TBT: Last Year's Bass Snatcher Tourny on Little Boy/Wabedo

Yesterday I finally got around to blogging my tournament report for Little Boy/ Wabedo, Enjoy!

Ice off Platte Lake By May 1st?

Even though it is snowing out outside right now as I write this on the 16th of April I say YES the ice will be off Platte Lake by May 1st.  Last year of coarse the May 8th ice off was the record since I moved up to this area in 2003.  The previous record was April 24th .  There is no way we make that date this year.  It's going to stay cold until Saturday and then the temps are supposed to get into the 60's pretty much every day next week.  I predict ice off will be the 28th or 29th, provided we don't get a blast of cold air again.  I expect to catch my first bullhead at the GOMH sometime later next week.

The word I've been hearing about Platte having a winter kill this year isn't good.  But I won't know for sure until the ice is off the lake.  

As far as things around the state some small lakes in the cities are open.

I'm Gonna Have A Rocket, Man

I was informed this week that I won the first Justin Lucas "Rocket" to the Top Contest from Berkley® and Abu Garcia®.  I thought I had guessed 68th Place for Table Rock, but I didn't go back and verify it when I first heard Lucas finished in 68th. I didn't want to get my hopes up.  Then I got an email titled: Winner: Rocket To The Top Contest.  The email didn't tell me what all I had won, so I went back and looked at the contest post on Facebook.  Looks like I will be getting $200 worth of stuff beyond the Revo Rocket Reel.  I'm a happy camper. I've never owned a Revo reel, but I thought about getting some when they first came out and got such good reviews.  Now I'll get my chance.  Not sure which rod I'm going to put it on yet.  I'll have to see what if any lines they send me before I make that decision.  The stuff should arrive by the end of the first week in May, so I'll have plenty of time to figure it out before the Fishing Opener.

Last Night at the GOMH

Last night I took the dogs for a car ride to the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  It is exactly what I expected in terms of open water.  No sign of dead fish but there wasn't any current to speak of so I'm not out of the woods yet as far as a winter kill goes.  Surprisingly there were no ducks, geese, loons, or swans and only a single beaver swimming  around. If tomorrow is nice with some sun I may try bringing a rod with me.

Looking out into Sullivan

(Into the sun)

TBT# My 1st Baitcasting Reel

Throwback Thursday-I bought this Shimano Bantam Mag Plus 250SG XHS reel at Little Jim's in Annandale MN in probably  1982 or 1983 for $69.99 plus tax.  I can't remember anymore if I bought it in the old store or at the one they have now.  I think it was the old store, but memory isn't the greatest.

Dad only fished with spinning gear, so learning how to cast this thing was solely up to me.  I read the instructions from cover to cover and there was nothing telling me how to properly adjust the reel for casting.  I promptly went out and backlashed it so bad the reel was unusable.  When I got back home, I got new line to put on it and I learned to cast in my back yard.  Many more backlashes followed, but eventually I figured it out.

 The reel has a magnetic brake.  I have never been able to get comfortable throwing a reel with centrifugal brakes no matter how hard I tried with them.  Probably the biggest reason why I am such a Daiwa fan now, magnetic brakes.

 
5:1 was considered Extra High Speed.  My how things have changed.  As I recall the big selling point for me at the time was Quickfire Free Spool, aka the thumb bar.  I didn't want one that had a mettle push button and this one didn't.  The reel served me well for many years and still is in usable condition.  I have had it on an ice fishing rod since the early years of this century.  Seeing as how I have stopped ice fishing, I don't use it anymore.

My Tackle Warehouse Opener 2014

Today it got to 68°F so I opened My Tackle Warehouse for the year today.  I started the process of giving it a much needed cleaning and make over.  Having gotten a Dyson Cordless Vacuum made this possible. While I was cleaning I found a box with some tacks, so now I finally found a spot for my patches instead of just sitting on a shelf getting in my way.

BASS SNATCHIN.com

I just found out about BassSnatchin.com through Facebook. Not to be confused with the Baxter Bass Snatchers, my fishing club.  This outfit is out of Texas and into making info graphics for people. They have a Blog on the website.  I hope they will make one for me.  Here is an example of their work:

2014 I Can See My Driveway!!!

(Click Pictures to Enlarge)

OK, so the driveway isn't 100% visible yet, but I can walk the whole length on gravel.  So I calling it today.  The past couple of days temps in the 40's and 50's along with the sun really did a number on the snow and ice.

Interestingly, last year I also called it on April 6th.  It doesn't look like this April is going to go down the same road we did last year with the well below normal temps and weekly snowstorms.  With what the extended forecast is showing I would say we are on pace to lose the ice off Platte Lake during the last 7 to 10 days of the month.

#TBT: The Topwater Lure I Made In 8th Grade

Throwback Thursday-  I believe I made this for a class project in 8th Grade at Oak Grove Jr. High, but it might have been 9th grade.  It had 3 treble hooks and a screw in eye when it was finished, but they were long since cannibalized to other lures.  I'm not sure what I was going for with the crimson and yellow color pattern.  Never caught a fish on it,  but I did try it at least a couple of times.

April Fools!!!

Did I say I would be able to see the whole driveway this week?

The only spot I could see the driveway this morning.

2014 When Will I See My Driveway? #4

The last of the ice at top of the driveway.

We haven't gotten any rain so far as of 7PM, but I would say the driveway is 85-90% clear at this point.  The temp. has just now dropped below 40°F and we should be getting some rain and snow eventually.  I guess it has started raining in Brainerd.  I'm still guessing I will be able to see the full driveway this week.

2014 When Will I See My Driveway? #3

View from the Garage.

View from the Pole Barn is Clear

From Half Way Down

End of the Driveway

It didn't get up to 50 degrees today here in Hillman.  It was 60° in the cities today.  We are supposed to get rain and then a couple of inches of snow tomorrow into Tuesday with a chance of more snow Friday before it warms up again next weekend.  Depending on how much it rains tomorrow I might be able to see the driveway this week.

I Heard...

a red winged blackbird this morning and a Canada goose flying to the North.

2014 When Will I See My Driveway? #2

Snow height at the garage door.

The view out of the garage before I got the snowblower out..

We got 5" of snow today and after one trip up and back with the snow blower I broke it when I dug up a golf ball sized rock.  Not sure at this point if it's something I will be able to fix or not.  I'm guessing not.  It's going to warm up this weekend, but then we are probably going to get a another snow storm on Monday.

#TBT: My First Bass Jig

#TBT stands for Throwback Thursday.

One of my earliest memories of catching a bass was from when I was probably 4 or 5 years old and my dad gave me a little yellow hair jig that he called a "Crappie Killer" to use.  I went down to the "back bay," our cabin on West Sylvia had water we could fish on the front and back of the property, hoping to catch a crappie.  Instead of a crappie I got a largemouth instead.  Puzzled I went up and showed dad the bass I had caught.  He explained to me that just because it was called a "Crappie Killer" didn't mean that it would only catch crappies.  Satisfied with that explanation I threw back the bass, which weren't in season yet, and went back to try and get me crappie.   All I could ever seem to catch on these "Crappie Killers" were bass. No matter how much I tried, I don't think I ever caught a crappie on these jigs. As you can see from the picture, I still have a few of them. Judging from the pound test still tied on to the one jig I can see why I didn't get any crappies with them.

Mille Lacs Smallmouth Regulation Changes

From today's DNR press release:

Similarly, the smallmouth bass harvest season will be extended and limits relaxed. The smallmouth bass season on Mille Lacs will start May 10 and be exempted from the statewide catch-and-release regulation that begins in mid-September. This means anglers may harvest smallmouth bass from the opener until the last Sunday in February. Anglers may keep six fish, only one of which may be longer than 18 inches. The previous regulation allowed anglers to keep six fish 17- to 20-inches, only one of which could be longer than 20 inches.

I am totally OK with the changes.  We will just have to see whether or not I will be able to take advantage of the early start to the season.  It's been a couple of years since I caught a smallie from Mille Lacs and I haven't had the Trophy out there in at least 5 years.  The one thing that I don't care for is the fact that we can't be on the water until 6AM except for on the Opener weekend. I feel they should have made the start time 5AM. The night ban is in effect until December, so there will be no night fishing allowed on the lake this year other than on Opener weekend.

I feel bad for the Muskie guys.

2014 When Will I See My Driveway? #1

It's time once again for what has become a tradition here at Bass Pundit Blog; "When Will I See My Driveway."  I first started tracking this sign of Spring on March 5th of 2010.  With the way the forecast is looking.  I may not be taking any pictures for a couple of days.  However, the snow is probably going to go pretty quick as the ice is off of a lot of the driveway at this point from the melting we have already had.  I got the picture today because we had a light dusting last night that covered up the spots that were already bare driveway.

View from the garage.

New view this year from down by the pole barn

From half way down.

The end of the driveway.

Lilah's tracks

Kaylee's tracks