Bass Opener Is Tomorrow!

It's 2AM on Opener Eve and I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet.  I was thinking about trailering the boat and starting from shore at the GOMH.  I think we are still gonna be mostly pre-spawn in this area.   Hopefully after I'm on the water today I'll have a plan.  I'll update this post tonight.

Trophy's 1st Run of the Year

I had planned to get stuff organized today, but that didn't happen because I took an overlong nap not getting up until 4:30PM.  I didn't get the Trophy to the lake until 7PM.  It ran just fine, but I didn't have GPS with to check my top speed and also I didn't have the Garmin to tell me the lake temp.

22"

I started out on the North side by the little inlet.  I got that pike there and saw a dogfish, but I spooked it when I cast for it.  I then went into the RPRO and got this pike.

25"

I got down by the Beaver Dam and discovered the bog that had set up here last year.

Had moved into the mouth of the river blocking it off just past the beaver dam.

I did get this 17"+ largie in that general area.

I think that's the moon off my elbow.

Here is the moon on my way out of the RPRO.

GOMH Gold, Mille Lacs Gamble and Back to the GOMH Twice More

15"

This morning I got out to the GOMH around a quarter to 5AM.  It was windy and drizzling out of the NE.  The water has come up near last years high water mark with all the rain fall we have had.  I got a jumpin bullhead, then I got this little golden bullhead on the North side.  I got a couple jumpin bullheads on the South side all on the swamp gas Grass Pig.

I made the decision when I left this morning to try hitting up Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs.  I thought with the East winds we've been having that things might pay off.  I got to Mille Lacs a little after 6AM.  I fished to 7:30AM without a bite so I took off.

I stopped back at the GOMH and only got a couple of more bullheads before I quit.

In the evening Dad and I hit the GOMH up again.  I set Dad up with a bobber rig and a Grass Pig rod up on the South side of the bridge.  I kept throwing the Grass Pig. I had a small jumper destroy the swamp gas Grass Pig so I put on a refurbished with Mend-It white one.  I missed several hits before connecting with a 22" toothy bullhead that just choked it.  I got a couple jumpers then I moved to the North side.  All I got there were jumpin bullheads and a bunch more missed hits.

I went up on the bridge to check on Dad and he had gotten a big bass on the swamp gas Grass Pig and missed a few fish with T.H.E. Jig and a minnow.  I took the Jig and got bit off by a toother.  That is when we called it a night around 9:30 or so.

Tomorrow I plan to get the boat out, so I may or may not hit the GOMH in the morning.

No Gold, But Hawgs and a Slabber

This morning I got to the GOMH just after 5AM.  The water was up even higher and the wind was blowing in hard on the North side.  My first fish of the morning was this chunky 19" jumper on the swamp gas Grass Pig.

Later on in the morning I got 20" slob of a jumpin bullhead.

She was probably over 5lbs as that she was full of eggs.

I fished some of the morning for silver bullheads with T.H.E. Jig and a minnow.  I got this minnow of a bullhead.

On the very next cast I got this slabber bullhead.

13"

That was the only decent one I caught.

I went back to the North side and got a toothy bullhead.

22"

I quit fishing as a quarter to 8AM.

Two More Golden Bullheads Tonight

I arrived after it stopped raining at the GOMH around 8PM.   I started fishing the NE side were the wind was blowing in pretty good and all I could get were jumpers.  I had a couple of tails bit off my swamp gas Grass Pig, so there were some toothers there; They just weren't getting it.  Here is my biggest jumper of the night.

18"

John W. showed up. Eventually we went to the SE side.  Everybody else had left the South side by then.  We got a few more jumpin bullheads. John left to go have dinner and about 2 minutes later I got the first golden on the swamp gas Grass Pig.  About half an hour later I got my second one.  I missed one more.  I left at 10:30PM when it started to sprinkle.

Good Morning and Evening at the GOMH

Sunrise at the Grumpy Old Man Hole

This morning I got up a little earlier than normal to try and hit the GOMH for some crappies.  That didn't work out so at 5:00AM I was fishing for gold.  I managed to get two on a Grass Pig.

17"

17.5"

I had an 18" jumpin bullhead just choke my Spro 25 Crank

I got one toothy bullhead.

I did get a couple of small silver bullheads as well.

In the evening I got a late start due to the fact I left without my rods in the car.  I think I got to the GOMH around 9:30PM.  I managed to get 4 golden bullhead and several jumpin bullheads including one 18 to 19 inch sow on a swamp gas Grass Pig.  I got fish from both sides of the bridge in the evening, while it was mostly the North side in the morning.  I didn't have the camera with, so I got these picks of the golden bullheads after I got home.

I Got Me a Dogfish!

We got dumped on my a thunderstorm this morning so I didn't get out until after 6:00am.  It was actually still sprinkling when I got there.  There was 1 guy on the SW side and that was it.  I decided to go to the NE side and try for some golden bullheads.  I quickly noticed that all the rain we got had cleared up the water.  No gold today.

While fishing with the Money Minnow I had a jumpin bullhead wrap me around the buoy marker line.  It eventually got off but my line was still stuck.  Fortunately my line broke at the bait, so I didn't lose my wire leader.  I started fishing with a parrot X-Rap and tied into this little dogfish.

 I caught a several jumpin bullheads on the X-Rap.

Then I went up and got re-tied.  All my Money Minnows are waiting for my new Mend-It bottle to arrive.  I accidentally left the cap on loose earlier this week, Oops.  I put on a white Grass Pig and got a couple of toothy bullheads on that.

I also of course got some jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig.  This was the biggest at 17 inches.

I eventually decided to give the other side a try for some silver bullheads. I missed a couple of bites and got a  real small one before taking off at a little after 9:00AM.

We went into Little Falls to get my new glasses today, so I didn't get to bed until 3PM and I didn't wake up until 10PM.  So no fishing tonight

Golden Bullheads at the GOMH

This morning I got to the GOMH at 5AM in search of some gold.  I started on the NE side and it wasn't long and I was bringing in my first golden bullhead on a Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad.

18.5"

 I missed another one and got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then went to try the SE side, but only got jumpin bullheads there.  Because it was cloudy and windy blowing into the N side I went back and scored my second golden bullhead of the day.  Here's both of them from this morning.

I did get a couple of toothy bullheads, including one that had a jig in it's mouth.  Here is the one that didn't have the jig.

Here is my biggest jumper of the morning.

17.75

I lost several other really nice jumpin bullheads and a couple that I don't know what they were.

For the evening trip I didn't arrive until 8:30PM and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of people and withing 20 minutes of me being there all but my friend Joe's buddies were gone.  I started on the NE side and only got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then tried the SE side for a while and once again only got jumpin bullheads.  I switched back to the North side and immediately got a golden bullhead on a Spro 25 crank in parrot.

I got my last 2 golden bullheads on the night on a Powerbait Ripple Shad.

16"

17"

I think I missed one or two more.  I gave the fish to Joe's friend and he gave me some minnows.  John W. showed up. He had something big on, probably a pike he said.  I left a little before 10:30PM

Another Good Night at the GOMH with Dad

Dad and I got to the GOMH about 7PM.  Everywhere was filled, so we took up on the bridge on the Sullivan side.  I started out by weed whacking.  I found out Chris from the Bass Snatchers was there again tonight.  He ended up giving us some minnows, which was nice.  CO Kuske pinched another person tonight for no license  Dad got a silver bullhead and a jumpin bullhead and missed several other bites.

9.5"

 As for me I got 2 silver bullheads, a toothy bullhead, and 10 jumpin bullheads.  I possibly lost a golden bullhead as well after it got dark.  I missed several bites tonight.

All in all it was a good night.

Golden Bullheads and Jumpin Bullheads, No Toothers

I got out early today to try for some golden bullheads.  I thought I wasn't going to get one.  I tried the NW side and nothing.  Then I tried the NE side and broke the front off my Frenzy crankbait when I hit the wall.  I  switched to a baitcaster and got another Frenzy.  I made several casts with nothing and was just about to give up when I got a hit.  Sure enough it was a golden bullhead and I managed to land it despite it not being very well hooked.

22"

I then got a jumpin bullhead on the Frenzy then nothing.  I switched to the YUM Money Minnow and had a bigger eye on but it got off somehow.  I don't know if I would have kept it, because it was at least 24 inches.  I got a couple more jumpers on the Money Minnow then I switched to the SW side.

All I could get there were jumpin bullheads, this 18" was the biggest.

No matter where or how far I cast all I could get were jumpin bullheads, not a toothy bullhead to be found.  I even tried for panfish bullheads and got jumpin bullheads.  I called it quits a 8AM my thumbs were raw.

Great Morning, Good Night at the GOMH

This morning I got to the GOMH around 5:30AM.  I set up on the SW side.  It was a little slow at first, but then I changed to the Grass Pig I got the fish on last night and my first fish was this toothy bullhead.  I used

After getting a couple of jumpin bullheads the Grass Pig was trashed, so I went to the car and got a white Gambler EZ Swimbait.  On like my second cast I got this Golden Bullhead.

18"

A couple of casts later I got a nice jumpin bullhead.  Then a couple of casts later I got another toothy bullhead.  I remarked to the guy fishing on the SE side that I didn't know what I was gonna catch.
I got a couple of 4lb plus jumpin bullheads.

20"

 This fish was a bit on the skinny side.

19.75"

This fish was quite a bit more chunky and I'm sure weighed more.  I missed one more that I think was in that size class.

Eventually I went through the three Gambler EZ's I had and I switched up to a Yum Money Minnow in hitch color.  I got a couple of jumpin bullheads on that and 4 or 5 toothy bullheads.  I ended up with 16 jumpin bullheads, 9 toothy bullheads, and 1 golden bullhead.  Not a bad morning.  I quit at 8AM after the action slowed.

Note:  After catching each pike I washed my hands with a bar of Captain Knoll's Fisherman's Hand and Body Soap. I was quite impressed with it's ability to get the pike slime off of my hands and leave them smelling like anise.  The bar has a bit of grittiness to it  It's a great product and I'm guessing the bar is going to last a long time.  As I didn't even put a dent in it.  I recommend you go to their website and check it out.

In the evening I went back to the GOMH with Dad.  The place was full of people and they were catching a few bullheads but nothing spectacular.  Joe and Chris from the Bass Snatchers were fishing on the NW side. Dad and I set up on the bridge and I got a couple of jumpin bullheads and I missed a few hits as well.  We only had 2 minnows left and 1 was a stickleback, but Dad managed to get a small silver bullhead on T.H.E. Jig..

As it got later the bite picked up and I managed to get this golden bullhead.

21.5"

It was about the same size as the one I got last night.  A guy fishing on the NE side got 3 golden bullheads then he let me take the spot.  I got a couple of hits but couldn't keep them hooked up.  I decided that throwing a rap would work better and I went to the car to get one.  I should have called Dad over to come and fish, because right as I was getting back two guys cut me off and went right in the spot I was fishing.  Oops.  I managed to get one more jumpin bullhead on the South side and missed a couple of more hits on the Money Minnow.  We left at 10PM

GOM Willard Gets A Golden Bullhead

Tonight I got to the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 7:45PM.  John W. was just leaving.  He said he got a couple of little toothy bullheads.  I started fishing on the North side.  I had been casting for a little while when I noticed that Willard had snuck up behind me.  I was glad to see he made it through the winter.  I was beginning to wonder.  Willard told me that John also got a golden bullhead.  I just was telling him how I hadn't got anything on that side this year when something bit my Grass Pig but missed it.  A few casts later I got a nice jumpin bullhead.

Eventually I switched to the SW side.  Two guys were fishing there as well.  I got another nice jumpin bullhead on the Grass Pig.  They left and then I hooked this nice golden bullhead on the Grass Pig.  Willard was more than happy to take it from me when I offered.

20+ inches

Willard wasn't the greatest photographer in the world.

After that I got one more jumpin bullhead on the Grass Pig. A guy on the SE got a small toothy and missed another one.  Eventually I switched to try for silver bullheads, but I didn't get any.  I left at 10PM.

Walleye Opener- My 2nd Mille Lacs Trip

5-12-2013
I let it get too late on me on Sunday morning.  The temps were at or below freezing and so I decided not to go figuring my guides would be icing up.

5-13-2013

I headed out just before midnight and was fishing by 12:30AM.  I decided to throw the crawdad colored Berkley Frenzy Minnow instead of the rainbow trout one I threw on Sat.

I hot gotten a tip to fish South of where I had been the night before, so I gave it a try.  I had a hit on my very first cast.  A few casts later I got hung up. I thought maybe I could wade out to the spot and took my jacket off.  The water dropped off to much and I couldn't get anywhere near it..  I moved quite a bit South and tried to pull it free.  Then I moved quite a bit North and thankfully it came out.  Turns out it was caught in an old reed stalk.  I resumed fishing at about 10 to 1AM and was hooked up immediately with this 23" fish.

About 15 Minutes later I was hooked up again.  With this 25 incher.

About 15 minutes after getting it released I got this 22.5 incher.

Things were going pretty well.  But then I missed a bite or two and things had slowed down.  I went in to change baits.  When I looked out on the water it kind of looked like some fog was forming.  Then I realized it wasn't fog but ice coming in.

 So basically my spot was wrecked.  I went and checked Cemetery Jetty and I could have fished there but I didn't see any fish.  Note to self- Bring a high powered flash light next time.

Next I went to Eddy's and it was fishable there.  I went quite a way South but I didn't see any thing.  I also fished off the middle Jetty. Nothing.  I called it quits a bit after 4AM.