Very Soon, But Not Tonight.(4/5/20)

7:00-8:15PM GOMH NE SW
49-55℉, Partly Cloudy, 0-3MPH S

I heard my first loon calls tonight.  Had a couple eagles do flybys.  There was a flock of seagulls that flew over to Sullivan when I was down on the SW side.  Open water was 66% of the way to the SPSI.  I expect it will be open to the Point by tomorrow night. Channel Inn Bay was 20-25% Open.  I didn't get a bite and Lantern Man showed up around 7:45PM.  I didn't put my headlamp in the Cabela's Jacket, so I left a little earlier than I would have otherwise.  It was nice out when I left.

Loons Showed Up Tonight(4/2/20)

Two Loons tonight

Into Chanel In Bay

6:30-8:00PM GOMH NE SW
53-61℉, Cloudy, 3-15 ESE

It got warmer than forecast today with temps in the low 60's.  I opened the Tackle Warehouse up today because of it.   I got over to the GOMH around 6:30PM.  The first thing I saw was a loon swimming on the Sullivan side.   Some guy and his old man and little people were checking things out as I was getting ready.  He was hoping there would be open water to a boat access.  I started out on the Platte side, nothing.  I then went to the SW side.  Lantern Man showed up wondering if I had been getting anything yet. Shortly after that John W. showed up with his girlfriend.   I noticed a second loon off in the distance.  A couple of times the loon came up close, but before I could get a picture it was back underwater both times. They stayed until about 7:40 or so.  I ended the night back on the NE side.  No bullheads tonight. Frogs were chirping when I left.  Never heard a loon call.

Opener #3 (Sun & Mon)

26" Speed Shad 3.5"

22" X-Rap Shad Shallow

21.75" X-Rap Shad Shallow

By the stinger 19.5" Rage Swimmer

15.75" Shower Blows (1st Top OTY)

8:00-10:00PM GOMH SW NE
58℉, Partly Cloudy, 0-4mph SW, High Water

Surprisingly nobody was there when I arrived tonight.  I went down on the SW side and picked up a couple of quick jumpers on the Vet Chatterjig then nothing so I went to the NE side.  Nothing much was happening there until about 8:40 when there was some boiling, so I put on the Shower Blows and landed my first topwater fish of the year.  John W. showed up as I was bringing it in.  He went to the NW side.  I commenced to whacking them for about 20 minutes then the action quit.  John said he got a bunch of jumpers this afternoon including a few good ones.  Neither one of us got a golden.  As I was loading up Lantern Man showed up.  We talked for a minute then I was off for Mille Lacs.

10:30PM-3:00AM North Eddy's Jetty
42-34℉, Partly Cloudy, 0-4mph SW

Nobody was at Mille Lacs when I arrived, so I went to the North Harbor Mouth.  When I put my tackle bag down, my Vikings sweatshirt fell in the lake, doh!.  By the time I was ready to start casting a local had shown up and took the Center Jetty.  I started with the Rage Swimmer and quickly had a fish on by the stinger hook.  A sign that the fish weren't going to be as aggressive tonight.  I walked down the Jetty and had fish following me in, but not hitting.   I sight fished with the X-Rap and got a couple of 22" fish doing that.  The other guy got an over and keeper, so he left. I went to the Grass Pig and had fish nipping at it pulling the plastic down.  Lantern Man showed up as I was going to get some more swimbaits from the car.  He had some Storm Swimbaits with him. I put on a 3.5" Speed Shad and was pretty much immediately hooked up with a 26-incher.  Lantern Man was impressed.  I then got a 21.75" and Lantern Man got a keeper, so he left.  I got three more eyes on the Speed Shad and lost a couple before I just ran out of energy and had to go home.  I also lost a Speed Shad in the rocks off the NW corner.  I broke the selfie stick, doh!

8 eye's, not a bad night when they really weren't all that aggressive.

Opener at GOMH (All Nighter)

 

15.5" Jerk Shad (Crackle)

12:00AM-8:30AM GOMH SW
Conditions:  36-42℉, Clear to Cloudy, Light N wind to calm
Water level to normal high

11" Shiner Minnow

I was hyped up to cash in some gold on the shiner minnows I caught last week. It didn't work out that way. Eddy's Jetty was iced in, so the GOMH it was. I got my first bite around 12:30 am, but it was silver. Some guys on the other side got some gold right away. Lantern Man's son got one, and Lantern Man got one. Shorty after LM got his golden, he told me to throw into the current, which I did, and got a jumper.

14" Shiner Minnow

It then got real slow, and everybody left by 2:30 am. I went fishing on the NE side and got a 15" jumper on the Grass Pig. Peter W. showed up at about 3 am. He got a bullhead right away. I tried the NE side briefly again before someone else showed up to check what was up. At 4 am, the Wheel House Guy showed up and started fishing right next to me. Pretty soon, his brother and other relatives/friends showed up and took up the SE side. WHG got one golden on the NE side. It was dead until about 5:40 am, when I quickly got three nice jumpers on the Poison (2x18", 17.75").

18" Poison/Razor Shad

17.75"/4.12lbs Poison/Razor Shad

It then got slow again for about an hour. I got into a good run of 16" jumpers on a brown/grn pumpkin crawtube, dropping the two big ones. I missed a bunch of bites as well.

18.25'"/3.81lbs Crawtube

I got one good 17" on the Grass Pig and that last pig on the crawtube. I also got one toothy on the craw tube. WHG gave me a banana and some banana bread to eat before leaving. His brother, who fished next to me the whole morning, got a few jumpers and silvers. The people across the way got more of the same. For the most part, fishing was more difficult than expected. I should have fished on the NE side in the wind rather than camping on the SW side like I did. Still, 19 jumpers for the trip isn't exactly terrible. I was disappointed to not get at least one golden, though. My feet were fried from standing in my Bugaboots all night.

For the morning trip
19 Jumpers (18.25,18,18,17.75,17,16) for my 6 best (Stupidly, I only weighed two fish)
1 Toothy
1 Silver
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Dad got me up just before 5 pm to go and put the dock in at the lake place, which we did.

8:45–11:00 pm GOMH NE
Conditions: 62-50℉, partly cloudy, calm

9.5" X-Rap Shallow Shad

Nobody was on the NE side when I got there, so I quickly got my stuff and headed down. Lantern Man arrived as I was getting my stuff laid out. I got a jumper on the first cast and thought it might be on. LM's son came and down on the NW side. He had been fishing the Southside, getting silvers and jumpers. After he left the GOMH last night, his bridge hopping was a resounding failure. His first cast under the bridge resulted in some gold. His friend Kyle came and netted it, and Kyle got a golden on his first cast as well. They got another one, and I got the one I did casting out on the crackle Jerk Shad. I also got a 24.5" toothy casting out on the jerk shad. Two bow fishing boats came through.   LM son and Kyle left. I got the Rock bullhead. Other than that, it was pretty dead. Sneaky C showed up. He was a pretty good day on the gravel lizards wherever he was fishing. I left shortly after Sneaky arrived. I was still worn out from last night and didn't feel like flogging the water anymore.

So that is my 2018 Opener Day 1