Mille Lacs shore skunk.

The weather looked threatening but I decided to head out anyway to give the Cemetery Jetty another try. The weather never got out of hand and the wind barely blew at all. The sun even made an appearance so I could see my lures a long ways away. I tried Frenzy Poppers, swim jigs, Subwalks, and X-Raps and I could not even get a sniff. I thought more fish would move in but apparently not. I saw another rainbow over Mille Lacs and enjoyed watching the birds.

As it got dark I made a last second stab at some action off the Eddy's Jetty, but two guys were fishing the center Jetty. I worked the corners and once again didn't even have a sniff.

Mille Lacs Shore Smallmouth

Before getting to the lake I hit up Reeds for some 14lb Fireline for the Fig Rig and ended up getting that plus 3 Strike King spinnerbaits 1/2oz 2x all white, 1x all Chart., some beads for walleye fishing, and a map of Farm Island Lake. From there I was off to Eddy's Jetty.

I worked my way around the South Jetty without any action until I was casting just off the rocks at the center Jetty. I had something come up at the shore minnow Frenzy Popper. I cast back and ended up tying into a 13." I made a few more casts off the rocks on the center Jetty and another fish showed itself but didn't hit the popper. I threw back in there with a 3/16oz Wht/Chart Strike King spinnerbait and on about the 4th cast I tied into a 16.5" smallie. I then headed to the middle Jetty where I caught a 16" smallie on the Frenzy Pop fished very close in to the Jetty rocks. I am amazed this fish struck where it did. I heard somebody on a launch say "look at that rock bass he just caught." I got a chuckle out of that. I then headed to the North Jetty where I have never caught a smallmouth from. I was working the Frenzy Pop out into the lake just beyond the corner when I had another 16.5" smallmouth attack. I was quite pleased to get 4 smallouth off the Eddy's Jetty in one day. This is the best I've ever done numbers wise for smallies off the Eddy's Jetty. I think I fished from about 4:30 to 6:30pm.

I then headed over to "Cemetary Jetty" and started throwing a wht/chart Outcast Swim Jig with wht/chart grub in the cove. Last year on Opener there were a bunch of largemouth in the cove, but no such luck this year. I didn't get a bite in the cove. I headed out to the tip of the point and on my first or second cast I had my grub tail bitten in half. A few casts later straight off the point with the swim jig and I tied into yet another 16.5" smallie. I worked the point over with the swim jig and didn't get any more takers. I then worked the point over with the Frenzy Pop and didn't get so much as a sniff. I put on the wht/chart nosed Rapala Subwalk and got a 16" or so smallie up to shore where it got off. I kept working the Subwalk for a while but could not get anything more to go. I then put on a white X-Rap and I think I missed a hit. A front moved through and kicked up the wind and it sprinkled a little. When the wind was going I switched to the swim jig and had a grub stolen straight off the point. I was hoping I could get this fish to go on topwater or a spinnerbait or on the swim jig again, but it didn't cooperate. Once the front blew past there was an awesome rainbow over the lake. As the sun set it calmed down again and I got my last 17.5 smallie on the wht/chart nosed Subwalk. I headed out after sunset but before it got very dark because I worked the area hard and was just not getting any fish to go.

I was quite pleased to get a total of 7 smallies from shore. 3 Frenzy Pop, 2 Subwalk, 1 swim jig, 1 spinnerbait.

Hit and Run

Today was cloudy for most of the day and it started to sprinkle in the afternoon into when I went out fishing at 6PM. I first hit the access at Bulldog, the brisk SE wind was pretty much blowing right in on it. I managed to get 1 pike on a wht/chart Subwalk. Next I headed to the Rock public access but there were people there fishing off the dock so next I headed for Jenny Olson's ramp. I caught a pike and 2 bass at Jenny's then I headed just down the road to our property on Platte Lake. We don't have the dock out yet and the wind was blowing in pretty good, but I did manage to land one small pike. From there I headed to the GOMH. The only fish I got there was a 12" Larry on a swim jig off the pallets on the SW side. I couldn't get a thing to go on the NE side and it started thundering and raining, so I took off around 8:30pm.

It would have been a good day/night for me to head to the Eddy's Jetti because of that SE wind and overcast. I thought about it, but I took the Crystal Fireline off the Fig Rig and my heart was not in it, so I didn't go.

Easy Come, Easy Go!

Tonight the white Rapala Subwalk that I caught the two bass on one cast with was bit off by a Pike at the GOMH. I suppose there is a shot it is laying on the bottom where the fish hit. I will not have the chance to get the boat out to look for it for several more days which means more weed growth and less chance I will be able to spot it.

The night could have been worse as I had a shore minnow color Frenzy Popper cut at the spool on a backlash. Fortunately the cast was at a 30degree angle from shore and there was a lot of Crystal Fireline out for me to catch. I moved down the shore towards where the lure was and cast another Frenzy Popper out and reeled it in. It took a few tries but I did eventually catch the Fireline and was able to bring the lure in. That 10lb Crystal Fireline is going to be taken off the reel and be replaced with smoke Fireline in 14lb test and hopefully that will put an end to this cutting at the spool.

Fishing was less than spectacular. On the South side I caught one small slime rocket on a white OutKast Swim Jig and missed a pike on the "lost jig". On the North side I got 1 Pike on the "lost jig," 1 small bass on the white swim jig, 1 small bass on the "lost jig," 2 bass on a bullfrog Frenzy Popper, and 1 small bass on a clown colored Subwalk (very first cast). I missed 2-3 hits on the popper and had a grub tail bit off on the "lost jig". I fished just short of 2 hours for those 5 bass and 2 pike.

Mosquito's are starting to come out and there were a lot of gnats too. Quite a bit of panfish movement on the waters surface. GOM Lee Ander got 5 bass on the South side on worms, other than that the bass seem to have vacated the south side.

Platte/Sullivan Tues 5-27-08 Continued...

I am not going to have the tow vehicle available for the next several days so I figured I better get out while I can. I headed to Platte/Sullivan around 5pm and was on the water by 5:30pm. I started at the GOMH on the N/Platte side (Platte Platte River Outlet). Not long in and I nailed a fat 16.5" on a blue Monsoor Swim Jig with 3" purple Kalin Grub tail but that was all the GOMH PPRO held even though it looked awesome. Those Kalin grubs have great action but they are not durable at all. I elected not to run the flat heading East but to turn up around the bend into Channel Inn Bay. Once again this water looked marvelous with weeds just starting to emerge from the bottom and a light amount of "hay" from last years weeds. I worked my way all the way through the Channel in Bay from South to North, hitting the bank as well as trying 250yards from the bank in the middle. At first I was throwing a blue Monsoor Jig and I caught a few fish scattered about including a chunky 16.90," but the reel started to squeel on the cast so I put it down not wanting to wreck the bearings. I then started throwing the "lost jig" and got a pike and a bass. Conditions were calm to a very slight breeze so I decided to go with the purple Frenzy Popper. I caught mostly scattered smaller fish (12" to 14") out towards the middle. I had the Frenzy get bit off by a slime rocket, but I was able to get the bait back because it didn't hook up. In the Northern 1/3 of the bay I worked my way towards shore and had a follow from what I am pretty sure was a dogfish. It waked behind the popper but wouldn't take it. As I worked my way a little farther North, I found myself in a pod of bass and pike. I caught several of each on the Frenzy Popper with biggest being a thin 18.75". The action ended when I got to the NW cut but I did get 2 nice one's and jumped a fish off at the cut. I did work the North shore of the Channel in bay to the Point. I got a pike in the middle and a bass off of the point a little way out.

It was about 8:10pm and I decided to make a quick run to see if Loon Sex Bay was on fire. Conditions were perfect to smash them in LSB if the fish were in there and active. Unfortunatly nothing was going on in LSB except a few little northerns. I might have had a bass hit on a Horny Toad by the NE cut, but that fish got off. I fished to the cut then headed to the PRO which I have already reported on.

For the Night I think I caught 22-24 bass and 6-8 pike which is a little disappointing because the water looked so good and the water temps (60degrees) seemed right.

New Stuff & Platte/Sullivan

I got a new baitcasting rod today from Reeds; Shimano Crucial 6'10" Med Hvy X-Fast. I want to use it primarily for swim jigs, but it will probably also serve duty as a pitchen and texas rig worm rod. I might even try working Flukes on it.

Also the X-Rap Subwalks I won on Ebay came in the mail today. I have them in four different colors: Clown, 37, 53, and 55. I gave the white one a few quick casts at the landing to see how it ran. I think learning to walk the dog with it is going to take practice as it seemed to get out of rhythm quite easily. I tried it for a short time out on a weed flat, but had no confidence in the bait or the area so I quickly put it down.

At about 8:45pm I headed to the PRO to give the river mouth a shot. As I approached I didn't get a hit on the "lost jig" or Berkley Frenzy Popper. I decided what the heck and put on the white Subwalk. I started banging fish immediately. The first fish was a small pike. A couple of casts later I was into a small school of bass, I think I caught 4 and lost 2. They were all 14" to 15.5" bass. After that bite subsided I headed into the river a little ways and missed a bite. On the next cast I hooked into a bass and as I was reeling it in it looked like a pike must of taken a shot at the bass and was holding on. What I was actually witnessing was a second bass hitting the Subwalk and getting hooked. I landed them both. This is the first time I have ever caught two fish on the same lure on one cast Here is a pic of the two bass. They were the last one's I caught.

Rest of report to come later...

Another Minnesocold BassNblog

Minnesota Bass Fishing Blog has been around since April 2006, but I just found it thanks to FishingMinnesota.com. Unbelieveably FM.com is letting people link to their blogs. It says this blog is the home of DHS fishing which I assume to mean Dudeck, Holmer, Schwinghammer. I am not sure if all three contribute to the blog or just Jason Holmer. It looks at first glance like the blog is heavy on tournament fishing. Go there yourself and check it out.

Pike night at Rock

I should of got up early and headed out before the cold front blew threw. I almost did get up, but I hit snooze a few to many times.

I think I headed out to Rock around 3PM and temps had dropped into the low 60's and were heading down with a 15mph North wind. The plan was to hit the RPRO with some Zoom Horny Toads. The day started out with both legs getting bit off a Toad and no hook up. Probably a pike. About 5 minutes later I landed this 24" Pike.

While I was fooling around trying to get the camera, the pike somehow spit my black Toad body into the lake. I worked my way East to West along the South windblown shore losing 1 Toad leg in the process. I got my first bass, 16.5", at the end of the pass by the beaver dam at the river mouth. That was a long stretch of fishless water, not a good sign. I started working my way back East along the North Shore and the next bass I scored, 16.25", came on the "lost jig." I then caught a couple of more bass on a bullfrog colored Berkley Frenzy Popper. When I got to the Eastern edge of the pass I caught a small pike. I decided to make a pass back to the West along the North shore again. On this pass I caught a few bass and pike on the popper and "lost jig". I would anchor when I would get a bass, but I don't think I ever got two fish from the same area. I also missed several hits on this pass. I did one last half past from the middle South shore West. I caught a 16.25" which I think was the same fish I caught on the "lost jig" earlier. I also caught a Pike on this pass. I left the RPRO with 10 Larry's to my credit and 5 Pike.

I then headed to the far north end of Rock where a little river runs into the lake. It would be an awesome spot except for the fact that it is a bit on the shallow side. I made a cast up to the left of where the water runs in with the popper and a bass just annihilated it. I thought I had a true pig, but it was only a fat 17.25." I continued to fish the flat in this little North bay and I caught 3 pike. One was 24" and one was 26."

From there I went to a windblown flat were pads are emerging but I didn't get a hit. With that it was about 8:15 and I called it quits. 11 bass and 8 pike.

I did hit the GOMH on the way home but didn't land a single bass.

Bob has a MN Bass Opener blog... He ran into Jim Moynagh not on Tonka but on some lake he doesn't name up North.

Come on Man!

iDOfishing.com formerly In-depthAngling.com has some of the best internet forums available for Mille Lacs lake. In fact they have 3 separate forums; One for Eyes and Perch, One for Bass, and One for Pike and Muskie.

Now being this is bass opener I started a thread in the Bass forum asking how people did. This is the one responce so far:

We did really good on Saturday, 3 over 5 lb, 6 over 4 lb, 12 over 3 lb, a couple of 2 lbs.
Not bad for a day.

I suppose this qualifies as a "report" but compare it to the average report on the walleye forum:

Got out after the storms last night. Other than a very short shower, the weather was very pleasant. The fog was pretty cool, you could hear boats running around but not see them. Visibility was good enough that we weren't worried. We figured the weather would have the fish hanging tight and a little deeper. Our target was a sand/gravel flat and we found some willing biters in the 18' to 19' range. Action slowed once the lake went flat but we manged 5 for the frying pan by that time. All in all a very nice evening on Lake Mille Lacs

The eye guys always seem to provide tidbits of real info such as depth, bottom content, general area of the lake, bait or lure used, and so forth. The report I got on the bass amounted to nothing more than a bit of bragging. Those kids of internet "reports" bug me. Gee you caught some really nice fish and had a better day on Mille Lacs than I think I have ever had, SO WHAT! For all I know this person thinks a 3lber is 5lbs or maybe the weights were taken on a scale, whatever! At a minimum I think a bass report should contain at least a general mention of the presentations that were successful. I don't think saying we got them on "tubes" or "jerk baits" or "X-Raps" is giving away much information, but at least it is some useful information none the less.

Jon Jordan who is a Mille Lacs regular reported in the walleye forum that he tried for smallies for a couple of hours with nothing to show for it. If you caught nothing, then you have nothing to tell.

Rant Over

Heading Home Early...

I just don't get it. It is not yet 1pm on Memorial Day and there is a steady flow of traffic on 8 headed South. We live on 8 which runs N/S and can be used as an alternate route to the busy 169 which is the main N/S freeway in these parts. When I used to come up here on weekends or go to the old cabin on Sylvia/Twin, I often would not head home until the very last minute, which in many cases meant leaving at midnight or later. Of coarse the fact that I am single and without kids may have something to do with it, but I think a lot of those cars going South don't have kids in them. Packing it in early, I really do not get it.

Ebay Zoom Horny Toad Buy

Yesterday I did a Ebay search that I don't think I had done before, Zoom Horny Toads. There is a seller selling them in lots of 6 pkgs/30 Toads for a good price. I ended up buying 18 packs for almost half the 2008 Bass Pro Shops Catalog Price. Even so, at 47cents a Toad they are an expensive plastic that isn't very durable just like the Senko. I have far to many a Toad that gets 1 or both legs bit off before it catches a single fish. Luckily in calm conditions a frog without the buzzing legs still catches fish pretty good. Try it, a buzzless Toad still has nice action. I also just discovered that a buzzless Toad works fished without the plastic gripper on the hooks I use; On the retrieve the Toad comes in backwards and kind of spits water erratically.

Evening at the GOMH

For those who do not know, GOMH stands for "Grumpy Old Man Hole" so named after a cast of older gentlemen that fish and hang out there providing hours of humorous entertainment. The spot is a bridge at the channel between Platte and Sullivan Lakes in Morrison County MN (Central MN).

The rain that was West and North of here didn't materialize and I headed out the door at around 7:30pm. My first stop was going to be at the Bulldog Public Access but there was a car there with two people fishing. I didn't stop and went straight to the GOMH. When I arrived at the GOMH people were fishing the SE, SW, and NE sides. The guy on the SE side had just caught a walter on a leech fished on the bottom. The group on the SW side had a couple of orange bullheads and they said they also caught some jumpin bullheads. The guy on the NE side was fishing for orange bullheads and getting an occasional jumper as it got dark he started catching whiskered bullheads.

I was all set to take the NW side when two girls who were hanging out at the bridge went down there. It looked like there was a spot to fish 15 feet E of the SE side, so I headed down there and I'm glad I did. In the next hour and a half I landed 15 jumpin bullheads. 13 on a shore minnow colored Berkley Frenzy Popper and 2 on the "lost jig." All that topwater was a blast even though I always had to pick a bunch of weeds off the hook with every fish landed. The biggest I got was 16" with most being 12" or less.

I think I was standing almost right on top of a dogfish bed because there was a small dogfish giving me the eye and swimming around. I was going to try and catch it but a kid came down to talk and scared it off. After that I kind of decided it was to small to bother with. I don't know if it was even 20 inches.

As it got dark the topwater bite seemed to shut down and it was getting hard to see to work the lure. I took the "lost jig" and fished the SE side and managed to scrape up 1 more jumpin bullhead. So in a hour and a half I managed to outfish what I did on Rock yesterday in 3 hours, but the average size was quite a bit smaller, but the big fish were comparable.

Morning at the GOMH

The plan was to get up at Sunrise (about 5:30am) and head to the GOMH for a little jumpin bullhead action. My get up time was more like 6:30am. After getting dressed and downing a Coke and a Suzy Q, I was off. I was off unprepared. I didn't bring a pliers, measuring board, or extra twister tails for the "lost jig." No pliers was a pain because I was throwing treble hooked topwater. I was fortunate that none of the fish I caught needed pliers to get the hook out.

I started fishing on the NE side with the wind at my back throwing a shore minnow color Berkley Frenzy Popper. I quickly put 4 jumpin bullheads and a toothy bullhead on the bank. After that the action died on the NE side so I switched to the SW side. The wind was now blowing in my face but not to bad. I managed to pick up a few right off the bat on the popper but I also missed a couple of hits. I then switched to the "lost jig" and got a couple on that, but then my tail got bit off and that was the end of that. I then switched to a white spook and caught one on that. Next I tried a couple of different X-raps but didn't get so much as a tap. I finished off fishing the SW side with the popper and got a couple of more to go. Before I left I got 1 more jumper on the NE side with the popper and had a toothy bullhead take a shot at the Spook.

For about an hour fishing I got 13 jumpin bullheads and 1 toothy. The biggest jumper maybe went 15" and the toothy was around 20" maybe under.

Also the two guys in Kayaks were fishing the greater GOMH area and getting action on bass and pike. Since they were not shore fishing they weren't in bullhead territory.

Rock Off

I headed off to Rock a little after 4:45pm and was surprized that there was only one rig in the lot. CO Kuske was there with his boat on the trailer and he was giving out two separate citations to people with ATV's. I took my sweet time getting ready and was on the water and fishing by 5:30pm. The wind was blowing strong from the SE but the Rock Platte River Outlet (RPRO) where I planned to fish is protected enough that you don't have heavy wave action. The RPRO is a fair sized shallow bay that fills up with pads and other weeds in the summer. In the Spring the bay can fill up with bass and that was what I was hoping for. Because of the heavy breeze I elected to drift with the wind from East to West. The RPRO runs more East/West than North/South. My first pass was made on the more protected South shore. One thing I noticed was that the water was very clear so expected the action to be on long casts and where the wind put some ripple on the water. I started off throwing a Zoom Horny Toad and I started things off with just an explosion for a hit by a big bass, but I did not hook up. What a pain! For me Horny Toads are high maintance baits. Most of the time I have to Super Glue the Toad to the bait keeper and Toad legs have a way of getting bitten off. I had two rods rigged to Toad. On the first pass I caught two 15+ inch bass and missed 4 stikes losing two Toad bodies. I did some fishing on the West end and along the North side going into the wind with little to show for it. I then went on a bunch of different drifts catching 1 to 2 fish a drift. Towards dark the wind was really shooting straight down the pipe and I quit using Horny Toad and switched to the "lost jig" which got me a few more fish. On average the fish were bigger than this morning but I didn't get anything bigger than 16.5". I also caught I scrawny pike. I think several pike had a hand in wrecking a few Horny Toads. I quit at about 8:45pm with a total of 13 bass landed which is a bit of a disappointment because I was hoping the RPRO would be packed with bass.

On the West end of the RPRO there is a beaver dam and I had a shot at a big fish there 3 separate times. Twice it didn't hook up and the third time it was on and felt like the best fish of the night, but it got off. Maybe it was a dogfish.

There was still a little light left when I was all done loading up the boat so I headed to the GOMH and caught 4 solid bass on the "lost jig." I tried a little topwater with a Spook but there weren't any takers.

So for the day I caught 41 bass with the biggest being 16.5" .

Tommorrow I am gonna get up early and hit the GOMH from shore to see if I can outfish what I did on Sullivan today.

2nd to the PRO

This is my first bass of the 2008 season. It hit on a white Zoom Horny Toad and went about 15.5inches.

So I get up at 4:20am with the idea of being the first one on the lake. I got burned a couple of years ago when I didn't hit it at the crack of dawn on bass opener and several boats were ahead of me into the Platte River Outlet (PRO) river mouth. Not any surprize I was first one at the launch. Got the boat in the water, motor started and I was on my way. In the distance on the west side of the lake another boat was under way and heading north. When the boat reached the "intersection" it headed west and I was out of luck. This boat was heading right for the PRO river mouth. The PRO river mouth always seems to hold aggresive bass and some of them can be very nice sized. Get first crack at it and your sure to be in business, get there 2nd and it's scraps from the table.

I ended up setting down about 150 yards South of the other boat. I changed my change of plan back to the original plan. The water was reading 57degrees and the wind was minimal so I figured topwater might be the ticket. My first cast was indeed with the purple Berkley Frenzy Popper. A couple of casts with that and I was fouling in the "hay" (stubble left over from last years wild rice). I decided the Zoom Horny Toad would be the better option as I made my way North. A little more past half way to the river mouth I had a strike on the Toad. I was not exactly fishing on point and gave a poor hookset. I thought the fish got off, but all of a sudden there was tugging on the line and I landed #1 for the year. On my way North to the river mouth I had two more good strikes on the Horny Toad but once again was not fishing on point and I missed both. The other boat had made it's way into the Platte River and so I approached the mouth. I immediately caught a bass on a white spook. Then I caught another one and I anchored. On one of the next casts I had an awesome blow up on the spook by a bass, but it didn't hook up; It was a nice fish. I worked the river mouth with the Spook, Horny Toad, 3/16oz spinnerbait, and an X-rap catching fish on all of them, but the average size was around 14 inches.

I was anchored trying to milk the river mouth when two Kayak Fisherman approached and went right by me into the river. They did not have the decency to stop fishing until they were out of casting range. I had no problem with the Kayaks going past as that they are quiet and unlikely to spook the fish, but to fish through my anchored area was bush league. I think one of the guys caught a small bass while still in my cast zone.

About 5 minutes later another fishing boat with three people approached and fished right past me also. These people knew the guys in the boat that beat me to the PRO and the word from the people that beat me was that they caught quite a few fish. After milking the river mouth for all I thought it was worth I elected not to fish behind those 4 boats in the river. I headed out to take a look at the GOMH but there were two trucks parked and guys covering the South shore. I then decided to work the flat that makes up the North side of the PRO. Conditions were still right for topwater and so I was chucking a watermelon Zoom Horny Toad. While working my way West I had the legs bit of my Toad a couple of times. I got good action on the buzzing legless Toad and so I kept fishing it. There was a boil, but I missed the fish. I quickly cast back to the spot and this time the fish was on. A 16.5" and my best of the morning. As I worked west the wind started to increase and I started working in the Spook, a spinnerbait, and the "lost jig." With the wind blowing in the remnants of last years wild rice and this years pads coming up, the water looked great but was just not holding fish. By the time I got to the river mouth the wind was really picking up. I got one small one at the river mouth.

I then made a run down the middle of the PRO with the intention of drifting in the wind and throwing a rattlebait over water that was a little deeper. Tried that and didn't get a thing. As I was getting blown along the South shore it became shallower with "hay" and emerging pads. I went to the Strike King 3/16oz spinnerbait and started catching fish. I made it to the river mouth and then headed up for another drift pass. The wind was really howling by now and I was moving quite a bit faster than I wanted to because when I got a fish, I was immediately blown right past the area it was caught from. I made several drift passes and usually caught 1 or 2 fish per pass but nothing big. I tried the "lost jig" and a white swim jig, but the spinnerbait seemed to produce best.

At about 11:10 I elected to call it quits with 24 bass landed. It was starting to cloud up and I didn't remember the rain gear, so I was going to need to hit home before venturing to Rock. At the access I was checked by CO Kuske who had been out in a boat, but pulled out just after I did. A guy with a Stratos trailored up while I was getting myself organized. He said he got a couple of really nice fish including a 19.5" but he and his buddy had under 10 total. It looked like he spent part of his time in the general vicinity of the GOMH.

I plan to rest and then hit Rock lake a little later on. Hopefully that SE wind will simmer down some.

Tonights fishing report from the GOMH...

First Thing...

Tomorrow is the "opener" of the Minnesocold season for Largemouth and Smallmouth bass and I am going to be out first thing in the morning chasing Larry. The first thing I am going to throw is a purple Berkley Frenzy Popper topwater bait in the Platte River Outlet (PRO) close to where the Platte River starts. I don't know if the fish will be keen to topwater first thing in the morning as that it is supposed to get down to 41°F with a SE wind. If topwater is not the thing first thing, I will quickly follow up with X-Raps, swim jigs, spinnerbaits, Super Flukes and rattlebaits. The plan is to fish Platte/Sullivan until around noon. Around noon I will make a decision to either stay on P/S for a while longer or head to Rock. With the warming trend we have been in and with warm weather predicted for tommorrow I don't anticipate having to use slow moving vertical presentations. Pretty much the only vertical presentation I will have in the boat is a JigNpig and Senko's.

Topwater may not go first thing, but I expect it to go at some point once the water warms up.

Updated: I just got back from the GOMH and the conditions tonight were kind of cool and windy. There was not nearly the fish activity tonight as last night. This leads me to believe that topwater first thing is a non-starter as I don't think water temps rose very much today and as mentioned above, it is going to be a cool night. I tied a spinnerbait on my topwater rod and tied the white Booyah spinnerbait on another. Now I'm thinking my first cast will either be a spinnerbait or X-rap.

Announcing...

The Bass Pundit Minnesocold Bass Derby 2008... This link will take you to the newest blog in the Franchise where the lions share of the work on the Derby will be done. However I plan for Derby standings to always be visible on the top of the Bass Pundit right hand sidebar. This Derby is your chance to sack it up versus the BP.

How to participate as a Derby Contender:
#1 Select a moniker (example: Cyberfish, Duffman)
#2 Go out and catch big bass then measure or weigh them.
#3 Leave a comment with your moniker letting the BP know about your catch so he can credit you in the Derby.

Optional (encouraged):
If you have one, email a picture of you and your fish or just the fish to basspundit@hotmail.com

The Rules (as I have them so far)

The Derby starts on Minnesocold Bass Opener Saturday May 24th 2008.

Kids Night at the GOMH

One of several silver bullheads caught by this boy and his dad on the SE side of the GOMH. They also caught 1 good orange and a few jumpin bullheads. The boy was quite excited for Saturday to get here, so he could keep himself some J. bullhead.
This family of four (Mom not in pic) fished the SW side and they managed to get one nice silver, a few oranges, and even a couple of jumpin bullheads. On the left is Willard on the pallets.
This jumper was a solid 19.25". Willard took the picture which uncropped was a great shot of the GOMH bridge. Willard said he was no photographer and I am inclined to agree.

Fishing Report: The day was warmer with a little bit of a NE breeze. I arrived at the GOMH sometime before 6:30pm and got right to trying to catch a few toothy bullheads on the "lost jig." All that I could get to bite were a bunch of pesky little jumpin bullheads, with the exception of the bullhead in the picture. I had 30 jumpin bullheads by the time the two family's with kids arrived around 7:15pm with probably 25 of the bullheads being smaller than 12 inches. Since the toothy bullheads were just not going, I gave my spot on the SE side to the red head kid and his Dad. What they caught is underneath the picture.

I stood over on the SW side of the bridge and watched the family with the two little boys do there fishing. It was semi-organized chaos. It is a miracle that they didn't end up with some day ending tangles. What they caught is underneath the picture. At about 8:15pm they packed up and left which I kind of figured would happen.

I took up position on the SW side to try for some silver bullheads on the glow Cubby and a minnow. The fish did not disappoint and I landed several silvers quickly and missed a few. I gave the fish to Willard who actually was fishing tonight. By this point Willard had a small collection of orange bullheads and one silver. It turned out to be a very nice evening as the wind died down and there was lots of fish activity on the water. Willard was his effusive self commenting on what a nice night to fish it was and on how good the fishing was. Willard went home with a limit of 10 silver bullheads and 9 or 10 fair sized orange bullheads. I donated 6 silvers to that cause. I ended the night ar 9:35pm with a total of 6 silver bullheads, 33 jumpin bullheads, 0 toothy bullheads, and 0 dogfish.