Mississippi River(Lum Park) Pre-fish

This post is a different more complete report than I am putting on Bass Pundit and the BP Tournament HQ at least for now. I don't think my fellow Bass Club members frequent this blog, so giving away the store isn't a big deal.

I met my boater Paul at the Lum Park a little after 7AM. He showed a bit late and I took a few casts from the park beach. I did get a bite on the Crawtube, but I didn't hook into anything.

Paul has the only Triton in the Baxter Bass Snatchers, almost all the other boats are Rangers.

Anyway Paul said we would start off by taking a tour and we ran up river a long way to Little Rabbit Lake. I was surprised by the clear water in Little Rabbit. We just looked and didn't do any fishing. We saw baitfish activity as the channel from the river entered Little Rabbit. As we were on our way out Paul wanted to take a side channel, but it was filled in with weeds, so we went back out to the river and entered the side channel from a different spot. It was a backwater with rice and pads that went back to a few docks and this is where we started fishing. Nothing.

Next we went back to the river and went to another back channel on the North side of the river. This channel had rice, pads, and a lot of duckweed. Paul pulled a nice bass out of the duckweed on a frog, but that was it. I was throwing a Strike King Rage Toad.

We went back out to the river and drove down aways to another backwater on the North side that's entrance was choked by rice. This was a long backwater with rice, pads, and duckweed. Paul missed a blow up on the frog. I was throwing the Rage Toad and a bubblegum Berkley Havoc Grass Pig. I had what I'm pretty sure was a pike swirl on the pig a couple of times. Paul tried to get it to hit his frog, but it wouldn't. After fishing quite aways in we went out under power of the big motor.

Next we started fishing by drifting along the rice on the main channel on the North shore. After drifting for a while Paul pulled a good bass that just smacked his Crawtube. Ron Lindner advised that I fish with cut off hooks, so I had put tubing over the hooks on some of my lures. I was fishing with a black/chart Terminator Jig with a green pumkin/chart Berkley Havoc Craw Fatty with the tubing on the hook. I thought it wouldn't hurt to stick a fish doing what we were doing because it would be unlikely to come across the same fish doing this in the tournament, so I took the tubing off. Well I got a bite and set into this 19.25" slobberknocker.

With this fish, Paul thought we should try the same thing on the South side of the river, but this time using the trolling motor to move up current. Almost right away Paul pulled a small keeper bass. I started pitching a junebug Crawtube. I did get a couple of bites, but they would only nibble a couple of times and let go. Paul had the same thing happen.

Eventually we moved into a backwater on the South side of the river. Once again it had rice, pads, and lots of duckweed. It looked phenomenal for bass and dogfish. I cycled through a few different things and I put on a gold Strike King Rage Shad. I was really digging working that bait. On one of my casts I got nailed by what I thought was a nice bass, I saw the fish hit. It was holding onto the bait, so I asked Paul if I should hit it and he said yes. Much to my surprise when I brought it in, I found a chunky 24" pike on the end of my line. We fished into this great looking backwater quite aways, but that was the only hit.

Next we moved out and went to a backwater on the North of the river. This one looked a bit different than the other backwaters we had been in. The water was clearer, there was good submergent vegetation, the rice had a good mix from thick to sparse with pads, no duckweed. We also saw quite a bit of baitfish activity. It looked like awesome dipper water, so I threw the Havoc Grass Pig in a couple of different colors. Paul missed a blow up on the frog. I was hauling water with the Grass Pig. A little later Paul pulled in a nice keeper bass on the frog. I decided to throw a spook that didn't have any hooks. The spook got hammered by a fish and we decided we had seen enough for the day and headed in around 1PM. It had been overcast the whole morning and only started to get hot and muggy around noon.

All in all it was a pretty productive pre-fish.

B.B.S. Le Homme Dieu Chain July 16th

Weather: Fortunately the forecast for brutal heat was wrong. In the morning it was quite foggy with a very light drizzle, but it was over 70 degrees. It took a couple hours for the fog to go away, but it stayed overcast until around 2 when it would switch between mostly cloudy and mostly sunny. I don't think it got out of the lower 80's during the tournament day.

There was a bit of a breeze all day that would vacillate between about 3 and 10mph.

I arrived in Brainerd a bit before 5:30AM to meet my boater Dennis. My first question was if he had a life jacket for me, because I had forgotten mine. Luckily he did have one. Next thing Dennis informs me that he was given a spot to fish by one of the club members who had injured himself waterskiing and couldn't fish. The spot was supposed to hold a "super school." That sounded good.

The ride to the lake in the fog was uneventful thankfully. We didn't blast off until right around 8am, because one of the guys couldn't find the launch. We were suppose to have an idle only launch because of the fog, but some of the guys didn't get the memo and raced off. Because of this my boater Dennis decided to run to Alvin Lake. We got to Alvin in about 15 minutes and it looked fantastic. We started fishing pads, but it was dead. We pulled out on the weed flat and I got a little bass on the Repo Man. We spent about an hour and then left to go to the "super school".

We got to the spot, which was way off shore in Le Homme Dieu Lake. It was kind of a U shaped breakline with weeds. It didn't take long and Dennis had a couple of good keepers in the boat. My first bite was a rock bass on a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube on a tube jig head. I think Dennis got had got a 3rd keeper when I put a 14" largie in the boat. Dennis told me, it was a quality keeper for the lake. Next I got a 13.75", then a 13.5" then a 12.10" before a pike broke me off. I stayed with the tube jig head but went with the color junebug instead. My first fish was a nice 15" and I got my limit with a 13.25". Around that time Dennis switched colors to one a guy in the club told him was working and on the first cast Dennis got a 3-13, which was his best fish of the day. I think I got a 14.10" on the junebug and then I tried a green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube that was Texas Rigged with a fairly heavy bullet sinker. I think I caught a couple of fish that didn't help, then we switched locations to one of Dennis' spots.

I culled up with a 14.50" and caught a pike, along with a few that didn't help on this spot. I believe Dennis upgraded a little bit. We worked this spot just one pass then headed to a hump in Carlos. I pulled a 16.5" that went 2-11 off the hump and Dennis missed a couple of fish. I tried a little topwater on the hump but that wasn't happening. We tried one other spot in Carlos before heading back to the super school.

At the super school I got a 15.25" to cull up some and I caught several fish that didn't help. Dennis knew he had a good bag, but probably not enough to win and the sun was starting to peak out a little bit, so he made the call to run back to Alvin. We couldn't get the big pad fish to go at all. On our way out of the lake Dennis got a small cull off of a dock as we were headed out of the lake.

It was straight back to the super school. When we arrived there was a speed boat parked right on top of one of the points/spots. We just moved over a little and started fishing. Having this boat out there served as a marker buoy for me and I was able to catch fish on 3 consecutive casts, but unfortunately none of the fish helped. We kept catching fish and I made a small cull with a 14.10 with a 14". We continued to catch fish, but they didn't help. I did miss one that might have helped me some, but it would have had to have helped me by over by 10ozs to catch the person who was in front of me. We headed to the weigh in in Bugaboo Bay at about 10 to 4PM.

Results: My weight was 10-8 and put me in 6th Place out of 22 fishermen. My boater Dennis came in 2nd with 13-4. 1st Place was Mark Munson with 14-10 and the 4-8 Big Bass.

Analysis- If I had it to do over again I think I may have only thrown the Texas rigged green pumpkin Lake Fork Craw tube as that got my 2 biggest fish. On the drive home Dennis said I was using a weight that was too heavy. He may be right as he did throw back a few fish that I could have used, although had I had those I still don't know if I would have moved up to catch 5th.

Next Bass Snatcher Tournament: July 31st Mississippi River Brainerd (Lum Park)

Shakopee & Mille Lacs

Today I had my ICD check and annual with my Cardiologist down in the cities in the morning. It was a scorcher in the cities in the mid 90's, as I came North there was a bit of cloud cover and I drove up Mille Lacs to Eddy's and down Shakopee Road. Wish I would have brought fishing rods as I was seeing fish at the Shakopee bridge. In the evening it was warm, humid, cloudy, and calm and I decided to head East around 7:20pm. First stop was the Shakopee bridge. I started with topwater and had a couple of hits that didn't hook up. Next I went to the exposed hook junebug CrawTube and caught 2 15" largies and missed one other good fish.

It was getting close to 8PM when I headed to Mille Lacs. It looked good with overcast and calm water, but all I got was 2 rock bass on the Berkley Frenzy Popper. Eventually the mosquito's drove me away.

Baptised

My new St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass rod came through in the clutch tonight, sticking this 15.5" jumpin bullhead in the junk. It bit on a bubblegum Berkley Havoc Grass Pig.

When I arrived John W. was just leaving and he said he caught 5 or 6, which I knew didn't leave much for me. I actually did miss one under the South of the bridge that took the Yellow Magic popper. Those were my only 2 bites.

Small Night

I had to run an errand into Onamia tonight, so naturally I made a trip up to Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs. As I drove up the lake I was not encouraged by the North wind that was putting good sized waves on the West shore. The waves were basically big enough to wreck any hope of topwater. I started on the South Jetty and didn't get anything. I moved to the North Jetty and was chucking a Texas rigged green pumpkin Lake Fork Crawtube, when I thought I felt a hit but it let go right away. A couple of casts later I got another hit and this time it took it and I brought in this one eye'd 18.25" Mille Lacs Mule.

I fished for about another 45 minutes and gave up because I didn't think the wind was going to diminish.

Next I headed to Kathio State Park to see if the MN Government shutdown meant I could go and fish the dam on the Rum without having to pay to get into the park. There was a gate across the road so that was a no go.

Next I headed to the bridge over the Rum on the North End of Shakopee Lake. I went down to the SE side and cast a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube on a tube jig. On the first cast I had a hit and brought in this 15.5" largie that wanted it.

I released the bass and cast back into the river and a fish just about ripped the rod out of my hand. First, I thought it was going to be a big pike, but then I saw it was a bass and by the way it was scrapping so hard I figured it had to be a smallmouth, which it was. Just like the one at Mille Lacs it went 18.25" but wasn't quite as chunky.


After a few more casts I missed a small bass, then I tried so topwater. I had a small pike hit a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper as I was lifting it to bring it in the fish came off and fell into the water at my feet. I could see the feathered treble still in it's mouth. The pike swam off before I could grab it. I thought maybe the split ring failed, but when I looked at the Popper the back end had cracked and given way, which sucks cause now that one is ruined. But better on a little pike than big bass in a tournament.

I threw the green pumpkin Crawtube and I think I missed a good hit with that or maybe I just got stuck in the rocks for a second, either way I didn't get anything. I went back to throwing the black/blue Crawtube and got one last small bass. I then went to see if I could fish the Rum at the South end of Lake Onamia, but once again people were already there, so I just went home. I decided not to hit the GOMH.

Morning Shore Singles and Theft

I woke up this morning at about 5:45AM, so I decided to head out to do some fishing. The sun was already up and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and no current was moving through at the GOMH. I worked the North side and didn't get a bite. I switched to the SE side because there was a guy fishing for orange bullheads on the SW side. He was getting a few and told me he caught quite a few nice bullheads there last week. I ended up getting a 13" jumpin bullhead on a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube and that was it. Here's that fish:



Next I went to Jenny's where the deer flies were terrible. I made a long cast to a little open spot in the slop and this 14" jumped all over the Spro Frog.


Next I headed to our lake place for the first time this year. Right away I had a blow up in some thicker rice over toward our neighbor Jim's. I walked over closer so I could work the area a little better and was rewarded with this 16".

I went over and fished on Jim's dock and was quickly reminded why I don't think I can ever have enough hollow body frogs when a pike stole my Spro. I went and got a copperish colored Mad Maxx from the car, but that didn't get anything and then I was done for the morning. I fished for about 2 hours, not bad.

FOM Club E&W Sylvia Bass Tounament July 9th

I couldn't resist the call of the lake that taught me to fish, so I signed up to fish the Fishers of Men Fishing Club (Twin Cities) Bass Tournament on East & West Sylvia in Wright County. My partner for the day would be Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson. I found out at the landing on tournament morning that Cyb hadn't paid his Club dues, so would be ineligible in the Club Tournament. Cyberfish didn't really care and was there to fish for fun anyway.

Tournament Rules: 3 biggest bass measured by half inches, with most total length winning. The Fishers of Men Club does "paper tournaments" so all fish are immediately released.

Conditions: Light Rain for the first 20 minutes or so with a pretty good breeze all day starting from the S SE switching to the S SW. It obviously was overcast early turning mostly cloudy around 10:30PM. It was a warm morning in the 70's and it got up to about 80 and it was pretty humid. The water on these lakes is very clear and the water was about as high as I've ever seen.

With the forecast calling for that South wind to be blowing by the time the tournament was underway I decided to start on a shallow rock reef on the back side of the island in West Sylvia. We ended up fishing West Sylvia all day. Mike caught a small bass right away, maybe on his first cast, on a slug. I think he got another small one and then I got a small one on a Herb's Dilly buzzbait. Mike caught 1 or 2 more smaller fish before we made a 2nd pass. The second pass was pretty much fruitless so we started drifting across the weed flat. Mike picked up a 15 on the slug. I was throwing a white Death Shimmer 2 spinnerbait and getting a few hits but nothing was hooking up. I know at least one of those bites was from a small pike as it came all the way to the boat. We drifted to a bullrush point and fished down the West side of that. I got a small pike on the Death Shimmer. Eventually we got into some pads and I got a 12.75" Larry on a bubblegum Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. We ended up fishing West along the shoreline where there were docks and some wood in the water. It looked awesome but all I got was a Sylvia Special (12") next to a dock. We rounded "Dink Point" and I got a 15.5" on the Grass Pig where there was trees overhanging and into the water. As you work the shoreline to the North a small point comes out before the lake opens to the main/biggest bay on West Sylvia. With the South wind this point was getting hit pretty good with the wind. I cast a black/blue Crawtube along the dropoff on the South side of the point (it drops pretty quick and I think there is a little zone of weeds there). I got hit and brought up a 15". I immediately checked the boat back into the wind to keep from blowing over the point as I thought there was a real possibility the fish might be stacked up here. Mike asked me what I was using and I showed him I was fishing a weighted Texas Rig, so he switched up to a green pumpkin jig. I think I just got done telling Mike all I needed was 1 really good fish and I would win the tournament, when Mike swung on that fish. Here it is:

It wasn't the fattest fish in the world, but it was 19" long which is an extremely good fish for Sylvia. I think I pulled a 12.75" on the Crawtube and Mike had a fish rip off the jig skirt and trailer on the hookset. That was all we would get so we headed North to the shoreline where my family's lake place used to be. Basically we worked an inside turn and then off the end of the point which was windblown. I caught a sunfish on the Death Shimmer 2 spinnerbait and had another bump or two. Eventually we worked ourselves in around the point where it was calm and there is a bunch of pads. This is an area I call the "Back Bay" as there is a man made boat channel that was on the back side of our old lake place. It was interesting to see that there is no longer an open boat lane and the Back Bay is overgrown with pads as nobody keeps a boat back there anymore. While fishing the mouth of the Back Bay I got a small bass on the Horny Toad and had another really good swirl close to the boat, but it didn't get the Toad. We worked a little ways into the Back Bay before it got too weed choked, but nothing was in there.

Next we headed to the NE corner of West Sylvia. It was interesting to see that a reedbed there had shrunk in size but cattails had grown close to shore. We fished the wind blown reeds/cattails and I missed a good hit on the Grass Pig, but it got into the reeds immediately. We got to "My Island" which used to feature an open spot behind reeds and rice. The rice is almost all gone and it's just reeds and cattails. I got a bite there from what was most likely a sunfish on a bed (I saw the sunny on the bed as we passed by). I pulled a Sylvia Special on a craw tube off the end of My Island point. We then fished into Turtle Bay. I told Mike that sometimes as you get here is "peanuts"/Sylvia Specials but sometimes there can be good fish too. We did get several peanuts, me on the Horny Toad, but I also did get a 15.5" on the Toad. It used to be that by late June Turtle Bay would be to weed choked so you couldn't fish into it very far, but now there are two docks with boats at the far back of the bay and there is a pretty good boat channel there. Combine that with the high water and I figured fish could be anywhere in the bay. The slop looked beautiful, but all we got were peanuts close to the boat channels, couldn't get anything deeper into the pads. As we worked our way back out it was dead and I got a bit frustrated as this water tends to be pretty good as you come back out of the Bay on the North side. We were almost out of the slop when I got a Sylvia Special out of the Cattails up by shore on the Grass Pig. We went out and worked a cabbage bed that was as in the wind as you can get and we didn't get a bite. We worked down "McGregor's" shore to the 2 docks. I missed a small bass in between 2 docks.

Next we moved to the "Sunkin Island" but we didn't get anything there, so we headed to "Lighthouse Point" with would be another wind blown point with a good drop off and weeds. I'm not sure I even had the trolling motor in the water yet and Mike was hooked up with a big fish and we knew it was a big bass because it jumped. He got it in and it was this nice 19.5" fish.

Needless to say we worked the point pretty good after that and we caught some fish but they were all Sylvia specials.

Next we moved into Flannery's Bay to the hump that I never knew existed until I got my Lakemaster Map. I pulled this 14.25" from there on a Crawtube, but that is all we would get.


Next we worked an inside turn and weedline in Flannery's and I picked up a few more fish on the Crawtube. I also missed several bites. There was about an hour left so we headed back to fish slop/pads in the Public Access Bay. By this time it was partly cloudy so there was quite a bit of sun. Right away I scored a 15.25" on the black Horny Toad. I caught several more Sylvia Specials including this one.

The tournament ended at 2PM. Mike's 53.5" destroyed everybody, but as that he was ineligible my 46" won the tournament. It was typical Sylvia in that everybody reported catching quite a few fish, but everything was small.

Analysis: What can I say but I love Sylvia/Twin and I know spots that have the potential to kick out better than your cookie cutter Sylvia Specials. I am a little surprised that I never made it to the channel between the lakes, but with the way the slop was going in Turtle Bay, I made the call to hit Lighthouse Point first and after that I didn't want to make the run across the big water in that wind. If you want to catch bigger than average fish in Sylvia, you might want to consider using a green/pumpkin bass jig.

Another GOMH Morning

After yesterday, you kind of had to figure that I would be at the Grumpy Old Man Hole again this morning. I actually slept all day yesterday until about 4:45AM this morning. I didn't get to the GOMH until about quarter to 6 and the sun was already up and no clouds. I started with the Think Tank Trigger Fish and then went to the Kelly J Jr. but the fish didn't want topwater. I switched to the craw tube and got this 14.00"

A couple of casts later I got a 15.75", which I didn't take a picture of for some reason. I then moved to the SW side and got a small one on the Kelly J Jr.. I cast the craw tube under the bridge, had a pick up and when I set the line broke. That was it for the morning. It was bright, humid and getting hot.

GOMH BOOM!!!

Once again today I was up all night. I took the dog out for a walk around 5AM and it was kind of cloudy. I thought that might be good for fishing. So I grabbed a few rods and headed off to the Grumpy Old Man Hole. First lure on was the Think Tank Triggerfish and I think I missed one hit on that. Next I put on my new bluegill Lucky Craft Kelly J Jr. and right away I connected with this dude.

I was happy to catch anything and a couple of casts later I hooked into this 17.25"

I think I might have gotten one more small fish on the Kelly J Jr. and then the action stopped. I then picked up the Mad Maxx Frog and fished the slop for about half an hour without even one hit. There were sunfish active in the stuff but apparently no bullheads. I back close to the bridge and started throwing the Kelly J again and picked off about 3 small jumpin bullheads real quick and I missed a couple of other bites. I packed up to head to the South side, but then I realized I hadn't fished the craw tube around the bridge yet, so I put everything down and started casting that. Good call. I missed a good hit right away and a couple of casts later I hooked into this 20.75" toad.


This is the biggest bass I have caught in a few years. I cast back in and had to let out some line, when I reeled back up I was caught in the rocks and a fish had picked the craw tube up. I didn't get a good hookset and the fish jumped and got off. I then went to the South side of the bridge and caught a few small jumpin bullheads on the Kelly J. and a 14.25" on the craw tube. I also caught a toothy bullhead out of the slop with a Mad Maxx Frog.

Next I headed to Jenny's. I mostly threw a Snagproof Ish's Phat Frog on my St. Croix because of the casting distance I can get on that rod. I can throw the frog at least 20 feet further on this set up than I can with the Lamiglass Excel. I missed a small pike, caught a small pike, and had one other bite that didn't get the frog. Around 8:45AM I went home.

Eddy's Launch With Dad

Last night Dad thought it would be a nice night to go out on a launch on Mille Lacs and so I said OK and we headed over to Eddy's around 5PM. Being that we got to Eddy's early I brought rods to try for some smallies off the Jetty. As per usual this year, that was a bust. Dad and I went out on the Eddy's Flagship, which is the biggest launch on Mille Lacs Lake. Dad got me a spot on the back of the launch and he was one spot off to the side. I got us rigged up with beads and hooks. First we headed in the direction of Rocky Reef.

I drew first blood on the boat with a perch. The picture is actually my second one, because I didn't think to take a picture of the first. As we were out on this spot a kayaker went by heading much farther out in to the lake. Our first spot didn't give up any walleye in the first hour and a half, so we moved right out to where the kayaker was fishing. We did see the kayaker catch a few fish.
Anyway, at the new spot I got some bites right away, but it wouldn't take it. Other people on our launch started catching walleyes to big to keep and the action was pretty steady until it got dark. After shaking my bobber pretty good my bobber shot down, but when I set the hook the fish didn't hook up. As it was Dad got the first walleye for us.
I was beginning to think it wasn't going to be my night as everyone around me had caught a fish or two, but my bobber did go down and this time I hooked up. I thought it might be a keeper at first, but then it started fighting harder. It turned out to be this 19" fish being held here by our deck hand Jim.

Once it got to be about 9:30PM the bite shut down. The guy between me and Dad caught 4 eyes and the only keeper for the whole launch of 30+ people. However, some small eye's were thrown back. I think a total of 9 eyes were caught by the 4 of us off the back of the boat and I only got 1.

As you can see from the last picture there was a spectacular sunset, but I didn't really get to see it as I was facing the other way.

Morning Shore Trip

I couldn't fall asleep and it was about 6:30AM, so I decided to do some shore fishing. My first stop was Jenny's and I went 1 for 1 with the Spro Poppin Frog. It hit right after the cast landed. I then put on a Mad Maxx frog and once again my casting distance with the Lamiglass Excel Rod wasn't the greatest. However the rod was excellent for walking the frog. I didn't get any hits.

I then went to Rock lake, mostly to play with the Think Tank Lure Triggerfish I just got. It was getting hot and a family came to launch a couple of boats, so I left around 8AM.

Early Morning Mille Lacs

Today I decided that I would give Mille Lacs a try to see if I could get an early morning smallmouth bite. I arrived at Eddy's around 4:30AM and there was a fair amount of light at this time, especially in the East, but it was still dark. I set up on the North Jetty because you can cover more area there. I was kind of hoping there would have been a bit of a mayfly hatch, but there wasn't. I started out throwing my black Deps Buzzjet, but that didn't get anything. I switched to the Repo Man and didn't get anything on that. It was pretty calm and getting fairly light out so I put on a gold Berkley Frenzy Popper. I had a fish just barely take the BFP and it was only hooked for a couple of seconds. I don't think it was a very big fish. I kept moving down to the North and about 5 minutes later I landed this one. How big do you think it is?
That was the last action I would get on the BFP. I cycled through a number of baits. Around 7AM the sun was up and it was pretty bright out, so I tried a blue silver Lucky Craft Gunfish. A fish took a swipe at that but didn't hook up. I started switching lures and when I was using my Yellow Magic Popper a fish started swirling at something on the surface. I quickly reeled in and threw to the spot, but it didn't want it. I cycled through more baits with no more hits and left around 7:30AM. Not great, but better than a skunk.

Answer: The fish was 13.75"

Last Cast

I put on my waders and headed out a little after 8PM. First I went to the GOMH but people were there, so I headed to the Bulldog Holy Family access, nothing. Then I went to Jenny's and that was dead. I figured I was going to get skunked, when on my last cast this fish boiled on my Spro Rojas Poppin' Frog.

I didn't even bother to throw anymore casts. I was happy.

Wading Bust

I got to thinking that wading to the East of the Grumpy Old Man Hole on Platte might be productive with the high water. I didn't get up until about 6PM today and didn't make up my mind to go fishing until about a quarter to 8PM. Since it was getting to be so late I didn't hit Jenny's and went right to the GOMH. I had the Lamiglas Excel rigged with a Spro Rojas Poppin Frog and my 2 St. Croix frog rods were rigged with a Horny Toad and Ish's Phat Frog. I decided to start at the bridge and move East. I started with the Horny Toad which didn't get anything. Next I went to the Poppin Frog and noticed right away that I wasn't getting incredible distance on my casts. I am not sure if the Poppin Frog doesn't throw as good as other frogs or maybe it's the Excel rod or a combination of both. I had a big blow up pretty close in, but it didn't get the frog. I don't know if it was a pike or bass. It was unwilling to hit again. I started going East and popped this one on the Poppin Frog.
I had one more blow up that didn't hook up before I reached the end of the rip rap.

At the end of the rip rap I waded into the water towing my float tube which I was using for a rod carrier. I almost lost the Ish's Phat Frog in a tree. I broke it off at the not and it dropped into the branches of a tree that was closer to the water. I was looking for the frog in the water. I got under the branch I was stuck on, looked up and there was the frog on this other tree branch, amazing. I waded about a total of 50-60 yards before the mosquito's got to be to bad and I hadn't gotten a single hit while wading. I'm kind of thinking that wading farther to the East probably isn't worth my time at least not until I would get as far to the East as I could wade which is about another 120 yards or so.

Jenny's and Bulldog

Tonight I headed out of the house a bit after 7PM, it was cloudy warm and humid and conditions seemed right for the fish to be on. My first stop was Jenny's. Right away I got a bite but didn't hook up off to the right. I threw back and it boiled on it again. 3rd time was the charm and I brought in this skinny 16" class fish.
I thought this was going to be a much smaller fish from the way it had attacked the Horny Toad. Off to the left I got a couple of similar bites, where I let the fish take the toad and it was there, but when I set the hook I got nothing. Right before I left I had a boil to the right.

I hit Bulldog with the float tube around a quarter to 8 from the access and headed South. All I threw was the Horny Toad and it was pretty dead. I caught a 11.5" and 12.75" bass and missed a few more unimpressive hits. The fish just are not in less than 3 feet of water in the rice and pads. I went around to the big pad bed again. I made my way back fairly quick and had enought time to hit Jenny's again, but that was a bust.

You would think with the high water the shallows would be supercharged, but that is not what I am finding. I think I'm going to have to put the float tube away.

Floating Rock

Tonight I made a last minute decision to head over to Rock Lake for a little float tube fishing. I was probably on the water by 8:25PM. Today was mostly cloudy and a little warmer than it's been, but the sun came out around 8PM. Naturally I headed North to the reeds. I started off with a 12" largie pretty quickly on the Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. I also brought out a rod with the Death Shimmer spinnerbait, but that wasn't working so hot with to much rice around. I ended up wishing I brought the Horny Toad or slop frog rod instead.

Just a little later I got a 14"+ bass and I was off to a good start. I had a good bite in the thick reeds and executed pretty well, but it buried me in the reeds immediately after the hookset. That was my last bite for the night. I made it out past the reeds and then made my way back. It was sort of a disappointment after how things started and went the last time I did this.

Jenny's Skunk and The Dog

I slept most of the day, but when I got up I thought about going fishing. It was overcast with a bit of a wind out of the West (wind has been out of the East for last several days with precipitation). I got the float tube and gear ready, put on my waders and headed out around 7PM just as the sun came out. Jenny's was dead, so by 7:35 I was at Bulldog. I headed South from the access where I had my success last week. It started real slow at Bulldog other than something big waking at my Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper. It got the lure within 10 feet of me and was coming towards me. I waited to feel something but almost as soon as I did the fish let go and was gone. I was throwing the Thumper and Ish's Phat frog and getting nothing. The water was up some more with the recent rain, but the fish were not at the bank. My first fish was this little guy on the Cane Thumper.

Next fish was a small pike on the thumper.

I had a couple of bites on the Ish's Phat Frog but couldn't hook up. Maybe hollow body frogs are not the best float tube baits, because it's hard to put the wicked into the hookset. I got all the way around to where a big pad field comes out and got a 14"+ bass out of the pads right before the big field.

Behind the field up by shore I missed a bite on the Ish and nothing was going in the pads and the mosquito's were starting to some out, so I turned around. I was throwing the Ish and had a really good blow up, but I didn't hook it. That was the last of the action for the night.

B.B.S. Tournament Cullen Chain June 19th

Oh Man, where do I start.

I really thought this tournament was lining up just right for me to do really well and it almost did. We blasted off around a quarter to 7AM in calm overcast conditions with a slight fog and drizzle. We were 2nd boat out and 2nd boat to reach the channel from Lower Cullen to Middle Cullen. The boat that was in front of us didn't quite take the right path into the channel and ran aground. We passed them and were first into Middle. On the way up to Upper Cullen the boat that got stuck bypassed us about half way down the lake and they were first into the Upper Lake. We were 2nd into the Upper Lake channel. While we just got under way in the Upper lake, we watched the non-boater in the other boat catch a fish.

We headed straight to our starting area and there were two boats not in the tournament in the general area, but they were not up in the thick junk that we wanted to fish. Our starting area was moderately thick to thick pencil reeds with some pads and a little bit of rice and some other submergent weeds. I started off throwing a black Horny Toad in the seriously overcast conditions. I was the first to get a strike but it didn't get the Toad. I threw back and it took it again and it was a bass. I got it about half way back to the boat when it buried in the reeds and got off. This experience would happen far to often. After throwing the Horny Toad for a while and not getting anymore bites I switched up to a blue/black Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. I think I missed one bite on that before I put the first fish of the morning in the boat. It was a nice 15" bass. As I was putting on the culling tag my boater went to turn on the livewell pump and got nothing. Not Good! My boaters Ranger is a tiller boat with one big livewell and a baitwell. The baitwell pump was working so I put the fish in there.

We kept working the area and I had a 16.5" take the Grass Pig right by the boat. It helps if you don't have to fight a fish through the reeds. We moved out of our initial area and I think I caught a pike and missed a few bites. On one of the misses I threw back with a black/blue Lake Fork Craw Tube. The fish picked it up, but I pooched the hookset and it was gone. We got to an area where there was more rice laying down in the reeds and the wind was at our back, so I started throwing the Horny Toad again. I had a pike bite off most of the legs on my Horny Toad, but I continued to fish the bait without the legs. I had a bite from a good fish, 16 inch class at least (it jumped so I saw it). I got it about half way back to the boat and it buried me in the reeds and got off. I was miffed; It's one thing to have the fish bury you right away and get off, but quite another to have them moving towards you well and then get off. As we moved along the Horny Toad provided a 14.75", 14.5", before I lost the one with no legs. I put another Toad on and got a 14.25", and 12.5" and I got the limit monkey off my back. I also put these last couple of fish in the big livewell and had to use an ice cream bucket to scoop in water. The first cull came quick with a 14". At this point I think my boater only had one bass in the boat and had missed a few bites as well. I think he got his first fish on a blue/black Grass Pig that I gave him.

I think it was shortly after that 14" that we made a move to a deep reed bed in the lake where we had a double in pre-fish. In the deep reed bed my boater landed a small keeper and I caught a nice pike. After about an hour of that we headed back to our starting area. I upgraded with 15, but I can't remember what I caught it on. I think I caught a fish or two that didn't help as well as a pike or two. We got into an area that we didn't hit on our first pass that looked really good. I was bringing the Horny Toad in when either a big bass or dogfish purposed hard on the Toad. I laid the wood, but it buried me instantly and was gone. If that wasn't a dogfish, it was a game changer and I was quite bummed by missing it. A little ways down I got a bass that didn't help and another nice pike.

We made a run back to the deep reed bed and I pulled a 15.5" on a blue/black Craw Tube and also caught a couple that didn't help me. We worked this reed area, longer this time. After pulling out a backlash for about 15 minutes, my boater landed one that just barely made the 12 inch minimum size.

For a 3rd time we went back to our starting area, but we started a little farther South than we ever had. I put on a bubblegum Grass Pig and started throwing that. There were some really thick reeds, so I started throwing a brown Ish's Phat Frog and had a fish swirl on it fairly close to the boat. I threw back with the Craw Tube. On about the 4th pitch the fish picked it up and I laid the wood. It was a nice 16" class bass. I almost had it in when it jumped and spit the hook. I was like, What?!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRR! A little later on I made a long cast throwing the Phat frog up past the reeds into some shallow pads when I had a blow up and brought in a 16" into the boat. Those double hooked hollow body frogs are great for keeping a bass pegged if they choke it. In addition it helps when you can hook up where the cover isn't as dense and get them moving at you, at least usually. Today I was losing fish I had moving to me all to frequently. I had a few more swirls on the Ish's Phat Frog and a couple of bites on the bubblegum Pig that I couldn't convert. It was around this time that I noticed one of my fish was in trouble and I spent a while trying to revive it, but that was a waste of time. A couple of other fish started showing signs of distress, so I had to work for a while putting fresher water in the well.

My boater switched to a yellowish white Sizmic Toad and nailed a couple of fish, including a nice fish that was quite a bit bigger than anything I had. I switched the bubblegum pig to a albino Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper because the color and size were close to that Sizmic Toad and got a pike and couple of bass that didn't help. At this point in the day it was still cloudy, but it had warmed up into the mid 70's and my boater thought it would be good for our fish if we got out of the shallow warming water and got some water from out deeper in the lake. I think we hit the deeper reeds one more time then left the Upper Lake.

When we stopped in the Middle Lake I went back on water duty, but didn't check the bait well which was on automatic. That mistake allowed another one of my fish to get distressed and eventually expire. Anyway we were fishing down a reed lined point with a steep drop off. I tossed out a bluegill Megabass Pop Max and got a 14" that didn't help. I think my boater might have pulled a fish that helped him off this spot. We hit another point and that was when I noticed I had a second fish in trouble. Nothing at that point and with a little less than an hour left to go, we headed to the lower lake.

We got into the lower lake and there was a boat on the spot my boater wanted to go, so we hit another deep cabbage weed point and weedline. I started throwing the "Drag Stripper" Paycheck Baits Repo Man I got my big fish in pre-fish on. I was hoping this might be the bait to pull up a big smallmouth. I had a couple of swirls from seemed like a smaller fish, but didn't hook up. As we were working down the weedline I had a good bass that would have culled take a shot at the Repo Man, but it didn't hook up and it didn't come back for seconds. GRRRRRRRR! My boater landed a fish that was another good cull.

With about 10 minutes to go before check in, we closed her down and went to head in but the motor wouldn't start. Fortunately another tournament boat was close and came over. We were about a 1/4 mile from check in. My boater had some special hook ups for jumping the between batteries in the boat, but he couldn't find it. The other boat gave us their jumper cables and my boater worked furiously to get his batteries connected. He did and the motor started and we got back with pretty much, no time to spare.

The story doesn't end here, however. We got the boat pulled out of the water and started bagging our fish. There were 4 fish in the bait well, 3 of which had expired, two of which were mine. I handed my boaters dead fish to him, but somehow it registered with me that it was a 3rd expired fish for me. When I weighed my fish I said there were 3 alive instead of 4. When I dumped the fish in the lake and only had two dead one's to take back with me, I realized my mistake. At that point my weight was in the book and I was out of luck. Ouch!

My weight before dead fish penalties was 11lbs 6ozs. Each dead fish is a 2oz penalty, so my official weight was 11lbs even. Third Place (last to "get wood") was 11lbs 2ozs. Even if I would not have screwed up by an extra 2ozs, I would have lost on the big fish tie breaker as my biggest fish was a modest 2-4. However another angler had 11-1, so I dropped an extra place in the standings to 5th out of 26 guys fishing. If it were not for another guys dead fish penalty I would have dropped to 6th. Everyone caught their limit and 11 of us were stacked between 11-2 and 10-1. 2 Bags were less than 8lbs. My boater came in 13th with 10-1 (1 dead fish) and his big fish was only 2-15; I thought it was a 3lber for sure.

Analysis- What can I say? Had I had a bit better luck I probably would have won the tournament as the winning weight was only 12-13, although the winner was fishing thick junk too (we fished some of the same water) and I would assume he dumped a fish or two that would have helped his bag as well.

For the second tournament in a row my fish had to be post-spawners that were on the skinny side. Going in to weigh in I figured I had right about 12lbs. Frankly I'm surprised my fish weighed even less than at Platte/Sullivan because my average length here was a bit better (in fact it was one full inch more in total) and the fish didn't seem thin to me. Still I can't complain to much. I screwed up on that extra dead fish and losing fish in pencil reeds is just an unfortunate fact of life, but some of the fish I missed were really bad breaks.

Next Bass Snatcher Tournament: Le Homme Dieu on July 16th
I think I am going to try and get in on the Fishers of Men Club Twin
Cities Tournament for bass on Sylvia/Twin on July 9th. Sylvia/Twin is the lake I learned to fish on.

Jenny's and Rock (Short Trip)

Tonight I wasn't off until after 7:30PM and my first stop was at Jenny's. Right away I nailed this 14.5" on a white Berkley Havoc Grass Pig. It took it off the surface. I let the fish take it down and felt it holding the bait, then I gave it the surge set and I had to fight it through some reeds to get it in. The Lamiglas Excel performed well on this one. I got one more weak bite at Jenny's that really didn't hold the Grass Pig, so I wasn't surprised when I set and nothing was there.

At about 8PM I headed over to Bulldog, but there were people at the access and a truck and trailer and I didn't want to launch at the Bingo access, so I decided to head to Rock. When I got to rock I decided to throw some casts from the Rock Dock. On one of the casts as I was getting close to the dock a fish grabbed the Grass Pig and bit off the tail. The bait actually had a pretty good walk the dog, flukish action minus the tail, but I decided to put on another Grass Pig.

I got in the float tube and headed North. I was into the reeds when I got my first bite. I set and the Grass Pig was gone, no fish. That sucked. At that point I put on a Gambler Big EZ swimbait. A couple of minutes later I got a 14.5 bass then a pike. I got beyond the reed bed and caught another pike, then a nice 15" class bass then a pike that broke me off right in front of the float tube. I rigged up with a different bigger hook with a smaller lead weight and another EZ. I went as far as I was going to go a little ways into the narrows of the Platte River Outlet. My next fish was another pike, then I got a bass that was 14" or so. I was casting back into the reeds when I had a good hit. I felt for the fish a while before setting the hook and when I did I seemingly didn't hook into anything. I cast back over the area a few times and on one of the casts after I had cleared the reeds and was in open water almost to the float tube I had a good bite. I figured it was a pike and didn't give it the best surge set. I was surprised when a big bass came up and tail walked about 10 feet in front of me. It then bulldoged down then shot straight up, jumped and came off about 6 feet in front of me. I was like, ohh man that was Derby fish for sure; It was in the 17-19" class. Right about this time the mosquito's started getting really bad, so I quickened my pace, but did manage to land one more 14" class bass that took the EZ off the surface as it was coming through the rice and reeds. Shortly after that the mosquito's got to be to much and I stopped casting and moved as quick as I could. I think I was off the water around 9:40PM. I didn't throw a frog at all.

Although I wasn't catching everything that was biting, I came away impressed with the Lamiglas Excel Bass rod. I had to catch several fish through pencil reeds tonight and it had the power to do it. The rod is also pretty sensitive and soft enough not to take the dipper away from the fish for the most part. Maybe tomorrow I will get out and use the rod from the boat, to see how that goes.

New To Me Rod, Jenny's and Bulldog

Today I was pleasantly surprised to receive the Lamiglas Excel Bass 735C I got on Ebay (7'3"MH). I wasn't sure when it was shipped and I didn't know if I'd have it in time for Sunday's Bass Snatcher tournament. The rod is designed for frogs and small swimbaits. At this point I want to get a feel for how it works for "Dipper Fishing," since I broke the rod I really like for that and won't replace it until next month. The Excel is not as soft as that Croix LTB or the Rapala Long Cast I was now using for the Dippers. The Excel, however, is not as stiff as my 7'3" Croix Avid MH's that I like for frogs, but not dippers. So tonight I went to test it out.

I didn't get out of the house until after 7:15PM and I made Jenny's on Platte Lake my first stop. The thing is that the rice is now up and matted at Jenny's so it isn't the best place for dipper fishing. I gave it a try, but when I didn't get any hits right away I switched to a Snagproof Ish's Phat Frog.

I got this skinny 16.5" and a much more healthy 16", as well as missing a few hits. The mosquito's were bad and I wasn't getting to use the Excel, so I decided to bounce over to Bulldog a little after 8PM. I put the float tube in at the Public Access and headed South just like on Monday night. It turned out to be an OK decision because I got a few bites on the black Berkley Havoc Grass Pig on the Excel rod. First fish was a 14" bass and then a 12" bass. I made a cast up next to shore and as soon as the Grass Pig hit the water a fish nailed it and I landed this fat 17.5"

After that action I caught another 12incher and a nice pike. I had another good bass on that got off, half way in to the tube. The mosquito's started getting really bad, so I started to head back throwing the frog. I think I had a couple of fish slap at the frog, but nothing pounded it. I think I was done fishing by 9:20PM.

So far my impressions of the Excel for Dippers is positive, but the jury is still out at this point.

More Float Tubing Bulldog & Quick Hitter at Jenny's

Tonight I was out on Bulldog about 1/2 an hour longer than yesterday and caught 9 less fish. I started at the Holy Family Bingo Palace launch. I fished a little to the South, but mostly went North. I got my first fish, which was a 13.5 bass on the brown Ish's Phat Frog casting into the reeds to the South of the Access. I had a few fish hit the frog but they weren't really taking it. Follow up with the black Berkley Havoc Grass Pig was mostly unproductive. I saw a dogfish. At around 8:30PM I had a little flurry of action before a front came through and it started raining. I got a 14" and 12" bass on the Grass Pig and missed a few bites on the GP and Phat Frog. The wind came up with the front and I decided I had gone as far as I wanted to go, which really wasn't that far I actually covered more water last night.

Here is the 14":



There was a little light left when I got back to the car and the wind was out of the S SE, so I thought I would give Jenny's a try real quick. That was a good call as I got this 16"


and another that went 15.5" on the Phat Frog. I also had a couple of other blow ups. It got dark pretty quick and the skeeters were bad, so I headed out around 9:15PM

Float Tubing Bulldog

My last pair of waders leaked badly so I hadn't been out in my float tube for a couple of years. I got a new pair of waders this winter and so I'll be doing some float tubing this year and tonight was the first trip and I chose to go to Bulldog Lake. Bulldog is 141 acres and has a dirt access with limited trailer parking and only a few cabins on the lake. It's pretty much lined with slop almost all the way around (rice,reeds,pads). The lake kicked out a legit 8lb bass around 5 years ago. The lake doesn't get a whole lot of pressure, but I've been told by a guy who has a place on the lake that it isn't as good for bass as it used to be. Tonight there actually was a truck and trailer at the access when I arrived about a quarter after 7PM.

Conditions were overcast with a little light rain as I first started out, but it cleared up around 9PM. There was a light breeze blowing out of the SE.

The public access is on the SW shore and I decided to head South. I brought a rod rigged with a brown Snagproof Ish's Phat Frog and a rod rigged with a black Berkley Havoc Lane's Grass Pig. I casted for a while at the access without luck so I got in the float tube and started off. I can't even believe I got the first fish I did. By far the smallest hollow body frog fish I've ever caught.
Down a little ways I had a fish boil at the frog, but not take it. I followed up with the Grass Pig. I was just about to switch back to the frog when I got a hit. I set the hook and it was a good one.

It went 18.5 and was a total pig. Great way to start the trip. I mostly threw the frog, but I caught more fish on the Grass Pig and the 3 biggest. My biggest 6 fish were 18.5", 15.25",15",14",14",13". I caught a total of 11 bass and my last fish was a small pike on the Grass Pig. I fished until the mosquito's started getting bad, which was a bit later than usual because of the breeze.

Cullen Chain Pre-Fish And More From Shore

Next Sunday is my 2nd Baxter Bass Snatcher tournament of the year being held on the Cullen Chain near Nisswa MN. I had the good fortune to draw Bill Bailey for my boater as he has a good history with these lakes. Bill was kind enough to agree to take me out for a day of fishing, so I could get a feel for these lakes that I had never seen before. I am extremely glad Bill took me out, because in a lot of ways it wasn't what I expected.

The Cullen Chain has pretty good to excellent water clarity and has diverse aquatic vegetation, but seemingly none of the troublesome invasive weeds. I really like the Chain as it has elements of Sylvia/Twin and Platte/Sullivan. Bill has a smaller boat so we are able to fish in all 3 lakes. I don't think guys with bigger boats can get into the upper most lake because of a narrow culvert with little headroom. Getting out of the lower most lake where we will launch is also a challenge. Bill had to get out of the boat this morning because we didn't take the right approach into the boat channel and ran aground.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fish size we discovered, although my first fish of the day didn't show it.

Shortly after this fish, I watched a 3lb+ largie engulf my lure. I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to set the hook or not because I got such a good look at the fish as did Bill. I think the fish kind of stuck itself and I had it on for a few seconds before it got off. I got another good take shortly after that.

Next we went to a weedline and I experimented with a bait, but that was a bust. After that we ran to the Upper Lake, which turned into a pike fest for me. Bill had a follow from a big dogfish. I tried to catch it, but just spooked it. A little later on we were getting close to one of the clubs more mercurial club members and we saw him catch a fish. I thought it was a nice bass, but he told us it was a dogfish. I'm not sure I believe that.

Anyway we found some productive water and ended our time in the upper lake with a quality double. This was my fish (I think it was probably 16).


Next we went back to the middle lake. It was cloudy with a light breeze and I thought in that clear water topwater might go, so I started throwing a Paycheck Baits Repo Man. We fished some good looking stuff without so much as a sniff for either us, but I just kept chucking the topwater. Eventually I was rewarded with this 18"+ pig that just annihilated the Repo Man.

It was awesome. I knew it was a big fish immediately because it tail walked then jumped a couple of times. I was worried it was going to bury me in the weeds and get off, but it was hooked well and I was able to pull it out of the salad. Man I was jacked after this fish.

We fished a little while longer and I added one more quality bass to my day on something that not get any play on tournament day, but the color will.

Overall it was a very successful pre-fish. I was impressed with the size we discovered and it's a fun lake to fish with lots of options. My boater Bill is probably going to get out for one more trip.

I made a few stops on my way home. I jacked this 14.25" fish at Bulldog Lake.

And I jacked this 13" fish at Jenny's on Platte.

I had one more really good bite at Jenny's but I choked.

I did try the GOMH, but was blanked. John W. was there and told me he caught a very big jumpin bullhead from under the bridge the other day. Maybe I need to get a clue and start throwing stuff under the bridge like John does.