Sort of OK Morning, Skunked In The Evening

2.57lbs/16.25" Bobby's Perfect

Best 6 for the Trip

I believe I started this trip in the Trophy in the reeds across the way North bed.  I had three quick hits on the Sprinker.  Probably pike. I think I got a bass or two in the reeds, but it clearly wasn't happening.  I then headed West to the reeds beyond Chuck's Point.  I think I got three bass there on the Sprinker and a Craw Tube.  I got a fish or two on Chuck's Point, then headed to the juice.  I got my two best fish of the morning in short order on Bobby's Perfect, but then the wind came up like a sun of a gun and I was done with it blowing out of the East.

In the evening I tried over to Jenny's, then "the dock" across and the weed flat.  I missed a hit on the dock to the West of the dock and that was it; Skunked for the trip. Steve had more action fishing off the dock getting a bass, pike and missing a couple of other hits.  I was pretty discouraged by this trip and didn't get out on the 11th at all.  The heat on the 11th had something to do with that as well.

Slow Morning, A Little Better Evening & The H.S. Tourny

2.13lbs/16.25" Bobby's Perfect

5:40-6:00AM GOMH
7:30AM-12:00PM
Conditions: 70-78℉, Mostly Sunny, 2-5 MPH NNE Wind
Water Temp: 78℉

There was a high school tournament with 35 boats fishing it on the lake today from 7AM to 1PM.  I got to the GOMH later than I wanted and didn't get a bite with the traffic moving through.  Then I forgot my water and had to go home to pick that up.  Nature was also calling.  When I was getting my stuff in the Trophy only 3 boats came to our bay.  I think the boat that started out on the point on the reeds across the way hooked up, but I couldn't tell if it was a pike or a bass.

I headed to the North End of the lake.  There was a boat fishing tight to shore on Big Bass Point heading West.  Nobody else in the whole of Inlet Bay.  I pulled in to the North of Double Cane Point.  Almost immediately I had a 15-inch bass in the boat on the Bobby's Perfect. It wasn't that easy after that.  I had a 15/16 throw the Sprinker back at me in the reeds. The 16.25" showed me where he was holding in the cane and I caught him.  Right after that I missed a better fish also holding in the cane edge.  The one boat that was by Big Bass Point went over and fished the NW Juice for a while as did another boat.  I saw a couple boats fishing over towards Chuck' Point at different times in the morning.  Nobody came into look at the starting spot, double cane, or Dennis' Flat.  One boat did fish in the junk in the SE corner of Inlet Bay working their way to the  NE corner where the rice and reeds meet.  I caught a 15-incher on the rice/reed line out front of the starting spot.  That was all I got at noon when I headed in so I could catch the weigh in.

The timing for the porta john cleaning could have been better.
Could have been much worse as it was during the second flights' weigh-in time 

Here is how the Top 10 Teams Finished

Congrats to Todd Shatusky Elk River boys on the win.  He told me they got the fish outside of some reeds on jigs.  A bit surprised no 4lbers were weighed, but conditions were less than ideal with high bluebird skies.  They got to see tough Platte/Sullivan.  Congrats to all teams that got a 5 fish limit.
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2.68lbs/17" Bobby's Perfect (Sparrow)

7:30-9:30PM I can't remember where I fished as I didn't mention it on Fish Swami and I'm blogging this almost two weeks later.  From the picture, I think across from the access maybe.  If that' correct I think I also went to Green Cabin or the NW Juice as well.
Conditions: 82-72, Sunny, 0-4mph NE Winds
Water Temp: 79℉

My notes at Fish Swami say that I had some bad luck missed blow-ups and that I caught 4 Bass and 2Pike.

My Best 6 Bass for the day

I Had a Plan, Then Bailed On It

3.24lbs/17.5" Sprinker Frog (Black/Purple/Blue)

6:30-10:30AM SPBI, NPSI, Rice E of GOMH, Docks & Reeds Across SPSI, LSP
Conditions: 65-75℉, Sunny, 6-14mph SSEWind
Water Temp: 74℉

Mac checking Out the Sunrise

Hanging out with Mac got me out on the lake a little later than usual.  My plan was to hit SPBI, NPSI, NPBI, and then go to Green Cabin Bay for the balance of the morning.  I didn't even get a bite on the South Point of the Big Island,  On the North Point Small Island I got one small bass and a pike on a spinnerbait.  I decided to scrap the plan at this point and headed South to work the slop near the 16 Hole; Nothing was going on there.  I then headed to try some docks across and Easy of SPSI.  I missed one hit on the docks, but think it was a pike.  The reeds and pads looked good, so I decided to take a few casts with the Sprinker and was immediately rewarded with the 3lber. I missed//lost 2 or 3 fish in the reeds before I got this 17-incher; My last fish of the morning.

2.75lbs/17.10" Sprinker

I worked my way East. Its some beautiful water with reeds, pads, and cabbage, but nothing was going on it today.  At 10AM I went for a quick shot at Loon Sex Point and didn't get a sniff.  That was it for the day.  The winds kept me off in the evening and I was in bed by 8:30PM

6.87lbs for 3 Bass Today

3 Bass
2 Pike

Just Me This Evening In The Trophy

2.33/16" Bobby' Perfect (Sparrow/SF)

7:00-9:35PM Big West Bay, Green Cabin Bay
Conditions: 78-72℉, Mostly Sunny, Light SSE Wind
Water Temp: 77-75℉

With the South wind I figured I would give a look to the stuff in Big West to the West of the public launch.  Nothing going on in the first pad bed or the docks.  I had a 15/16 bass jump 2-feet out of the water with my frog out front of the last dock in the pads/rice/reeds, but I didn't hook up.  That was the only bite of note, not the only bite I got.  Didn't get a hit in the pads/reeds/rice which was disappointing.  I skipped the area across from the Public Access and went right into Green Cabin where I was pretty sure I could get some action and I did. I missed the first two blowups.  One was a pretty good hookset; The other one not so much.  I got a 12.5" on a craw tube to get a fish in the boat.  I then got 15.5" on the Bobby's Perfect.  Then a 15" on the craw tube.  I then missed a 17/18 that came all the way out of the water with Bobby's Perfect; Didn't get a good hook set on her.  I did a little hookset practice and got my last two blowups of the night (15,16).

9.39lbs for my 5 Bass Tonight

5 Bass

1 Pike

Todd Morning Trip/Just Me In the Evening Short Trip

4.10lbs/18.25" Terminator Frog (Yellow)

6:00-8:30AM Double Cane/Green Cabin Bay
Conditions: 65-70℉, Sunny, Wind DNR
Water Temp: 72℉

2.91lbs/17.9" Livetarget Frog

Todd In the Trophy waiting for me to show up.

It was my first-night house/pet sitting with Mac and I didn't bring an alarm clock with me when I went to get my stuff last night, so Todd gave me a wake up call at about 5:10am.  I got down front about a half hour later.  Todd was out fishing in the boat as the picture shows.  I think we were fishing by 6AM on double cane point.  We had been fishing for about 20 minutes before Todd broke the ice.

2.20lbs/16.25" Terminator Frog (Yellow)

I then caught a dink and Todd got another 16 plus inch chunk.

2.40lbs/16.75" Terminator Frog (Yellow)

As I was working us out of the reeds/rice where they meet Todd lost a good blowup, then I got the skinny 17.9".  We worked the rice from the outside for a while without a bite, so I took us back to Green Cabin.  I should note that Double Cane was alive with activity just not much for bass, 6 blowups in a good hour and half plus.

Todd's 4 Pounda

I had barely gotten the trolling motor down when Todd got blown up.  I think we both missed a blowup a piece and that was it for bites in the morning. I went back to bed when we got back.  I woke up at about 2:15PM.  Todd and the girls came back in the pontoon at about 2:40PM.  They were gone by 4PM.  I went back to bed.
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7:30-8:30PM From all the fishing and my weird sleep schedule and lack of bringing 5-Hour Energy when I went home last night I was really dragging after I got up this evening.  I gave Big Bass Point a shot, but as per usual nothing was going on.  This area used to be money.  Now I'm lucky if I even get a bite.  It pretty much looks the same to me.  I don't get it what happened?

I then scooted across to Double Cane.  Once again activity, but not so much bass.  I got a 13.25" on the Terminator Frog and a couple of pike.  I was pretty discouraged by the lack of activity and my back was sore.  A fire got started to the SE of me.  I was a bit concerned because the lake cabin is in that direction.  I missed a blowup and conditions were getting right, but my heart wasn't in it so I took off.  Turns out the fire was on North Platte Lake Drive.

13.82lbs Best 6Bass for the Day

Pete Day #4 Morning Final Trip

Unmeasured/unweighed Pete Pure Poison Fish

6:30-8:30AM Platte Lake Big Island and Don's Point
Conditions: 74-68℉, Cloudy with a storm forcing us off, 6-20MPH SE SW W
Water Temp: 74℉
Today was my last day to fish with Pete.  I should have got him woken up sooner.  I was up all night watching the Nathan's hot dog eating marathon on ESPN.  I was going to take us around the point into the SE corner of Inlet Bay, but Pete pointed to the NE Point of the Big Island with the wind blowing on it.  A very fishy looking spot so I stopped.  I got a small bass right away then a pike.  Pete got a small bass then he got the big one.   Rather than go to my spot Pete just wanted to work around the Big Island. I learned some things about Pete.  He likes to see new water and constantly be on the move unless catching fish.  This in addition to his need to be the one to find and figure out the fish makes us two different fishing styles.

Anyway, the sky's got dark so we headed to Don's point.  I just thought we should go in before the rain hit.  We both got a pike I think.  Then the wind hit blowing hard out of the WSW, so we headed in fast.  Fortunately, we beat the really heavy rain, which didn't last nearly as long as we thought it would.  We packed up and left during what we thought was a lull, but there wasn't much more to it.

4th of July With Todd

3.48lbs/17.75" Terminator Frog

8:30-9:50PM Chuck's Point, Green Cabin Bay
Conditions: 79-74℉, Partly Cloudy, 2-6 mph SSE
Water /temp: 74℉

15" Bobby' Perfect (Sparrow)

After a full day of swimming and pontoon rides Todd and I headed out for some fishing.  Not much was going on at Chuck's point tonight.  I got one dink on Bobby's and Todd missed a blowup or two.  I then moved us across the way into the pads and reeds in Green Cabin.  I didn't put the trolling motor down right away.  I made a couple of casts.  I made a cast and decided right in the middle of it would be a good time to put the trolling motor in the water.  I put my rod down and started reaching for the trolling motor when a big bass blasted my frog.  I picked up my rod and set the hook, but I missed the fish, AAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!  I think I missed my next hit as well.  I then got a 13 and 14 incher.  I lost that Bobby's Perfect off of the Power Clip when a fish hit.  My fault for not closing the eye on the frog, which had been getting more and more open.  Todd got the last bass of the night.  The skeeters stayed off of us until about 9:40PM.

Pete Day #3, Just An Evening Trip

14.5" Spinnerbait

7:30-9:30PM
Conditions: 78-74℉, Overcast, Wind 3-8 MPH SE
Water Temp: 74℉

Pete was in a better mood tonight, so things went off relatively smoothly.  I was heading us to NPBI, but Pete cut that off so we could fish the weed flat in front of Don's.  Not sure there is much of a weed flat in front of Don's, but whatever.  I had a pike hit me pretty quick.  Pete got the pike in the photo then lost a bass boat side.  Then caught the bass in the picture. I got a pike around the point. Then had a good size pike come off.  We then got into the slop in LSB where we spent the last hour or so.  I had a couple of pike hits.  Pete had a couple of pike hits.  Pete also missed a couple of good blow-ups and lost a bass that he almost had to the boat out of "the hole."  After Pete's first good blow up miss, I told him about the wait 3-second video.  He had obviously to me set the hook way to quick.  He totally questioned everything about what I told him about it.  He thought 3 seconds was way too long to wait.  What was the guy making the video's qualifications? On "the hole" bass as he was struggling to bring it in through the rice he commented that we should go get it.  I just rolled my eyes at that suggestion. 

Pete Day #2 Morning and Evening Trips

1st Bass For Pistol

6:00-7:00AM GOMH, Culvert, Inlet
7:30-10:10AM 3 Loon, F Flat
Conditions: 60-78℉, Mostly Sunny, 3-7 MPH SSW
Water Temp: 72℉

14" Crawtube (Junebug)

Pete at the Inlet

So we started at the GOMH.  Nobody was there.  Pete decided to go with a topwater frog.  I didn't get a hit on the NE side.  I got the 14-incher and then immediately got another bite.  Wanting to get Pete a bullhead I made him fish a Dinger.  He didn't get a bite and I didn't get another one either.  Nothing at the Culvert.  Pete missed a pike at the Inlet as I brought one up on the marsh side.  A little while later Pete got his fish on a Spro Popper.

Pete released his fish before I could get a picture

I got the boat drained and headed for 3 Loon Flat.  Pete thought we should give the reed line off the point a try.  He only got the Hula Popper hung up once so there is that.  We started working the flat in b the docks.  I think I got one pike.  There was a family fishing off a dock so I started moving us out and we got a double.  Pete got a couple more pike.  I moved us back in by the docks over by the pads.  Nothing there.  I then headed as back out on 3-Loon.  I had my black/blue/grey Vet Chatterjig get bit off.  Pete got himself that small bass And I got a 13-incher on the junebug Vet Chatter.  I had a good-sized dogfish get off at the boat.  We got several pike as we drifted across to F-Flat.  Missed a bunch of hits as well.  We stopped just after 10AM.
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3.90lbs/19" Bobby's Perfect (Sparrow)

7:15-9:30PM SPBI, SPSI, NPSI, Loon Sex Point
Conditions: 78-74℉, Partly Cloudy, 3-7 MPH SSE
Water Temp: 74℉
Pete went with the parents to get wings at Brothers.  Steve was down fishing off the pontoon not catching anything.  We were off fairly quickly.  I took us to a place Pete pointed out last night, the South side of the big island, but there was a pontoon fishing where I wanted to start.  So started fishing us down the reeds.  I caught a pike right away and  Pete wasn't happy with how I was controlling the boat and letting me know about it.  When we got down in the juice I swung the boat letting him cast to the prime area and he caught 2 bass in about 3 casts.

Pete's first bass with the Pontoon where I wanted to start in the background.

I started working us West.  Pete had a migraine giving him problems and wasn't happy with me taking us looking into the sun.  The pontoon left before we got there.  We got a few pikes running the South side of the island, Pete got one bass ass well.  I then ran us down to the SPSI.  On the way there Pete was pointing out the NPSI, which I thought we would hit after the SPSI.  Pete wasn't happy with how I chose to attack the point and no fish were there to change his attitude about it.  After giving it 20 minutes we were off to the NPSI.  Pete was having melted tackle issues.  I missed a couple hits off the point and got a couple pikes to the South.  Pete was finally up and running again so I took us back toward the point, Pete wasn't happy with how fast I was getting us there.  Then he was micromanaging my boat control, which unfortunately he no doubt feels vindicated by because he caught 2 more bass.

Pete off of NPSI

It was now getting close to 9PM and Pete had me down 5-0 on bass for the trip.  I headed us for the base of Loon Sex Point and had the big girl blast me on the second cast.  Pete put a frog on immediately.  Pete wanted to work the area quickly while I wanted to work the area more thoroughly.  So I did what Pete wanted and got us moving.  I got a 14.5-incher on the Bobby's.  Pete had to take a piss and instead of standing up and taking it off of the battery compartment he got pissed off that I had rods, the net, and the paddle in the way and he started banging stuff around.  That really pissed me off.  I ended up missing a hit because of it.  Upon completing his piss he immediately got into me about my boat control.  Now I was really pissed off.  I guy who had me down 5-0 in bass caught 15 minutes ago is being a whiny argumentative little brat because I caught a big one and a strung together a few bites.  I was furious and didn't engage in an argument with Pete because to do such is pointless.  I just moved us along and fished way to fast.  I took us into the whole where Pete got 3 bites but didn't hook up.  The skeeters came out and we were done.  As I was putting on my rain gear while we were slowly underway.  Pete decided to spray his Ultrathon Bug Spray all over my boat, tackle box, depth finder and GPS was a good idea.  Wasn't too happy with that choice of Pete's, but what was done was done in an instant and I don't know if he was aware of where he was spraying.  I hurried things up and didn't put any rod socks on.  We were out of there by 10 o'clock. 

Short Trip With Pete Tonight

15.5" Bobby's Perfect (Sparrow)

7:50-9:25PM NW Bay, Loon Sex Bay
conditions: Low 70's, Mostly Sunny, Light SSW Wind

Pete finally made his way North today.  He was supposed to get here on Thursday night.  When I arrived at the lake place the Trophy hadn't been pumped out, so doing that took some time.  Steve and Kim who had been out on the lake in the pontoon showed up.  Steve apologized for not pumping out the Trophy, which was appreciated but not necessary.  I should have just asked Pete where he wanted to fish.  I took us to the NW bay and Pete got ants in his pants as per usual when we aren't catching fish on a spot where I take him.  As we were headed out to the deep reed edge I got a 12-inch bass on the Sprinker and had the tail bitten off by a pike.  Pete thought we should play the wind but then wasn't happy with the boat speed as I went to move us.  So we stopped to fish the outer reed edge again, but it's total wuss weed in that location.  We then went to the reed bed off of Chuck's Point.  Didn't get anything there in 10 minutes, so we were gone to Loon Sex Bay.  We made our way in along Don's Point and Pete had what I'm pretty sure was a pike miss his frog.  I got the 15.5" off of the initial rice point on the Sparrow Bobby's Perfect.  I got two more small bass on the Bobby's Perfect as we made our way East.  Pete missed a couple good blow-ups.  I caught a small slimer over by LSP on Bobby's and that was it for the action.  Not that bad of a trip all things considered, except for Pete getting skunked.

5.22lbs for 4 Bass