Thursday, April 30, 2009

2009 Bass Pundit Minnesocold Blogger Bass Tournament

Cyberfish of MT Bucket has been bugging me to host another bass derby on the blog. Last year of coarse I did the "Bass Pundit Minnesocold Bass Derby 2008." I was planning on doing another derby this year but the last week has been pretty hectic so I haven't gotten around to doing the necessary prep yet. This year the derby will be open to all the bass fishing bloggers of Minnesota. The derby will start retro-active to this coming weekend, the WI bass opener. This year any bass caught North of the Southern Minnesota Border will count, so WI, and MI will be in play. So Minnesota bloggers should be tracking those big fish starting this weekend remember 17 inch minimum.

Developing...

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Happy Birthday Pete GOMH Report

This report covers fishing for the last 2 days. My fishing buddy Pete Kimmer is in the Minnesota National Guard and he asked us to watch his dog Sandie this past weekend for his drill at Fort Ripley. Pete has been staying at the house since Sunday. Last night we headed over to the Grumpy Old Man Hole around 5:30PM and discovered a pretty good crowd fishing at the bridge on the SW and SE side. GOM Lee Ander was there and he was fishing over the rail in the middle of the bridge and Lee Anders brother, GOM Lewis was there as well but as usual he wasn't fishing. Willard was intently fishing on the SE side and I didn't talk to him. There was room to fish on the SE side but we didn't see a whole lot going on and Pete wanted to see if Don Weinmeister wanted to possibly go out, so we went to Don's house. We talked with Don for awhile before he had to go to Bible study at 7PM and he let us use his dock for fishing.

It was a nice peaceful night to be out but we didn't have any luck on the dock, so around 8:30PM we headed for the GOMH. When we arrived there was only 1 truck remaining with a guy and his kid fishing on the SW side. Pete caught a little silver bullhead and I missed one and that was it. While we were there a guy showed up and said he and his wife smacked em good earlier in the day and he was down checking to see if a guy who was a jerk to him in the morning was back at night for a little "double dipping." The guys he was looking for weren't there.

Double dipping is when an angler catches their legal limit goes home and then comes back to catch another limit, which is illegal to do in Minnesota because you can by law only possess 1 legal limit of most fish in Minnesota.


After not being able to get to sleep for most of the night it was a little before 6AM this morning when Pete woke me up out of a crazy dream and tried to get me up to go see if we could get a morning bite. He said if we didn't get them we could always come right back and the logic of that thought seeped into my sleep deprived brain and I actually got up.

We were at the GOMH by 7AM and there were about 4 people on the SE side and 2 people on the SW side. We took the SW side. The people who had got there early said the bite had been pretty good but had slowed a bit. Pete landed a jumpin bullhead almost right away and the guys with us on the SW side were catching an occasional silver bullhead. After 1/2 and hour to 45 minutes the guys next to us ran out of minnows and 1 of the guys filled out his limit so they left which gave us command of the SW side and seemingly put us in better position to fish the area's that bullheads had been coming from.

(Pete on the SW side)

I don't remember who caught the first fish but I caught a couple of very nice silver bullheads and Pete caught a couple of orange bullheads which we kept. We were going through various degrees of overcast and I got a hot hand on the silvers for a while. They were taking minnows, alive or dead, on the orange Flu Flu. Eventually things cooled down for me and Pete got hot. There was a shuffling of the people fishing at the GOMH and I ended up giving away a couple of silver bullheads that were not up to my minimum keeper standards. I gave Pete a hard time about how big the fish had to be before I would clean them.

It must have been sometime after 10AM when I went up to the truck to relax. The fish were biting slow but steady when I went to the truck. While I was relaxing Conservation Officer Kuske stopped by. Apparently he had received reports that people were double dipping and he was looking for info, but I don't think I was of much help because I didn't have any clue who might have been dipping or not. Everyone we met that morning seemed to be on the level as far as I could tell. CO Kuske told me what he knew about the remaining changes the GOMH bridge will go under. He said he was quite disappointed that they did not dredge the channel like he thought he was going to get them to do.

CO Kuske also asked if I was "the guy with the website" and I told him I was, but I didn't ask him why he asked or if his interest was a good thing. I have a sneaking suspicion that an individual or two who holds a grudge against me has reported that the area CO should specifically be on the lookout for me and all that BS. If I wasn't so tired maybe I would have thought to enquire. Anyway, Kuske checked my license and off he went. I wish I would have also asked him about the lack of Walleye Stamp designation on my license.

Sometime before Kuske arrived a boat moved in on where Pete and a guy on the SE side were casting. Pete had a few words with the guy and eventually dubbed the boat driver "Ricky Bobby" as the boater made a few inexplicable moves in positioning and re-positioning the boat.

Any way as it turned out Pete started really whacking the fish. I did join him for a little while but tired of the challenging casting conditions fairly quickly. Some more people joined the Pete GOMH shore party and it started to sprinkle and then rain. Pete was catching fish like a mad man and was in a generous mood giving quite a few silvers away. We left around 2PM when it was really coming down at a pretty good clip. We passed GOM Willard on his way to the GOMH when we were on the way home.

All told we kept 16 silver bullheads and 2 orange bullheads

Pete estimated he caught over 60 bullheads and we both could have filled those final 4 slots from fish we released. I think the smallest fish was about 9.5" with pretty much all the rest being 10"-12".

We cleaned the fish and ate them up at a special birthday dinner for Pete who turned 40 yesterday. Jenny Olson came and had dinner with us as she loves her fish.

Ice Out 09 Update #15

This will be the final update of the year, not because all MN lakes are free of ice, they are not. But the lakes that I care about pretty much are ice free.

Minnesota Climatology is the source.

4-24 Mille Lacs
4-24 Gull (Cass County)
4-25 Pelican (Crow Wing County)

Sunday, April 26, 2009

FLW National Guard Open Lake Norman Day Final!

Exacta Pain. Not only am I having terrible pain from the gums in the upper jaw of the right side of my mouth, going to see dentist tomorrow, but I had the pain of two near misses on the Exacta Bonus in FLW Fantasy Fishing. I had Andy Morgan in 3rd and he got 2nd and Jacob Powroznik in 8th and he got 7th. I really needed to hit at least 1 because of the doubled bonus points for an Open. Hitting both I probably would have been really close to getting into the lower tier of prizes. My misery is compounded.

Congrats to Rookie Pro Stetson Blaylock on the Win

Here is the Top 10.
1 STETSON BLAYLOCK BENTON, AR 5 10-15 5 13-08 10 24-07 5 11-02 5 12-13 10 23-15 $150,000
+$50,000 (Ranger Boat Bonus)
2 ANDY MORGAN DAYTON, TN 5 13-00 5 10-15 10 23-15 5 10-06 5 12-09 10 22-15 $55,000
3 KOBY KREIGER OKEECHOBEE, FL 5 11-14 5 12-05 10 24-03 5 12-09 5 9-02 10 21-11 $45,000
4 GREG PUGH CULLMAN, AL 5 12-11 5 10-07 10 23-02 5 8-08 5 10-12 10 19-04 $35,000
5 SEAN HOERNKE THE WOODLANDS, TX 5 9-13 5 15-10 10 25-07 5 9-00 5 8-14 10 17-14 $30,000
6 JIM MOYNAGH CARVER, MN 5 12-04 5 10-14 10 23-02 5 10-00 4 6-12 9 16-12 $28,000
7 JACOB POWROZNIK PRINCE GEORGE, VA 5 13-12 5 8-13 10 22-09 5 8-14 5 7-05 10 16-03 $26,000
8 ERIC AMBORT MABELVALE, AR 5 11-13 5 14-00 10 25-13 5 8-08 4 5-02 9 13-10 $24,000
9 DALE EVANS SUMMERVILLE, SC 5 13-11 5 10-09 10 24-04 4 4-14 5 7-08 9 12-06 $22,000
10 KEITH WILLIAMS CONWAY, AR 5 13-03 5 11-14 10 25-01 5 9-04 1 1-05 6 10-09 $20,000

Elite Series Smith Mountain Day Final

Today on Bass Cast you can watch Byron and Shaw Grigsby.

Bass Trakk does not appear to be operable today even though you can view the scoresheet.

Update: Kevin Van Dam wins yet again!!! The machine is a killer machine.

Yesterday's Fishing Report...

Still Not A Dud or A Stud...

Saturday, April 25, 2009

More on Illinois High School Bass Fishing

This video is really worth the watch.


Previous Post from yesterday...

Moynagh Norman Update

After Day 3 at Norman, Jim is in 4th place and just a little over 2lbs out of the lead. He certainly has a shot if he can weigh the heaviest sack tomorrow.

Come on Jim!!!

BASS Elite Series Smith Mountain Lake

While I was asleep at the switch, it appears that BASS Trakk is finally working for once and so is Bass Cast.

Today KVD and Right Said Fred Roumbanis are the guys with Bass Cast.

Update: According to Bass Trakk KVD is going to be on top after today. That will garner him some very valuable bonus AOY points and he will be that much closer to yet another win. Kevin Van Damage.

Here is the official Top 12:
1 Kevin VanDam 5 15- 7 5 17- 2 5 15- 6 15 47-15
2 Matt Herren 5 17-11 5 11-12 5 15- 0 15 44- 7
3 Kelly Jordon 5 20- 9 5 11- 1 5 12-11 15 44- 5
4 Dean Rojas 5 18- 7 5 11- 9 5 13- 7 15 43- 7
5 Greg Hackney 5 13-13 5 14- 0 5 14- 1 15 41-14
6 Matthew Sphar 5 17-13 5 12-13 5 10-15 15 41- 9
7 Shaw E Grigsby 5 15- 2 5 13-15 5 12- 7 15 41- 8
8 Byron Velvick 5 13- 5 5 14-14 5 13- 5 15 41- 8
9 James Niggemeyer 5 12- 8 5 12- 4 5 16- 5 15 41- 1
10 Jeff Connella 5 11- 9 5 14- 3 5 15- 4 15 41- 0
11 Skeet Reese 5 13- 3 5 11- 4 5 15-13 15 40- 4
12 Aaron Martens 5 14- 2 5 16-11 5 9- 3 15 40- 0

With the fact that somebody could catch a 20lb+ sack, this one is a horse race and KVD is far from a sure thing. Big Bass today was 7-2, so there is the possibility of some real bruisers.

Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes: I landed KVD, Herren, and Skeet in the Top 12 Cut which is probably true of a lot of people. Murray choked the last two days and Evers finished a disappointing 84th. I don't know if Evers is a sight guy or not, but he is not having the year I expected him too. I think I am still going to keep him for Guntersville and hope for a rally.

Yesterday's GOMH Fishing Report

Not A Dud, Not A Stud...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Illinois High School Bass Fishing...

Lunkerhunt has the coverage...

“It’s pretty awesome,” Pekin freshman Austin Pool said. “We got off school to go fishing. There’s nothing better than that.”
More coverage here...

FLW Norman, Elite Series Smith Mountain Day 1

Day 1 was yesterday and I didn't blog anything because as we all know Day 1 means JACK SQUAT!

However, it is nice to see Jim Moynagh near the top at Norman again. I really hope he can make the cut and bring it home. Go Jim!!!

Update: Jim made the cut in 9th place. Why was he not on my fantasy team?????????????? I didn't go with either guy who made the 2 previous Norman cuts and they, Moynagh and Pugh, both made the cut.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Grumpy Old Man sighted!!!


Today I took a morning trip to the GOMH and all I could catch was several jumpin bullheads and a toothy bullhead.

I headed out a little before 5 tonight and hit Rock lake first. The "Rock Dock" was put in today but the SE wind was just to much and I didn't catch anything. I was at the GOMH by 5:30.

I started out using the 1/8 Storm Wildeye Swimbait in baby bass and that is what I caught all my fish on. I ended up with 10 mostly small jumpin bullheads and the two nice sized silver bullheads pictured. The action for everything seemed to be better on SE side and I was on the SW side, but I kind of stunk up the joint. A guy with his two teenage sons joined me on the SW side as it was getting dark and they started catching bullheads while I was not getting any bites from the exact same water. I tried down sizing the Custom Jigs Glow Demon, but that didn't help. It was getting quite dark and there was no point in my fishing and not catching so I left.

Today it was around 80 degrees and that brought the people out, including "Pallet Guy" and his son and nephew. John W. and his 2 girls. and most importantly the first Grumpy Old Man sighting of the season; Sure enough Willard showed up. There were at least 7 people fishing the South side of the GOMH when I left.

Also of interest, there was a mild isolated thunderstorm that popped up around 8PM. I think this storm actually morphed into a severe storm by the time it reached the North end of Mille Lacs lake.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Doing My Worst for Earth Day


Today was Earth Day 2009 and I thought I wouldn't do my part but would instead try to deplete some of the silver bullhead reserves of Mother Earth. I went to Rock first and the Rock Dock was still not out and nothing was happening. I arrived at the GOMH around 7:30pm and there were guys fishing the SW and SE shore. Both of these guys are regulars at the GOMH but not considered Grumpy Old Men. The one guys name is Tim or Tom and he has been known here at the blog as the Foul Mouthed Dad; His son was not with him tonight. I'll call the guy who was on the SW side Bucket Man because he sits on a bucket.

Anyway Tim/Tom welcomed me and told me that he caught a huge bass on a beetle spin. He said he had caught a bunch of bass, 3 crappies, and a nice sunfish. I fished on the SE side with him and got into some jumpin bullheads right away on the pink Flu Flu and a minnow. Meanwhile Bucket Man landed a couple of nice silver bullheads. I think when he got to #3 he was now at his 10 silver bullhead limit and so I took over on the SW side right around 8PM. I struggled to get the silver bullhead to go, missing the first 3 bites that I got. GOMH regular Scott showed up and started whacking little silver bullheads on the SE side, so I asked him what he was using and that prompted me to make a change to a Custom Jigs Glow Demon. I missed a couple more bites then landed the two decent silver bullheads that I did get (Picture). I got 1 more smaller silver that I through back before I had to put a light on my bobber. Tim/Tom caught a 3to4lb dogfish. After dark I would have stuff play with me but nothing would take the bobber down. They were getting an occasional fish on the SE side.

It's pretty weak that I only got 2 fish. Scott caught a bunch of silvers but most of them were not keepers. I talked with Scott for a while and then left.

FLW Fantasy Fishing Lake Norman

Roster lock at 10:59PM Central so you better get on it.

BassFan has an article that might help...

BassFan radio has an interview with BP fuel Pro Jim Moynagh that you might want to check out too.

Norman is a lake with several consistant performers the last 2 years. Will these guys continue to step up or will a bunch of new faces emerge? My guess is it will be a little of both. I don't have Moynagh on my roster but I hope he wins.

Elite Series Smith Mountain Lake Fantasy Bass Fishing

Get those rosters finalized as the tournament starts tommorrow.

Personally I dropped Gerald Swindle who sucked at Wheeler and went with John Murray. Murray is from the West and used to fishing clear water and finesse fishing, so I thought he was a good choice.

So my line up is:
KVD
Skeet
Evers
Murray
Herren

Yesterday Fishing Reports with Pics:

Rock Bass Rock Pike...

At the GOMH...

Monday, April 20, 2009

Bullhead Surprise


A nasty cold front came through while I was fishing this morning. The day was mostly cloudy with some sprinkles with winds out of the NW at 20-30mph and a high temp of 47 degrees. I got out earlier than I should have at 4:30 and headed to Rock. I was unhappy to see that the Rock Dock was not put in yet. Usually they get that thing in immediately after ice out. The access is protected from the wind so I fished but didn't get any hits.

Next I headed to the GOMH and even though I was fishing on the South side of the road/hill, that wind was a chiller. I fished for about 1/2 an hour without any bites so I went to the car and waited about an hour and a 1/2 for the sun to get low on the horizon as I figured my only shot at fish was going to come at dusk. I fished for about 1/2 an hour and was about to pack it in when the bobber went down and I set the hook into a 13.5" jumpin bullhead. Encouraged I decided to stick it out a little longer and was rewarded with another bobber down and a long green toothy bullhead; I would say it was about 23 inches and it had something in it's belly.

Encouraged I fished until the bobber was getting hard to see, then I took a quick trip to the SW side to see if there were any fish in the area I caught them last night. It was getting quite dark and my bobber might have gone down but I'm not sure. I felt something but didn't set the hook and came back with no minnow, so I called it quits.

I really thought with the front that I wasn't going to catch anything. The weather is supposed to get much nicer by the end of the week so I wouldn't be shocked if there is a Grumpy Old Man sighting this week.

Morning Bullhead Run

I woke up today about 7am, so I thought I would go out and see if those bullheads were still on the SE side of the GOMH like last night.

Air temp was in the low 40's with a pretty good breeze out of the North and occasional sprinkles. I got a 8" silver bullhead on my very first cast with the glow Cubby Mini-mite jig and a minnow. Unfortunately I didn't start popping fish left and right. After about 15 minutes I got another bite and landed a nice 10.5" silver bullhead. I went quite a while without any more hits so I decided to switch up to a pink Flu Flu and that got bit right away by a 9+" silver. I think I got another one on the next cast and then nothing.

I went over and gave the SW side a shot for a little while and didn't even have a hit. The wind came up quite a bit out of the NW. I tried the SE for probably another 45 minutes. The clouds started breaking up so I hoped maybe that would turn them on but I didn't get nothing. I was getting cold so I left around 10:30am.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

The GOMH Tonight...


Report here...

Rock On!!! (Short Report)

Ebayt Monkey Shot by Sniper


Rich "Hellabass" Lindgren clued me in to the Trout/Panfish ChatterBait™ as good lure for bullheads. Not knowing if a local store would carry them I did a search on Ebay and their was an auction for 6 of the 1/16oz Trout/Panfish ChatterBait™. These lures retail for basically $3 a piece so with shipping I put my maximum bid so they would come out at a cost of $3 a piece. I was the first bidder and I figured the auction was as good as won. Much to my surprise a sniper came in at the last second with a higher bid and so my quick and easy route to these baits was thwarted. Hellabass got his at Gander Mountain, so I will just have to hope that the Baxter store carries them because I don't know that these are items that come up for auction regularly on Ebay.

Update- Baxter Gander Mountain carries these for $2.99, so I will have some soon.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Golden Bullhead

A little after 4pm I headed out to fish. The weather today was cloudy and in the mid 50's and I made the mistake of not bringing my Fisher of Men Club jacket. I made a quick stop at Bulldog and was unsurprised that I caught nothing.

Next I headed to the Rock public access where I was fortunately protected from the NE wind. The ice on Rock just went out last night or this morning and so it wasn't much of a surprise that the dock wasn't out yet. I fished for a couple of hours but Rock was dead, not a single sunny. A little after 6pm I headed over to Jenny's (Platte) but the wind was blowing in there so I headed for the GOMH.

Nobody was at the GOMH so I headed down to the SW side. There was more current than I have seen this Spring. I tried a Cubby Mini-mite with a minnow below a bobber for quite awhile without so much as a sniff. Eventually I decided to try an 1/8oz Storm WildEye Swim Shad in baby bass. I have been using a white one that kind of swims on it's side without any success. After quite a few casts I felt a thump and a battle was on. I saw a tail first and thought it was probably a toothy bullhead, but then I saw the tail again and it had some white so I knew I had me a golden bullhead. Here is the fish:

It was 24 or 25 inches long and 4 or 5 lbs. Before I caught the fish I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to skunk today, so this was a pleasant surprise. I tried the Wildeye for a little while longer, then I switched back to the Cubby and Minnow. I started getting quite cold. At about 8pm I had a couple of nibbles but the bobber didn't go fully under. I decided I couldn't take the cold anymore and headed out early.

Ice Out 09- Update #14

4-18 Lake Sullivan (Morrison County)
4-18 Rock Lake (Crow Wing County)
4-18 Bulldog Lake (Crow Wing County)

I think all 3 of these went out sometime overnight or this morning.

Ebayt Monkey Attack!!!



This past week I did one of my regular Ebay checks on Monsoor Swim Jigs and I was happy to see there was a result. It turns out this auction was for 14 various BPS Monsoor Swim jigs and 51 various Brovarney Swim Jigs. Brovarneys are hand tied and considered to be one of the best swim jigs made. I jumped all over this one. Retail for these jigs would go for just over $240. I won the auction for under a buck a bait shipped. Looks like I am going to need a box for Brovarney's. This ranks right up there with one of my best Ebay steals. At this point I think I am pretty well set with swim jigs for life.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Today's Fishing Report

Rush and GOMH...

Ice Out 09- Update #13

4-17 Ice Out at Platte Lake (Crow Wing County Minnesocold)
The ice was also out on Long. I checked Rock and Bulldog around 1:30PM and they were 50-60% free, so they might have gone out this afternoon in the 70+ degree sun.

4-9 Winsted (Mc Leod County) Where did this one come from?
4-12 Bronson (Kittson County) This lake is way up in the far NW corner of the state, it looks to me like it is a resevior and must have a lot of current or inflow.
4-13 Big Waverly (Wright County)
4-17 Lake Traverse (Traverse County)

I think there probably are several more Minnesota Climatology lakes that are ice as of today.

Ice Out 09- Update #12

Minnesota Climatology updated on the 15th??? Somehow I missed that, I could have sworn there was no update on the 15th. Anyway

4-10 Belle Lake (Meeker County) Where did this lake come from?
4-15 Artichoke (Big Stone County)
4-15 Big Stone (Big Stone County)
4-15 Pearl (Stearns County)

Knife Lake where I was yesterday is listed as partial cover; I did not see the anything beyond the South end so I don't know how close it is. I didn't check any of my area lakes yesterday but with 70 degrees today and tommorrow my area lakes are going to be ripe for the weekend. I think I will try to check them today before I head to Ann Lake.

Updated- Knife is now listed as out
4-15 Knife (Kanabec County)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Road Trip to Knife and Rush Lake


Today at about 2:30PM I headed out on a road trip. First stop was Reeds Sporting Goods to pick up a CRCX610MH, which is a Shimano Crucial 6'10" Medium Heavy X fast casting rod. I got one last year and liked it so much I decided to get one this year too. The rod is versatile and can fish jignpig, swim jigs, chatterjigs, Texas rigs, Super Flukes, Senko's, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits.

From Reeds I headed off to the South end of Knife Lake to see what was up there. There were quite a few people fishing on the pier, a few on shore, and a few boats. I saw quite a few crappies being caught buy most of them appeared to be on the small side and were getting tossed back. I fished for a little bit, but with the wind in my face couldn't get my bobber out to where the fish were which was out towards the end of the pier. Around 3:30pm I hit the road for Rush.

Since the wind at Knife seemed to be out of the SE I decided to hit the Eastern shore of Fransen Park on the North End of West Rush Lake. I was pleased to be able to get a parking spot in the small parking lot and off I went. My first spot was not ideal with a tree branch hindering my back cast and a line of catails between me and the water. I managed to get a couple of 6 inch sunfish on a glow Cubby Mini-Mite. After about 1/2 an hour the guys just to the South of me started packing up. I had watched them bring in a couple of crappies. Naturally I moved into their spot which had a free backcast and no cattails. They said the crappies were biting as far out as they could cast. Even though I had an 8 foot rod, the Wing It Bobber is not a distance caster especially because the wind was inexplicably coming out of the South Southwest. One of the guys offered to sell me a Rocket Bobber for $3. He bought the bobber for $3 off a guy who was fishing there wacking the crappies while he was getting nothing. I didn't have any money so I declined the deal. It turns out I had that exact same bobber with me, though I didn't know it at the time.

I think I may have picked up a sunfish and missed a few bites but it was pretty slow for quite a while. The people to the South of me were casting out quite a bit farther than me and were getting an occasional fish. An old couple from Lakeville moved in just North of me. I was shocked they would come that far to fish, but it turns out they had been at the Hinckley Casino and had decided to try a little fishing on their way back. Around the time they came I reached in my bag to look at my bobbers and I saw the Rocket Bobber so I put it on.

Unfortunately I didn't know what I was doing with the bobber at first. The bobber lays flat on the water and when a fish takes it the bobber stands up. I watched the bobber stand up quite a few times expecting a fish to take the bobber down but that wasn't happening. Eventually I figured out that if you set the hook when the bobber stands up you might actually catch a fish. I missed a good crappie and then the old lady caught a nice crappie and the old guy caught a sunfish; That was all they caught. I had been tipping the glow Cubby with a minnow but that wasn't working so great so I just went to the plain Cubby and started getting bit. I caught a nice 8.5" Sunny then a 10" Crappie (picture at top of post) and I began to think that I might start to hammer them. The bite seemed to go in spurts and all I could catch were mostly Ok sized sunfish. I probably caught a dozen keeper sized sunnies, but I don't like to clean sunfish and so I threw them all back. As it got toward dusk the wind quit and so did the bite. When I left I went over to the West shore and talked to a couple of guys that had been fishing in the cut with the pier at it's mouth. They caught lots of sunnies and no crappies. They said pretty much nobody was fishing the cut that comes in from the NW bay.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

GOMH Skunk Trend and Loons

That's right, two skunks in a row. I even had live minnows today but I didn't get a single bite and I started about an hour earlier than I have been getting out there.

I stopped by the Rock access and saw a couple of little sunfish and I saw a 4 to 5 inch pike in the rocks at the GOMH. Even though the fishing stunk, the loon watching was excellent.
This isn't the greatest pic in this size (click picture will enlarge for better view), but if you look close there are a bunch of birds and they are all loons. I counted 38 of them in this group. I can't say that I have ever seen such a large grouping of loons . The big group kept their distance but some stragglers came over to visit several times. The loons stay will be short lived as area lakes open up in the near future. In case you don't know, the common loon is the official Minnesota State bird and loons calling to one another across a lake is a hallmark of life here in the North country.


Blog Note: This is Bass Pundit Post 1,000

True Bass Fishing Confession

I don't think I have ever fished bass in such a way where I have intentionally attempted to duplicate a specific pattern to the exclusion of missing all other fishing opportunities. I think it is true that every time you go fishing whatever you are doing equates to trying one kind of pattern or another. It is pretty much impossible at all times to not be fishing some sort of pattern, but zeroing in on one thing and then attempting to replicate that one specific thing in different areas of a lake over and over again while doing pretty much nothing else is not something I have really never done. This could be a function of fishing mostly relatively small natural lakes in boats with relatively low horsepower. The closest I have come to the type of pattern fishing I am alluding to is rock pile hoping on Mille Lacs lake for smallmouth bass. But the rock pile hoping is more like a random act than it is a deliberate attempt to duplicate something specific. Maybe if I was more intentional about getting intimate with the features of all the various rockpiles it could evolve into a narrowing down to something specific, but I see little point in doing that level of due diligence.

It seems to me that the features of the natural lakes that I fish just don't lend themselves very much to the duplicating a pattern approach to fishing. I suppose the main exceptions to that theory would most likely be bed fishing, docks, inside weedlines, outside weedlines, flats, weed type and slop; These would be the most common features that one could replicate.

If I were to just go out and target bedded bass that would be hitting on a single specific thing, but I can't say I've ever done this or really plan to take this approach. If I come across a bed I will fish it, but to just go bed hunting isn't something I see myself doing.

Fishing every dock you come across isn't really replicating anything beyond the basic fact that you are hitting dock after dock. That approach is just as random as it is deliberate. When fishing docks I don't think it wise to fish only docks with boat lifts or only the docks with this or that. I just hit the docks as they come.

Inside and outside weedlines, and flats combined with a certain weed type or types probably present some of the best opportunities in natural lakes to replicate something specific. Maybe this year I should try it and see if it works out.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

GOMH

At least I got to see a bunch of loons, ducks, muskrats, and beavers.

Ice Out 09- Update #11

Minnesota Climatology has added these metro lakes:

4-9 Peltier (Ramsey County)
4-10 South Center (Chisago County)
4-10 Waconia (Carver County)
4-11 White Bear (Ramsey County)

My guess is Tonka will go out today. In the West Central region they have Artichoke with partial cover. I have heard reports that there is quite a bit of open water out West on Big Stone.

On my area lakes I am thinking some time next weekend will be about right.

Update: Minnesota Climatology is now giving yesterday as the Tonka ice out date.

4-13 Minnetonka (Hennepin County)

Monday, April 13, 2009

"Lightning While Fishing"

"Lightning while Fishing" is the title of a thread on FishingMinnesota.com. The thread contains the common stories of rods buzzing, shocks off the rod, line floating and hair standing on end as a storm approaches. Several commentators advise extreme caution advocating getting off the water at any sign of lightening and thunder. If you have seen this discussion once you have heard it a hundred times.

If you are a dedicated fishermen then storms with lightning are an annoying fact of life. Wouldn't it be grand if storms had no lightening and high winds to be wary of! But the fact of the matter is storms often do contain these dangers and we need to be wary. But how wary should we be?

Certainly anytime lightning is within 10 miles of you there is an element of danger. However I also think it is true that the chances of getting hit are pretty remote. A quick Google search turns up not a single instance of a fisherman in Minnesota being struck or killed by lightning. I think it is probably true that ever summer there are many thousands maybe even millions of instances of fishermen in Minnesota that are within 10 miles of lightning.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this but many times I have pushed my luck on the water. I can't say that I have ever had the experience of my rod buzzing and giving me shocks or having my line float, but I definitely have been caught out in a storm or have fished with lightning in a proximity than is closer than recommended. It is not uncommon for me to be fishing with the skies rumbling. If I am lucky the storm passes just to the North or South and I get to reap the benefits of that hot frontal bite. Sometimes I am not so lucky and get the deluge. I have some fond fishing memories of getting caught in storms. This may be words that I live to regret, but I will continue to push my luck to what I consider to be within reason. I think I am actually more scared of high winds and big waves than I am of lightning.

I suppose there is nothing wrong with leaving nothing to caution as many advise, but it is a real bummer to leave a bite just as it gets red hot.

Here is a good article for outdoorspeople about lightning:
Where Hunters and Fishermen Should Hide from Lightening (And How to Save Your Buddy if He Gets Struck)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

GOMH Rescue Mission

Today I performed a little lure rescue mission at the GOMH that required me to use waders. Apparently they put down a blanket of some fairly thick felt like material before they put the rip rap in. A good chunk of this stuff was not covered up by rock and I had a lure get caught in it. I am not sure but I think the stuff semi floats if it can. My lure was stuck off bottom about 3 feet into the water. I got the lure stuck yesterday. I broke my line and tied it off to the bridge so I could come back and get at it. In my waders and armed with a knife I got after it and it was a little trickier operation than I expected thanks to the thickness of the material. Eventually I was able to cut out a chunk of material that surrounded the lure. I had to cut the lure out with a scissors. The scissors actually cut the material much easier than the knife.

After the mission was accomplished I took the waders off and went fishing. I got a jumpin bullhead that was just short of 18 inches and that was it. I was a really nice night to be out, little wind, lots of birds including loons swimming around and plenty of muskrats swimming in the area as well.

Ice Out by Easter Update #10 Final

It's Easter and ice IS NOT off my area lakes. That isn't stopping me from fishing and catching thanks to the current at the GOMH.

Today I toured the Bulldog access.

As you can see there is little open water there.

Next I headed to Rock:


At least there is some pulling away from the shore now. This will be the last Ice Out by Easter update. Since we will be past Easter I will now by calling my ice out updates "Ice Out 09 Updates ." The weather this week is supposed to be in the upper 50's and low 60's so the ice should be off by next weekend. I am thinking about taking a road trip to hit up Fransen Park at West Rush Lake later in the week.

Happy Easter!!!

Keith Green singing Easter Song.


Normally I don't blog about the Christian faith or my faith, but Easter is a special day. Easter is the day we remember the greatest day in history or the biggest hoax ever perpetrated. Jesus either rose from the dead after being crucified or he didn't; the whole of Christianity hangs on this one point.

In the Bible Paul put it this way:
...and if Christ has not been raised your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins...If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.
1 Corinthians 15:17,19


Was the witness of the Apostles bunk? The fact that their testimony cost almost all of them their lives seems to indicate it most probably was not.

James was caught by Herod, Herod captured Peter
They were sharin' Herod's outbreak of attacks upon believers
James would have to face the sword and Peter would escape it
They were not afraid of dyin'; they both knew that they could take it
Thomas preached in Babylon and India they claim
Then the local folks impaled him with a lance while he was prayin'
They were all about to die but they weren't thinking much about it
And their story didn't have a chance but none of 'em were doubtin'
Why oh why would someone die if it was just a hoax?
Why then take the awful risk to tell us Jesus rose?
Simple men from Galilee would not have spoken lies
To get enrolled in history books as martyrs for Jesus Christ
Simon died along with Jude from arrows, spears or crosses
Someone gave Bartholomew a skin-removal process
Some of them were stoned alive like James the son of Alphaeus
And their stories are the evidence that none of them were doubters
Why oh why would someone die if it was just a hoax?
Why then take the awful risk to tell us Jesus rose?
Simple men like you and me would not have spoken lies
To get well known in all the books as martyrs for Jesus Christ
A lot of guys were crucified for calling Him Messiah
Philip died and Andrew did and possibly Matthias
Peter's was a most unpleasant death for being Christian
They would turn him upside down and then go through with crucifixion
Paul he was beheaded probl'y Matthew did the same
Well, they threw off of the temple top the other guy named James
They were all about to die but they weren't thinking much about it
That's a gorey bunch of evidence that none of them were doubters
Why oh why would someone die if it was just a hoax?
Why then take the awful risk to tell us Jesus rose?
Simple men from Galilee would not have spoken lies
To get enrolled in history books as martyrs for Jesus Christ
The Song People by Apologetix

Saturday, April 11, 2009

More Jumpin Bullheads

Tonight I got 2 more jumpin bullheads. I think at least 1 of them was a fish I also got last night. I believe both came from just outside of the current flow.

I took at better look at how the GOMH will fish this Spring and they got the NE shore done well, very fishable with a much bigger area than was previously available. The NE is the Platte side and most of the water is away from the current at the bridge and on a shallow weed flat that is a wild rice field once the weeds come up. Generally this area doesn't hold fish until the water warms up significantly and it doesn't seem to hold silver bullheads; you get jumpers, toothers, oranges, and if your lucky a dogfish.

The SE side is close to being a disaster. While there is plenty of good riprap on NE side where it isn't much needed, there is not enough riprap on the SE side where it would be of real use. The SE side is steep and made up of loose dirt that will be unfishable when it is raining. It will be difficult on that side due to the lack of level ground.

The SW side is quite fishable right now provided that there is no more than 2 or 3 fisherpeople trying to fish it. I do worry my good level ground may get wiped away with a good rain storm. I think the loose dirt is going to be a real problem.

Ice Out by Easter- Update #9

I missed blogging the Minnesota Climatology update from yesterday:

4-9 Carrie Lake (Kandiyohi County) This is the 1st lake in their "Central" region.
4-10 Rush (Chisago County)

I am a little shocked that Rush went out with my area lakes not even having the ice pulling away from the shore yet.

Waconia and Tonka were added to the "partial cover" designation which means they should be ice free by Easter.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Fish ON!

I headed to the GOMH tonight just before sunset. I was greeted by loons calling as I got out of the car. I'd say there are 3-4 acres of open water on the Platte side and the Sullivan side has a lot of open water but the PRO is not all ice free, maybe 70-80%. I wanted to test out some of my new equipment tonight, I didn't really think I would catch anything. I set up on the SW side and found this spot at the end of the bridge concrete to be quite fishable. On my very first cast I had something swirl on lure I was throwing to test out. A couple of casts later and I had my first jumpin bullhead of the season. It was about 13.5 inches and bit in fairly shallow water away from current and around weeds. I made a few more casts with that lure and then started switching baits pretty frequently because it was going to be getting dark pretty quick. As I was casting one of the trial lures over deeper water in the current I got another hit. I pulled in a 14.5-15 inch jumpin bullhead. I was very quickly of the opinion that I might catch more fish, but that was it. By the time I got to the Cubby rod it was almost to dark to gauge the bobber. At this point it is a huge crap shoot on figuring out where a few silver bullheads might set up. With the old bridge there was the "bullhead sweet spot" which was such a high percentage spot if any silver bullheads moved in towards dark, without that kind of knowledge pinpointing them could prove difficult until a new sweet spot is found. There is no guarentee there will be a new "bullhead sweet spot."

I Won from Fishing Hype



Fishing Hype is the online nom de guerre of Minnesota Bass Professional Brian Brown. He has Fishinghype.com and FishingHype blog. If you email Brian your name and address he will put your name in a hat for a monthly prize drawing. His email is brb21@tds.net .

It's pretty good stuff too, I got: (See Outkast)
1 Outkast Finesse Jig
2 Outkast Swim Jigs
2 Outkast RT Jigs
3 Outkast Money Jigs
300 Yards 17lb Gamma High Performance Copolymer Line
3 OutKast Stick Worms
6 Outkast Chunks
5 Outkast Naughty Bugs
4 ???? Tubes
3 Outkast Spider Grubs
4 Outkast Fat Tail Grubs
4 ???? Brush Hogs

Boyd and Team Bassackwards

Boyd blogs a bad day... He did kick some serious butt at the Neely Henry PAA yesterday.

Team Bassackwards makes some announcements...

I may actually get some fishing in today.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Ice Out by Easter- Update #8

Today I took a quick tour of the area lakes and I was a bit surprised to find out that the ice hasn't even started pulling away from the shore yet. I could easily go ice fishing tomorrow if I wanted. I have to say there is a 0% chance Platte will be ice free on Sunday. However, I do think the ice will go out some time next week.

There is open water at the GOMH (see post below this one for details). I think there is a fair chance that I will be able to catch a fish at the GOMH before the ice goes off Platte.

Minnesota Climatology updated today...
4-7 Bald Eagle (Ramsey County)
4-8 Medicine (Hennepin County)

Forest, Calhoun, Rush, South Center, and White Bear all are listed as "partial cover." The most interesting one on this list to me is Rush because it is the farthest North. I have read reports that some of the bays on Minnetonka are open. I am guessing all the city lakes will be ice free by Easter.

Update: Minnesota Climatology doesn't show an update for today but they did switch a couple of lakes to open.
4-8 Forest (Washington County)
4-8 Calhoun (Hennepin County)
Hopefully they will update tomorrow.

Note: My computer Operating System isn't good enough for Google Earth, otherwise I would make the call myself on certain lakes.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

I wet a line today...

I didn't catch anything, which isn't a surprise. The GOMH has about 2 acres of open water on the Platte side and I would say more than 10 acres are open in the Platte River Outlet section of Sullivan. The Sullivan PRO seems to be 60-70% ice free.

I just wanted to get this in while today is still today more info in the next Ice Out by Easter- Update.

Favorite Fishing Song: Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys


I wish I was a fisherman
tumblin' on the seas
Far away from dry land
and its bitter memories
Casting out my sweet line
with abandonment and love
No ceiling bearin' down on me
Save the starry sky above
With light in my head
you in my arms
Woo!

I wish I was the brakeman
on a hurtlin' fevered train
Crashing a-headlong into the heartland
like a cannon in the rain
With the beating of the sweepers
and the burnin' of the coal
Counting the towns flashing by
in a night that's full of soul
With light in my head
you in my arms
Woo!

I know I will be loosened
from bonds that hold me fast
That the chains all hung around me
will fall away at last
And on that fine and fateful day
I will take thee in my hands
I will ride on the train
I will be the fisherman
With light in my head
you in my arms

Light in my head
You in my arms (repeat)

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Doggy Visitors


I live in the country and on occasion we have various animals wander on to our property. For instance our stubby tailed cat Smokey was a stray that weaseled his way into the family. We have a skittish salt and peppered colored cat that took up residence in our pole barn this Winter. Last Winter while I took the dog out for it's duties a neighbors lost kitten wandered out of the woods and we have taken another black and white cat in to the shelter.

Today these two mystery dogs showed up. They were friendly and came right up to my dad when he called them. One is a 4 month old Doberman puppy and the other dog is a 2 year old. They both had collars on, but only the brown one had a tag and that was from a shelter in Salt Lake City Utah. When I called the shelter there was no answer. My dad went over to the next door neighbors to the South and sure enough these were dogs they had just recently acquired. So the case of the mystery dogs came to a swift conclusion.

Even though they were very nice dogs I hope that I don't see them again, especially that Doberman once it is full grown.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Ice Out by Easter- Update #7

Today is supposed to be the last of the under 40 degree days that we have been experiencing for the last couple of weeks. There is an outside shot Platte will be ice free on Easter. I probably will not get to check on Easter, however, because I am going to the cities that day. Looking at the forecast, I think the ice will probably be off by the 15th.

Minnesota Climatology updated today.
3-31 Lake of the Isles (Hennepin County)
4-3 Gervias (Ramsey County)
4-3 Fountain (Freeborn County) I don't think this date is accurate, this lake probably went ice free in March.
4-5 Phalen (Ramsey County)

I suspect Minnetonka, Medicine, Waconia, White Bear, South Center, Calhoun, and Forrest will be ice free by Saturday as temps in the cities are supposed to be mid 40's or higher and sun the rest of the week.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

BassZone Wide Open Liveblogging- Canceled

I was going to live blog tonight's BazzZone Wide Open with Tommy Biffle but my computer crashed. So the live blog isn't gonna happen. I believe you can catch a replay of the show at BassZone.com.

Ebayt Monkey Attack

My swim jig box just got a little fuller thanks to one of Rich "Hellabass" Lindgren's Ebay auctions. There are Booyah, All-Terrain & Outkast swim jigs and maybe some BPS Monsoors as well. I've never used the Booyah swim jig before, if I don't like them I'll give them to GEM.

Elite Series Wheeler Day 4 Part 2

Day 4 is in the books and it was not a good day for the fantasy squad. Yesterday I said I didn't mind that they let 50 anglers fish today because I thought my fantasy line up had more upside than downside, but it just didn't work out that way. I was worried about Evers dropping. He weighed one of the lightest bags of the day and dropped 18 places which is just going to be a killer with Fantasy Points. Meanwhile Kevin Van Dam didn't improve much and Herren dropped 8 places. The only bright spot was Skeet who climed 21 places but I don't think that even negated all the points lost on the Evers fumble.

Looks like they are not going to try and fish tommorrow so Biffle is the winner.

Here are the Top 12
1 Tommy Biffle 5 16- 2 5 19-14 5 14-13 15 50-13
2 Casey Ashley 5 12-11 5 13-14 5 19-11 15 46- 4
3 Takahiro Omori 5 17- 8 5 16- 1 5 12- 1 15 45-10
4 Brent Chapman 5 13-10 5 13- 0 5 18-10 15 45- 4
5 Michael Iaconelli 5 17- 1 5 12-12 5 15- 6 15 45- 3
6 Bradley Hallman 5 13- 1 5 17-13 5 13-15 15 44-13
7 Mark Tucker 5 11- 9 5 18- 7 5 12-15 15 42-15
8 Mark Menendez 5 16- 1 5 11- 0 5 15- 7 15 42- 8
9 Todd Faircloth 5 14-15 5 14-14 5 12- 6 15 42- 3
10 Stephen Browning 5 11-11 5 16- 4 5 14- 0 15 41-15
11 Gary Klein 5 14- 0 5 14- 3 5 13- 2 15 41- 5

I would guess Browning, Klein, and Menendez are going to move to the head of the class in AOY points. Maybe Klein isn't such a fantasy raw deal after all.

Elite Series Wheeler Day 4 Part 1

The Marshal Journals are something that I found interesting. Basically a couple of Marshals are writing about their experience. One is with Guy Eaker and John Murray.

The Marshal Program: I have a couple of things I want to say about the Marshal Program. Apparently at Wheeler lake they were only able to get 81 Marshals for the 100 boat field. I don't know if they were short at Amistad or Dardanelle but I think it is a sad commentary that they are short and my guess is that if this is the case at one event, it will happen at others.

Apparently Kevin Van Dam did not have a Marshal in the boat on Day 1. There is something seriously wrong with the program when there is not a guarentee that a Marshal will be in the boats of the premier stars of the sport. It's ludicrous that a Marshal missed the chance to fish with Van Dam and had to ride with some rookie instead. I think the big name anglers should not be in the pool for Marshal exemptions. I think the Marshals should have a draft where they get a number between 1 and 100. The guy who draws #1 would get to pick his pro, then #2 picks a pro and so on. For Day 2 the guy who was last gets to pick first. This Marshal draft could take place on one of the days leading up to the tournament.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Elite Series Wheeler Day 3

The full field fished today and I am hoping that Swindle can get on something and move up into the 50' or 60's. Weigh in should be going on right now. On the Bassmaster.com they are calling today Day 2.

For my Fantasy Squad:
Edwin Evers sacked 15-6 so he is moving up.
Skeet (7-3) and KVD (10-2) are both going backward and it could be significant.
It's hard to say how much of an improvement Swindle will make at this point but it isn't going to be a very big jump with only 10-10.
Herren posts 12-7 which will keep him right in the ballpark of his Day 1 12-12 29th place.

Notables:
It looks like Biffle is going to be leading with a tournament best 19-14 bag.

Boyd kicked the buckett with 4-11.

Last years Wheeler Champion Jeremy Starks is going to finish near the bottom with 16-13.

Looks like Ike will get a Top 12 despite catching only 12-12 today.

Day 1 leader Alton Jones is dropping big time with 8-12.

Day 3 is now in the books
For my Fantasy Squad:
Evers 8th
Herren 22nd
Skeet 45th
KVD 49th
Swindle 83rd

Update: Word is that BASS has decided to be inconsistant and will fish the top 50 tomorrow rather than cutting to the Top 12 today. I think it is a strange call by BASS but I am not going to complain as there is a pretty good chance this development will help my fantasy points. KVD and Skeet are two of the best when it comes to making adjustments and so they rarely have two bad days in a row. I think Herren is a shallow water flipper like Biffle, so he could move up. The big danger is Evers in 8th as there were several Day 3 collapses by tournament leaders. Evers may have burned his water thinking the 12 cut would happen today.

Friday, April 03, 2009

Buh Buh Buh Bait Monkey Attacks


When I went into the Cities for my Fishers of Men Club meeting I hit up Cabela's and Gander Mountain.

First stop was Cabelas where they had a 34lb thrust Minnkota Trolling Motor on sale that I picked up so I could use it on my little boat which I plan to fish on Bulldog lake this year. In addition to that I picked up a shell white Lucky Craft Pointer 100.As I wrote before I was going to buy a 100 Pointer to see if it will live up to the hype and they just happened to have several Pointers and other Lucky Craft's on clearance, so I went with one they had on clearance. I like white for a jerkbait color so it worked out good. Also on Clearance I picked up a white saltwater Rapala Skitter Walk 11

I have wanted to try a Skitter Walk for the past couple of years and getting one on clearance was an opportunity I could not pass up.

Last on my Cabela's shopping list was some Cabela's Aqua Glow Hoochie Koochie's.

Cyberfish had a great deal of success on these Hoochie Koochies last year and I thought they would make a good swim jig and chatter jig trailer so I picked up a few packs.

At Gander Mountain the main mission was to see if they had any of those nice panfish rods that Cyberfish bought last year and sure enough the Maple Grove store had a couple Creekside Fishing Micro Series Crappie Pole's in the 8 foot length. The price was right so I picked one up. The label seems to indicate that these rods are a Gander Mountain brand or exclusive.

However, the bait monkey wasn't done with me as they had some Rapala's for 25% off and I couldn't resist.
I picked up a Glass Minnow Husky Jerk 14 and a Baby Bass Husky Jerk 12. I was going to buy a couple of others but it wasn't clear that they were 25% off so I left them at the register.

I don't think I am going to go with any wake baits this year and since I didn't buy a Sebile Magic Swimmer when I was at Cabela's it is unlikely I will get one of those this year. Still, I don't think the Bait Monkey is through with me yet; I still have a $50 Reeds Gift Card that I got for my birthday.

Elite Series Wheeler Day 2- Canceled

It was yet another late night so, I pretty much slept through anything up to this point. Weigh in starts in about half an hour (or not). I learned last night reading message boards that they actually had Bass Trakk working for a time yesterday. Apparently today Bass Trakk is off track which is all I've ever seen.

Hmmm I have just noticed The Ramada Inn and ESPN/BASS has a guess the weight game with better prizes than their Fantasy Bass Fishing game. If you are registered for ESPN/BASS Fantasy than you are registered for this. I don't know how long the game has been going on, but I see their was a winner from Dardanelle. It doesn't tell you which tournament you are guess is applied to other than it being the next upcoming Elite Series event. I would think that means the door is now closed for Wheeler. Hopefully I will remember to put in a guess for Smith Mountain.

Boyd Duckett has a blog and Voice blog from Day 1...

Skeet has a Voice Blog from this morning...
Update: Learned from Skeet that the Day was canceled.

Scott Campbell has a Voice blog from Day 1...

Ice Out By Easter- Update #6

I went down to the cities yesterday for my Fishers of Men Club meeting. I saw open water as far North as Cantlin Lake which is between Zimmerman and Princeton on the West side of 169. The main body of Rice Lake in Maple Grove was open although it looked like the area where the river runs in South of 94 was still mostly frozen over. It looked like Fish Lake in Maple Grove was open, but I didn't get a real good look at it as I turned onto Weaver Lake road to go to Gander Mountain.

Minnesota Climatology did not update it's lake list yesterday. But I did get word from a guy in the club that Gervias in Ramsey County is open which wouldn't be a big surprise because Gervais is actually South of Kohlman which MC had out on 3-31. If they update today I expect several lakes to be added. The Twin Cities did not get the snow we did and the weather there has been 8-10 degrees warmer than up here.

Update: It does not look like there will be an update from Minnesota Climatology today. The weather being mild yesterday, today, and maybe tomorrow should be pushing ice of of several more lakes when the next update hits next week.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Elite Series Wheeler Day 1

I have other stuff going on today so I will miss the weigh-in and BassZone Wide Open for the day.

It looks like they attempted to get Basstrakk running for this one. It doesn't appear to be working for them, I can't get it anyway. No Bass Cast either.

Another Live option for the day without ESPN 360 is Hooked UP! The are scheduled for 11am, 1pm, 3pm Central Time. It's just after 1pm now and I think I might have missed it. There was streaming of an Elite Evan Williams banner and then that went dead. Must be quick updates, if you blink you miss em. I wonder if doing a live stream is expensive? I wouldn't think so with the stuff they had on livestream at the Classic. I don't want to rip ESPN/BASS to bad, but they are over promising and under delivering yet again.

I don't understand why they don't have a live blog going on at every event like they do at the Classic. At least they should have the blog until they get their act together with Basstrakk and BassCast.

If Hooked Up! is only on for a minute or two or you miss it is messed up.

Also as of right now (1:25pm Central) the Liveleaderboard link is broken. I wonder if they will have that fixed???

Ice Out By Easter- Update #5

Well it just isn't looking good for that Easter ice out. The April Fools snowstorm dumped 6-8 inches of heavy wet snow and the Weather.com 10 Day forecast is not calling for a major warm up next week; In fact it looks like the daily high temps are going to be below average for at least another week. Several days the forecast isn't even projected to get out of the 30's; Average highs now are up into the mid 40's.

However, it is a bit warmer in the Southern reaches of Minnesocold and Minnesota Climatology has added some lakes with the ice off (This is as of 3/31)

3-23 Pepin (Wabasha County)
3-25 Swan (Nicollet County)
3-26 Tetonka (Le Sueur County)
3-31 Zumbro (Olmsted County)
3-31 Kohlman (Ramsey County)

For those who do not know, Ramsey county is basically the city of St. Paul and some of it's suburbs. So Kohlman is the first MC tracked lake in the Twin Cities metro with ice off. MC is listing Ramsey County lakes Phalen and Gervais as "partial" cover and Lake of the Isles in Mpls gets a "partial cover" designation as well. High Temps in the cities are supposed to be in the low to mid-40's, so Twin Cities lakes will probably be opening up on a daily basis this week.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

BASS Elite Series Wheeler Lake Fantasy Bass Fishing Changes

The Minnesocold BPboys, my ESPN/BASS fantasy bass fishing team, had a good tournament at Dardanelle compared to most other people and so I moved up into 86.2 percentile of Elite Series fantasy players. I think I was in the high 60's before. Interesting is that I have been pretty consistant with my scores: BMC 1136, Amistad 1129, and Dardanelle 1136. From the looks of it, a score in the 1200's is doing really well and scores over 1300 are excellent and a really poor roster puts one in the 700's maybe even the mid to high 600's.

Anyway I have made my biggest changes to date for Wheeler Lake.

My anchors for the season at least until further notice are KVD, Edwin Evers, and Mr. Cap Space Matt Herren. I decided to drop Kevin Short and Hack. Initially I was taking a strong look at 2 out of these 3 Alabama boys: Tim Horton, Gerald Swindle, and Steve Kennedy. However I ran the numbers and I could add Skeet and Cap Space Monkey 16.8 Swindle could come along for the ride.

So my line up is
KVD
Skeet
Evers
Swindle
Herren
with $1.20 to spare

Other picks I think could be good for Wheeler are Mark Menendez, Randy Howell and Mark Davis. Also an angler with a Japanese name might be a good pick but you probably don't wanna go with Yusuke.