty is an old boat launch and harbor that has long been forgotten in Vineland bay. I have had some success catching smallies there in the past and thought a smallie or two would be a good way to kick off the Bass Opener.

I arrived at the cemetary and took the swim jig rod and spinnerbait rod with me down to the lake. Standing on the old concrete boat launch I threw the swim jig first and got nothing. I switched to the spinnerbait and actually got a strike from something I figured to be a perch. I moved down the shore line about 30 yards and tried casting again with the spinnerbait. Much to my surprize and delight I hooked into a 12" Largemouth Bass. On the next cast I caught another one. On the next cast I got a 15 incher. A couple of casts later I nailed another 12" Larry. I've never caught a largemouth in this abandoned harbor and here I caught 4 of them. I was quite pleased.

I worked my way out along the harbor to the Jetty tip casting, but not getting anything. The wind and waves were coming in pretty good at the Jetty tip, but with the SE wind I was able to cast OK. I didn't get anything at the tip and so I started working my way down the harbor mouth. About 3/4 of the way down I got a hit from a larry bass that I saw but it missed it. On the next cast I caught a 12inch Larry. After another couple of casts I got a 14" Larry. I moved down a little farther and ended up hooking into a chunky 18.5" Larry Largemouth. I was as amazed as I was pleased. Unfortunatly I didn't bring the camera. I ended up catching two more largemouth (13" and 14"). I also did have a few more bumps from fish I may or may not have caught. I also had 1 pike bump for sure. I didn't get any smallies but the largies were almost as good. I figured I fished out the area and headed to Eddy's.

For some reason the wind and waves were not as strong at Eddy's as they had been at the Cememtary Jetty. I threw a few casts with the Purple Perch than called it quits. I didn't even try leeches because it was obviously just to calm and I didn't want to use up the leeches on perch. So I headed to the GOMH.

Just as I arrived at the GOMH there was a nice Ranger bass boat passing underneath. I didn't get to hear how they were doing. I tried the spinnerbait on the NE side and immediatly hooked into a small jumping pike. After a few more casts with nothing I switched to the swim jig, but didn't get anything on that either. I then headed across the road to the SW Sullivan side and tried a silver husky jerk for a few casts, nothing. I then switched to the same old white/chart dual willow chart 3/16 Strike King Spinnerbait and got a 10" bass. Ha 10 bass on opener from shore, not bad. Without anymore hits I switched to the swim jig which I can cast further. Another bass boat came under the bridge. They hadn't been fishing yet. I got a couple of bites on the grub of the swim jig but nothing hooked up. After a short time I called it quits.

10 Larry's from shore, alright. I'll take it.

5-24-07 Eddy's Jetty

I arrived at Eddy's around 7:30 PM it was overcast with a slight NW wind blowing. I chose to fish the North Jetty harbor mouth. I put on as little a leech as I could find and caught some perch. My bobber went down and I set the hook and felt nothing, but my hook and bead were gone, strange. As it got dark I put the light on my bobber and switched to a bigger leech. At about 9:20 my bobber went under and I landed a 22" eye. About 15 minutes later the bobber went under but I didn't connect. There were a couple of guys at the center jetty and they landed 3 small eye's. Right at 10PM I got a bite and set the hook, much to my surprize it was a giant bluegill. I didn't measure it, but it was easily over 10". With the bluegill, I called it a night and went to watch the launches come in. Eddy's had all 5 launches out on the night. Some of the launches came back with quite a few fish while a couple of them only had a couple of keepers.

Eddy's Jetty 5-19-07

I arrived at Eddy's Jetty around 7PM. When I arrived it was cool and windy from the SE. The wind however was more E than S unlike on opener where it was about even thus allowing me to cast well. With the SE wind I decided to throw the Purple Perch Husky Jerk off the North conrner, but I quickly discoved casting was difficult and it just wasn't working out unfortunatly. I elected to switch to leech and bobber off the center Jetty harbor mouth. The spray from the waves ruled out fishing from the rock outcropping and so I fished off the North Harbor center dock. Casting proved difficult and the bobber got blown about quite a bit. I did not dress warm enough and it was cool. The wind was blowing a steady 20MPH with higher gusts. Sometime around 8:15 I got a bite and missed it. About 15minutes later I nailed a 20"+ eye, so back in the drink it went. I went back to the car and got a glove for my left, rod holding, hand. At about 8:45 I missed a bite right close to where I was standing, lost the leech. About 10 minutes later my bobber went down again and I landed a 23" Walter who bit right at my feet. The wind got worse, I was cold and called it quits about 9:15PM

5-17-07 Eddy's Jetty

I headed out about 7PM and started using the rig I used last night on the launch; slip bobber, white beed and a red hook. No one was at the Jetty when I arrived and so I took the North Jetty harbor mouth. I started with small leeches and caught a couple of perch. I switched to minnows and the perch were hitting them too. Eventually I used up all the 6 or 7 minnows on perch. As it started to get dark I was hoping the eyes would move in. Nothing and then at 9:30 I got a bad tangle with the Vanish line and had to go to the truck to get another reel. As I was getting re-rigged the plastic bag holding my bobber stuff burst as I took it out of my jacket pocket, wonderful. All in all it took me about 15 minutes to re-rig. I cast out on the bobber seemed to be fine and then after a little while it went under. I set the hook and got nothing leech still there. I cast out again and the same thing happened. Apparently I had put to much weight on and I was slowly sinking the bobber. I got the right weight on with about 10 minutes left to fish. I eneded up with 0 walleye. The 3 guys fishing the center Jetty got 1 small eye.

5-16-07 Eddy's Launch Trip

Tonight Dad and I went out on an Eddy's LaunchDad draws first blood but it was only a Cigar.
Dad's first keeper of the night with our Eddy's Launch Captain Tom. Dad's second cigar goes back to the lake.
Our biggest fish. It was slightly to big to keep.
It wasn't shooting fish a barrel good, or maybe it was.
Dad with the nights haul.

The story:
The launch left the dock right around 6PM and it only took about 10minutes to reach our spot in Vineland Bay. We were sitting in about 10feet of water and we never moved from this spot until we left at quarter to 10PM. The night started quickly with a guy on the back of the launch landing a nice eye in the first couple of minutes, but after that it was a long lull. We brought our own rods but the stuff I gave Dad was having all kinds of problems so we switched him to an Eddy's rod with a red hook, no beed. I was set up with a longer rod, lighter bobber, white beed, and red hook. Finally after about an hour Dad's bobber started bobbing but all that happened was a lost leech. A little while later I landed a perch. We only got perch bites catching a couple in the first two hours. Sometime a little before 8 PM Dad reeled in our first Walter, but as the pic shows it was only a cigar. I caught a few more perch then tied into our first keeper eye of the night. Not to long after my catch Dad brought in another keeper (picture). Dad caught the next walleye as well, but it was another Cigar and it went back in the lake. I followed that up with a 14.5" keeper. Dad landed the next eye but it was just a bit over 20" and so it had to go back (picture). Shortly after that, Dad caught our forth keeper. I missed a good fish. Around 9:30PM I landed our 5th and final keeper. The launch as a whole caught a bunch of fish as the barrel of fish picture shows, about 6 fish had to go back for being to big and about 6 that I saw went back for being to small. It turned out to be a really nice night weather wise because the wind died down. Dad and I also missed lots of bites, sure some were probably perch, but some were most definitely eyes as well. I cleaned the fish when we got home.

The score: Dad 5 walleye (2keeps, 2 cigar, 1 over the slot) and a couple of perch
BP 4 walleye (3Keeps 1 cigar) and about 6 perch.

Shore Nuff: In the afternoon I hit Platte at Jenny's, Rock, Bulldog, and the GOMH. I got a small pike at Rock, a small bass at Bulldog, and two small bass on the SW side of the GOMH.

5-15-07

Got to Eddy's around 8PM and the North and Center Harbor mouth's were covered with anglers. After thinking about it a bit, I elected to try the South Jetti corner. When I first arrived there was a pretty stiff wind out of the North and so I brought the jerkbait rod thinking that after dark I may be able to get some action. I made some preliminary casts to check for rock snagging. I was definitely hitting more rock than on the North corner. After a few casts I put on a leech under a bobber. My first several drifts produced nothing. Around 9pm I started to get bite, but it was little perch. I did see a couple of eyes get caught off Center and North Harbor mouths around this time and later. As it got dark the perch bite shut off. Around 9:40PM my bobber went down and I set into a 16" eye which was barely hooked, but I landed it. I got another bite right at 10PM, but it was a cigar and I threw it back.

The launches brought in a few fish, but nothing spectacular.

Opener Report 5-12&13

Different Night Same Story: I hit Eddy's Jetti last night about 10PM armed with my trusty 6'6" Fig Rig rod and Glass Purple Perch Husky Jerk. I landed a 16 incher on my very first cast. The action was quite hot for the next hour with me landing a fish about every 5-10 minutes in between trips back to the car. A couple of guys from St. Cloud moved in on where I was fishing on the N side of the Jetty but it didn't matter as I kept right on catching fish. I ended up giving these guys 3 fish putting them 1 short of their limit.

Around midnight my back started getting sore and I headed to the truck and took about an hours rest. At this point, I had landed 8, missed one, and had a couple of hits that never hooked up. All fish were 15-19+ with a 19 and 3/4 being the biggest. As I sat in the car I watched some bobber fisherman catch 1 small eye and one nice one. I heard somebody say that a guy caught a 28.5" off the Jetty, but I didn't see that fish.

Roundabout 1AM I resumed shore casting and landed my 9th fish. The action stopped after that and my back got sore quick. Eventually, I switched to a lighted bobber and minnow. I whiffed on my first 2 bites and then pulled in a cigar. At 3AM I called it quits.

The winds of change

5-13-07: It was a windy day out of the SE for most of the day, however by the time Dad and I hit the Eddy's Jetty it had calmed significantly. Arriving around 7:30PM I got us rigged up for bobber fishing and we headed to the center Jetty harbor mouth. Dad started with a leech and I tried a minnow. It wasn't long and Dad had something pull down his bobber, but he missed it. The night progressed with Dad missing 2 more bites. Some fisherman on the North Jetty harbor mouth caught a couple and were getting many more bites than we were. The minnow was worthless and I eventually switched to the Jumbo Leech. It was getting dark by now and we had the bobbers lighted up when my float went down and I landed a 16" eye. At 10PM the Eddy's launches came back and we moved to the North Jetty where I had been catching my fish. I threw the Purple Perch while Dad kept the leech. The wind was just to calm and my jerk bait bite died. Dad got a bite and missed it. And I decided to go back to bobber fishing. Dad got a bite and pulled in a 12inch bullhead which swallowed the hook; When I took the hook out the bullhead bled all over me. After a little while I think dad missed another bite and around 11:30 he called it quits. I went to the North harbor mouth cause the guys fishing there said they were biting. After 20minutes with no action I called it a night. 1 fish that's it. We might have done better fishing during the day when the winds were howling.

5-14-07 Another windy hot day where for most of the day the winds were out of the W SW, but a front came through around 5PM switching the wind the NW and cooling things down. Dad and I headed to the Eddy's Jetti at 7PM. After a little rigging at the car, we were all set for more bobber fishing at the North Jetty harbor mouth. It didn't take long and we were getting bites... from perch. The little bait stealers were going through our remaining leeches and minnows fast. Finally, I caught a couple of the little bait stealer's. Dad got a nasty tangle which I had to cut, lots of line go bye bye. Dad went to Eddy's marina to get bobber stops and more leeches. They didn't charge much for the bobber stops and gave around 2-3 dozen leeches of all sizes for $4. I put on a smaller leech and caught a couple more perch. The wind was blowing 10-15 out of the N shortening our casting distance and moving our floats S along the Jetti fairly rapidly. I let my bobber get too far to the S and a guy fishing the center Jetty harbor mouth cast over my line and we got all tangled up with him trying to do the untangle eventually he had to cut his line. His jig head was stuck through my Fireline and I had to crimp down the barb to get it free. Eventually, it started getting dark and I had a good pick up and had what felt like a good fish on for a couple of seconds but it came off. Dad gave up about a quarter to 10 and I stuck it out till the bitter end. The people just to the north of us and the guy on the center Jetty got a small eye a piece. Disappointing trip.

Limit

The plan was Mille Lacs at Midnight from Eddy's Jetty and while the execution was not perfect. Still I had my limit by 1:30AM

The Story: I arrived at Eddy's about 5 minutes to midnight. By the time I was unloaded and ready to cast it was open season. I started off of the South end of the Jetty as that in the past I've done best from there. The wind was NOT out of the NE but the SE with pretty good size rollers coming in. I put on a size 12 Glass Purple Perch Husky Jerk. Casting into the wind proved difficult and I quickly realized this was not happening. The wind was set up perfect for casting from the North end of the Jetty, so I headed there.

Upon arriving on the North corner I started chucking long cast quartering the wind and within 10 minutes I was hooked up and landed a 15-16 incher. I took a walk to the truck to put him in the pail then headed back to the North corner. I had some spectators now and they were kind of in my back cast zone and so I couldn't fling the Husky Jerk as good. Fortunately they moved fairly quickly so I could get a full cast out. Within 5 minutes of getting my casting up to par I had a good fish on but it came off right at shore. I think I lost it due to a treble hook breaking. This was the biggest fish I had on for the night and it very well may have been in the protected slot (20+inches). I then had to chuck and wind for about another 15 minutes and I was rewarded with a 17" eye. I took him to the truck and then headed back to my spot. At this point visions of an Opener eye limit started dancing in my head.

It took another 10 to 15 minutes and I was hooked up again with another eater. As I went to lift him in it became unbuttoned and fell into the area where rock and water meet. I quickly turned on my headlamp and got after him; It was a close call but I got him before he could swim away. Once again I headed to the truck to put him in the pale.

Back to casting. After about 10 minutes I made a particularly good cast and got smacked right away by what felt to be another eater. Unfortunately it got off and my hopes of an Opener limit were back on hold. After another 10 to 15 minutes I got struck again with a 15-16 eater that got hooked along the head with all three trembles. And boom I had my limit within an hour and a half.

After putting the last dude in the bucket I headed to the North side harbor mouth where 4 guys were fishing. They had caught a couple of keepers and a couple of throw backs and 1 bullhead. I think they were all using leeches. After some small talk I headed home.

Opener Eve at the GOMH

I had to head up to Bear Trax to get some Fatheads for Midnight at Mille Lacs, so I decided to make it a twofer and hit the GOMH for some Opener Eve action. The only person there was GOM Willard and he was sitting in his car. Time was about 7:20PM.

I gave a shot at Dogfish first with the white panther. I tried the NE side, nothing. I then headed to the SW side and quickly had my line broken by what had to have been a slime rocket. I was dismayed at first, but then I thought the fish got off right by the weeds and shore, so maybe the white panther might be sitting in reachable range; Sure enough it was. I made several attempts with the short St. Croix Glass rod, but that was getting nowhere fast. I took off my shoes and sox and pulled up my pant legs and waded in. My arm got a bit wet, but that was OK because the white panther was saved. I went back to the truck to retie.

I decided to stay with the White Panther and try from the SE side. After a couple of casts I nailed a hammer handle. I deposited the fish into Platte Lake and resumed casting. After a bit of a lull I started hooking into some little jumpin bullheads. I got 5-7 of those with several missed. After another lull, I decided no doggies were gonna bite and I went to the Cubby Rod.

I cast out the bobber and couldn't get a sniff. Eventually I took the bobber off leaving me with a glow Cubby and split shot, shortly after making the change I nailed a silver bullhead. Willard had a pale and so I put it in it. A couple of casts later another silver inhaled the Cubby and now Willard had two. Willard joined me with wax worms. He got a couple of small orange bullheads. It started to sprinkle and Willard went back to the car. It was a cool and breezy night and Willard was all about staying warm.

Another guy came and started fishing the SE side; He got two silvers and a jumper. After a long Lull I nailed a nice 12" silver bully. I then quickly caught a small one that I released. On to another lull. Finally I got another on the Cubby. It was starting to get dark and very wet so shortly after that 5th fish I called it a night. All in all not bad for a couple of hours.

Fishing Report 5/2/07

Today we got the Trophy (boat) out of storage, which consisted of moving it out from the side of the Pole Barn into a garage door in the Pole Barn. Upon getting it out I noticed that the pin for the transom saver was missing. I was at a loss and nearly went into a panic. Fortunately I found the pin in the rolled up boat cover. Once we got the boat in the garage door Dad set about looking over the transom and I gave the boat a much needed vacuum job. The transom was not in as bad a shape as Dad thought it might be, but still he equated it to "an accident waiting to happen." Dad is going to reinforce the transom and that should make it all better. Hopefully the boat will be ready by Bass Opener.

We headed to the GOMH about 7:20 and it was windy (NE) and cool getting cooler. Lee Ander was there along with two other guys fishing the SW side. Dad and I went down on the SW side. Word was that things were slow. Dad missed the first fish when it bit his jig off. Shortly after that Dad landed a little Nort, which I released on the other side of the bridge. I landed our first silver bullhead and gave it to Lee Ander. The wind was nasty and would move our bobbers off to the west fairly quickly, it was annoying. At one point I gave the SE side a try, but after getting nothing and losing my minnow I headed back. While I was away Dad did catch a silver. Dad and I both caught a silver. When I was reeling mine in, the line got caught with Dad's and made a royal mess. I cut my line and ended up having to cut Dad's too. We called it a day at that point as that fishing was slow and it was getting cold.

Fishing Report 4/30/07 (Dad at GOMH)

Got to the GOMH at about 7:20 and was dropped off by Dad so he could check on the Platte Lake house. When I arrived, two guys were sitting on the SW side with an empty chair; it turns out there were two ladies with the guys taking a potty break. The SE area of the GOMH was well covered by a boat. I elected to go down and take what was left of the SW side by the empty chair. I put on a minnow and got a bite immediately, which I promptly missed. When the hook popped free, I nearly whacked one of the other guys, and my bobber came whizzing in. I lost my split shot in that process, so now my bobber would lay on its side. My tackle box with the split shot was with Dad in the car.

I put on another minnow and quickly caught a silver bullhead, giving it to the two guys. At this point, I elected to stop using minnows and conserve them for Dad because he would be coming down after he checked the house; there weren't many minnows left. While fishing with just the Glo Cubby Mini-Mite, I caught a few oranges and one silver. The guys to my left were bringing in a silver every few minutes, and the SE side boat was catching them too.

Dad arrived, and I got a split shot so my bobber would stand up. We both fished the SW side. He started getting silvers on the crappie minnows, and I got oranges on the un-tipped jig. Shortly after Dad arrived, the two ladies came back, thus crowding the SW side. I decided to go over and fish what was available on the SE side. On the SE side, I caught one orange bullhead, gave up after about 15 minutes, and returned to the SW side. As I was returning, a guy fishing the NE side brought in a 5lb dogfish.

On the SW side with Dad, I started tipping my jig with minnows again and immediately began catching silvers. Dad was mainly missing bites. The guy in the boat on the SE side landed a dogfish. The two guys and two ladies were steadily bringing in fish, and with Dad and my help, they reached their 40-fish limit, so they left. It was getting dark by this point, and I only caught and released a couple more fish. Dad missed a few. When it got sufficiently dark, Dad and I decided to leave. We had two live minnows left.