Two Follows and One Hit From a Bird at Mille Lacs

The carnage at the North Side of Eddy's Jetty (Click to Enlarge)

Today I fished at Mille Lacs from shore from 5-9PM, with a break to eat dinner at Subway.  I started off fishing at Eddy's Jetty.  I fished off the South and off the North Jetty tonight.  I had a seagull try and grab my jerkbait that was fouled in my line as I was retrieving it.  I also saw a school of large suckers swim past.  It's to bad there isn't a largemouth within a mile of Eddy's because it would have been on that tree in the water.

After I had dinner I went to Cemetery Jetty.  The water is so high I couldn't get out and fish off the tip and unfortunately the ice didn't come in and lay waist to brush that has been growing there.  I did spook something in the old harbor.  On consecutive casts I had follows by absolute beast of a muskie and then a smallmouth on the same KVD jerkbait I got the pike on yesterday.  This muskie could have eaten that pike.  So any muskie fishermen that read my blog, the Cemetery Jetty is the point just to the North of where the Rum River flows out of Vineland Bay.  I've also seen huge muskie at Eddy's Jetty before.  A loon also came by twice.  I pulled off one wood tick going out and 5 and 1 deer tick on my way back

After leaving Mille Lacs I went to the GOMH and got skunked there as well.

Painfully Slow at the GOMH, Eddy's Jetty Big Pike

20.5"

This afternoon I fished at the GOMH from 3:30 to 5:30PM and all I got was this toothy on the NE side.  Not even a hit on the SE side or at Bulldog or Jenny's.  A few oranges were being caught by people in boats and the daughter.  Most boats didn't seem to be getting anything.

I decided to take my evening trip to Mille Lacs at Eddy's Jetty hoping for some smallies or walters.  The Hotel and Restraunt are now completely torn down.

I arrived at around 8PM.  The second lure I threw was a strobe shad Strike King KVD Jerkbait and a rather beat up 35" or so pike hit it.  It didn't put up much of  a fight, but I could tell it was a big fish.

Yes that is ice on the North Jetty

I got to see a nice sunset, but no smallies or walleye's showed themselves.  As required by law I quit fishing at 10PM

Even Slower Evening at the GOMH

Fished from 7:45-10:00PM
Conditions- Temp in the high 40's, light west wind, most sunny to partly cloudy

When I arrived they were putting in the channel buoy's on the Platte Lake side.  They couldn't find the holders for 4 of the bases.  There was only one car on each of the South side. I talked with a guy who was walking his dog, he was going to come down early Saturday morning.  There were two boats out and a guy and his gal on the SE side, and the Dad and daughter on the SW side.  He said it had been awful slow.  A couple of jumpin bullheads and his daughter got some orange bullheads.  Local Walleye guy was out in his boat getting a few oranges.  I started on the NE side and I got a toothy bullhead right away on the Brovarney Jig/Grass Pig Jr. combo.

20.5"

I had one more hit on that side when I switched to a an orange brown Brovarney Jig/Havoc Devil Spear combo.  It very easily could have been the same fish hitting again. I then went to the South side.  I had a hit while fishing on the SE side.  It might have been a dogfish as a guy caught one in the same area I lost the bite I had.  I got one last hit at around 9:45PM while I was jigging for golden bullheads.  I am sure the warm weather we are going to get starting tomorrow should perk the fish up.

Slow Morning at the GOMH

20" Grass Pig

4:35-7:05AM
Conditions- A little cooler than yesterday with temps in the lower 30's and fairly light west wind.  It was partly to mostly cloudy, with just a little bit of moonlight when it was still dark.  The cool weather we've been having seemed to finally shut them down.

This morning I took two rods to start, Grass Pig rod and a rod for crankbaits.  I started on the NE side again and got nothing on the Grass Pig.  I switched to a firetiger Frenzy crank and had something bump it but not hook up.  After throwing that for a while I went back to the Grass Pig and had something grab it but not hook up.  Eventually I tied on a silver Frenzy, and had something bump that and not hook up.  I eventually went to the SW side as it was getting light out.  I got nothing there so I went back to the N side and got the toothy bullhead in the picture on a Grass Pig.  I got two jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig on the SE side.  The guy who lives by Christmas Lake who knows my Dad showed up trying for silvers.  He didn't get any and left for work.  It was obviously not happening today and I played with the idea of going to Mille Lacs, but ultimately decided against it when it seemed to be getting cloudier. I left at 7:05AM

Good Morning at the GOMH

16.5"

4:45AM to 7:45AM
Conditions- Temps were in the mid-30's and there was some wind out of the NW and it was partly cloudy to mostly cloudy..  I didn't get cold at all.

After last nights trip I was raring to go and the fish were not shut off by the cold night.  I went down to the NE side first and had a fish nail my grass pig on my very first cast, but it got off.  I also had a hit on my second cast then nothing.  I only brought down one rod with me, so after trying up on the bridge I switched to the South side.  A guy showed up about 5 minutes after 5AM so I went down to the SW side where I got my first golden bullhead of the day, before the guy came down and joined me on the SW side.  He was trying for silvers.  After about 10 minutes with no more hits, I switched to the SE side.  I got nothing there, so I went back to the NE side and promptly got another golden bullhead.

19.5"

That was my last golden bullhead of the morning.  After I got two 15.5" jumpin' bullheads in a row I went back to the SE side and got a 3rd 15 jumpin bullhead on the Grass Pig.  At that point I went up to the car and got more rods out and went back to the NE side.  I started throwing a green pumpkin/chartreuse Brovarney Swim Jig with a swamp gas 3.5" Grass Pig Jr.  I started catching bullheads including 3 toothy one's.

21"

I also got a fourth toothy on a standard size swamp gas Grass Pig.  I also threw the firetiger D & M Baits Piranha and a firetiger Ripple Shad, but all I was getting now were jumpers.  I decided to leave at 7:45AM.

Moon Set, Sunrise, Moon Rise, My Day At the GOMH

(Click Picture to Enlarge to See the Heron on the 1st Dock)

I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole at 5am just in time to see the Moon set and about 20 minutes later the sunrise.  It was a cold morning with temps close to freezing when I arrived.  The fishing was slow but I managed a few bullheads.  These two were the biggest and both were caught on the Powerbait Ripple Shad.

22"

16.75"

I also caught fish on a Frenzy crankbait and Pure Poison.  I left at 8:30AM

Evening Conditions:  Mostly clear and cool/cold with the wind blowing out of the NW

In the evening I arrived at 8:45PM.  There were a few boats fishing in close on the SW side apparently getting silver bullheads.  The South side had 4 guys fishing it.  I talked to the guy on the bridge fishing for golden bullheads.  All he got were a couple of jumpin' bullheads.  I took a few casts next to him then went to the NE side.  I got a jumpin bullhead fishing on the NE side right away on the swamp gas Grass Pig then it slowed down.  I went up on the bridge and captured the Moon rise.

The fish started hitting.  I got 4 more jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig fishing off the bridge.  After the 4th one I decided to stay down on the NE side where I was landing them when I got hit by a big fish.  It came up and semi jumped so I saw it was a very good jumpin bullhead.  When I got my thumb on it's lip, I was like, "Dang, this IS A Good One! "

It went just over 21 inches on my Rapala ruler.  I had to go to the car to get my Rapala Spring scale which I am carrying with me this year.  It had her at just over 6.5lbs.  This may very well be my personal best MN bass.  I did catch a 21" out of Platte in 2003 or 2004 that was similar sized but had a gut full of food, not food and eggs.

While I was landing the fish another car with two guys showed up and they went down on the NW side and got a golden bullhead right away.  Not to be out done I got me a golden bullhead and then a toothy bullhead.

19"

23"

At 10pm I decided to call it a night.  Everything was caught on the swamp gas Grass Pig in the evening.

Morning and Evening GOMH Trips

17.25 Pure Poison

Morning Trip Conditions: Cool to cold a bit windy out of the W SW cloudy and it drizzled for a short time.
5:30 to 8:30AM

I may have missed two golden bullheads right off the bat yesterday morning.  The second one bit the tail off my Grass pig.  All I got for the morning were jumpin' bullheads fishing both the North and South sides of the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  I got fish on a Grass Pig, Mystic Minnow, Pure Poison, D & M Baits Piranha, and Powerbait Ripple Shads.

One guy that showed up fished off the bridge with minnows and could catch nothing but "green carp."  He wanted the golden bullheads like he got last night.  Another guy fished on the SE side and got some silver bullheads.  The toothy bullheads just weren't cooperating and my back was barking at me so I left at 8:30AM.

Evening Trip Conditions: Clear, Cool, Calm to light wind out of the SW
9:30PM to 1AM

17.25"

Originally I was going to rest my back after going to the Chiropractor at 6PM but upon seeing the Full Moon I just couldn't resist the call of the GOMH.  I arrived just as the 2nd period was about to start at the Wild Game.  Peter, his brother, and the guy from Wahkon were the only one's there and they were all fishing from the bridge.  Pete had just gotten there and the guy from Wahkon since 7PM or so.  I started out on the SE side.  I missed my first couple of hits,  I made what in retrospect was a foolish decision to throw my Grass Pig tonight on the swimbait head I got stuck in the rocks on Opener.  I had bent the hook out a little bit in addition to wrecking the hook point.  I tried sharpening the hook and it kind of worked, but it cost me several fish.  I got several jumpin bullheads and the guy from Wahkon landed a golden.  The action slowed and everybody left.  I tried the SW side, nothing.  Then I went to the North side.  Once I got down the NE side I missed my first couple of hits losing my swimbait tail to the second one.  I decided not to change swimbaits and was rewarded with the 17.25" jumper in the picture.  After getting a couple of more 16+ jumpers I got my swimbait stuck in the rocks.  I went up the bridge to free it and was rewarded with a  this 21" golden bullhead when I cast from up there.

After missing a couple more hits I finally came to my senses and switched out jig heads.  I was immediately rewarded with another golden who had obviously been feeding up.  The action quit so I went back to the South side where I had my 3rd tail bit off.  My back was giving me issues and I didn't want to stay to late, so I left at 1AM.  Everything came on a swamp gas Grass Pig.

19.90"

Cool Sometime Drizzely Morning at the GOMH

1st Unblogged from yesterday:

I actually was out last night at the GOMH for a couple of hours from 9:30 to 11:30PM.  Peter was there when I arrived.  He had a couple of goldens in the bucket and had gotten a couple others earlier in the day.  He said he saw some people get their limits, quite a few toothies and some jumpers were being caught as well.  He left shortly after I arrived.  There was a guy fishing with leeches on the SE side who sometimes was casting something on a 2nd line which I couldn't tell what it was because it was dark out. There was a guy and his girlfriend fishing bullheads on the North side.  After the guy on the SE left I went over there.  I stopped throwing swimbaits and started throwing jerkbaits with one hit that didn't hook up.  Lantern Man showed up and got a jumper on a crankbait.  It started raining, so I left. 

Ok, now to today:

Fished from 5:40 to around 9:40AM

Conditions: Cloudy with drizzle early and when I left.  Windy out of the N NE  temps just below 50 degrees

When I arrived no one was there, it was fairly light out.  I decided to hit the NE side because it had the wind blowing in on it.  I got one jumpin' bullhead on a Powerbait Ripple Shad.  I had enough of the wind after about 20 minutes and went to the SE side.  There I got a couple of jumpin bullheads on Pure Poison's and a Grass Pig.  A guy came and went on the SW side without getting a single bullhead.  I switched to the SW side.  Another guy came and joined me on the SW side and I had a small flurry of jumpers on the Poison including this 18.25" slobber.

The guy got a few silver bullheads, but most of them were small.  I got a couple of toothy bullheads on a firetiger Ripple Shad until it got bit off.  Here is the bigger one.

25.5" or so

The guy left and I got one more toother on a green pearl Ripple Shad.  I got a couple more jumpers on the Poison and on a Grass Pig as well.  It started drizzling.  I went back to the NE side hoping maybe a golden or two would be there in the wind, but a school of freshly arrived jumpers moved in.  Almost all of the jumpers I caught this morning were really pale fish.  After about 20 minutes in the wind and drizzle I had enough and left.

Opener Round 2 at the GOMH

Conditions: Warm enough with sun and breezy out of SE turning cloudy with some sprinkles and the wind switching out of the North.

Fished from around 3PM to around 9PM

I was surprised when I arrived that the Grumpy Old Man Hole wasn't totally packed with people.  There were quite a few boats however but they were all farther out.  I originally went down on the SW side where another guy was fishing on the steps.  I didn't get a bite in about 10 minutes, so I went over the SE side which  was open.  I started catching toothy bullheads right away on the swamp gas Grass Pig.  Then much to my delight I got a golden bullhead.

20.5"

 Local Walleye guy showed up in his boat again and they were getting a few golden's in the area they fished in the morning.  I heard a couple other boats say that got goldens as well.  People came and went, not a lot of panfish being caught or jumpin bullheads other than the one a kid fishing with his mother caught over by me;  The fish got caught up in the bullrushes by shore and they needed my long net, which I fortunately didn't take out of the car from my trip to Mille Lacs.  I continued to get toothy bullheads and then I would get golden bullhead about every hour to hour and a half.  After the sprinkles came through and the wind switched the toothies shut off and I only got one more golden after that.  I didn't get a single jumpin bullhead.  I got 4 golden bullheads all between 19.5" and 21" and 10 toothy bullheads between 24" and 17" long.  A few silver bullheads started getting caught by the Dad and daughter as it got dark.  Local Walleye Guy took the boat in and came and fished off the bridge.  He said they got more goldens in the afternoon than in the morning.  It didn't seem that way to me, but I didn't keep my eye on them the whole time either.  At around 9PM I had enough and went home.

5 Walleye and 12 pike not a bad Opener.

The Cook photobombs my 4th GB of the day

Mille Lacs Bust, Opener Saved By Bullheads

Conditions: Clear and cold, but no wind so I was never chilled.

I didn't have my tackle organized enough to be at Mille Lacs at midnight because I overslept a couple of hours yesterday but I arrived at Eddy's at around 12:20 AM.  As I was driving I thought about my plan to stay until sun up and fish for smallies and decided with it getting so cold tonight that wasn't a good idea.  At Eddy's they put up a construction fence up around the whole place including the Marina but the Jetty wasn't blocked off in any way.  The lights were off and there was a lot of piled ice where I fish.    I could have fished off the center dock, but elected to put on my waders and head to Option #2 where I fished last year.  There  were a couple of cars there that I parked across the street from.   A couple of guys were going to their car while I was getting my stuff ready.  I said loudly enough for them to hear.  Did you get your limit already.  They didn't acknowledge me at all and got in their car and left.

It was right around 12:45 when I got down to the water.  I took my jerkbait rod and two rods with swimbaits, one of them being the Abu Garcia Rocket/St. Croix LTB with the Powerbait  4.5" Rib Shad.  I put my stuff down where I crossed the road.  I could see and hear the two guys were fishing closer to the inlet.  I picked up the jerkbait rod and waded pretty much straight out.  I tried 3 different jerkbaits to no avail.  I didn't see a single walleye which was a bad sign because I saw them last year.  At some point the two guys left, but I didn't see or hear them when they did. I got over closer to inlet and actually saw a walleye.  I then noticed a guy walking toward the area where my stuff was laying so I quickly walked back.  Turns out it was a creel survey guy.  He told me he hadn't talked to anyone who got a fish and said the eye's just got done spawning and he thought the eye's were going to be in a post spawn funk.  He took the water temp at shore and it was 42 degrees.  He wished me good luck and took off.

I picked up the Rocket and on my very first cast I put in the rocks.  Luckily I got it unstuck, but the hook was bent.  I thought no problem, I'll still be able to hook fish.  Wrong!  I had several hits but I couldn't get a hook into anything.  I suppose it could have been bumping suckers as well.  Eventually I went and got the other swimbait rod.  I had a few fish just grab the back of the swimbait.  Eventually my feet got to cold and I decided to head to the GOMH.  I took off my waders, tied a new hook on the Rocket rod and left right at 3AM.

I arrived at the GOMH at about 3:15 and there were two cars who's people were all fishing on the  SW side.  I went to ask if they caught anything;  They said they weren't getting much and didn't have any golden bullheads.  Liars, they did get one, which I found out later when more of their friends arrived.

I decided to go to the NE side and started throwing the Rib Shad, that didn't get anything so I switched to swamp gas Havoc Grass Pig and I got this golden bullhead on the first cast.

18.5"

It was beautiful clear night which I noticed after a brilliant shooting star went across the sky.  There were loon calls and an owl hooting in the distance.  Eventually I decided to go to the SE side before somebody else showed up.  I wasn't there long when a couple of the other guys left as another group was showing up.  It stated getting light out and not much was happening.  A guy on the other side landed a good sized golden bullhead.  Another couple of people arrived and one came over to fish by me.  He told me that golden was 4 to 5lbs.  It got light out and I landed a 20" toothy bullhead that hit the Grass Pig.  About 20 minutes later I missed a couple of hits then had a good toothy bullhead hit right by me and rocket 3 feet in the air.  I landed it.

27" or so

Good thing that other guy was there to take the picture, because a selfie of a fish that long doesn't look good in my opinion.  I also got this one on the grass pig.  I tried several different jerkbait only getting one bump that didn't hook up. I also missed several hits on the Grass Pig.  I noticed the Rib Shad didn't seem to be swimming very well and I didn't have any hits on it.  C.O. Kuske showed up but didn't come to check me.  The guy who fished next to Mike and I yesterday who I'm going to call Local Walleye Guy showed up in his boat and picked up 3 people from shore.  He went over and parked by the point on the SW side of the GOMH, they were throwing suckers or shiners and getting golden and jumpin bullheads occasionally.  Us shore fishers were not getting much.  I did get one small jumper on the Grass Pig.  I tried the NE side one more time but my upper  back was really barking at me and I had enough of that.  I left around 6:45.  Got home and called the Chiropractor.  Fortunately Dr. Grunst was willing to take me in early because he was all booked up.  

Fishing w/ Mike B. at the GOMH

Conditions: Occasional drizzle, cloudy, and cool.

I headed out to the GOMH around 5:35AM.  I was the third car and the second black Expedition.  Turns out the Expedition is blog reader Mike B.'s truck.  It was still dark out when I got down to the SW side, so I didn't know it was him until he started talking.  He had been there for a while and was getting silver bullheads fishing plastics only.  They were going so I started catching them to on the Cubby Jig head with no body and a minnow.  He was throwing everything back.   I had just finished telling Mike about the guy that got the crappies on the North side of Platte Lake when that guy showed up and started fishing next to us.  The three of us talked fishing while landing silver bullheads.  Mike got one that had to be 13" but I didn't think to get a picture of it.  My bobber looked a lot like the other guys bobber and I got confused a couple of times looking at his bobber while reeling mine in; one of those times I had a fish on.  Mike pulled out his fly rod and started getting bullheads on that.  He also got a nice golden bullhead on a Road Runner and a couple of jumpers as well.  The wind switched to out of the West and the bite really slowed down by 7.  I had caught 10 or 11 by then and I was ready to go.  Mike gave me some of his Monk Weedless Spoon's to try out.  I've seen him fishing them so I already had some idea of what they do.  Can't wait to try it out.  He recommends throwing it on spinning gear, but it seemed heavy enough to me that it should work on a baitcaster that is good with lighter lures.  I guess I'll find out.

When I was driving away I noticed that it was calm on the North side, so I turned the Expedition around and went and gave a few casts for dogfish.  I didn't get anything.  I then headed to Bear Traxx to get some leeches.

That was the only fishing I did today.

Rainy Short Night at the GOMH

12.75"

Conditions: On and off rain and wind with it thundering near by.

I didn't get out of the house tonight until around 7PM and I had to drop of fish at Jenny's so that held me up a bit as well.  I arrived at around 7:30PM and the whole South side was covered.  The guy from Wahkon was there and I probably could have joined him on the SW side, but I chose to fish off the bridge.  A young guy started casting a shad rap next to me.  I told him that wasn't a wise thing to be throwing at this place before opener.  He made a comment about it being a stupid law and I agreed with him.  It started to rain heavier and I took everything back to the truck.  The people who were on SE side all left, so I headed over there.  I got a silver and while I was trying to get a grip on him my line broke, so I switched to the long rod.  I got a lot of bites on THE Jig, but my hook setting left a lot to be desired.  I did get one that was big enough to give to the guy from Wahkon and a few that were short of 9".  I did get one nice that I took home. Shortly after getting that fish it started raining harder and there was a fairly close lightening strike, so I was out of there.

Morning with The Cook's Brother

Conditions: Cloudy with a bit of a breeze turning calm

I arrived at 6:15AM.  A little later than I should have after being awake for the thunderstorms that woke up the dogs at 4AM.  Another guy arrived just after me and came down to fish on the SW side with me.  Turns out it was Patrick's brother Jeff.  Quite a character.  He loves to eat himself some largemouth bass and told me all about it.  Anyway neither of us had a bite in 15 minutes so I went to give the SE side a quick try. Nothing and he started catching some jumpin bullheads, so I went back.  He started getting some silvers and I pulled a jumper, some silvers and two nice orange bullheads on the Cubby Jig head and a minnow, but Jeff was way out fishing me in terms of bites, so I decided to give THE Jig a try and the fish wanted that.  I didn't even have to put a minnow on for a while.  I hooked into something good that just stayed down, eventually I got it up and in and it was this quality jumper.  I could have sworn it was going to be 20" but it only went 19.33".

Shortly after that Lantern Man arrived.  He came out after Pat and I left yesterday and didn't get anything, but jumpers.  He took up the SE side with one of his relatives.  They started getting some silvers too.  Jeff was all excited about the jumpers he was catching this year.  He said he couldn't get any last year to save his life.  He filled up his limit of silvers with my help then switched to a waxie to get some orange bullheads.  He started getting them and got all excited about that to.  Here is one that had to be close to 10".

I took his picture only to find out he doesn't have a computer and doesn't find any need to be on the Internet.  At 10 to 9  I told him one more fish or 9 o'clock, which ever comes first and I'm done.  He decided he should leave at 9 as well.  I had my last cast in the water when he left. I got this silver on my last cast, the only fish I took home.

12.25"

2nd Trip of the Day to the GOMH (Slabber Bullhead)

Conditions: Cloudy with generally less wind than yesterday, but it did get quite breezy at times.  The weather stayed to the North and South of us on this night.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out I had it all to my self when I arrived at 5:20PM.  I naturally chose the SW side and  I started picking up bullheads right away.

16.25" Biggest Jumper of the Night and my 1st one

19.75" Golden Bullhead

One of the regulars showed up and he started getting some bullheads as well.  He told me that he got a couple on the North end of Platte while fishing out of his boat this year.  So it's 100% now, if there was a winter kill it was only partial.  It wasn't long and the GOMH was filling up.  A guy with his daughter came and fished next to me.  I've seen them fish here before in years past.  Apparently they had come out a couple of different times this year and hadn't gotten anything.  When I told them they came in on Monday, she said "See dad I told you we should come." This girl could really fling her bobber out there on her Ugly Stick Ultra Light.  I had one of those once, but I either broke it or had it stolen, I forget which.  We all caught them for a while than it got slow for me.  Peter showed up and I gave him the Berkley Sunglasses I won in the Abu Garcia/ Berkley Rocket to the Top Contest.  He was quite appreciative as he needed a new pair of Polarized sunglasses.

A guy who lives by Wahkon Bay showed up.  He said pike were in the channels and  it was iced up pretty good still.  Must be that all the ice that was left was on the West side because ice out was declared today.  I gave most of fish tonight to him and the dad and daughter.  I took home 3 and released this "Slabber Bullhead" that was my last fish of the night.

13.25"

 I got most of my fish tonight on a Cubby Jig head, no body with the minnow hooked through the tail.

Morning with Pat The Cook

11.5"

Conditions: Windy and Cool

This morning I was slow getting out of bed and it cost me.  I didn't get to the GOMH until about 10 after 6AM.  The Cook was there and had 6 or 7 fish.  I found out his name is Patrick.  He landed a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I hooked into a good one that took me into the reeds along shore and I ended up breaking off.  I was lucky to get my rocket bobber back.  I got 1 silver bullhead on the Cubby then things went completely dead.  I tied on a chart/white T.H.E. Jig and fired up a school of silver bullheads.  I got 3 and The Cook got his limit fish as fast as we could throw out, then they were done.  I think I got 1 jumper on THE jig.  Lantern Man showed up and left.  He now knows it is me who posts about the Grumpy Old Man Hole and he told me to stop doing it.  My compromise is to only post here at the Log Blog which hardly anyone reads until fishing season opens.  Pat left and I missed a couple bites on THE Jig.  Same thing as last night long casts and the wind.  I tried for some Dogfish with a Grass Pig for a while and got one jumper and one toothy who spit up a 3" shiner.  I left a 9AM.

Fun Evening at the GOMH

First Bullhead of the Evening 15.75"
(I've noticed a lot of the jumpers are skinny this Spring)

Conditions: Partly cloudy to overcast and windy out the NE.  Temps were in the low 60's to mid 50's by the time I left

I arrived at the GOMH at 4PM.  Two guys were on the SW side so I took up the SE side.  I got two bullheads on the pink Cubby with no tail and a minnow.  The two guys left around 5PM so I went over to the SW side.  I had the Cubby bit off by a toothy bullhead.  I then went to the long rod my 8ft UL with T.H.E. Jig.  I got lots of bites but was having a tough time hooking up due to long casts, the wind, and my drag not being set tight enough.  Still I managed to land some jumpin' bullheads. A boat showed up and eventually came in pretty close to the bridge.  No one was on the E side yet and they weren't bothering me.  They didn't catch anything.  At some point  Chris from the Bass Snatchers showed up and told me about the bullheads they got last night.  Joe was with him and fishing on the North side at that point.  Chris went back to fish on the North side and somebody was fishing the SE side.  A cool bearded guy named Josh from SE South Dakota who is working temporarily at the Onamia Hospital came down and fished next to me.  I said he would have to see if his fishing skills were up to par as he hadn't been out in quite a while.  Because of the wind we had issues with our lines crossing and he had to cut his line once while I was fighting a jumpin' bullhead.  He got a silver bullhead within the first 15 minutes of fishing.  Eventually we switched spots, the boat left, a few more people showed up, and the silver bullheads started biting.  Josh was having a good ole time.  I think he ended up being one short of a limit because he was hoping for one last big fish. He caught at least 15 silver bullheads.  I switched to the Cubby rod with a white tail Cubby and  got 1 last good one on that.  I got the 2 for my limit and I think I got 13 total.  Didn't get any fish when I went to the lighted bobber.  At that point the fish had pretty much stopped.  Chris & Joe's friend was kind enough to give me all his minnows as I was down to 5 left.  I left right at 9PM.

OK Morning at the GOMH

Why I call them "silver".

This morning I arrived at the GOMH around 5:40AM.  I got a hit from silver on my first cast, which got off on me.  Next cast same thing.  A couple of casts later same thing.  Finally I landed the 12" in the picture.  I was fishing with a pink Cubby with the tail cut off and a minnow.  I landed a couple more silvers and then it slowed down.  The guy who lives on Christmas showed up with his foreign exchange student and they took up the SE side and a guy who I've seen before who is a Cook at the Casino showed up and came down and fished next to me.  I had 4 in the bucket at that point.  The Cook had been there last night crushing good sized orange bullheads, while the people next to him were getting silvers.  I landed the occasional silver and The Cook got a couple as well.  The guys across the way got a couple of really nice jumpers before they had to leave.  We started getting a few jumpers   I switched to T.H.E. Jig and minnow and landed my last couple of silvers on that as well as a couple of jumpers.  C.O. Kuske came buy and said it was probably only a partial winter kill on Platte this winter.  The action totally died when Kuske showed up.  He left and I got one last 10" jumper before I had to leave at 8:20AM.

1st Silver Bullhead of the Year

I decided to hit the GOMH first and if that didn't work I'd go to Rock.  I arrived at around 6AM, it was cloudy and it was blowing pretty good out of the NE.  I took up the SW side.  I immediately had something steal my minnow on the Cubby.  I missed a couple of other bites, then another guy showed up and started fishing just to the West of me.  He landed the first fish, a jumpin' bullhead.  Next my bobber went down and I got a small jumpin' bullhead.  I missed a good silver bullhead then got another bite and it was the 8" silver that I threw back.  I think we both landed a couple of jumpin' bullheads and the guy next to me went and fished the SE side.  I switched to T.H.E. Jig with a minnow and  I got a couple of 8" silver bullheads, the 10.5" in the picture and some jumpin bullheads.  I also missed several nice sized silver bullheads. The guy came back to fish next to me.  He had gotten 1 small silver and 1 jumper on the other side the hour or so he was over there.  We got into a flurry of little jumpers and then the silver bullheads quit.  That guy left then another guy showed up and fished the SE side.  He picked up a couple of really nice jumpin bullheads.  I got a couple of  decent jumpers, and missed one last silver that I had hit on a long cast by the emergent weeds.  I also had a toothy steal my pink Cubby.  I also thought I was getting some bites from some orange bullheads.   I ended up putting the 1 keeper I got back, when I went to leave.

16" Jumper on T.H.E. Jig and Minnow

I left to try Rock lake at 10AM.  Nothing was going on there and that was the day for me as I was to wiped out to fish in the evening.  Apparently the bullheads, silver, oranges, and jumpers, were going pretty good in the evening

Grumpy Old Men & Crappies

Tonight I had my first grumpy old man sightings.  I arrived at the GOMH around 3PM, it was calm and sunny, and some guy switched to the North side when I got there, so I took up the SW side.  I saw two minnows swimming along the rocks, but that was it as far a as action.  Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up around 3:30.

Willard doesn't like to have his picture taken.

Willard told me some stories I'd never heard before and he told me about the C.O. before Kuske who apparently was a hard ass.  Willard said he was taken off of his duty because he had to many death threats against him.  True??? Who knows.  Eventually the foul mouthed Grumpy Old Man Bud showed up.

A couple of boats came and fished and a family fished on the SE side.  Nobody caught anything.  I saw a couple of boats came from the river.  The clouds moved in around 5PM.  When I left at 5:20, a couple of young guys who were fishing on the North side with bass sized Rapala's came and took my spot.

I went to Sue's Drive In with my mom for dinner.  I got out to a lake that shall remain nameless around 8PM.  I was fishing with my pink Cubby Mini-Mite and I got a bite.  It was a crappie that really wanted it.

It went 9.75" and I put it in the bucket in case I got a few more.  I started tipping the Cubby with a minnow and  I  got another 9.75 incher about 5 minutes later.  I missed a bite than I got an 8" which I threw back.  It was getting dark so I went to get might light for the bobber.  When I did the light fell through a hole in the bottom of the pouch it was in and dropped into the lake.  Fortunately I had another light that was still in it's package.  Eventually I switched to Custom Jig and Spins Glow Demon.  While I was trying to spot the bobber light on the bottom of the lake a crappie took down my bobber.  I was lucky to catch another 8".  That was the last bite I got, so I threw back the two I had in the pail.  It was dead calm tonight and I saw many fish out on the lake that were up by the surface spooking while it was still light out.  There was a beaver chewing on a tree to my North about 80 yards that I could see and hear.  A small beaver came and swam around me a few different times, slapping the water with it's tail occasionally.  After dark the loons were calling and I heard an owl or two.  It was a really nice night to be out.  I left around 10:20PM

First Bullheads of the Year

Yesterday I got out to the GOMH just as the sun was coming over the tree's and got my first 3 bullheads of the year.  It was about 40 degrees out and calm.  Got all three bullheads on a 3" blue Drop Shot Power Worm.  I also fished in the after noon, but I didn't get anything then.  The wind had come up and was blowing pretty good

14"

19"

16"

 

Didn't Get Skunked

I stopped to check in on Jenny, so I ended up not getting to the Rock Dock until 7:45PM or so.  I managed to catch this small pike on a 3" blue Powerbait Worm on a drop shot.  I headed to the GOMH at 8:30; Nobody was there.  It was a pleasant night as there was no wind and I was dressed for it to be colder.  A couple of beavers were swimming around a rock, loons were calling, lots of ducks and geese flying around.