A Little Rain and Bad Luck

I headed out at 6PM and I was the only one at the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  About 6:20 it started to sprinkle and then became a steady light rain.  I missed my first 3 hits, they were on the SE side so I shifted all my stuff there.  First fish was this pretty green jumpin bullhead that hit a jig and minnow beneath a bobber.

I then got a little pike on the jig and minnow

The toothy bullhead actually broke my line but that was after I had him up on shore.  It did almost get back in the lake though.  Quite a bit later the bobber went under and I brought up this silver bullhead.

Unfortunately when I was lifting it in my line broke and the jig went flying into the rocks and disappeared.  Because it was cold and getting dark I had trouble trying to put on a new jig.  Eventually I gave up trying and threw a beetle spin after about 5 minutes of that I gave up for the evening.  It's really unfortunate I couldn't get another jig tied because I think I might have gotten more.

Some Action Anyway

Today was sunny but cool.  I headed out just after 5PM and went to Rock first.  I immediately caught this pike that had a hook in it's jaws.  It  must have broken off some how by the swivel.  I was hoping it was going to have a Cubby that I had cut off last week, but it didn't.  That was my only bite.

At 6PM I headed to the GOMH and there was 2 guys on the SW side and 2 on the SE side.  I went on the SW side.  Neither group had gotten anything.  Around 6:30 a guy got a jumpin bullhead. They left 10 minutes later.  At 7PM the guys next to me left.  2 other guys showed up around 7:15PM.  It was starting to get dark and I got a jumpin bullhead that got off right next to shore.  About 5 minutes later I landed this one:

15.5"

It got cold quick with the sun going down, so I didn't stay until it got dark dark out.

Rock Dock is in and GOMH

Today was sunny in the morning with wind blowing pretty good out of the SW,  it got to 65 before turning cloudy in the afternoon.  I headed out to fish at 6PM.  First stop was a Rock Lake and much to my surprise the Rock Dock was in the water.

 I was surprised because 2 years ago when the ice went off the lake early it took more than a month for it to be put in the water.  Fishing off the dock I got a pike and a bass.

I headed to the GOMH at 7PM and landed 3 jumpin bullheads including this 16" which was the biggest

We Got Something!

Today was much cooler than it's been especially after another cold front moved through today.  We headed to the GOMH just after 6PM.  We as in Pete and I as Pete is still hear, he was supposed to leave on Friday night.
When we got there 4 guys were fishing 2 on each of the South side and nothing was happening.  I went down on the SW side and eventually a  couple of small orange bullheads were caught next to me.  I did get a bite around a quarter to 7PM but missed it.  Pete went to fish on the SE side.

Finally at about 7:30 Pete got a silver bullhead and I got a small jumpin bullhead.  I then landed a small silver bullhead from the same spot.  Pete landed another silver and I missed a good bite.  After it got dark we both picked up another silver on lighted bobber.  We left around 8:30PM.

Dog Day at the GOMH

Looky what I caught this morning.

27.5 inches

I caught this Fin on a Cubby jig head no plastic with a little piece of minnow that was torn up because of the "bullheads" I'd been catching on it.  It took me about 10 minutes to get it in.  Then once I got it in when I went to reach down for the camera it bit my jacket, so I had to grab the pliers to get it unstuck.  I released it.

16.75"

  I got this one eyed jumpin bullhead along with 3 others and I also got this silver bullhead along with 5 others and 5 or so orange bullheads.  All came on Cubby with a minnow or piece of a minnow, but only 2 jumpers and 2 silvers came with the plastic on the jig.

Evening trip: I got out from 5:30 to 8:30 tonight.  The South side was loaded with people and there were about 7 boats.  People on the SW shore were catching them along with the boat closest to that shore.  I just watched for 15 minutes then went to fish the North side and got nothing.  By the time I got to the South side again it clouded up when a cold front came through and the fish quit biting.  I got one silver and a guy next to me got a smaller dogfish that he killed.  I saw a boat catch a fin as well.  Very slow.

Today with Pete and then not with Pete

Today I fished with Pete in the morning from 6:15am to 10am.  The silver bullheads showed up and we got 5 a piece.  I got 5 jumpin bullheads and Pete got a couple. I also got 2 orange bullheads.

Pete with his prize catch

Same Fish

Then tonight I headed out alone at 6PM after dropping off filets for Jenny.  I was alone because Pete was supposed to be going home (didn't happen).  Fishing wasn't great as I got 1 silver and 4 jumpin bullheads.  My friend Mike B. was there, he got a bunch of jumpers.  A couple guys showed up and whacked some orange bullheads.  Guys fishing the North side got jumpin bullheads and some silvers as well.

Here's one of the evening jumpers

Pete's Silver Duece

Didn't get out until after 6PM which worked out alright because fishing wasn't great and there was nobody else fishing but the guy we saw last night and he got there after 7:15PM.  I had a small flurry of 3 jumpin bullheads and missed a couple of hits.  All Pete got were these two silvers on a jig n minnow.  The other guy got a couple of jumpers.  We left at around 8:30PM

Silvers, Jumpers, Orange, and Toothy Bullheads

This morning I headed out a little before 7AM.  Pete didn't want to go and I should have left sooner.  Right away I missed a bite and then I landed two silver bullheads quickly.  I thought it was gonna be on like Donkey Kong.

Pic taken later in the Morning

But then I caught this jumpin bullhead and it was all over.

Then I snagged an orange bullhead and caught several more jumpers

Not the actual fish

And I ended out the morning with my first toothy bullhead of the year after loosing two Cubby's to the first two that bit my line.

I ended just a bit before 10AM

1st Silver Bullhead of the Year

Today Pete and I fished from about 1 to 3PM at Jenny's, Don's, Rock, and the GOMH.  I saw some small sunfish at Rock and a little pike and I presumably had my pink Cubby and a minnow bit off by a pike.  We saw  Kuske at the bridge.  That was it for action.

We headed back out at 6PM

When we got there was 2 guys fishing the SE side.  That got a jumpin bullhead and told us crappies were biting at Little Rock Lake.

Pete was 1st on the board with a jumpin bullhead.  He got it on a beetle spin.

3lber

Next up was me getting a high 4lb JB on my Panfish Chatterbait. Chatterbait is in it's lip.

A while after that Pete and I got doubles on 2lb jumpin bullheads.  Another guy showed up and started fishing the SE with me.  He was at the steps and I was on the Eastern shore.  He caught a jumper on his minnow and I went back to the SW side with Pete.  The other guy got a couple more jumpers and I missed a bite on my glow Cubby and minnow.  An Eagle flew over and circled and then we noticed another Eagle up in a tree just to the West of us.  Eventually I got another bite and it was quality silver bullhead.

A little while later I got another on the Cubby.  Kevin Wotceck showed up and said he was getting fish at Fish Lake;  He didn't fish.  The guy across the way got a silver which he ended up giving to us.  I didn't get any bites on the lighted bobber and Pete was so busy messing around with his to be worthless.  One other guy came by and saw we were getting fish.  I expect their will be a crowd tomorrow provided it doesn't rain.

Orange Bullhead Today

Today Pete and I headed to the GOMH a little before noon.  This was the first bullhead of the day.  Kind of surprised me on the Cubby.  A couple minutes later I pulled a jumpin bullhead off of the same spot.  About an hour later I got another jumper on a beetle spin.  Pete caught a jumper on the SE side while trying to retrieve a jig that was stuck on leftover cattail.

Hopefully it won't rain and we can go back this evening.

1st Bullhead of the Year

16"+

 I got lucky in that the rain held off after a brief shower, so I got back out for one last try and this bullhead was the result.  As you can tell from the pic, she bit when it was almost to late to see the bobber.  The pic makes it look darker than it actually was.  That's a pink Cubby Mini-Mite in her upper jaw.

This is my earliest 1st fish catch since moving North.

Bass Snatcher Win!!! The 2011 Challenge Cup@ Fishtrap Lake

(Bill Ludenia, Mark Munson, Dennis Lothspeich, Charles Steinbauer, and me. (Missing is Tony Bauer) Well, Team Baxter Bass Snatchers has done it again and won the Challenge Cup Tournament that pits the Brainerd area bass fishing clubs against one another. I fished the Challenge Cup Tournament in 2009 on Mission Lakes and 2010 on Sylvan Lake, and we won the Cup those years as well. Previously, when I fished, only the Snatchers and Range Bassmasters were fishing against one another, but this year, the Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters showed up to fish. The Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters had the Challenge Cup Trophy, so I had never seen it before; As you can see in the picture, it's quite large. Here is how it went down: Baxter Bass Snatchers 66-5 Range Bassmasters 60-8 Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters 53-12 Normally each club provides 6 anglers to fish, and the Challenge Cup winner is decided by the best total team weight, but one of the other clubs was a person short; Because of that, only the 5 best weights for a team counted towards each teams weight total this year. We went by the Range Bassmaster Club's rules this year, which meant a 5 fish limit. I had the Bass Snatchers worst bag, so my limit didn't count towards our winning total. 1st Place was taken by Snatcher Chuck Steinbauer with 14-14 2nd Place was Ranger Kevin Tengwall with 14-12 3rd Place was Snatcher Dennis Lothspeich with 14-8 Big Bass was 4-9.5 and caught by Ranger Mandy Uhrich, who was in Brainerd Lakes Jim Eide's boat. She caught the fish around 9:30am on these Chompers Tubes:Mandy bought the tubes the day before at Gander Mountain just for this tournament. She had never used these tubes before but thought they looked good. I don't know if it was her instincts or training as a biologist, but she obviously made the right call. My Day: The forecast was for clouds, showers, and possible thunderstorms with 10-15mph wind out of the SE and temp starting in the mid-'50s and getting above 70. Temps were on the money, and we had showers and clouds in the morning, but around 11:30am, the sun came out and never left. Wind speeds were about right but out of the NE for most of the day. I was supposed to be paired with Ranger Boater Brian Smude, but he dropped out, so I fished with Ranger Jeremy Bjorgaard in his boat. While his boat wasn't much to look at, it was actually really nice to fish out of as a non-boater. Jeremy was a good guy, and he went out of his way to try and make sure I caught fish. Still, he kicked my butt pretty good with a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube. Jeremy had pre-fished and was pretty confident we would be on quality and numbers. Our first spot, actually the very same first spot I fished the only other time I had been on Fishtrap Lake in the Fall of 2007, was a bullrush Island on the South end of the lake. We went around the whole thing keeping our distance, and Jeremy got the first keeper in the boat on a spinnerbait. After we got around the whole thing, we moved in closer so we could pitch with a vertical presentation. Jeremy confessed that he thought we would both have a limit after one pass. I started throwing a green pumpkin jig with an orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug trailer and was rewarded with a nice 15.25 fish. That was the last fish we got on the bullrush Island. Next, we went to a reed bed off the end of a point. Jeremy caught a small keeper on a blue/black crawtube which he immediately threw back. I had my green pumpkin crawtube get a bit off by a pike. Next, we went to some reeds that were around an Island. I got a 14.5" bass on the jig with Wooly Bug. I missed a hit on a Herb's Dilly Buzzbait, and Jeremy got a nice bass on the Island's backside on a spinnerbait. Next, we went to another Island to an inside turn that went to a reed point. Jeremy proceeded to whack the fish while all I could muster was a dink and 12.25" swimmer. It was kind of ugly as Jeremy must have gotten 10 good fish to my 2, and we were both throwing black/blue crawtubes. Next, we went to a weedline where Jeremy had gotten a couple of good fish in pre-fish. We were working our way up the side of a point where I told Jeremy we had caught fish the last time I was on the lake. Just about a minute later, I had a hit on my spinnerbait and brought in a 12.5" swimmer. Jeremy said I pretty much called my shot. Next, we went back to our starting spot. I finished off my limit with a 14.5" on a spinnerbait, and I had my green pumpkin jig bit off by a pike. I suggested we work the nearby weed flat with the wind blowing on it. We were throwing spinnerbaits, and I starting catching pike, including a nice one we both thought was a bass at first. Jeremy got the first bass, and then a couple of minutes later, I got a 15.75", which was my big fish of the day. We worked up to another tournament boat, and they said they hadn't gotten any bass on blades. At that point, the sun came out, and we headed to a weedline where Jeremy got quality fish in his pre-fish. It was dead. We went to another weedline on the North end, and that was pretty dead until we got to an inside turn, and Jeremy pulled two fish in quick succession, but then that was it. Next, we headed to a saddle with a reed island. The wind was blowing in on it, and it just looked prime. I got a 14.75 on a spinnerbait, and I was thrilled to have the 12 inchers out of the boat. On the backside of the reed island, Jeremy pulled his big fish of the day on the crawtube. We worked along the backside of the saddle, but nothing was home. We went to another weedline, where I missed a couple of bites on the crawtube. Our last stop was the inside turn, where Jeremy whacked them earlier in the day. I missed a bite that hit almost the second the crawtube hit the water. I decided to throw the Repo Man, and I had a fish smack it, but not hook up. I threw back with a crawtube and got bit, but I pooched it, and that was it for the day. I think I had 9-12 or 9-14, which was on the small side for this day. Jeremy beat me by a little over 3 pounds. As I said, my weight got tossed, and we won, so it's all good.

Great Night at the GOMH

It has been very warm the last few days and so I wanted to get out. Couldn't last night with Dad getting home from the hospital. Today I had to go to the chiropractor again (I went yesterday) and then had to organize tackle for the Fishers of Men Fall Outing. I wasn't able to head out until well after 5PM, so I didn't take to boat but went to the GOMH with the intention of fishing there and at Jenny's.

I decided to start on the SW side and I noticed the water level was now down to about normal high. We haven't had any rain in more than a month. On my very first cast with a watermelon/red Tonka Tackle Halo Crawtube I knocked out this 15.5 jumpin bullhead.

I kept casting and on a cast across out from the bridge I had a pick up and brought in a 15" jumpin bullhead. Quite aways out on the edge of the slop something got blown up on. I thought maybe I could cast there with the Mad Maxx Frog on the Lamiglas Excel set up, but there was a bit of an incoming wind and I would have needed a tail wind to get it that far. I started casting "Big Sexy" about. On a cast across to some matted weeds I had a wake and then eruption. Nice!


It was regular big headed, but skinny 19" bullhead. It jumped several times, so I knew it was big. To bad it was so skinny. Probably went about 3.50lbs.
I went over to the SE side and tried a Zoom Horny Toad and had a big pike jump out of the water at it. I didn't want to lose the toad, so I didn't cast back.

Next I went to the NE side and started slinging the Crawtube. It took a few casts but I was rewarded with a 14.75" jumpin bullhead, then a 16" jumpin bullhead. I made a cast across to the rip rap and something took it right away. I set into a good fish.
I didn't realise how good it was until I had it out of the water. It was a filled out 19.75" and easily over 4.50lbs. Yes Derby Fish!!!

I proceeded to catch another 16" and a 14.25". I tried working a frog down the road but didn't get any hits. It might have gotten too dark.

Trophy Night

It was a warm day and I needed to make sure the Trophy was running for the Fishers of Men Fall Outing this weekend, so I headed out a bit after 3PM. I stopped at the GOMH and I think I missed a couple of hits. I wasn't on the water until a little after 4PM. My original plan was to run docks in the big West bay but there were not many docks left in the lake.

At the first dock, I thought the Fluke got picked up but I set into nothing. No follow up bite. I worked in-between docks with a spinnerbait and Stanley Phantom (spook). At the second dock I had something boil on the Fluke but it didn't get it. I think it might have been a pike as I couldn't get a follow up. The 3rd Dock didn't give up anything. I was working to the next dock with the Phantom when this 18" blew it up.

It was a solid fish and I was off to a great start. The next dock had a pontoon boat on a lift and I casted underneath the side of the pontoon. I felt pressure and set the hook into something that felt good but then I got hung up. I had to break off.

Next I went into a field of pads and pulled out a nice 17.25" on a White Zoom Horny Toad. After that I think I got bit off by a pike and I switched to black and white swirl Horny Toad. I worked out on to the weed flat to some reeds and then back to a single dock. I pulled a 17.5" off the dock with the Horny Toad. The action hadn't been fast and furious, but these were nice fish and I wasn't even to prime time yet. I worked my way West and had a couple of nice follows from who knows what. I caught a small pike and on the last dock I pulled 3 bass from 11" to 14". I worked some of the most awesome looking rice, reeds, and pads but nothing was going. I worked my way out to where I saw a good swirl earlier, but nothing was home. It was getting dark and the skeeters sucked. I made a beeline for the standing weeds in the middle of the bay. I did well around that stuff late in the day last fall. As I was working my way around I had a swirl that didn't connect with the Phantom. I cast back and slowly worked the bait and it punched it. I think it was a nice bass, but it came off. That was the last bite.

As I was heading out in the dark I shut the cooler lid on one of my Shimano Crucial rod tips and broke it off. No warranty coverage from Shimano for that suck! Should have bought a St. Croix instead. And later the same night I just missed getting an awesome deal on St. Croix Avid Pearl 6'8". $80 shipped, are you kidding!!!!

B.B.S. Birch(Hackensack) Oct. 1st.

Conditions: Cool and clear Morning with moderate wind out of the SE growing to 15-20mph throughout the day.

We blasted everybody off as we were last boat out and we went right to our planned starting spot, which was the weed flat to the SW of the public access. Nobody else went that way. I put on a Paycheck Baits Repo Man "drag stripper" and within the first 10 minutes I had 15" bass in the boat. Within the next 10 minutes I had number two in the boat. My boater Owen then quickly caught 2 on a spinnerbait and we thought we were on to something, but it just died. Maybe we moved off the best area a little to quick. Unfortunately the two fish I pulled from this spot in pre-fish were both 16.5".

Next we headed into the West basin to the spot where Owen got his hawg in pre-fish. I saw a lot of baitfish, but we came up empty. We worked up to the other point and I had a hit on a crawtube, but didn't hook up. I cast back and got another quick pick up and drop. The crawtube had a pretty good rip in it, so it was probably a pike. As we were working down the point along the reed line. Owen brought in a small keeper bass and then so did I (12.5")on a black spinnerbait.

Next we headed to a point farther South where I wanted to go in and work the slop. We started along the point and I pulled a pike on the spinnerbait. Owen caught a bass a few minutes later out of about the same spot. We got down into the start of the slop and there were some reeds on both sides of the boat. I made a cast with a Zoom Horny Toad out into the lake and had a fish nail it right before I was out of the reeds. Wouldn't you know it but it got hung up. I watched the fish struggling back and forth and then it pulled free. I really should have muscled that one more. It wasn't a huge bass but it was a quality one probably around 2lbs or more. I was really hoping the slop would go, but it was dead. We worked some awesome looking stuff with wind blowing on it, but there was nothing there. On a long cast out across the weed flat with the spinnerbait I had a hit and brought in one just over 14". We then worked down in the wind along the weeds. I did have a nice bass that I could have used nip at a Cordell Spot and I got a couple of pike on the spinnerbait.

We got down around the big Island and I made a cast up by a buoy and got nailed by a 14.5". It seemed like a spot were a school might stack up, but that was the only one there. As we worked back around the island I had another bass that I could have used nip at the spinnerbait and not hook up. We got around the Island to where it was calm and I started throwing the Repo Man, but there was so much debris in the water that I kept getting hung up. We got a little past the debris field and I caught a small pike, then a 12.5" squeeker bass. I was glad to have a limit.

We only had a couple of hours left and with those topwater bites I thought maybe our starting spot would go, so we went there. I worked through several topwaters and couldn't get a hit. Finally Owen pulled a quality bass on a spinnerbait and I switched. I caught a 10 inch pike. We drifted along and I had one last good hit, but it got off about half way in.

Results: I thought I had 9 something, but my fish only went 8-12, which put me in 15th which was my worst finish of the year. Owen only had 5 for 7-00 which put him in 17th place. The winner had 15-8 and a little over half the field had 10lbs or better. Obviously we missed the quality fish.

Top 6 Race- Bill Ludenia placed 6th which tied us for 6th place in end of the year points (best 5 of 6 tournaments). Bill owned the tie breaker, so I dropped to 7th and out of "the wood". It's my bad as had I not counted that live fish as dead at Cullen I would have been in 6th free and clear. Also if all 6 tournaments counted than I had one more point, one more fish, and .88lbs more than Bill, so I actually had the better year statistically. I know I deserved 6th Place and I get to fish on the Bass Snatcher Challenge Cup Team, so it's all good.

Analysis- I don't think I was necessarily doing the wrong things in this tournament. We just spent far to much time on bad water. Some of that water I don't regret trying because it really seemed fishy. Our bites were just so random that there was nothing to key on. I am still flabbergasted that I was unable to pull a few fish on topwater at the end of the day. Between tournament day and pre-fish we may have just sucked that flat dry.

Gomh and Jenny Sept 28th

I don't remember this trip very well because I am blogging it a week later than I went. It was a good trip. I started at the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 6PM and there was no current and there was algae scum on the waters surface on both sides of the bridge but not everywhere. It had been a warm day and was calm by the time I fished. I think there were light winds that day. It was basically a trip to get my mind off Dad's by-pass surgery which would be the next day.

I started on the NE side per usual and I got this 14" jumpin bullhead on a watermelon/red flake Big Bite Baits Bio Bait Crawtube.
I think it was 14"
I think I might have gotten one more fish on the NE side and missed a couple of hits.

I then went to the SW side and pounded out 5 jumpin bullheads Crawtube from 12" to 14.75". I missed a few bites too.

The action died and I still had sunlight so I headed off to Jenny's. On my very first cast I had a hit on an orange and brown Zoom Horny Toad, but I missed it. I cast right back and it smoked it again. It was this fish:
I think it went 15". The toad came off, so instead of digging out a new bait I switched rods to a Mad Maxx "Big Sexy". I proceeded to pull a 14"+ from the same general area. I went over to Jenny's neighbors and popped a 16"+ that was in kind of close to shore. I think I missed one hit and also a pike try.

GOMH & Jenny's

I headed out fishing around 4:30pm today. My first stop was the GOMH it was cloudy and windy out of the S SW. Around 5:30pm it started to sprinkle then light rain and the wind really came up for about 10 minutes. It then sprinkled off and on for the rest of the night with a pretty good wind.

I started on the NE side and the first lure I tossed was the bubblegum Ebay Chatterjig and I got a 12" jumpin bullhead on that.

I fished on the SW side and broke off a toothy bullhead that hit a grass craw Tonka Tackle Halo Craw Tube. I went back to the NE side and rigged up another grass craw Crawtube and got a 11.5" jumpin bullhead on that.

I casted around with a "big sexy" Mad Maxx Frog but didn't get any hits on that. I then switched up to a yellow nose/black River2Sea Bully Wa frog and got this 15.25" jumpin bullhead on that out of the pads.
I did have another hit in the same area but it didn't hook up. I started working East casting from the road and that is when it got rainy and windy. I traveled down the road quite a ways fishing in the various openings and it all looked good because there is no rice there this year. It's just sporadic pads turning into a big field of pads at the last and biggest opening to the East. I had one slap at it and missed one good hit at the end of a long cast. I don't know why I haven't fished this stuff earlier as it looks good.

I got to Jenny's about a quarter to 7PM. Over at her neighbors I had a pike go loco over a Zoom Horny Toad but it didn't get it. The pike jumped out of the water at it 3 times. I then went to the Bully Wa and got 2 nice bass on that out of the rice on long casts. I left around a quarter after 7PM.

Erskine, Bulldog, Jenny's Not Much

After getting skunked at the Grumpy Old Man Hole last night I figured I would change it up for this evenings shore fishing excursion, so I headed to Erskine. I arrived at about a quarter to 7PM and started out throwing a brown/orange Zoom Horny Toad. On about my third cast the Pike in the picture hit it. Well I wasn't going to be skunked two nights in a row. A few casts later I had a very small pike or bass hit the toad. When I set the hook the fish went skipping along the lilly pads and came off. That was it for Erskine.

I tried Bulldog, nothing.

Last stop was Jenny's. First I tried the Horny Toad, nothing. Next I threw a white Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. I did get a hit on that but when I set the hook it came up empty. As it was starting to get dark I went with the Mad Maxx Frog. I made a cast over by where I got the hit and sure enough a pike went airborne while missing the frog. That was the extent of the action.

The Kathio State Park Dam

There is a dam on the Rum River on the South end of Ogechie Lake in Kathio State Park. I've known this dam exists, but have never tried to fish it because I didn't feel like paying the fee to get into the park. However this year with the success I have had at the Shakopee Lake bridge over the Rum I figured I better check out what I have been missing. It's $5 for a day pass and $25 for a 1 year pass; Your first $5 day pass can be applied to a year pass.

Today was cold and windy, so I wasn't going to take the boat out to Platte/Sullivan, so I figured today would be as good a day as any to check out the dam. I arrived at Kathio around 1:30PM and after paying my dues and one wrong turn I made it to the proper parking lot. It's about an 1/10th of a mile hike from the parking lot to the dam. Thanks to looking at Google Earth I was aware of this and had packed my tackle into my small bag. I brought 6 rods with me.

The wind was out of the NW which meant the dam was sort of protected a bit. The water is on the high side and flowing fast. I started out throwing topwaters but didn't get any hits. Next I put on a Strike King Pure Poison with a Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty trailer. On my very first cast I had a good fish on. What would it be? Smallie? Largie? Pike? Muskie? Walleye? Carp? Dogfish? It kind of got caught up in some grass by shore, but I was able to pull it through and it was a nice largie.

It was a hefty 18.25" and with that being the 1st cast I thought I might be in for a whackfest. However I soon discovered there were not a bunch of fish stacked up and waiting to bite. Eventually I lost the Pure Poison to a snag. I cycled through a bunch of lures over the next couple of hours without a hit. Eventually I put on a pink chatterbait knock off that I bought on Ebay a couple of years ago. I made a long cast across the river and got hit by this little pike.
A little while later it started to sprinkle and then rain, so I went and stood under a tree as I didn't have raingear with me. After about 15 minutes the rain stopped and I went back to fishing. After about 10 minutes a guy showed up to fish. Unfortunately this was his first time fishing there, so he couldn't give me any information about how the spot fishes throughout the season. After about 10 minutes it started raining bb to pea sized hail. That lasted about 5 minutes then it rained for a couple of minutes and quit. At that point I had enough as I was wet and getting cold. I left around 5PM.

On the way in and out I hit the Shakopee bridge, but it was dead except for a hit from a very small pike.

Good Night At the GOMH

I headed out of the house a little before 7PM and my first stop was the Grumpy Old Man Hole. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the South. Per usual I set up on the NE side. I started out throwing something new; A watermelon/red Big Bite Baits Bio Bait Crawtube. The BBB Crawtube is made of a biodegradable plastic that has "Bio Bait" scent which is slimy and stinks. They are on sale at Tackle Warehouse for $1.99 a pack and since I was getting some other things I couldn't resist picking up a few packs at that price plus a 15% discount for Labor Day. They are 4" just like a Lake Fork Crawtube, but they are more compact and less bulky than a Lake Fork CT.

Crawtubes have been my #1 bass catcher this season and obviously I was hoping these inexpensive baits would be fish catchers. I fished for about 10 minutes without a sniff and then on a cast to the middle of the channel just out from the bridge something nailed it, but when I set the hook nothing was there. I kind of figured it was a pike, but I kept casting to the area anyway. On about the 7 cast back something picked it up and this time I hooked it and it was a good fish.

She went 18.5". GOM Willard drove up just as I was taking pictures. He congratulated me on the nice fish and told me he had gotten a couple of jumpin bullheads yesterday, but nothing that big. I let her go and resumed fishing. A couple minutes later I had another hit and brought a 14"+ jumpin bullhead in. I offered it to Willard, but he didn't want it. A couple of casts later I got an 11" jumpin bullhead. After about 5 more minutes with nothing I headed to the South side. I got a couple of nibbles, but nothing to set the hook into. By the time I got back to the NE side it was getting dark pretty quick. I decided to throw a frog and on about the 3rd cast it got belted good up in the rice. It was obviously another good fish.


Choked the "Big Sexy" Mad Maxx

This one went 18.75"

I did get one more hit on the frog in the pads, but I think it was a pike. It got dark fast and I left a little after 8PM.

Rooster, Turkey, Duck, Geese, Dogs

Got out before the sun rise this morning. First stop was the Bulldog PA. No Luck even though on a long cast I was able to get close to a spot where a fish came up. Next I went to Erskine. I started throwing a Zoom Horny Toad. There was a rooster crowing for a while, then I was joined by a turkey and ducks started quacking from the same direction as the rooster.. I had a couple of hits on a black/yellow River2Sea Bully Wa frog but I couldn't convert. A bunch of geese flew over me fairly low. I caught a pike on a white Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig off the dock. Right after that I had a small bass on that got off. On the next cast to the exact same spot I got a bigger bass, but it came up and tailwalked and spit the hook. Soon after that a pug showed up and I could see a boxer over by the houses. The turkey followed me around. Didn't get anymore hits.

I went to Rock, nothing.

I went to Jenny's, nothing even though there was some fish activity.

Got home a little after 9AM.

Morning Froggin'

Yesterday I got my replacement rod from St. Croix for the frog rod I broke in July (I didn't mail it until the end of last week). So this morning I wanted to go out and throw a few casts to break it in. I decided the reel I'm putting on this St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Carolina Rig Rod is better suited to a weighted hook with a dipper rather than an unweighted Zoom Horny Toad, so that is what I rigged it up with. My older LTB Carolina Rig Rod was rigged with the Horny Toad.

A little after 7AM I headed out to Jenny's. Nothing doing on the Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig and the Horny Toad. The lure of last resort was a Mad Maxx Frog which I can throw out quite a bit further than the 1st two lures I tried. Getting out farther was the trick and I had a blow up which I missed. I cast out to the same general area and something exploded on it again and this time I hooked up.


It was a chunky 15.5". I did manage to get a couple of other weak hits, but didn't hook up with them. I think I left around 9AM

Small GOMH

Headed out to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. Water is down just a bit but still really high even though we haven't had any rain in the past couple weeks. First order of business was testing a new topwater lure called a Ball Frog from Balsley Lure Company. Didn't get anything on that. Went through a battery of baits before catching this 10" jumpin bullhead on a Tonka Tackle Halo Crawtube.

This was all I caught. It seems that the fish may have vacated the GOMH for the year. I can't say I've ever done well there in the Fall.