Morning at the GOMH

This morning I headed out a little before 7AM.  Pete didn't want to go and I should have left sooner.  Right away I missed a bite and then I landed two silver bullheads quickly.  I thought it was gonna be on like Donkey Kong.

Pic taken later in the Morning

But then I caught this jumpin bullhead and it was all over.

Then I snagged an orange bullhead and caught several more jumpers

Not the actual fish

And I ended out the morning with my first toothy bullhead of the year after loosing two Cubby's to the first two that bit my line.

I ended just a bit before 10AM

Congratulations to Brent Ehrler Major League Challenge Cup Winner

KVD figured out the fish too late and couldn't catch up.  Brent got 52.25lbs to Van Dam's 43.50lbs.  Basically Ehrler pulled a Van Dam in the first round getting 25lbs when everyone else was in single digits.  Brent extended the lead to 20lbs a  couple of different times.  Van Dam figured them out in the last period but by then it was to late.

Great Job Brent!!!

1st Silver Bullhead of the Year

Today Pete and I fished from about 1 to 3PM at Jenny's, Don's, Rock, and the GOMH.  I saw some small sunfish at Rock and a little pike and I presumably had my pink Cubby and a minnow bit off by a pike.  We saw  Kuske at the bridge.  That was it for action.

We headed back out at 6PM

When we got there was 2 guys fishing the SE side.  That got a jumpin bullhead and told us crappies were biting at Little Rock Lake.

Pete was 1st on the board with a jumpin bullhead.  He got it on a beetle spin.

3lber

Next up was me getting a high 4lb JB on my Panfish Chatterbait. Chatterbait is in it's lip.

A while after that Pete and I got doubles on 2lb jumpin bullheads.  Another guy showed up and started fishing the SE with me.  He was at the steps and I was on the Eastern shore.  He caught a jumper on his minnow and I went back to the SW side with Pete.  The other guy got a couple more jumpers and I missed a bite on my glow Cubby and minnow.  An Eagle flew over and circled and then we noticed another Eagle up in a tree just to the West of us.  Eventually I got another bite and it was quality silver bullhead.

A little while later I got another on the Cubby.  Kevin Wotceck showed up and said he was getting fish at Fish Lake;  He didn't fish.  The guy across the way got a silver which he ended up giving to us.  I didn't get any bites on the lighted bobber and Pete was so busy messing around with his to be worthless.  One other guy came by and saw we were getting fish.  I expect their will be a crowd tomorrow provided it doesn't rain.

Major League Fishing on the Outdoor Channel

Well it's on enough that I should be able to catch the show.

Orange Bullhead at the GOMH

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Today Pete and I headed to the GOMH a little before noon.  This was the first bullhead of the day.  Kind of surprised me on the Cubby.  A couple minutes later I pulled a jumpin bullhead off of the same spot.  About an hour later I got another jumper on a beetle spin.  Pete caught a jumper on the SE side while trying to retrieve a jig that was stuck on leftover cattail.

Hopefully it won't rain and we can go back this evening.

Update: Tonight we got skunked.  I had a good jumpin bullhead hang me on something on the bottom and get off.  I had to break my last small beetle spin off :(.  Pete said he had something twice but who knows.

And Ice appears to be out on Sullivan, so the area lakes are probably ice free.

1st Bullhead of the Year(3/19/12)

16"+

 I got lucky in that the rain held off after a brief shower, so I got back out for one last try and this bullhead was the result.  As you can tell from the pic, she bit when it was almost to late to see the bobber.  The pic makes it look darker than it actually was.  That's a pink Cubby Mini-Mite in her upper jaw.

Earliest 1st fish since moving North in 2003.

Platte Lake is OPEN!!! (3/19/12)

Click to Enlarge

There was a path threw the ice out to the Lake at the public access, therefore I am calling it open. Frankly I am shocked the ice went off this fast.

From GOMH 

Sullivan looked to be locked up except for the Platte River Outlet area.
Long was about 50% open
Bulldog was about 50% open
Rock was about 20% open

Major League Fishing Challenge Cup Champion is ???

I'm not going to reveal it until Wednesday Night.  I will tell you this: one of the anglers not KVD got off to a Van Dam like start.  The only question is can KVD run him down?

Tracking Ice Out 2012 & First Fishing 2012

Minnesota Climatology has changed the way they are keeping track of ice out this year, so I'm not going to bother with it.  I will keep track of my area lakes.  Today I first checked Rock which was iced up completely.

Click to Enlarge Pics

 I then checked Platte which was pretty much iced up except for the GOMH which had at least 150yards of open water into Sullivan.

 I would say there was 75yards of so into Platte

Can you spot the bobber?

It was so nice I decided to fish. Didn't get anything.  Even though it was breezy, it was plenty warm.  Saw geese, ducks, and muskrats.  Beautiful evening!

I am guessing ice out won't be until Wednesday at the earliest.  Pete is coming up on Tuesday, but I don't know if fish will be in before he leaves on Friday.  May or may not fish tomorrow as it's supposed to rain, but it will be warm, so I'll probably go.

Alton Jones Elite Series St. John's River Champion!!!

B.A.S.S.

Congratulations to Alton Jones in winning his first ever Elite Series event.  His lead from yesterday was just enough to keep Todd Faircloth back by 1lb 2ozs.  He won throwing a Yum F2 Dinger.

Elite Series St. John's Day Final

Looks like it's gonna be a nail biter for Jones, as Faircloth has a pretty good bag.

Allton beats Faircloth by 1lb 2oz!!!

Elite Series St. John's Day 3

I slept in later than I thought I would today.  B.A.S.S. has the War Room today and Basstrakk.  And  I can't forget the Blog.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Elite Series St. John's Day 2

If you didn't catch Bass Zone Wide Open last night  with J Todd and the Cajun Baby watch the replay

Sounds kind of slow today from Bass Zone.com.  Once again there is no Live Blog or Basstrakk today;  Hopefully the will do that starting tomorrow.

Bass Talk Live will be on today at 1PM

Today was to nice to sit inside to watch the weigh in.  Hung out in the Tackle Warehouse.

Elite Series St. Johns River Day 1

Well it looks like we'll be able to watch the weigh in and see some photo's on Day 1.  No Live Blog, No Basstrak, and No War Room.

I see Bass Zone doesn't go Wide Open today until 1PM, so I won't be able to catch that. Should have got up earlier!

B.A.S.S. St. John's Fantasy Team 2012

Minnesota DNR Statement on the Alabama Rig

Alabama (Yumbrella) Rig

The configuration Alabama (Yumbrella) rig as it is commonly promoted and sold is not legal in Minnesota waters. The rig pictured here is different than using a single lure with multiple treble hooks that is designed to catch just one fish.

Instead, the Alabama/Yumbrella rigs are artificial lure/baits that involve many separate lures/baits attached via wires to a fishing line. Consequently, these rigs are not a single artificial bait/lure, rather a collection of multiple artificial lures/baits each capable of catching a fish.

In the water, the rigs simulate a small school of bait fish and YouTube videos show anglers catching two and even three largemouth bass on an Alabama/Yumbrella rig at the same time.

Minnesota law restricts anglers fishing in inland waters and the Canadian border waters to one artificial lure/bait on a single line. While each artificial lure/bait may have more than one hook (a crankbait, for example), only one lure or tackle configuration is allowed on a single line.

However, a Alabama (Yumbrella) would be legal if not more than one hook or artificial lure/bait is attached. An angler could place a single bait/lure with a hook on one of the wires and attach hookless spinners or plastic baits to the other wires.

On border waters where two lines are allowed, anglers would not be allowed to fish with any other lines at the same time if two hooks, baits or lures are attached to these rigs.

Tackle Warehouse Opener 2012

I opened the man cave today as it got to 61°F.  What a mess!

Last year it opened on March 19th The year before the Tackle Warehouse Opener was March 17th 2010 and the year before that was March 22nd 2009

Cyberfish Makes the USA Ice Team

Congratulations to Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson in making the USA Ice Fishing Team this past weekend at Big Eau Pleine Reservior  in WI.  Here is a story from Yahoo News.

Here are the final standings:

I see my Driveway 2012!!!

Well today was the day the driveway was snow and ice free.  It's kind of weird how the drizzle reflected back into the camera.

 March 10th 2012 When will I see my Driveway? #4 March 9th 2012 When will I see my Driveway? #3
March 8th 2012 When will I see my Driveway? #2
March 7th 2012 When will I see my Driveway #1

Major League Fishing Episode #5

In this one McClelland, KJ, Skeet, Tak, Alton, and Faircloth battled it out.  From the preview to the Episode we knew the Alabama rig was going to play a role.  However, it was hard to know who that would be for as Skeet, Tak, KJ, and Faircloth all started by throwing it in the morning.  Conditions were a bit tougher this round as it was high skies and no wind.  It looked good for Skeet who got along some bluff walls and pulled away for a while.  But when he got to about 26lbs the fish quit and he didn't make any solid adjustments..  McCelland eventually caught up and surpassed Skeet throwing the McStick.  The Kelly Jordan went from last place to 1st and first to get over 40lbs.  McCelland  crossed 40lbs 5 minutes later.  Skeet was first out with 27.25lbs

So it's Van Dam, Ehrler, Jordan, and McCelland in the Final Round next week.

The smart money is on Van Dam, but who knows maybe the Alabama Rig will work again for Kelly J.

2012 When will I see my Driveway? #4

Today it got up to 65 degrees!!! Tomorrow it's supposed to rain while getting no colder than 40 in the morning and getting into the low 50's in the afternoon, so I would imagine I'll see the whole driveway tomorrow.  Hopefully it won't rain hard enough to be a water war.  I've got one pump out and ready just in case.

I heard some red wing blackbird's today and Smokey ate a mouse for dinner.

March 9th 2012 When will I see my Driveway? #3
March 8th 2012 When will I see my Driveway? #2
March 7th 2012 When will I see my Driveway #1

No Surprise Brent Ehrler Wins FLW at Hartwell

FLW

Brent Ehrler sacked 20lbs 5ozs beating Micah Frazier for the win.  Yesterday when Ehrler was only down by an ounce to Tom Monsoor I could tell this was going to happen.  For the 2nd year in a row Monsoor weighed just 1 fish to fall from the top of the Top 10  to down near the bottom.

Congratulations Brent!!!

2012 When will I see my Driveway? #3

Well the warm up has begun I expect the snow/ice will be gone in 4 days. It's supposed to be 58°, 53°, 66°, and 65°. Here is how it looked today.

March 8th 2012 When will I see my Driveway? #2
March 7th 2012 When will I see my Driveway #1

Bass Snatechers "Liar's Meeting" Today

We'll see what they come up with today.

Update: The Liar's part of the meeting was cancelled do to the computer and projector not being there for guys to show us where they were fishing.

The big news was that we voted to scrap 35 years of Bass Snatcher tradition and changed our tournament limit of 6 fish down to a five fish limit. I voted in favor of the change.

We also changed it so people can have unopened booze in the boat during the tournament.

B.A.S.S. War Room Maybe Back for Elites

       Today Jerry indicated they might have the War Room for the Elite Series this year.  Good!!!

2012 When will I see my Driveway #2?

From the Garage 

Lilah looks on

Today we saw a bit of regression it snowed a bit in the morning which melted off, but then it snowed again in the afternoon so here we are.

March 7th 2012 When will I see my Driveway #1

Fantasy Squad for Lake Hartwell FLW

At the last minute I subbed in Clausen for Christie, Morrow for Fukae, Wolak for Lefbre, and Blaylock for Yelas replaced. Will learn soon if those move work or bomb.

Update: As of day 1 I made some serious mistakes.   Canterbury being the worst.  Christie for Clausen was a push losing 3 places, and Yelas for Blaylock gained me 25pts but Morrow lost me 86 spots and Wolak cost me 61 places.  However, it's only Day 1 which don't mean jack squat.  I assume Morrow will come back significantly, Thrift will improve his 110th place position.  I expect Wolak to improve as well.

Update Day 2:  I had a good day moving up 231 places total. Have a shot at 4 in the Top 10 (Yelas, Ehrler, Gags, and Morgan)

"Shake" and "Bake" Takes the Cake

 
Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson aka "Shake" and his partner Jack Halverson aka "Bake" won the Ultimate Panfish League Tournament on Clearwater Lake in Wright County and this gave them Team Championship for the year..

Good Job Boys!!!

2012 When will I see my Driveway?

This will now be the third year in a row where I chronicle how long it takes for my driveway to be free of snow.  Unfortunately I didn't get right on it and so the driveway isn't totally covered with snow.  We just haven't gotten much snow this year and with the current forecast it's probably going to be clear in a few of days. Last year I didn't start counting down until March 24th.  In 2010 I started the counting on March 5th, and we were at just about the same place on the 7th.

The view from the Garage

Down the Driveway

The End of the Driveway

Here is the forecast for the next 7 days.

Bass Fishing Archives A Cool New Site

Bass Fishing Archives is a new website that seeks to document the history of the sport.  Pretty Cool! Definitely worth checking out.

Interesting facts: Flipping was first called "Controlled Structure Fishing" and an original title of the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year was the "Points Scoring Crown."

Check out "Sittin' on the Throne" Funny!

Major League Fishing Cussing, "Throw a Flag"

I know some people don't care, but I don't care to hear people swearing and there has been a fair amount of it in Major League Fishing.  The guys know they are on camera and I find it unprofessional that a Pro chooses to use expletives.  Keep in mind they are coming into my living room.  I know MLF is supposed to have a reality tv feel to it, but Professional fishermen should conduct themselves better than Rachel on Big Brother.

I think the way to help clean it up, is for the Boat Referees to give out penalties for using profanities.  There aren't enough penalties right now to make it interesting to begin with,  but this would change that.  Here is what I suggest:

1 minute per expletive used stepping up another minute each time another one is used.  I think doing this would make the show more interesting and the ref's would have something to "throw a flag" at.

Major League Fishing Episode #4 Recap

This is what I put on Facebook.  KVD pretty much kicked everyone's butt getting to 40lbs before anybody else got to 20lb.  I think the A-Rig might have done better had Kriet been more familiar with it, but who knows.
Brent Ehrler was the other guy to make 40, with the closest guys being 9.5lbs back.  Ike maybe would have got there had he started cranking earlier.

I think it was kind of sad/telling how Quinn just kind of gave up.

Pig Sticker, mybasslife.com, SEO Angler, & Fletcher Shryock

Pig Sticker is the blog of Steven Priest;  Steven is an aspiring Bass Pro out of Ohio trying to make it on the B.A.S.S. Eastern Opens.  He has been blogging for a year when he first started fishing the Opens.  I read everything from the start and really enjoyed it.  Check him out.

mybasslife.com is the blog of Scott McGehee: Scott is an aspiring Bass Pro who I think is out of Mississippi who has been blogging since Jan of 2010 and fishing the Opens since 1996.  He's been published on Bassmaster.com so you know he can write.  This will give you an idea what this guys about.

SEO Angler stands for South East Ohio.  Here is what it says in his Blogger Profile: Lifelong Ohio resident and fisherman. Wrote a weekly outdoor column for almost 30 years for the Zanesville Times Recorder. Write occasionally for Ohio Outdoor News. Avid bass fisherman, but I enjoy chasing crappie, bluegill and other fish as well.  It's basically a bunch of tournament results and other Ohio stuff.


Fletcher Shryock is a blog by none other than the Elite Series.  I see he will now be blogging at Basseast.com, so I'm guessing he won't be using it much, but who knows.

A-Mart Cracked on the Head by a Bass

Updated: BASS HEAD in "reel" life (A-mart) by NWanglerz

It's awesome that they just happened to get this with the slow motion camera.