Bassin Plan of Attack Post Ice Off to May

 

Fish:

2026 is the first year when it is legal to fish for bass in Central MN before the MN Fishing Opener in May.  Here is my plan for bassin the Platte/Sullivan area lakes. 

Location:

The Grumpy Old Man Hole, the bridge between Platte/Sullivan, is the first area to have accessible open water, so this is where I have already started flogging the water. Unfortunately, it locked back up completely with the sub-zero temps. It's my guess that I will be able to pick up a few bass at the Grumpy Old Man Hole before I am casting anywhere else. I will also fish at the Rock Lake access before the ice is off the lake, provided the ice doesn't get pushed into the Access area as it retreats from the shoreline. 

Once the ice is off the area lakes, I plan on fishing in the Slop Slip on Rock Lake, provided things are not "Going Gonzo at the GOMH." Hopefully, the area docks, including the family dock, will be in quickly post ice out. I will get the Trophy in Platte ASAP after the family dock goes in. Once the Trophy is in the lake, weather and fishing conditions will largely dictate where I fish on a given day. If I get on a hot bite somewhere, I will ride it out. If I am not catching much, I'll do a lot of bouncing around between Platte/Sullivan, Rock, Erskine, and Round. Not really sure how much I fish at the GOMH from shore. I'm guessing a lot of morning trips.

Presentation:

I have made a fishing goal this year of catching 82 fish on a Trap, 155 fish on a crankbait, and 260 fish on a jerkbait. The crankbait and lipless numbers were derived from all the fish I have caught on those lure categories since I started keeping track with Fish Swami. The jerkbait number is my highest yearly total, which was from 2016. Those lures will see a heavy rotation early, as well as a Chicken Jig, Chatterbait, soft swimbait, Turbo FattZ, and Spinnerbait. The weather will determine how early I start mixing in topwater.

My Plan of Attack for the 2019 Opener

It is right now 12:03AM 48 hours before the MN Fishing Opener and I have a pretty clear plan of attack in mind for how I am going to go about the first day.  Due to the snow storm, we are right now in the midst of experiencing and the wind forecast for Saturday I am pretty much writing off bass fishing.  Wind and cool/ cold water equal no bueno in my experience for bass.  I think the conditions might be setting up for me to take advantage of walldogs, so that is what I am going to focus my energy on the first day.

The Plan:
Of course, I will be fishing on Mille Lacs at midnight which is now a longstanding tradition.  Hopefully, Eddy's isn't full of people because that is my first choice.  I think I'll plan on leaving the house a little after 11PM. That should give me time to assess the situation and possibly give me the opportunity to pick my spot.  Ideally, no one will be there and I can fish free as a bird wandering the North Jetty at will.  Who knows how having a one fish limit will affect angler interest. I'm betting there will be others there fishing at midnight.  Therefore, I want to get the NW corner.  If I don't get that. There is the Harbor Mouth and Standing Rock.  Less appealing is the Center and South Jetty, but beggars can't be choosers. I better bring the long net, just in case I get stuck on Center.

I am going to start with a Rippin' Rap.  If that doesn't work I'll go to a swimbait, then to suspending jerkbaits.  If they are there they should bite on one of those three.  I think I am also going to bring along some Shad Raps, Flicker Shads, and a hair jig.

Success or lack of it depends on what I do next.  At 3:30AM I will make the call to stay or go.  Three and half hours of straight casting is a long time especially if I"m not getting bit.  If I'm feeling good and catching fish I might choose to go until dawn.  Chances are better that I will be looking for a break and change of scenery so I may head home to give a quick blog and get a bite to eat before heading to the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  If I'm there before 5AM hopefully there is an open side.  If not I may head back to Mille Lacs (unlikely), go to the Trophy (also unlikely), stay at the bridge and watch what happens (unlikely if the wind is blowing).  I probably will just go back home if there is nowhere to fish and return sometime in the afternoon after the wind has kicked up and it's warmed up.

With the forecasted South wind, I think I may be able to pull out some daytime gold out of the GOMH.  Then from there, it's most likely back to Mille Lacs for Round 2 after dark.

That's my plan.