GOMH 4/19

 

"Opening Bass To Year Round Fishing," Amen!

 

It certainly seems like 2026 is going to be the year that MN will finally go to catch and release fishing allowed for bass during the closed season.

MN Ice Outs Have Begun!(3/16/25)

 

9 Lakes 3/13&14

2025 MNDNR Ice Out Map

Fish Swami Stuff

 I am not sure if this is a new feature or if I just noticed it, but when I go into my fishing log entries there is a side menu that sorts by date, day of the year, number of fish caught, and moon phase. I can't make heads or tails of the moon phase. Having an easy to track down listing of every time I have fished on X date is something that very cool to have that I will look at frequently.  Seeing the number of fish caught per trip will make for an interesting blog post or two from the fish catching stats I can glean from it.  

 

My Tackle Warehouse Opener (3/14/25)

Because we went down to Elk River yesterday to have dinner with Belle, Todd, and Kristen, I didn't get the Tackle Warehouse officially opened yesterday. It was even nicer today, with temperatures in the low 70s. I found my Silver Minnows and took out some spinnerbaits.  I think I will invest in more plastic totes next time I am in Dollar General. I need to organize in there, it is a bit of a mess right now..

Progress at the GOMH, Plus Bulldog/Rock 3/14

 It was in the low 70's today. I didn't make it to the GOMH yesterday. Progess is now evident.

Swans, Geese, and Ducks

Red-Wings are back

Got me a bullhead

Bulldog Access

Rock looking NE

Rock Looking S

GOMH N

Got Skunked & Birds (3/12/25)

 

 

6:50-7:50pm GOMH NE SW

42-47℉, MC, 0-3mph SW

Water Low

When I arrived, there were geese and two swans on the S side and six geese on the N side. I heard a red-wing blackbird on the N side, but couldn't spot it in the marsh grass. Didn't gain very much open water today. I didn't get any bites. I did 10 laps across the bridge. I didn't shine anything.

Skunked 

1st Bullhead and Fish of 2025 (3/11/25)

 

Persistence paid off tonight, as I caught a bullhead just before I was going to quit for the night after not getting anything for 40 minutes. I thought for sure I was going to get skunked again. You just never know at the Grumpy Old Man Hole. I thought I hooked a stick and I had to bump it with the rod to get it to swim away.

GOMH March 10th

 

Skunked (Warm day. There was an otter on the N side when I arrived, and I think a bigger otter moving all over the place on the S side. I arrived a little before sunset and started on the N side; no bites. I also fished the SW side. More swans were flying around tonight. Not much for other birds yet. I then basically did my walking until the wind with the front hit. Maybe 3' to 4' more open on the S side tonight.)

Week projecting warmer.

I Can See My Driveway! (3/10/25)

 

I did have to drive over some slush to get out and back into the driveway tonight, I'm calling today the day anyway.

First Casts of 2025 at the GOMH (3/9/25)

I got my fishing license yesterday and headed over to the GOMH tonight. There is almost no current right now and the water is low and there is a lot of crap floating around. I didn't get any bites. I was also a bit surprised that the ice line didn't shift much with it being sunny and temperatures getting to the mid-50s. 

Cool Beans, Location Reports Now Available at Fish Swami

 A new feature has been added at Fish Swami. Now everyone of my "Waters," ie places I fish has been given individual reports that go two levels deep. The first Level is year and number of fish caught there. 

So for the Grumpy Old Man Hole I get this:

From they I can click on the individual Year, which brings me to an Analytics page for that location for that year modeled after the tried and true Fish Swami Annual Fishing Log Report.

Here is 2021, my least successful year at the :

It is so cool to be able to see how the fishing changed from year to year in a quick and easy way to reference. 

MN Gal Chasing the Bassmaster Opens This Year

 Don't know much about her other than what I read in this background piece, On The Hook With Kara Pasma at Bassmaster.com.  She is fishing Division 2 along with Moynagh, Douglas, and Tuma.  I didn't listen to large stretches of the weigh-in at Sam Rayburn, so I missed her in that one. Her first two tournaments haven't gone well. They were also seriously sub par for Snatcher Tuma.  And Moynagh and Douglas also bombed at Kentucky Lake. They will all need to finish the final two tournaments really strong to make the EQ 50 Cut.

Good Luck the rest of the way!

GOMH March 7th

 

GOMH March 5th

 

The snow storm missed us to the South and East and the GOMH even opened up a bit with the rain. I will do some bullhead hunting on Sunday or Monday.

2025 Platte Lake Ice Out Prediction(3/5/25)

 March is the month I make my official Ice Out Prediction for Platte Lake.

I predict Ice Out will be April 7th this year!
Snow will be gone by Sunday and the ground temps will warm next week. The GOMH has started to open.