Snatcher's Platte/Sullivan Tournament Preview And Rods

 

My Thoughts: 

Thanks to 2026 being the year MN bassheads were liberated from a closed bass season, I got the Trophy in the water quickly, and it has been game on for me ever since on Platte/Sullivan. As bites have come and gone, I have been able to understand why a bite left or stayed good, and with an OK amount of success, have been able to figure out where the fish had departed. In the past, I may have felt lost and probably just didn't spend the time necessary to track them down. I am confident that Ranger Arnie and I will be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

The Plan: 

We are going to start in an area where Arnie caught them the first day he was out pre-fishing. I think it is a solid area and I am talking an area. I have three primary areas in mind that I think we should spend most of our time on, and where we start is a good one. We have eight boats fishing in this tournament. It will be interesting to see whether any other boats head to our starting area and, if they do, where they choose to attack first. I have some backup areas that, if we don't get to them, I'm fine with it because that means we caught 'em where I thought they should be. 

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Zillion (The Chicken)

7'4" H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula XT (Buzzbait)

7'4" H Tatula (Toads, Ploppers)

7' MH Mod Mojo Bass (Crankbaits, Topwater, Wakebaits)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Jigs,Chatters, Plopper, )(Braid)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Jigs,Chatters, Flukes)(FC)

5'6" MH Avid (Fluke, Dinger)

GOMH+ Today(4/6/26)

 I drove North Platte Lake Drive tonight, and there was quite a bit more open water along the northern shoreline and Big Island than expected. I would say Platte is about 1/3rd open. Rock is progressing, as is Bulldog, Erskine, and Sullivan. I drove to the Sullivan Inlet on the way home and saw a herd of deer along the road. I also heard my first loon while I fished. It was cold, and I ran out of energy, so I didn't fish for very long. I also had an oprey fly right to me from Platte to Sullivan. Muskrats were about as were ducks. It should warm up some tomorrow and throughout the week. I can taste open water now. Platte should be open by Friday, the 10th.

Platte Lake From GOMH

Platte Lake from N Platte Lake Drive

Sullivan Inlet

Sullivan Inlet South of Culvert

Sullivan Inlet Access

Rock Lake

Erskine Lake

NW Access Sullivan Lake

Shakopee Lake Access

Rum River into Shakopee Lake

GOMH Today(4/4/26)

 The final day of this four-day-long winter storm started on the 1st of the month. We were on the low end of what was forecast for snow accumulations. Open water expanded in Channel Inn Bay in Platte Lake a fair amount. The Sullivan Platte River Outlet still looks to have quite a bit of ice, but I imagine it will be gone soon. I didn't check North Platte Lake Drive or Rock Lake because it was sloppy getting to the lake place. I think Platte and the area lakes will go ice-free somewhere between the 10th to the 12th. There were a few swans, ducks, and eagles flying around. Will the loons show this week?

Platte at normal zoom
Open water all the way past SPSI 

Note to self: Pack a shovel tomorrow.

GOMH & Rock Lake Today(3/31/26)

 Ice is starting to pull off the shore on Platte and Rock. One more day in the 40's before we get cold and snow. Long and Platte were looking dark. There was some open water at South Point Small Island on Platte. I think it will be a waiting game for open water, but you never know. The Platte GOMH Bay was open tonight The Intersection in Sullivan is mostly open, but there is a lot of ice in the SPRO.

Rock Looking North

Rock Looking South

Upcoming weather

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.

Baxter Bass Snatchers 2026 Tournament Schedule (Tentative)

 

Last Saturday, we picked dates and lakes for the upcoming tournament season. The schedule will be debated and finalized at our February meeting.

Sunday, May 31st, Platte/Sullivan: Like I said in my tournament wishlist post, I would prefer a tournament on my lakes later in the year. If it is post-spawn, the lakes can be tricky if the fish are off. That said, I have had some really productive days in late May and early June, and thanks to being able to target bass right from ice-out, I should have a really good idea of productive areas. Will the Chicken play? Will I finally be able to beat out Tuma?

Saturday, June 20th, Big Birch (Grey Eagle): We fished this lake in my very first year in the club, 2008, and we haven't been back since. I really liked the lake. It has smallmouth and clear water. I hope this one stays.

Saturday, July 11th Gull /Crow Wing River: This was my suggestion, and it beat out all the other lakes we came up with in the vote. Tuma said later is better here. So at the next meeting, I am going to make a motion to switch it with Pelican or Leech.

Saturday, August 15th, Pelican Lake: I may have to stock up on a certain color of craw tubes for this one. Judging by my pre-fishWill the Chicken Play?

Saturday, September 12th, Leech Lake: Hopefully it stays at Leech, it doesn't blow hard that day, and water levels are normal. Will smallies play?

Saturday, October 3rd, Gull Lake: Gull Lake has been on fire the past few years. Will it continue? Will they bite the Chicken?

My P/S Juice in 2025

 2025 was a bounce back after tougher fishing in 2024. Platte Lake is on the road to recovery after the winterkill in 2023. Here is where I caught my fish in 2025. Primarily bass and pike. The number in the circle is the number of fish caught there.

First up is for the trips I fished in both lakes during the trip.

My Platte map shows I caught a bunch of fish off the dock, which is on the East side of the lake. That the fishing on F Flat has gone to crap, and that Big West Bay was more than just a flash in the pan. Big West was alive with life. And that I caught a fair number of fish on docks, which hardly happened in 20204.

And lastly, there is Sullivan, which doesn't get many trips all by itself: 

I've Got The Platte/Sullivan Lake Blues

 

These are my trips in the Trophy, so far this year.

Wrecking 'em I ain't. The results from this past weekend can be attributed to the post-spawn, post-cold front conditions, right? Oh brother, it is going to be a tough year if I don't up my game and innovate. 

Here are all of my trips since June 5th, 

4/9 Platte And Sullivan Ice Out

 

Last Day Of January Ride Around

 

Rock Lake Looking NE

Rock Looking South

It was another nice day, and I had an errand to run up to the lake place, so I drove around to see what was up at the Platte/Sullivan area lakes. There were under 10 houses on Bulldog, and everybody was driving out. Rock Lake had even fewer people and no houses on my spot. There were actually a couple of people set up off the point of Jenny's Reeds; I'm guessing it was people staying at the AB&B. There were fewer houses on Platte than earlier this week. The NE Access of Sully is closed because of the pressure ridge. This week was a late January thaw. It will be cooling down somewhat starting in February.

BP"s 2024 Bass Lure of The Year

 

With Platte Lake in its second year of recovery from the 22/23 Winter Kill and me struggling to stay on the bass in Sullivan, it made for the most challenging bass fishing I've experienced in years.  There was a period from the MN Fishing Opener to when the rice came up in early June when the Houdini-colored Z-Man Turbo FattyZ was 🔥. Then the bite just collapsed when the shiner minnows moved deep. I caught the vast majority of 153 bass on the FattyZ in that window. It was the only lure I caught a hundred bass on for the year. I did catch 258 bass on frogs and toads, but that was spread out over about 20 different lures. Here is to hoping that bass fishing in 2025 improves.

My Juice In 2024

 I do not in any way attribute the disappointing fishing I experienced this year to me sharing my "Juice" last year. This year was just off. The Jumpin Bullhead bite was off at the Grumpy Old Man Hole. The frog and topwater bite were a struggle. 2024 was just off. 

Here is my Juice for 2024

2024 Platte/Sullivan Trips Fish Caught

Sullivan Only Trips

Platte Only Trips

Platte Lake was just brutal for me this year.

Here is the Juice for me in 2024. Where I did my ice fishing:

Sure the panfish and pike are small for the most part, but I got a lot of action.

March 12th GOMH Odds

 66% Odds that nothing will be happening at the GOMH, so I will give Rock Lake a try.

The Plan: Hit the GOMH first and go to Rock if nothing is going on. Be back at the GOMH around 7PM.

GOMH & Area Iced Up

The GOMH iced up

 I didn't get into the 40's today.

Iced up except where swans were swimming

Bulldog iced up

Rock wasn't as iced up

Along the South it was

January 14th at the GOMH

The Polar Vortex has the GOMH completely frozen over

 The same couldn't be said about Platte. That is steam rising above open water.

Platte/Sullivan Juice, Part 2

 As promised here are my fishing heat maps for Sullivan Lake, Platte Lake, and Platte/Sullivan telling the general area where I caught all my fish in 2023 and 2022. Platte froze out in 2023, so I fished there a lot less frequently this year. 

2023

Many more trips were taken to only Sullivan in 2023 and I expanded the areas fished.

2022

The two farthest West dots on this map are shore spots.

Platte 2023

Platte Only Trips 2022
A Good Year for F Flat

Bonus 2021 Map
(I put the Fish Swami App on my phone in July of 2021)

Trips In Which I fished both Lakes in 2023

Both Lakes 2022

Both Lakes 2021