My Plan of Attack for the 2019 Opener

It is right now 12:03AM 48 hours before the MN Fishing Opener and I have a pretty clear plan of attack in mind for how I am going to go about the first day.  Due to the snow storm, we are right now in the midst of experiencing and the wind forecast for Saturday I am pretty much writing off bass fishing.  Wind and cool/ cold water equal no bueno in my experience for bass.  I think the conditions might be setting up for me to take advantage of walldogs, so that is what I am going to focus my energy on the first day.

The Plan:
Of course, I will be fishing on Mille Lacs at midnight which is now a longstanding tradition.  Hopefully, Eddy's isn't full of people because that is my first choice.  I think I'll plan on leaving the house a little after 11PM. That should give me time to assess the situation and possibly give me the opportunity to pick my spot.  Ideally, no one will be there and I can fish free as a bird wandering the North Jetty at will.  Who knows how having a one fish limit will affect angler interest. I'm betting there will be others there fishing at midnight.  Therefore, I want to get the NW corner.  If I don't get that. There is the Harbor Mouth and Standing Rock.  Less appealing is the Center and South Jetty, but beggars can't be choosers. I better bring the long net, just in case I get stuck on Center.

I am going to start with a Rippin' Rap.  If that doesn't work I'll go to a swimbait, then to suspending jerkbaits.  If they are there they should bite on one of those three.  I think I am also going to bring along some Shad Raps, Flicker Shads, and a hair jig.

Success or lack of it depends on what I do next.  At 3:30AM I will make the call to stay or go.  Three and half hours of straight casting is a long time especially if I"m not getting bit.  If I'm feeling good and catching fish I might choose to go until dawn.  Chances are better that I will be looking for a break and change of scenery so I may head home to give a quick blog and get a bite to eat before heading to the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  If I'm there before 5AM hopefully there is an open side.  If not I may head back to Mille Lacs (unlikely), go to the Trophy (also unlikely), stay at the bridge and watch what happens (unlikely if the wind is blowing).  I probably will just go back home if there is nowhere to fish and return sometime in the afternoon after the wind has kicked up and it's warmed up.

With the forecasted South wind, I think I may be able to pull out some daytime gold out of the GOMH.  Then from there, it's most likely back to Mille Lacs for Round 2 after dark.

That's my plan.   

Winner! Winner! Finally In 2019 I'm A Winner!

The month of April had come and gone and I hadn't won anything yet.  No giveaway's, no Fantasy Fishing prizes, nothing.  My luck changed this week when I won the Bass Boat Central opt-in Fantasy League for the Elite Series at Lake Fork.  So basically I think I'm a few bucks up on what I paid out while participating in this league for the past 3 years or so.

Fishing Goal Reached! 

First Trophy Trip 2019

Calm at least for a bit

15.75" X-Rap size 6 (Firetiger)

Safely returned

I departed the Grumpy Old Man Hole at 6PM in hopes I would be able to recreate the magic of yesteryear at the mouth of the Platte River in Lake Sullivan.  To do that, I would need the assistance of a boat obviously.  By the time I had loaded up and was underway the wind had calmed down significantly just like it was forecast to do.  The water temp was 52℉, which was right but the fish just weren't there other than a few straggler bass.  I went a little way up the river, but that was unproductive.  I got surprised when a front quickly blew over bringing some rain.  But that made the bow light work, so I can't complain.  I ran the hay flat looking for fish with my Go For Wild Headlamp. Unfortunately, the water isn't as clear as it could be and there was some ripple as well.  I mostly spied shiners and a few small sunnies.  Lantern Man was at the bridge and had only gotten one silver bullhead.  I was starting to get cold so I called it a night at 10PM. 

Trophy's Floating

So I headed to the lake place at about 1:30PM.  Getting the prop put back on and the trolling motor mounted went smoothly.  The bow light still didn't work and I realized getting the new bilge pump connected was going to require me getting that stuck wingnut off the terminal.  I called and told him to bring some WD40.  Dad didn't find any WD40 but brought some lubricant that Pete brought up last fall.  He suggested I spray the lubricant in the light receptacle.  I'll be darned that worked.  I made a little headway on the wingnut, but it was extremely slow.  Meanwhile, the CO detectors were going off in the lake place which Dad had opened up.  I propped the porch door open and found a pipe wrench in the basement.  The pipe wrench allowed Dad and I to get enough leverage to get the wingnut off.  I then ran to Bear Trax to get a different wingnut and some minnows.  I think we headed to the Platte Lake Access at around a quarter to 4.  The motor started right up and I was off. Victory Achieved!   

Got the Trophy Out Today

Dad didn't want to get up so I headed up to the lake place on my own.  The first job was to move the lawn tractor.  I couldn't get it started, so I called Dad and he came up.  While I was waiting for him to get there I tested out the new auto-bilge pump. Dad got the tractor started.  I didn't push the throttle up high enough to get it in the choke position.  We pushed it out of the garage.  I got it vacuumed out.  At first, it wasn't sucking very hard.  I took off the hose and it was filled up with sand.  Once I got it cleared it worked a whole lot better.  I couldn't get the bow light to work.  I've still got to switch out the bilges and get some other things done.  Hope to have it in the water by Friday at the latest.

Ice Out Platte Lake

Platte Lake Public Access to Jenny's Place was ice free

Rock Lake was 80% ice free with two boats in the water

Bulldog was 70% ice free

Tackle Warehouse Opener 2019

Goal Achieved: Under Technique and Tackle Goals

It was so nice out today (68℉) I went down and opened up the Tackle Warehouse for the first time this year.  It's definitely on the late end for a TWO thanks to the snow, but not the latest either.

Earlier this month I also achieved the getting the Trolling Motor fixed goal.  It's got a brand new head thanks to them having one just laying around.  I should work at low speeds now.  Hooray!

The lakes should be open by the weekend (4 more days).

Lipless And BP

Lipless cranks are a lure that I had pretty good success with occasionally before I moved North in 2003.  For whatever reason, I haven't been on a good trap bite in years.  I've caught a fish here and there on them or nothing, definitely no memorable whackfests.  I've got the right equipment and dozens of lures. Maybe 2019 will be the year.

The Tactical Bassin video brought the subject to mind. (Hmmm for some reason the video embed code flat out disappeared.

Rock. Sullivan Inlet, and GOMH Tonight and Hitting A Snag

It looks like ice out is going to be delayed for a few days thanks to it getting cold with snow this week.  I think ice off will now not be until the 18th, 19th, or 20th.  Hopefully, we won't get a bunch of snow.🤞.  My guess is that most of the lakes in the Twin Cities will be ice-free before the cold weather hits.

1st Bullhead of 2019

20.5" Cubby Mini-Mite (Glow)

About the same as yesterday

7:35-8:20PM GOMH SW NE
45℉, Cloudy fog, 5mph NE

I stayed to watch Auburn go down to Virginia at the Final Four then headed out expecting to get another skunk, but that was not to be.  I started on the SW side and didn't get anything.  I switched to the NE side.  Sure enough, a bullhead pulled my bobber under and I landed my first fish of 2019.

The weather was once again running at least 5 degrees below the forecast.  It was foggy as well.  The one positive is that it didn't get under 40-degrees last night.  Maybe it will be warmer tomorrow.

Ice Fishing Goals Achieved and Not Winter 18-19

Goals achieved in bold green
Goals not achieved in red
Partly achieved in purple
Commentary in blue

The weather made for an abbreviated ice fishing season for me this year.  Once the Snow and cold hit in early January I was done.

Tackle Goals:
1. Have my tackle ready to go by November 24th.

Fishing Buddies:
1. Fish with at least 2 others this winter. I did go fishing with Pete, so 50% achieved isn't too bad.

Blogging:
1.  Record all fishing trips at Fish Swami
2. Blog all Trips at the Fishing Log Blog

Fishing Goals:
1.  Catch at least 300 fish. Caught 203 Fish
2. Catch at least 12 fish per outing.I struggled to catch them on a bunch of trips, but I was starting to get there when the weather turned against me.

Crappie:
1. Catch at least 200. I Caught 78 Crappies

Sunfish:
1. Catch at least 100. I Caught 40 Sunnies

Pike:
1. Catch at least 1. I caught 4 Pike

Bass:
1. Catch at least 1. I caught 1 Bass

Walleye:
1. Catch at least 1.I caught 12 walleyes
2. Fish Mille Lacs at least 3 times. I fished Mille Lacs 5 times

Tulibee:
1. Catch at least 1. Didn't really try for them

Lakes:
1. Mille Lacs
2. Bulldog
3. Rock Lake
Also fished Long and Platte

Any Day Now A Bullhead Should Show Up

I am a little disappointed with the pace of ice disappearing at the GOMH so far this week.  It has generally been a few degrees under what was forecasted to happen.  Later today it is supposed to get near 60 degrees and it's supposed to be above average for the next 4 days after that.  Bullheads could move in at any time.  Odds are it won't be until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week at the earliest, but the GOMH has been known to pleasantly surprise me from time to time.

Update: Looks like it's only going to get to the mid 50's today if we are lucky. Drats

Relaxing Night at the GOMH

Cloudy Cool Night with some light snow to start

7:15-8:10PM GOMH SW NE
38-36℉, Cloudy, 10-5MPH East Wind

A gloomy night cool night, but I was into it.  Casting out and listening to my 2019 Playlist.  Very relaxing. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow.

Expected Skunk

Not much progress at Bulldog

5:40-6:20PM GOMH NE SW
45℉, Mostly sunny, 5mph NW

Dang light snow we got this morning didn't melt off the lakes today keeping the surface white so instead of absorbing heat under the ice we got practically nothing out of this sunny day.  No activity detected.  A couple guys briefly fished the NE side as well.

Cool Dreary Monday (Bulldog, GOMH, Inlet)

It's my belief that over the next week I'm going to witness quite a bit of progress towards ice getting off the lakes.  Today was a bit of a disappointment in that regard because it only got to about 40 degrees due to the thick cloud cover.  I didn't get a hit at the GOMH and the water has clouded up quite a bit.  It's still rising.  I also went to Bulldog and the Sullivan Inet.

First Fishing Trip of 2019

I went and got my fishing license today and then went and threw a few casts at the GOMH from 4 to 4:30PM.  Not only was it my first fishing trip of the year, but also the first time using the selfie stick with the iPhone while out and about.  It didn't exactly go smoothly, but I got a couple pics I was happy with.  The water is really clear right now and right at the level I like with it slowly rising.  Provided we get an inch or two of rain in April I don't think we will have low water issues for the GOMH prime month of May.

I spent most of the evening beginning to get my tackle organized for the year.  I've still quite a bit to do yet.  It's a long time before the Fishing Opener gets here. Plenty of time to get my act together.