Kelly J Don's Dock

Pete is still here for one more night. We got out of the house at about a quarter to 8 and headed right to Don's. When we arrived Don was out on his dock per usual. He had been getting a few gills. I started out with a Crawtube, but quickly switched to a Repo Man. There was very little wind and a slight ripple on the water. Don got 2 more nice gills. I switched to a bluegill color Lucky Craft Kelly J and this bass blasted it.

I would say it was about 15.5". That was the only hit and about 5 minutes more fishing and we left cause of skeeters.

Fishing with Pete & Gordy at Camp Lebanon

Pete talked me into heading out to fish with Gordy (from the Fishers of Men Fishing Club Twin Cities) today. I think we arrived at Cedar Lake in SW Morrison County a little after 4PM. The lake has fairly clear water water and it was sunny. We fished shallow in some reeds where I got this 13" largie on a big sexy color Mad Maxx frog.
We then fished up shallow along the South shore in the shade of overhanging trees. I made a good cast and was distracted by something. I felt a tug immediately looked up saw my Mad Maxx frog was gone, so I set in this 14"+ fish.

A little ways down we came to a dock where Gordy got 2 bass yesterday and he pulled out this dude on a Senko.

Gordy had a couple more bites but was unable to land the fish. I think I had a fish pick my Crawtube but before I could set it dropped it. Gordy had to go in to head home at about 6PM.

Pete and I went to the GOMH and got nothing, then to Jenny's and got nothing, then to Don's Dock where Pete got a nice 15"+ bass and small pike on his pink spinnerbait. I didn't get a hit on the Crawtube and I really wished I would have brought my topwater stuff down as it was dead calm.

Night on Don's Dock with Don & Pete

Went over to Don's after 7PM last night. I stuck first blood with a pike, that I thought we were giving to Don, so I put it up in his yard. Turns out Don, didn't want it, so Pete took it. Will it get cleaned or not? That is the question. Don caught a few gills and Pete got skunked. There was a nice sunset with rays coming through the clouds.

Last Night Don's Dock Dogfish & My Experiment

Pete and I went to fish at Don W's after the days thunderstorms had moved through. My mission was simple. Try to catch a few fish on the Northland Tackle Jungle Jig Loc Jig. I had just bought these jigs at Reeds, to see how they would work with bass tubes.

The first fish of the night was this dogfish caught by Don


A little while later I felt a fish pick up the tube and set the hook into a 11 inch bass. About 15 minutes later I got another bite and caught a 13.5" bass. About 15 minutes after that I got another bite and caught this 14" bass.

I did get one more hit, but the fish jumped and threw the jig after I set the hook. 3 for 4 with fish on the jig made me happy.

Pete and Don did catch a few mostly small sunfish. Don was trying more for crappies or he might have caught more fish.

BP Fishing Report with Pictures from last night.

June Night Don's Dock... Over at Bass Pundit's Fishing Log Blog.

Eddy's Launch with Dad and Don W.

Since the weather has been so nice this week Dad and I decided to go on a launch trip with Eddy's and we invited Don W. to come along with us, which he was plenty willing to do.

The Eddy's night launch goes out from 6 to 10PM. Our Captain was Tom, who we have gone with at least once before and I think we had 12 people on Boat 8 which is a smaller launch that can hold up to 20. Two other launches besides ours went out tonight. There was a little ripple on the water to start, but by 7:30 it was flat calm for the rest of the night.

The report when we got on the boat was that the fishing has been tough. Apparently Tom's launch last night did next to nothing fishing the usual early season shallow bite, so we headed off to a little deeper water down by Spirit Island. We parked in about 26 feet of water and withing 20 minutes there were 2 keeper walleye in the boat. About 35 minutes in to fishing my bobber went down and I brought in this 15" keeper.
Two protected slot fish were brought in within the next half hour and then it got slow.

We moved around 8PM and went in the direction of Indian Point. We set up in about 24 feet of water and fairly quickly a keeper was on board. Someone caught a protected fish and then there was a missed fish. I was not paying a whole lot of attention and when I went to look for my bobber it wasn't there. I reeled in some slack and set the hook into a better fish, which I took my time to bring in. It turned out to be this nice 24.5" protected slot walter.


A couple of more fish were caught and lost and then at about 9PM I'm not sure why but Tom moved us forward about 50yards and dropped anchor again. At this point 2 others Eddy's Launches were close by. Some fish came in right away again. I got a bite but missed it and my leech that had caught my first two fish was gone. I got a new leech cast out and after about 5 minutes my bobber went down again. This time it was fish on and I landed this 12" eye.
I threw the fish back. About 5 minutes later Don's bobber slowly went down and he brought in a nice 17+ inch keeper. The protected slot starts at 18" this year. About 5 minutes after that the guy next to me brought in a 16" eye and he gave it to us. I think maybe one more fish was caught on the boat after that. Dad was the only person not to get a bite. Don gave his fish to us, so we ended up with about a pound of walleye meat once cleaned.

I caught the most fish of anyone on the launch and I think all but about 3 people caught something.

Don's Dockage

(Don W. catches a sunfish)

Tonight Pete was over for the evening and we decided to go fishing at about 7PM. Originally I was going to take us to the Rock Dock and GOMH, but Pete suggested we check in with Don W. and see if we could fish off his dock.

Don was home and was generous enough to allow us to fish his dock. He has been catching lots of sunfish, perch, bass, and pike along with a few crappie so far this Spring. We got down to the dock and on my very first cast I had something hit my Panfish Chatterbait but it didn't hook up. On my first cast to the other side of the dock I also got a hit, but this one didn't hook up either. Pete missed a fish that he thought was a pike. Eventually I switched to a glow Cubby under a bobber. Around 8:15PM Don came out and joined us. He said the bite really doesn't rev up until right before dark and he was right.

I started getting a few hits but couldn't hook anything. Eventually I tipped the Cubby with a dead minnow, all my minnows were dead, and had a fish pull the bobber under. I set the hook and immediately the fish came up and jumped; I thought for sure I had a small bass, but lo and behold it was this nice crappie.
That was the last bite of the night for me. Don had a bass jump him off and caught a few small sunfish and 4 keeper sunfish and a couple of small perch. Meanwhile all Pete caught was a single tiny perch. Pete did miss quite a few bites. Don offered to let us keep to fish, but we let him have them.

All in all it was a nice calm night, but a bit cool for Pete who was lightly dressed.

Guntersville 2/ Norman 3/GOMH Report

Morning Fishing Report: I got up at 5:30 and headed to the GOMH. Don W. was there already, but he hadn't gotten anything. I managed to get skunked, but I missed a few bites and had a jumpin bullhead. Don caught one Silver and a bunch of little oranges on waxies. By 7am, I had enough and left. Two guys arrived at the same time as me that fished the NE side and were catching some kind of bullhead over there.

GEM outing at Rush Lake... Nobody told the BP about it. Oh well doesn't look like they needed me.

Evening Fishing Report: I headed to the GOMH at 6:30. The SE side was open, so I took that. Once again, Lee Ander was there with family, and Willard was on sight too. Lewis appeared later, so all the Grumpy Old Men were accounted for. There was lots of coming and goings on this night, and boats were fishing both sides (N&S) of the GOMH. I started out fishing with maggies and a glow Cubby Mini-mite. It was slow at first, but as the night progressed, the action got faster. My first fish was an orange bullhead, followed by a small jumpin bullhead.

I missed several bites but eventually got dialed into a zone to the East of the current. Around 7:30, I got my first Silver which I gave to Lee Ander. About 20 minutes later, I had another Crappie on and missed it at the bridge. I was sporadically hooking several oranges by now. I then caught a couple more silvers, switched to minnows, and got hit immediately 3 times catching 2 nice fish. After another silver or two, I had one on that collided with the weeds, and my line broke. I switched to a glow Ratso with a big hook and kept working minnows; I got my last two silvers on this.

All in all, I went home with 7, having released a few small ones and given 1 to Lee Ander. It was a nice night to be out, 75 degrees, slight SW wind. I did as well as anybody because the SW side was not fast and furious with the silvers.

Tournament News:
Basszone On the Water Blog...

April 27 Tour Notes and Blog SMG... Jay Yelas has a great big fish story.

G-Ville day 2 Bassfan Story...

BassZone G-ville day 2 story...

BassFan Big Stick John Murray G-ville...

Norman FLW BassFan Story...

Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes:
BASS G-Ville: Both Teams have 2 anglers in the top 12 KVD & Horton, Miyazaki, and Jordan. Mason was a no-point stinker for BP1. IKE rallied and got points on the board for BP boys. The success of this tournament hinges upon those top 12 performances tomorrow.

Fishing With Dad at the GOMH

Fishing Report 4/23: It was a nice night of fishing with my Dad at the Grumpy Old Man Hole. There were 2 Grumpy old men (Lee Ander and his brother Lewis). Dad had quite the time chatting with Lee Ander. The weather was a mild 60 degrees with a slight breeze out of the west. We arrived at the GOMH around 6 pm, and several trucks were parked. I thought we would get shut out of the good spot, but as it turned out, only Lee Ander was fishing, and he wasn't catching anything. Dad and I headed down to the SW shore of the GOMH and set up shop.

Dad had a yellow flu flu with a minnow, and I was fishing a white Cubby Mini-mite. Things were slow for the first hour, with Dad missing a couple of bigger fish, probably bass. Eventually, I gave in and tipped my jig with a minnow, and after about 15 minutes, I reeled in a jumpin bullhead of about 15 inches. Not long after, Dad tied into the Jumpin Bullhead in the first picture. It was about 16 inches. I had a fish steal my minnow and Cubby tail. At about 7:45, Dad landed the first silver bullhead. I had a problem with my rod tangled, and before you knew it, Dad had landed three fat specs. When I got my rod situation straightened out, Dad lost his bobber for the 2nd time. This time the bobber was out in current and went bye-bye; we were able to retrieve the bobber the first time it came off. I let Dad use my rod while I rigged his pole. Around the time I was getting Dad's pole ready, our friend Don Weinmeister showed up. Don was using waxies and started catching Silver and Orange bullheads straight away. Dad and I were still catching them but not as fast as Don. I eventually switched to maggies, and the bite for me picked up a little bit between the silver and orange bullheads. The bite was steady until it got too dark for me to see my bobber. We brought home 11 silvers and 1 orange, with a few small silvers and oranges released. Don managed to get 9 silvers. A guy came to fish just as we left; it was quite dark by then.

The Suckers: Stopped by the Rum River, where it runs into Shakopee lake. The suckers are running thick and spawning like crazy. It was a cool site.

The Saga of 3 Days with Cisco Pete

Ok, so I know it's been over for a couple of days but I haven't bothered to blog it. I got my open water crappie rods rigged last night and will be plying one of my super secret early season metro spots before tomorrow night Fishers of Men meeting. I still need to BP Fishing Log Blog. My time with Cisco Pete and my last couple of trips. I plan on doing that in the next couple of hours.

Anywhere go here for an update on the progression of ice out in MN

And Now The Saga of 3 Days with Cisco Pete
Pistol Pete arrived up here late on the 13th of March. I'd totally forgotten he was coming due to the parents getting home just a day earlier. Anyway, he got settled after some chatter and then we got to bed.

On Monday the 14th Pete and I got up around 5AM and were on the lake around 6 armed with minnows only. We got one half way descent crappie and then Don Weinmeister showed up and started fishing just North of us. Don had been getting the tullibee on waxies and we didn't have any so he borrowed us some. With the waxies we got some sunnies, perch, and Pete got his first tullibee (in Pic with Don visible in background).


We fished until about 9 but it really slowed and so we headed in for lunch. We gave the tullibee and crappie to Don. I showed Pete my Blogs and he saw that I called him "Pistol" but he didn't like that nickname and thought he should be called "Cisco" Pete cause he out fished me (tullibee are also called ciscos). So "Cisco Pete" it is.

We took a short nap then headed to Brainerd around 2PM to go look at tackle. We went to the new Super Walmart, Mills, and Reeds. I don't think either of us bought anything. Anyway, on the way home Pete and I got in a little discussion about women pastors and the Bible; Pete being vehemently against and me taking the opposite position. Cyber-Thompson had warned me a long time ago about ever debating with Pete, especially on spiritual topics, but Pete had been getting on my nerves (imagine that) and so I stepped into the sink hole just wanting to see what would happen. Pete and I don't share the same views on some things but whether I want to hear about those things or not Pete is gonna talk.

Anyway, when I go into debate mode, I can be a bit flamboyant and loud and Pete did not care for that one bit and went on the lecture me about this, that, and the other about how my tone was "un-biblical" and "un-christian" yada yada yada. I really got Pete quite pissed off and frankly enjoyed doing it, because pushing his buttons was easy.  He got to the point to where he wanted me me to stop the car, so we could get out and fight. At that point I decided to shut up and Pete lectured me all the rest of the way home. By the time we got back it was dark. Mom prepared a good chicken supper for us, and we didn't bother going out fishing again.  We watched TV and Pete spent time on the internet and we talked a little bit as well.. As it turns out we forgot to get waxies for tomorrow..

3/15 Slow fishing, slow boil.
Got up earlier and Pete made eggs for breakfast, and before breakfast Pete was kind enough to apologize for losing his temper on the way home from Brainerd. We went out just a wee bit earlier than the day before with maybe 4 waxies left.  I got a very nice crappie right away and got a few sunnies and perch but the tullibee just would not bite even though we would see them on the electronics. At 6:30 I headed to Bear Trax to get waxies. It was slow, Pete spent a bunch of time talking with Don, who came out again. We headed back in for a nap around 10.

We got up around 4PM and headed out to try for crappies at "the hole." Managed a couple small ones but it was really slow. Pete had to run back to the house, and I got like 8 and I think a couple of keepers in the 1/2 hour or so he was gone. It was slow so we headed for Sullivan, as that I had some spots I wanted to try. Instead of letting me guide Pete took charge and so we ended up fishing where I did not want to go. Pete is OCD about setting up a hole for fishing, which doesn't lend itself very well to a quick search to find fish. Anyway, we spent our time pretty much in the same area and only got 1 or 2 little Crips. I was not happy about not moving quicker and not getting to the area's I wanted to try. Ole "Cisco" was wearing on me pretty good by now.

3/16 A Day Too Far
Got up early again and I was in a foul mood. When I'm in a foul mood, I can be pretty snippy. Pete of coarse was Pete all through breakfast. Headed over to Sullivan around 6AM and the fishing started out fairly slow.  After getting set up my heater quickly ran out of juice, as if my attitude wasn't bad enough. Then as I was reaching foreword to do something Pete asked me to "turn up" the gain on the Vex. It was already way up and I was thinking to myself "why in the world is he asking me to do that" so I ignored him. After a couple of seconds Pete told me to do it again. Pete is a person that just will not be ignored if he wants something and so I turned the gain up just a nudge and sat back down. After a couple more seconds Pete then asks me to turn the gain down a little, after I had only just turned it up a little after being asked to turn it up.

The Fish Trap Cage Match of 2005:I snapped back at him frustrated, "you just asked me to turn up and I did, now you want me to turn it down." Pete then snapped back at me about how my problem is that I don't listen or am hard of hearing and he never said for me to turn it up in the 1st place; even though that is exactly what he told me to do twice. I was fuming, but Pete said this is stupid and I'm not gonna make a big deal out of it just after lecturing me on how I am hard of hearing or how don't listen and I was all wrong. I was quite sure if anything he misspoke twice because the first time I ignored him intentionally after looking at the dial and because he then asked the exact same thing a second time when I begrudgingly did as he asked. Because of my confidence in what I heard I wasn't gonna let Pete get the last word in this time and so I was adamant that it was not my hearing that was bad, but that he misspoke and now was unwilling to admit it.

At this point instead of letting it go like he said he was going to and letting me get the last word in. Pete laid into me much harder than before about anything he could think of. That was it, I flung the Trap open and yelled at him to get out and go sit in the car cause I didn't wanna here it. He was like "OK, drive me home and I'll leave" and I was like "heck no! you either sit in the car shut up or walk back cause and I'm gonna fish." And so Pete was like "no way, than I'm gonna fish to."  Don who was fishing just to the North of us must have thought we were crazy.

So I closed the trap down and Pete was like lets talk about this calmly and I agreed and went on to try and tell Pete as calmly as possible what an absolutely annoying personality he had. Meanwhile Pete tried to as calmly as possible tell me about every fault that I have that he could come up with. To which my standard retort became, for him to look in the mirror. Anyway during this bickering back and forth I started calming down because I had the satisfaction of knowing on the substance I had the better of it.

The only bad part about it was during this time Pete whacked a tullibee or two.  Then I had to listen yet again about how the color and action of his lure was why he was catching them and why I was getting skunked. But low and behold, I caught myself one. We gave the tullibee to Don and took these pics before he left.


3 of those fish were from us the rest were for "Santa" as Cisco nicknamed Don. Ole Cisco thought Don was the greatest thing since sliced bread.





They bloody themselves real easy from hoping on the ice.

Who's this ugly dude?

When Don left I headed to Bear Trax and get my propane tank refilled. By the time I got back Pete landed another, maybe even two. I then proceeded to lay the smackdown on the last 4 or so we got, including one that fought like a sun of a gun. Pete kind of freaked out thinking that one was extra huge. I also had one come unhooked in the hole, Pete said, "grab it." I said, "I don't care if it goes back down, I'm not gonna grab it."; forget about getting my arm all wet. Anyway this tullibee started going down the hole tail first but then it did a quick tail burst and popped right up into my "trough" right where I could grab it. Here's Pics of the later fish:




Anyways, we stayed until about Noon and the fish bit in the overcast conditions. We packed up to discover the Explorer was outta juice, so dad had to come and give us a jump.

We got back had a pizza and Pete left, just barely because his car broke down just before Little Falls.  I felt like I needed therapy, which I later got by talking with CyberThompson.

Anyway that is the tale of Cisco Pete!


This and the rest of my "Last Ice Adventures" are over at the BP Fishing Log Blog.