Updated: Fantasy Fishing Results at the Big O

 Day 1 went great except for Fothergill. I almost went with Canterbury or Blaylock in Bucket E. I would have had a dominating Day 1 score if I went with either of those two. I need the kid to get it together and make the cut. Hopefully, he will rally Day 2 Josh Douglas style and put 20 something on the scale tomorrow. He is a bit less than three and a half pounds behind the cut line. I figure 15lbs tomorrow should get him there.

Day 2: The choice of Fothergill destroyed my team. I still have a chance of finishing in the Top 4 in the BBC group if all of my remaining anglers can move up into the top 20 or I hit on the winning weight.

Day 3: Bah! Everybody went backward.

Day 4: Will moved up a couple of spots and missed getting the big bag of the day.

Fanasty Bass

Drain the Lake

I went 5/2

GOMH & Bulldog Today Plus Forecast(3/2/25)

 

I did a bit of walking at the GOMH tonight

Bit of open water SW Corner

One wheeler on Bulldog

Above average this week, well above average next week.

DNR Ice Out 2025

BP's 2025 Fishing Goals

 

New Goals in Bold Italic Orange

Goals Accomplished in Bold or  ✅

Fishing Buddies List

1. Keep a list of everyone I fish with during 2025.

The List:

GOMH Crew:

Ashley Just: |

Casino Bro's: ||||

C.O. Drew: |||

Fletch & Co:||||

Fletcher W.: ||

John W:|||

Lantern Man:14 Times

Little Falls Guy: ||

LM's Son (Brett): |

Logan (Pierz): ||||

Matt W.: |||

Mille Lacs Old Guys: ||||

Morrill Pair: 28 Times

Panfish Guy: 11 Times

Pete: |

Peter W: 14 times

Peter's Boss (Tom):||

Rick Skiba: 12 Times

Skinny Chic's Crew: ||||

WAM Girls: 6 Times

Delroy: |

Trophy Crew:

Todd: 14 Times

Steve: 7 Times

Logan:||

Mal: |

Belle: |

Belle's Friend: |

Bass Snatchers: 

Benson: ||

Chuck S: |

Lois: |

Tuma: ||

Darren: ||

Eric: |

Dennis:||

Arnie: |

Herman:||

Bass Snatcher Goals: 

1.  Win my 2nd club tournament. 
2. Get "Wood" in at least one tournament. (1st-3rd Place Finish or Lunker or Co-Angler Challenge) 

3. Get "Lunker" in a tournament.   (Preferably one over 5-8 to win the revolving big bass pot.)
4. Finish in the Top 10 at the end of the year. 
5. Catch a limit at every tournament of the year.  (I've done this twice, but in 2012 I only fished 4 out of the 6 tournaments due to a bad back.)
6. Pre-fish with at least 3 boaters. 
7. List the Rods I'm bringing for each tournament before the tournament.
8.  Win the Co-Angler Challenge at least twice.
9. Make the Challenge Cup Team

10. Finish higher than Tuma in a Tournament (He is the only long-term Snatcher I have not beaten on tournament day. He beat me on the tie-breaker on Whitefish Chain his rookie year in the club. That is the closest I have gotten)
11. Give each boater I fish a lure from my collection.

12. Catch a 20+ Bag and make the Club's list of Top 25 Biggest Bags 

13. Set Personal Bests on each lake for Bag Size, Big Bass, and Place of Finish

14. Grade my performance in each tournament and do this for all my past Bass Snatcher tournament recaps.

Technique, Equipment, & Tackle Goals:
1. Win something in Fantasy Fishing or Facebook giveaways/contests. ✅
2. Officially Open the Tackle Warehouse.✅
3. Give away some of my tackle✅
4. Experiment with a Rocket Bobber and Wacky Rig
5. Catch bass cranking deep in Sullivan Lake

6. Sell some of my tackle

7. Find my Johnson's Silver Minnow Spoon's and catch 5 fish with them..✅

8. Catch 5 bass on a Jitterbug.

9. Catch 5 Fish on Powerbait Nessie

10.  Keep a Lures Lost List

11. Catch fish on at least 200 different lures..✅

12. Be More Intentional about tackle prep for fun fishing with the 200 lure  goal in mind.✅
13. Have rods along every trip rigged with the goal of catching fish on 200 lures in mind.✅

Lures Lost In 2024:

Evo Chatterbait: |

T.H.E. Jig: ||

BT Glow Demon: |

Frenzy Minnow: ||

Dead Stick Rogue: |

Rippin Rap: ||

Strike King Buzz: |

Texas Rig (Lead): ||||

Texas Rig (T): ||

Deps Buzzjet Jr.: |

Husky Jerk: |

Ish's Phat Frog: |

Hack Attack Jig: |||

Big Blade Chatterbait: ||

Turbo FattyZ: ||

Indians Blades: ||||

ToadZ: |||| |||| |||| |||| |||

VMC Utility Jig: |||| ||

Googan Filthy Frog: ||

LiveTarget Frog: |

LiveTarget Frog (Big): |

Free Rig: |

SK Pad Perch: |
SK Sexy Frog: |

Z-Man Leap Frog (sm): ||

All-Terrain Skipping Jig: |

Northland Cabbage Crusher: |||

Yo-Zuri Pencil 3DB Pencil: |

Ultimate Jerk Shad: |

OutKast Chicken Jig: |

Baitcaster Pic: |

Cordell Spot: |

XCaliber X50: |

Blogging:

1. Blog about it when I achieve a goal, most of the time
2. Record all fishing trips at Fish Swami
3. Fish at least 200 days and blog about them

4. Get unblogged trips from 2021,2022,2023,2024 at Fish Swami blogged at the Log Blog.

6. Be more intentional about taking Sunrise/Sunset pictures

7. Get Fish Swami "GOMH/Bullhead Updated/Fishing Buddies Updated" 
8. Blog about the Other Patterns Used at Fish Swami on every trip as a way of keeping the 200 Lure Goal top of mind.✅

9. Make more of my past Fish Swami entries public.✅

Fish Catching Goals:
1. Catch* 2,000 Fish (I caught 2,398 fish in 2024)✅
2. Have a 100-fish day.

3. Catch Devin's Birthday Bullhead On May 20th

4. Catch A Fish Every Month from April to December.

March✅

April✅

May✅

June✅

July✅

August✅

Septembert✅

October✅

November✅

December✅

Crappie:

1. Catch a new personal best.(14.75/1.80lb on 5/9/22, 14.75 on 4/20/24)
2. Catch* over 100 Crappies this year. (346Crappies, 245Silver Bullhead in 2024)✅

Dogfish:
1. Catch an MN State Record fish. (11-4  or over 31")
2. Catch a new personal best.

Pike:
1. Catch* over 700 this year. (Caught 507 in 2024)
2. Catch a 38" or over/personal best.

Bass: 
1. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Largemouth (6.5lbs/21" PB)
2. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Smallmouth (20.5" PB)
3. Catch* over 1,000 bass this year. (Caught 895 in 2024)
4. Catch* at least 10 smallies.  (Caught 9 in 2024)
5. Catch a 25lb 6 Fish Bag
6. Have a 50 bass day (48 bass on 5/23/24)

7. Catch over 500 bass on Frogs/Toadst✅
8. Catch 5 bass over  5lbs/20-inches (3 in 2024)

9. Catch 20 bass over 4lbs/18.75-inches (10 in 2024)
10. Get Steve and Todd at least one 4lber

Walleye:
1. Catch at least 50. (Caught 41 in 2024) 
2. Catch 30"/10lber or new personal best. (28.5 is PB)✅

* Catch is anything I deem it to be, including follows by pike or smallmouth (while pre-fishing), a pike missing my lure, fish viewed on the Aqua View, and fish that get off before I have them in hand that I can positively identify.  And fish caught by people I am guiding or boating during pre-fishing.

When Will I See My Driveway in 2025? (2/27/25)

 Tomorrow may be the day I can navigate the driveway without going over any ice.

Top of the driveway is clear of ice.

I also checked Bulldog, Rock, and the Grumpy Old Man Hole tonight. The Rock Lake access looks like it is about done for trucks and cars, and I wouldn't trust Bulldog with anything but a wheeler. There was no open water at the GOMH yet, but should be by this time next week. The long range forecast has me bullish on bullheads before April 1st, no fooling.

Fantasy Fishing @ The Big O

 Anglers I also considered: Canterbury, Blaylock, Palaniuk, Cheesehead Prodigy, Howell, Arey, Benton, Card, Cox, Meyer.

Replaced Martin with Latuso because of the DQ.

If I get more wrong than right this week in the Pick'em Game, I'm flipping a coin to make decisions next time.

GOMH Today and Last Year (2/26/25)

 

2/26/25

2/26/24

When Will I See My Driveway in 2025? (2/25/25)

 Soon! It is going to warm for the next few days.

First Spring Has Arrived (2/24/25)

 

The past two days exceeded expectations for warm weather, with temps jumping into the high 40's. The mild weather and melting look to continue. If this forecast is accurate we will be snow-free around here by next week. No snow means the ground heats up when there is sun and the ice melts from below. I am ready for Spring.

Winner, Winner at the St. John's River

 The final results are in, and thanks to the 40 bonus points for John Cox's big bass of the tournament, I took 2nd Place in the Bass Boat Central pay-to-play group, thus slightly nudging into the black with 9 more tournaments remaining. It's been a few years since I have won anything in Fantasy Fishing. I also came out on top in the HellaBass Visor Gang Group. I may or may not get a prize for that.

BBC Group

Visor Gang

Unfortunately, my Drain the Lake team fell flat on its face on Days 2 & 3, leading to a mediocre score. In Pick'Em, I also shot myself in the foot, going 3-4.

Bassmaster Fantasy @St. John's Reports Main Game Only

 They didn't give out a report after the first day. Card fell out of the Top 10 and Walters jumped up on Day 2. Unfortunately, Welcher caught a limit of dinks and fell even farther back, not even close to making the cut.

Day 3: Walters moves up again, and Card fails to catch a limit, tumbling down the standings to finish in 27th. If Walters moves up again on the final day and Cox holds onto big fish for the tournament, I believe I will take first place in the Bass Boat Central Group and I'm pretty sure I have the Visor Gang Group sewn up no matter what happens.

A Far Cry From Last Year (2/21/25)

 It was in the low 20's today. It will be in the 30s tomorrow. Last year, I had caught a gator bullhead already.

Feb 21st, 2025 GOMH

Feb 20th, 2024

Bassmaster Fansty Fishing @St. John's River

 Last year I pretty much sucked at picking my Fantasy Line Ups for regular FBF and Drain the Lake. I always thought I had a good lineup going in, and for whatever reason, few, if any, of my picks did well tournament after tournament.  After Day 1 in 2025, my fortunes have changed considerably. I am in the top 96% in regular FBF and in the top 98% in Drain the Lake. 

It is nice when the hammers are hitting. All of my guys have proven themselves at St. John's in the past, so I am optimistic about my chances of moving up even further on Day 2. Hackney and Welcher are the only two beneath the 50 cut after Day 1, and they both caught fish just no size.  I am a little bummed I didn't go with the Cheesehead Prodigy in Bucket A. Przekurat is only leading the thing.

Fish Swami Tidbit

 So yesterday, I learned that all of my individual "patterns"/fishing lures on Fish Swami are linked to every fishing trip I caught a fish on the lure. I have used Fish Swami since 2011. 

Because of that, I learned that 2015 was the first year I used an H2O Ultimate Jerk Shad. So this will be my 11th year using that fish catcher. I also noticed a significant drop in the number of trips when I got at least one fish on the lure since 2021, with 2024 being the least productive. I blame the 22/23 Winter Kill.

Bass Pundit's February Platte Ice Off Spitball (2/17/25)

 

Currently, we are in the midst of what I hope will be the last "Polar Vortex" of the winter. We have had multiple Arctic Blasts this winter.  I am assuming the ice on area lakes is 20+ inches deep right now and we have several inches of snow. It looks like we are going to end February and start March on a warming trend. This winter as yo-yo'ed up and down quite a bit, so a return to the deep freeze is certainly not out of the question in March. Last year, the ice was off of Platte on March 9th, but we got an Arctic Blast with snow late in the month and everything re-froze for a few days. Who knows what MN weather will do? 

That said, I am predicting the ice will go off Platte Lake on April 21st this year.

Warmer Weather On The Way... (2/13/25)

 ... after one more cold week. I'll be giving my annual Platte Lake Ice Out February Spitball in a few days.

When will the first three consecutive 40℉ days be? 

Feb. 13th at the GOMH(2/13/25)

 

Cold, but sunny day. I had PT in Onamia. I went and visited with Bean and Bella for a couple of minutes. Checked out the Grumpy Old Man Hole and Platte Lake Access on the way home. There were fewer houses out on Platte than a week ago.  It is going to get close to 20℉ the next couple of days before another Polar Vortex moves in for a few days, but the final 7 days of February are all supposed to be above-average.

Feb 7th at The GOMH

 

We finally got some snow on the ground. Then we got even more snow and cold

Pick 'Em Game Added at Bassmasterfantasy.com

 

Bassmaster has added a third fantasy bass fishing game. The new Pick "Em game pairs two anglers, and the goal is to pick the angler who finishes higher/has the most weight. I assume there will be different matchups for each tournament. When I was first doing my picks, I didn't even notice the reason behind the pairings. I think they may keep the AOY vs. ROY match-up for the entire season. 

My Thoughts On The Tentative 2025 Bass Snatcher Schedule

 Dates and Lakes for 2025 were picked at least until the next meeting.

May 31st Birch at Hackensack: This will be the 4th time we have fished this lake since I joined the club. Two of the of the three times were in the Fall. In 2016,  it was the first tournament of the year as well. I haven't had any notable finishes here, but I enjoy fishing clear water and am not intimidated by it.  

June 21st  Lum Park Mississippi: I really want to catch a limit in a river tournament. This provides me that opportunity. I've fished one other tournament here.

July 19^th Edward: This will be the 3rd time in the last 8 years the club has fished this lake. First tournament went well. The 2nd tournament I struggled in the windy conditions, while my boater kicked my butt. I have wanted revenge on this lake. Lots of reeds.

August 23rd Rush Lake by Perham: This would be my third time fishing this lake. The first time, I only got one bass. The second time was a blown opportunity to finish well. It has a lot of reeds and slop.

Sept 13^th Fish Trap Lake: It's an ok lake. I don't love it. I don't hate it.

Sunday, September 28^th North Long:  The lake seems to have a great population of bass in it. I've fished it quite a few times. I think it has topwater potential if the conditions get right. 

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 2025 Snatcher Tournament Lakes Wish List

The Baxter Bass Snatchers will be having our first meeting of 2025 this Saturday.  These are the lakes I would like to see and lakes I'm not enthused about.

Local Lakes I'd prefer to fish (No particular order):

North Long

Gull

Edward

Bay

Whitefish

South Long

Serpent
Rice Lake/Mississippi River

Zebulon Pike/Mississippi River

Away Lakes I'd prefer to fish (NPO):

Pokegama

Leech

Rush (Ottertail)

Fish Hook (Park Rapids)

Woman

Washburn

Thunder

Meh Lakes:

Rabbit

Cedar (Aitken)

Up in the air about it:
Platte/Sullivan: Last year, catching 'em was the most difficult it had been for me in years.

Cabin Fever Has Set In

 

Platte Lake Access

We are now a few days past the average temp coldest days of the year. I haven't been fishing in a couple of months. The first Bassmaster Open concluded today. The first Snatcher Meeting will be next Saturday. I am ready for Spring. Today, I got out for a drive. They are driving out on Bulldog, nobody parking along 8. Sunset at the GOMH. It was 17℉ and windy during my drive. This upcoming week is going to bring slightly above average temps, and the week after is supposed to be slightly below average, not the way below average temps like we recently experienced.