Happy Halloween!!!

Ashley Rae of SheLovesToFish.com blog in a sweet and spooky Halloween Photo.

Trophy Is Out

Pulled the Trophy out of the water yesterday. The water on Platte is super high and so we were able to pull the boat out at our friend Jenny's access. That is the same spot that I fish from shore occasionally.

I still plan to do a little bit of fishing before ice up, if we can get some nice weather. I very well might hit up Rock Lake, Erskine Lake, or Peavy Lake instead of Platte/Sullivan.

Going Ike in a Coleman Crawdad

Here is my Crawdad:

(Click to enlarge)

Coleman Crawdad's are great little boats for small lakes and bad accesses. I can't believe Ike put a casting deck on one. They are pretty stable, but I would think making it top heavy like that would make it much less so. Maybe Ike's is bigger than a 10fter.

Ebayt Monkey Crawtube Shootdown

This week on Ebay 3 lots (6packs, 6packs, 8packs) of Lake Fork Craw Tube's came up for auction. When I became aware of the auction 1 lot had a bid on it and the other two did not. I decided to bid on the two that didn't have any bids and then I was going to wait and see what happened with the other auction and probably bid on that. When I bid on one of the lots with 6 packs I made the mistake of including the shipping charge in my max bid, so I bid $6 more than I wanted too. I kind of figured I was a shoe in to win that one as you can get LFCT's on sale
for about the price I bid in that auction.

Today the auction came do and I slept through being able to bid for that 3rd auction. When I went to check and find out what happened I didn't win anything.

The 6 pack I bid on went for $15.68 + $6.00 shipping
The 8 pack I bid on went for $16.78 + $6.00 shipping to a different bidder
The 6 pack that I failed to bid on went for $7.00 + $6.00 shipping to a different bidder than the 1st two.

Seriously, is that how it goes down?

I guess I can't get to bent out of shape as I didn't end up paying significantly more for a lot than I wanted too. I believe I can buy quality knock offs for quite a bit less than the 2 lots I bid on's final price. The person who got 6 packs for $13 made out like a bandit.

Do you "Like" Tami Curtis?

Bass Fishing Blogger Tami Curtis now has a Facebook Fan Page. We are racing to 100 fans and she is way behind because she just opened her page this week and mine has been up for months.

So if you are into Facebook click on the link and go "like" Tami.

If you don't know who Tami is, go visit her blog.

All you have to do to help me win is be logged onto Facebook, click on the badge on the upper right corner of my sidebar. I only need one more Fan thanks to Tami being #99.

Update: I win unless somebody drops me!

Minnesnowcold!

Things could have been a lot worse.

Update: 6:30PM it got into the 40's today, so most of the snow has melted. Earlier this morning the end of our driveway turned into a small creek bed. Should have taken a picture of that.

Shimano Woman Dumps Daiwa Man For Co-Angler

Weather Report

Minnesota in a cyclone, will not be fishing for a few days.

Thank goodness it doesn't look like it will be cold enough to make this an epic blizzard.

Refs Got It Wrong!

No FRICKEN Duh!

Today the NFL apologized to the Vikings for taking away the touchdown catch yesterday by Visanthe Shiancoe.
This is what I wrote about that call yesterday:

2. Visanthe Shiancoe catches what to my judgement was a clear touchdown. By the time he landed his hands were under the ball. It was clear from the replay that the ball didn't move when he hit the ground, yet despite this visual evidence that it was a touchdown the ref reverses the call on the field, Vikes kick fieldgoal, thus 4 Vikings points were taken off the board.

The Vikes lost by 4 points and were well within field goal range with their last possession of the game. If the Green Bay touchdown that wasn't and the Vikings touchdown that was were handled correctly it's a Vikes victory even without a field goal at the end of the game.

Once again the Vikings Fan is screwed by the league.

IKE is coming to Minnesocold

BassFan reports that Ike is going to shoot an epi of City Limits in MN. Apparently he is going to ice fish. I wonder if he is going to try for bass? Panfish would be the obvious choice because they are the easiest kind of fish to ice. My guess is he'll do a multi-species thing on Minnetonka.

Vikes Loss at Lambert- My Thoughts

Vikings Lose 28-24 at Lambert. It's pretty clear the Brett Favre Magic is gone. Still the Vikes barely lost this one and there are a number of could have been's.

Could Have Been's in Chronological Order:
1. Packers receiver clearly bobbles football while going out of bounds in the end zone. Chilly doesn't challenge, giving Green Bay 4 Free Points.

2. Visanthe Shiancoe catches what to my judgement was a clear touchdown. By the time he landed his hands were under the ball. It was clear from the replay that the ball didn't move when he hit the ground, yet despite this visual evidence that it was a touchdown the ref reverses the call on the field, Vikes kick fieldgoal, thus 4 Vikings points were taken off the board.

3. Vikings driving at the end of the game, something like 1st and 15 from the 20 yardline. Phil Loadholt called for hands to the face putting Vikes in 1st and 30. I think the replay showed the hands to the face happened but was brief. Loadholt mostly had the shoulder. Tick Tack call especially with some of the holding's that were not called on both teams.

4. Favre makes long throw to the endzone to Percy Harvin who was clearly interfered with while the ball was in the air. The intereference caused Harvin to not get a second foot in bounds when he caught the ball for what would have been a go ahead touchdown. Vikes should have had the ball 1st and goal at the 1.

5. On third down replay clearly shows Clay Mathews try to draw a penalty by flipping his helmet off his head. This should have been an unsportsmanlike conduct 15 yard penalty giving the Vikes a much needed first down. Seriously how do you miss Clay Mathews with no helmet? Instead the Vikings can't convert on 4th and long and the Packers win the game.

My thinking was the Vikes needed to win either this week or next week and they would still be in OK shape. Now the Vikes must win next week in New England and they pretty much have to sweep the Bears, sweep the Lions, and beat Green Bay in the dome.

On the encouraging side. The offence showed some life and pass blocking was the best it has been all season.

1 Little Pike Platte Lake Dock

It was raining today and so I had to go an put the cover on the boat. Naturally when I was done with that I threw a few casts from the dock. I used a white Monsoor Swim Jig with a Pearl Essence 5" Action Plastics Super Mag Grub. I had a follow from a small pike and then a couple of casts later I caught a small pike and that was it for action.

DNF

Was on the cool side today, but fishable. I hibernated for most of the day.

If I didn't have to go into the Cities tomorrow, I would have been out for sure. Temps are suppose to be in the upper 60's.

Big Indiana Bass Has a New Look

In my opinion Big Indiana Bass is one of the best bass blogs out there. However, I don't visit it as much as I should. Anyway, it's sporting a new look more in line with the blogs scientific side. To be honest I liked the old look a little better.

DNF

Did not fish, should have. Tomorrow is suppose to be very windy, so I doubt I will try to deal with that. Thurs is suppose to be kind of cool, but Friday is looking nice. We'll see.

My Thoughts on Hooks for Buzz Toads/Frogs

I love to fish Zoom Horny Toads and other plastic buzz toads or buzz frogs. Finding the best hook has been an evolution for me. The first hooks I tried were offset wide gaps. They seemed to rip the nose of the bait up immediately upon getting a fish and the hook up ration didn't seem to be the best. I was not satisfied.

The next hook I tried was a Mustad Power Lock Plus EWG Hook

I really liked this hook as it was awesome for hookups and kept the bait usable for multiple fish provided you used super glue with the plastic keeper. The problem is that super gluing is a pain. The Hooks are also expensive at a buck a hook, never the less I bought a bunch of them.

Next hook I tried was the Greg Hackney Hook from Tru-Tungsten
For me, these things were so messed up they never even saw the water. I couldn't rig them on the hook well and they ripped the plastic badly.

The next hook I tried was a Zoom Horny Toad Hook:
These seemed to work pretty good, but I had a problem with the springs stretching out or falling off.

One day I saw some Owner Beast Hooks and bought them.

I thought the Beast was a great hook, but they are more expensive than the Mustad Power Lock.

I also gave the Owner TwistLock Open Gap Centering Pin Hook a try.

These are a little less expensive than The Beast, but still more expensive than the Mustad Power Lock. Using this hook has really sold me on the superiority of the Owner Twistlock Centering Pin Spring...
...over and above the Power Lock plastic keeper on the Mustad Hook. The Twistlock is just the best thing for durability because you can twist it in to the plastic in multiple places and you don't have to mess with super glue. Thankfully you can buy Owner Twistlock Centering Pin Springs and put them on yourself. I plan to cut off all my Mustad Power Lock plastic keepers and replace them with the Owner Twistlock Centering Pin Springs.

Bass Fishing Blogger Tyler Brinks is high on the Stanley Ribbit Double-Take Hook

These look to be something similar to the Gambler Double Trouble Toad Hook.

I don't think I will be trying these because the Stanley Hook is more than $1.50per hook and the Gambler is almost $2.50 a hook and up here in the north country you lose many toad hooks to pike.

I think the Twistock Pin with the Mustad hook will make for the ideal combo.

DNF

Just wasn't motivated to get on the water today. Will probably get back in the swing of things tomorrow as winter will soon be knocking on the door and if I want to fish open water it's crunch time.

For Bass & Fish & Outdoor Bloggers

Today is the official launch of The Outdoor Blogger Network

The Outdoor Blogger Network is a blog directory and resource for outdoor activity themed blogs. Click on the Logo to visit their site.

I wish The Outdooress and Wolfy of Flowing Waters blog the best in their new endeavor.

DNF- Vikes Win!!!

Watched football, so I didn't go fishing. Even though it was cool, it would have been a good night to get out because there wasn't much wind.

The Vikes managed to pull out the must win game, by the skin of there teeth. Gone are the Vikings that destroyed the Cowboys in the playoffs last year. It seems that neither our defence or offence is as good as last year. This season it seems that the offense is improving a little from game to game, while the Defence is maybe going the other way, but that is hard to say. Having Cornerback Griffen out for the season looks like it is an unfortunate key injury. Hopefully our rookie Cook will be ready to go soon.

This is Packer week and we get them in Lambert on Sunday Night Football. The Packers apparently have a number of key injuries. Hopefully this will be the game we can recapture a little bit of last years magic. The Pack will be in serious trouble if they lose to us. It's an important game for the Vikes who are on the road for the next two weeks. The Vikes need at least a split in those two contests.

Change Is Coming????

(No this isn't about politics)

Now that I think I have figured a couple of things out, I am seriously considering upgrading this blog to the newer Blogger Layout format instead of keeping it in the old Template format that it is now. It would be nice if there was a way I could change it "in draft" and then make a decision when I see what I end up with. Come to think of it, I think there is a way I can do just that, sort of.

I think I will dabble.

Update: I have now fiddled and it looks like if I decide to make the change I am in for a lot of work on the sidebar. How much work isn't clear because I just don't know how much stuff will transfer if I make the change. I definitely will not be doing anything until the snow flies and the lakes freeze.

This is what I came up with in my dabbling... What do you think?

Another Update: I've looked into some things that I thought would be short cuts for if and when I do change, but unfortunately things don't work like I think they should in terms of presentation and spacing. Frustrating because it means changing will be a lot more work.