2024 Opener Evening Short Trophy Trip In Platte(5/11/24)

  

4lber Dirty Jigs SC Buzzbait/ToadZ

8:15-9:15PM North Channel Inn Bay Platte Lake

66-70℉, PC, 0-3mph W

Water Temp: Low 60's

This trip would not have happened if Steve hadn't taken Mom home from the late hamburger feed. Thanks, Steve! I went to Channel Inn Bay with limited daylight. I got the 4lber at Dogfish Corner, as well as a pike in the hay. I got a quick pike throwing the Swim Jig and a small bass on the first cast with the SBKO. Conditions said I should have gotten plenty of bites. I didn't bring a headlamp or spotlight. I stuck the boat landing, and Todd helped me unload stuff, which was appreciated. I was tired, and it would have taken me quite a while longer without the help.

2Bass 

2Pike 

5/11/24, MN Opener GOMH & Short Trophy Trip

 

 

4:35-5:40AM GOMH NE

43-52℉, MS, 0-2mph

Warer Level High and Rising, Temp: 58℉

I should have left 10 minutes earlier. The truck driving North in front of me was headed to the GOMH as well but, thankfully, didn't pull a U-turn at the bridge. I saw they were coming back, so I quickly grabbed two rods and the tackle bag and headed down to the untaken SE side. Wheel House Guy was already there on the SW. I got a bite on my second cast, but it got off quickly. That is what I get for leading with the swimbait instead of a jerkbait. I did switch to the UJShad and had a fish on briefly, but it felt very gator-like on the hit. I had a couple of bumps, and as it was getting light out, I had a jumper get off. I finally got two small jumpers on the Jerk Shad and headed for the Trophy as the first boat from Platte approached.

2 Jump

6:40-7:45AM Sullivan River Mouth, River & SW SPRO

54-59℉, M Sunny, 0-4mph W

With the pre-sets from last night so I was able to make a quick transition to the boat. I left the rods that were in the boat house in the boat house. 3 or 4 boats were fishing Platte. Only a couple on the North End of Sully. I started at the River Mouth. Nothing on the KO Shower Blows, so I went to an EVO Chatter. Lost a good feeling fish, then a good'n at the boat. I then caught a small pike. I got bit off. In the river, I had some good bites on the SBKO but only caught the small ones. I believe I was the first person to fish the river mouth. For the final 20 minutes, I ran the SWSPRO, getting the biggest fish of the morning, and missed a couple more good ones on the SBKO. It was a short trip because I needed to have the car back home.

7Bass 

3Pike 

 

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.

Another Perfect November Night in the Trophy.

18.75" Bubble Walker

4:00-6:30PM N Side of Don's Bay Juice
Conditions: 69-60 degrees, Mostly Sunny, Light SW wind turning calm, 49 degree water.

I started at West Point and didn't get a thing.  I then headed to the North side of Don's Bay hoping to expand the juice throwing an Spro Aruku Shad.  Had one fish follow, but couldn't see what it was.  As I approached the SW corner of the juice I switched to a Bass Pro Shops Flat Shallow Crankbait.  I was almost immediately rewarded with a 17 incher.

1st fish I ever caught on this color, don't think I'd ever thrown it.

17" BPS Flat Shallow

I had the good sense to throw out a marker buoy.  That was a good move because it took me a little while to get the fish unhooked with the way the lure was wedged in it's mouth and I got blown of the spot.  After releasing the fish I got repositioned thanks to the marker buoy and immediately caught another 17 incher.

17" BPS Flat Shallow

Unfortunately there wasn't a school holding in that spot, just those two fish.  I even got the GPS out and marked a way point after thoroughly working the area.  I then drifted across the flat.  I started throwing the Bubble Walker as a few baitfish were getting hit.  I caught a dink up by shore.

10.5" Bubble Walker

The shoreline continues down on my left.  With a long cast I could have hit it at this point. The fish came out of about a foot of water.   I had a small pike jump over the Walker. 

Some fish got hit out but very close to me so I quickly motored out.  I threw out a cast, reached down to stop the trolling motor and a fish lit the Bubble Walker up.  When I caught up to the fish it was still there , but the sucker was swimming straight at me.  I didn't get much of a hookset and it came off about three quarters of the way in.  It felt like a good fish.  A couple casts later I had a big one jump after the Walker right after it landed.  I set the hook, but it missed the lure.  I cast back a few times, but couldn't get it to strike again.  

Where I was fishing at.  Look familiar?

A baitfish got hit off to my left within casting distance.  I put a cast on the spot, nothing.  I put a second cast on the spot and worked the bait extremely slow letting it sit for more than 30 seconds before popping it again multiple times.  Letting it sit eventually triggered the fish and I landed it, another 17 incher.

17" Bubble Walker

About 10 minutes later I got the 18.75" once again working the lure super slow over a spot where a fish had shown itself to be.  That was my last bite of the night despite the fact that fish boiled within casting range a few times.  The fish stayed active until it was getting to dark for me to see my lure on a long cast.

Perfect November Night to be Out

 You can read about my other trips this month at the Log Blog.

Did Some Catching Yesterday

17" Slush Daddy

Sunrise is moving South

6:40-8:20AM
Conditions:  Post morning thunderstorms, humid, low 70's, partly cloudy, wind out of the S SE

I was hoping the brief heavy rain we had might translate into so fish this morning.  I hit the GOMH first.  I started out by discovering that I forgot to put away a Slush Minnow and Stanley Phantom when I fished the last time.  It took me about a few seconds to realize that was at the Cabin, not at the GOMH.

I started out by putting a Slush Daddy on.  I was just about to pull it out of the water to make another cast when a jumper sucked it in.

Right about where it was sitting when the fish hit.

18" Slush Daddy

I didn't get a better picture because the camera went on the fritz when I went to take another picture.  I released the fish, then got the camera working again;  That's when I took the sunrise picture.

I made a cast out across the channel and had the 17" hit the Slush Daddy.  Those were the only 2 bites I got.  I tried the culvert and didn't get anything.  Next I went to the lake place to retrieve my lures, which I did.  I missed a fish that attacked the Spro Frog when I wasn't paying attention.

I tried Jenny's as well. Nothing doing

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.

Think Tank Triggerfish Triggers Bullheads @GOMH

It was a hot one yesterday and I stayed indoors in the air conditioning for most of the day. I planned to go fishing at 8PM, but a thunderstorm that was coming in made me head out around 7:15PM in the hopes of a pre-frontal throwdown. When I arrived at the Grumpy Old Man Hole the skies were getting dark and thunder and lightening were not to far off in the distance. As you can see on the video I started with a Think Tank Lures Triggerfish and caught my first fish on that bait ever and then missed one. I also caught another smaller jumpin bullhead on a black/blue Lake Fork Crawtube. I got a small pike on the black/blue Crawtube and another small pike on a green pumpkin Crawtube. I only fished for about 20 minutes before the lightening chased me off, but that was enough time for 3 other guys show up to fish and one of them came down on the NW side and started fishing right in my water. He pulled some nice orange bullheads and one small jumper. They left the same time I did after a lightening bolt came down about 2 miles away.

Cullen Chain Pre-Fish And More From Shore

Next Sunday is my 2nd Baxter Bass Snatcher tournament of the year being held on the Cullen Chain near Nisswa MN. I had the good fortune to draw Bill Bailey for my boater as he has a good history with these lakes. Bill was kind enough to agree to take me out for a day of fishing, so I could get a feel for these lakes that I had never seen before. I am extremely glad Bill took me out, because in a lot of ways it wasn't what I expected.

The Cullen Chain has pretty good to excellent water clarity and has diverse aquatic vegetation, but seemingly none of the troublesome invasive weeds. I really like the Chain as it has elements of Sylvia/Twin and Platte/Sullivan. Bill has a smaller boat so we are able to fish in all 3 lakes. I don't think guys with bigger boats can get into the upper most lake because of a narrow culvert with little headroom. Getting out of the lower most lake where we will launch is also a challenge. Bill had to get out of the boat this morning because we didn't take the right approach into the boat channel and ran aground.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fish size we discovered, although my first fish of the day didn't show it.

Shortly after this fish, I watched a 3lb+ largie engulf my lure. I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted to set the hook or not because I got such a good look at the fish as did Bill. I think the fish kind of stuck itself and I had it on for a few seconds before it got off. I got another good take shortly after that.

Next we went to a weedline and I experimented with a bait, but that was a bust. After that we ran to the Upper Lake, which turned into a pike fest for me. Bill had a follow from a big dogfish. I tried to catch it, but just spooked it. A little later on we were getting close to one of the clubs more mercurial club members and we saw him catch a fish. I thought it was a nice bass, but he told us it was a dogfish. I'm not sure I believe that.

Anyway we found some productive water and ended our time in the upper lake with a quality double. This was my fish (I think it was probably 16).


Next we went back to the middle lake. It was cloudy with a light breeze and I thought in that clear water topwater might go, so I started throwing a Paycheck Baits Repo Man. We fished some good looking stuff without so much as a sniff for either us, but I just kept chucking the topwater. Eventually I was rewarded with this 18"+ pig that just annihilated the Repo Man.

It was awesome. I knew it was a big fish immediately because it tail walked then jumped a couple of times. I was worried it was going to bury me in the weeds and get off, but it was hooked well and I was able to pull it out of the salad. Man I was jacked after this fish.

We fished a little while longer and I added one more quality bass to my day on something that not get any play on tournament day, but the color will.

Overall it was a very successful pre-fish. I was impressed with the size we discovered and it's a fun lake to fish with lots of options. My boater Bill is probably going to get out for one more trip.

I made a few stops on my way home. I jacked this 14.25" fish at Bulldog Lake.

And I jacked this 13" fish at Jenny's on Platte.

I had one more really good bite at Jenny's but I choked.

I did try the GOMH, but was blanked. John W. was there and told me he caught a very big jumpin bullhead from under the bridge the other day. Maybe I need to get a clue and start throwing stuff under the bridge like John does.

Bass Opener Day 3

Because it's Memorial Day weekend the Minnesota Bass Opener is a 3 day affair.

Today my lower back was giving me issues and I wasn't sure if I was going to get out. It was cloudy and breezy out of the SE. I eventually did get out on Platte Lake around 4:30PM. I headed East.

I started on a few docks that are usually unproductive and they lived up to expectation. After wasting 20 minutes I finally got into more productive water and nabbed this pike off a dock on a small black/red Hart spinnerbait.

As you can see I'm sporting my new cantaloupe Columbia Men's Airgill™ shirt with homemade hoodie. Columbia sent me the shirt to try along with some Drainmaker™ shoes. Today was in the 80's and humid, but with the breeze that Airgill shirt worked it's magic and I wasn't the least bit hot even with the sleeves down. I'm loving the shoes as well and they arrived none to soon as I've been getting my feet wet the past few days.

Anyway I made my way West and was into a good area and I popped this 16" on the Hart spinnerbait.
A little after that I got a 14.25" largie on the chart tiger Stanley Phantom topwater. Next I popped a couple of pike on the white Havoc Grass Pig, losing the Pig on the 2nd pike. I put a Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper on the 1/4oz weighted 5/0 Moaner Stroker Hook. I won those Moaner hooks earlier this year. It sure is nice to get to try something and see how it works for free. I popped one more bass on the Hart Spinnerbait, then I had a small pike destroy the spinnerbait. At that point I decided to head back East. I had my red shad Zoom Super Fluke bit off on the very first dock. It's possible I broke my line on the boat lift, but I think it was probably a pike.

As I worked my way West a guy came out to fish on his dock and got a crappie. I went around him and missed a fish, I think it was a bass, on the Cane Thumper. I covered an area that usually has rice and pads, but none were to be seen and no fish were there. Finally I got to some more docks. I popped a 15" largie on the PB&J Yum Wooly Bug along with an 11+" and a 12". That was the end of the PB&J bait so I tried a orange crawdad Yum Wooly Bug and got a 12" on that. I was in the wind and struggling with boat control thanks to my broken trolling motor bracket. I did pull a 12" and 14.25" off docks with the Cane Thumper as I drifted by.

I made a move, a little later than I should have to Loon Sex Bay. I started working the Phantom and had a couple of misses on that before I connected with a 14" largie. I was covering water quickly and I decided to give the Cane Thumper a try and that paid off with a pike and 3 ok sized bass. I think I figured out how to set the hook on those swimbait bites. It's kind of a surging sweep set. I left the fish biting as I had to get back and get the boat on the trailer before it got to dark.

I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and didn't get a bite.

So that was
13 Bass
6 Pike

All told for Bass Opener weekend this year I landed 51 bass and 39 pike.

2011 Bass Opener Day 2

I got out at around 3PM. Lots of people out on the lake today. It was pretty much overcast the whole time. Right about 9PM it rained for a little bit. There was a light breeze out of the NE.

I put in at the Platte Lake Access and headed North. Right after I stopped I saw a fish swirl, so I casted over there and was rewarded with a 14" bass on the PB&J Yum Wooly Bug. I had another bite and it felt like a good fish but it didn't hook up and that was the end of that. I switched to a white Stanley Phantom(spook) and nailed a pike right away on that. I had a few more hits on the Phantom maybe catching one more pike and a bass. I followed up a miss with a red shad Zoom Super Fluke and got a decent bass. On the next cast it got bit off. I cast out again and the Fluke got ripped right off the hook. I tried a pink X-Rap and got a few pike on that. I switched the Phantom to a chartreuse tiger and got a 16 bass right away. Then I nailed this 18.5"


Low and behold I looked down the way and saw the brown Tuffy of Bass Pundit blog reader Mike B. We chatted for a while. He told me a few things. He had mostly been getting pike and the bass were spread out. He went South and I continued North. I kept fishing the chart Phantom and was rewarded with a good bass every so often and there were several missed hits. I think I might have had 2 dogfish follows, but I couldn't get bit on a follow up bait. In one particular spot I got 3 bass in close succession. It started to rain and that was the end of the action.

I didn't have anything to write on but I think the official count was:
14 Bass (2 Wooly Bug, 2 Fluke, 10 Phantom) I had several 15 inch bass.
7 Pike