Trophy's 1st Run of the Year

I had planned to get stuff organized today, but that didn't happen because I took an overlong nap not getting up until 4:30PM.  I didn't get the Trophy to the lake until 7PM.  It ran just fine, but I didn't have GPS with to check my top speed and also I didn't have the Garmin to tell me the lake temp.

22"

I started out on the North side by the little inlet.  I got that pike there and saw a dogfish, but I spooked it when I cast for it.  I then went into the RPRO and got this pike.

25"

I got down by the Beaver Dam and discovered the bog that had set up here last year.

Had moved into the mouth of the river blocking it off just past the beaver dam.

I did get this 17"+ largie in that general area.

I think that's the moon off my elbow.

Here is the moon on my way out of the RPRO.

I Got Me a Dogfish!

We got dumped on my a thunderstorm this morning so I didn't get out until after 6:00am.  It was actually still sprinkling when I got there.  There was 1 guy on the SW side and that was it.  I decided to go to the NE side and try for some golden bullheads.  I quickly noticed that all the rain we got had cleared up the water.  No gold today.

While fishing with the Money Minnow I had a jumpin bullhead wrap me around the buoy marker line.  It eventually got off but my line was still stuck.  Fortunately my line broke at the bait, so I didn't lose my wire leader.  I started fishing with a parrot X-Rap and tied into this little dogfish.

 I caught a several jumpin bullheads on the X-Rap.

Then I went up and got re-tied.  All my Money Minnows are waiting for my new Mend-It bottle to arrive.  I accidentally left the cap on loose earlier this week, Oops.  I put on a white Grass Pig and got a couple of toothy bullheads on that.

I also of course got some jumpin bullheads on the Grass Pig.  This was the biggest at 17 inches.

I eventually decided to give the other side a try for some silver bullheads. I missed a couple of bites and got a  real small one before taking off at a little after 9:00AM.

We went into Little Falls to get my new glasses today, so I didn't get to bed until 3PM and I didn't wake up until 10PM.  So no fishing tonight

Golden Bullheads at the GOMH

This morning I got to the GOMH at 5AM in search of some gold.  I started on the NE side and it wasn't long and I was bringing in my first golden bullhead on a Berkley Powerbait Ripple Shad.

18.5"

 I missed another one and got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then went to try the SE side, but only got jumpin bullheads there.  Because it was cloudy and windy blowing into the N side I went back and scored my second golden bullhead of the day.  Here's both of them from this morning.

I did get a couple of toothy bullheads, including one that had a jig in it's mouth.  Here is the one that didn't have the jig.

Here is my biggest jumper of the morning.

17.75

I lost several other really nice jumpin bullheads and a couple that I don't know what they were.

For the evening trip I didn't arrive until 8:30PM and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of people and within 20 minutes of me being there all but my friend Joe's buddies were gone.  I started on the NE side and only got a couple of jumpin bullheads.  I then tried the SE side for a while and once again only got jumpin bullheads.  I switched back to the North side and immediately got a golden bullhead on a Spro 25 crank in parrot.

I got my last 2 golden bullheads on the night on a Powerbait Ripple Shad.

16"

17"

I think I missed one or two more.  I gave the fish to Joe's friend and he gave me some minnows.  John W. showed up. He had something big on, probably a pike he said.  I left a little before 10:30PM

Another Good Night at the GOMH with Dad

Dad and I got to the GOMH about 7PM.  Everywhere was filled, so we took up on the bridge on the Sullivan side.  I started out by weed whacking.  I found out Chris from the Bass Snatchers was there again tonight.  He ended up giving us some minnows, which was nice.  CO Kuske pinched another person tonight for no license  Dad got a silver bullhead and a jumpin bullhead and missed several other bites.

9.5"

 As for me I got 2 silver bullheads, a toothy bullhead, and 10 jumpin bullheads.  I possibly lost a golden bullhead as well after it got dark.  I missed several bites tonight.

All in all it was a good night.

Golden Bullheads and Jumpin Bullheads, No Toothers

I got out early today to try for some golden bullheads.  I thought I wasn't going to get one.  I tried the NW side and nothing.  Then I tried the NE side and broke the front off my Frenzy crankbait when I hit the wall.  I  switched to a baitcaster and got another Frenzy.  I made several casts with nothing and was just about to give up when I got a hit.  Sure enough it was a golden bullhead and I managed to land it despite it not being very well hooked.

22"

I then got a jumpin bullhead on the Frenzy then nothing.  I switched to the YUM Money Minnow and had a bigger eye on but it got off somehow.  I don't know if I would have kept it, because it was at least 24 inches.  I got a couple more jumpers on the Money Minnow then I switched to the SW side.

All I could get there were jumpin bullheads, this 18" was the biggest.

No matter where or how far I cast all I could get were jumpin bullheads, not a toothy bullhead to be found.  I even tried for panfish bullheads and got jumpin bullheads.  I called it quits a 8AM my thumbs were raw.

Great Morning, Good Night at the GOMH

This morning I got to the GOMH around 5:30AM.  I set up on the SW side.  It was a little slow at first, but then I changed to the Grass Pig I got the fish on last night and my first fish was this toothy bullhead.

After getting a couple of jumpin bullheads the Grass Pig was trashed, so I went to the car and got a white Gambler EZ Swimbait.  On like my second cast I got this Golden Bullhead.

18"

A couple of casts later I got a nice jumpin bullhead.  Then a couple of casts later I got another toothy bullhead.  I remarked to the guy fishing on the SE side that I didn't know what I was gonna catch.
I got a couple of 4lb plus jumpin bullheads.

20"

 This fish was a bit on the skinny side.

19.75"

This fish was quite a bit more chunky and I'm sure weighed more.  I missed one more that I think was in that size class.

Eventually I went through the three Gambler EZ's I had and I switched up to a Yum Money Minnow in hitch color.  I got a couple of jumpin bullheads on that and 4 or 5 toothy bullheads.  I ended up with 16 jumpin bullheads, 9 toothy bullheads, and 1 golden bullhead.  Not a bad morning.  I quit at 8AM after the action slowed.

Note:  After catching each pike I washed my hands with a bar of Captain Knoll's Fisherman's Hand and Body Soap. I was quite impressed with it's ability to get the pike slime off of my hands and leave them smelling like anise.  The bar has a bit of grittiness to it  It's a great product and I'm guessing the bar is going to last a long time.  As I didn't even put a dent in it.  I recommend you go to their website and check it out.

In the evening I went back to the GOMH with Dad.  The place was full of people and they were catching a few bullheads but nothing spectacular.  Joe and Chris from the Bass Snatchers were fishing on the NW side. Dad and I set up on the bridge and I got a couple of jumpin bullheads and I missed a few hits as well.  We only had 2 minnows left and 1 was a stickleback, but Dad managed to get a small silver bullhead on T.H.E. Jig..

As it got later the bite picked up and I managed to get this golden bullhead.

21.5"

It was about the same size as the one I got last night.  A guy fishing on the NE side got 3 golden bullheads then he let me take the spot.  I got a couple of hits but couldn't keep them hooked up.  I decided that throwing a rap would work better and I went to the car to get one.  I should have called Dad over to come and fish, because right as I was getting back two guys cut me off and went right in the spot I was fishing.  Oops.  I managed to get one more jumpin bullhead on the South side and missed a couple of more hits on the Money Minnow.  We left at 10PM