I've Got The Platte/Sullivan Lake Blues

 

These are my trips in the Trophy, so far this year.

Wrecking 'em I ain't. The results from this past weekend can be attributed to the post-spawn, post-cold front conditions, right? Oh brother, it is going to be a tough year if I don't up my game and innovate. 

Here are all of my trips since June 5th, 

Bassmaster Fantasy At Tenkiller, My Picks

 Posting my picks in hopes my fortunes change. My results haven't been great in the last several tournaments. 

Birch Lake Preview Part 2: Plan and Rods I'm Bringing.

 

The Plan is to eat well again, thanks to Snatcher Herman.

The Plan: We didn't find any size, but did find bass in the pads during pre-fish, so fishing pads is Plan A. As of right now, it looks like it will be sunny with light to moderate wind. So pads could be a player. If that doesn't work, we'll wing it, I guess.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'6" H Tatula (Swim Worm)

7'4" H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Toads)

7'4" H Tatula XT (Buzzbait)

7'H Avid (Texas Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Spinnerbait, Buzzbait, Wakebait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Swim Jig, Paddletail, Dark Sleeper, Chatterbait)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater, Ned, Jerkbait, Trap, Neko)

5'6" MH Premier (Fluke, Senko, Ned)

Snatchers Birch Lake (Hackensack) Preview, Part 1.

 

Thanks to recent changes at Fish Swami, it is easy to look up my history at places I have fished since 2011, the first year I seriously started logging my trips. I have fished three tournaments at Birch Lake and pre-fished two of those, for a total of five days on the lake. In 2016, it was also the first tournament of the year. The "heart" for May 31, 2016, was for a 33.5" pike I caught. The bass we got pre-fishing in 2016 were pretty random, and I kind of remember where we caught bass in the tournament. I will be pre-fishing the lake on Tuesday with my boater, Herman. It looks like the weather going in will be warm and stable going into the tournament. I suspect most fish will be post-spawn by next Saturday. 

Pre-fishing done, we have a plan. See Part 2 on Saturday.

2025 MN Fishing Opener Outlook And Plan

 Today is Thursday, May 8th, and the Minnesota Fishing Opener is in two days. As of this moment, I have done zero prep for getting the Trophy into the water. I haven't even taken the cover off once. The bite at the Grumpy Old Man Hole has just been too good, and there was always tomorrow to start boat prep. Now my back is against the wall. I hope get some things done about the Trophy today, but I doubt I will have it in the water for the Opener. Todd will be up this weekend, but to what extent is unclear. His baby daughter graduates from High School this year, and that is where he is focused.

Spring gave way to summer this week, and that will continue for Opener Weekend. So, I expect many boats to be out this week, especially for the Opener. Fishing has been so good this year that I have been spoiled. The thought of dealing with crowds just does not appeal to me like it would if fishing were a struggle.    

 

The Plan:

As of right now, my only plans are to do my traditional midnight at Eddy's Jetty and hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole for sunrise.

Update: If the bite is anything, I'll probably stay through sunrise at Mille Lacs. Conditions look favorable, so I am optimistic.  If nothing happens by 2AM, I'll bag it, come home, and be at the Grumpy Old Man Hole by 4am. My bass tackle is in disarray right now, and the Trophy will not be on the water this weekend.  I'm not sure how much bass fishing I will do for the opening weekend.

BP's 2025 Lake Fork Fantasy Picks

 

April 2025 Has Rocked It, Amadeus

 

With four days left to fish, I have already broken my personal best record for most fish caught in April. The Silver Bullhead bite has also set an all time personal best with 370 silver bullheads caught in a year and counting.  Silver Bullheads not to be confused with crappie, which I have had better years with because of ice fishing. The weather, which hasn't been too hot or too cold and lack of boat traffic because it is April are two of the main factors that have held the bite together for two weeks now. I did notice two male crappie beginning to turn darker last night. Hopefully, the silver bullhead bite will make it to next week. 

The Dock Is In

 Steve did dock work today.

Rock Dock In

 

Silver Season Has Started

10.5" Demon/minnow

 

4/9 Platte And Sullivan Ice Out

 

Fantasy Bass At the Pasquotank (Updated)

 My worst Day 1, so far this season.

I just finished watching the Hellabass pre-tournament video, and some changes were in order from my initial picks. In Bucket B, I chickened out and dropped Ole Bob to go back to Bryan Schmitt. In Bucket C I had Brandon Card, but he is having a tough year sitting in 75th in AOY. Rivet, who I went with, is 20th in AOY. And in Bucket E, I had Arey but went with Wetherall at 0.6% ownership. Alex is inconsistent, but he has gotten a Top 10  finish every year in the Elites. I'm hoping he hits this one out of the park.

2025 Ice Out Platte Lake (Wrong Answer!)

 

I'm calling "Ice Out!" today, though I could not verify the fact in person. I didn't return from the cities with Mom in time to look. It was sunny and breezy out of the West, ice-breaking weather. If I find out at the DNR site that somebody says it went out on the 6th, I'll change the date of this post. 

Update: As of April 8th, ice was still up in Inlet Bay. I'm pretty sure Ice Out will be on the 9th.

BP's Fishing Stories Part 3: Root and Pike In Sconni

On IDO Outdoors Fishing Forums, one of the regulars was reminiscing about wade fishing in rivers, streams, and creeks in his childhood. 

I gave a three-paragraph reply, which I will share in three separate posts. This is Part 3, and it is about me fishing in the Root River at Racine, Wisconsin, and the Pike River in Kenosha.

I have also fished the Root River in Racine, WI, and the Pike in Kenosha for trout and salmon in the fall. Maybe one of these years, I will go back down there to do some urban fishing. It was like the United Nations being that close to Chicago. I almost got pinched by the WI DNR in the Pike for netting a guy's fish that was snagged. I think Snagger was Russian or maybe Ukrainian. I told the guy keeping a snagged fish wasn't smart. I had been warned about releasing snagged fish by my buddy, who showed me the bite down there and witnessed guys getting busted for snagging on a subsequent trip. I usually ran into at least one C.O. every year I went. Well, sure enough, about an hour later, about 5 C.O.'s came out of the woods. Thankfully, the CO did his job, considered the facts, and didn't write me a ticket. They took everybody, but me and a couple of Cheeseheads from the middle of the state back to the road to get tickets and I presume their gear confiscated. I hear they don't play around in WI. If you FAFO, they are apt to take your gear if you are out of state.

2025 Ice Out Rock Lake

 

I didn't see any ice on Rock tonight, there definitely was ice on the North end of Platte. What a slushy drive tonight.

BP's Fishing Stories: Canby MN, Mid 1990's

MN Opener 1996

  On IDO Outdoors Fishing Forums, one of the regulars was reminiscing about wade fishing in rivers, streams, and creeks in his childhood. 

I gave a three-paragraph reply, which I will share in three separate posts. This is Part 2: Canby, MN 

I was a Youth Pastor in Canby, MN, for a couple of years in the mid-90s. They drained Del Clark Lake before I got there the same year I arrived. I was able to catch walleye, suckers, and pike at various points in the creek that runs through town. The final year I was there, Del Clark, which I think had been off limits to fishing, opened up, and it was on fire for 17" to 20" walleye and 28" to 32" in pike, and I was like the only person who knew about it. It was ridiculous. And then, at the end of that magical May, my time in that town was over. I also tried some fishing across the border in South Dakota for spawning pike, but I couldn't figure out how to get the big gals to bite in this one particular creek. I caught a few hammer handles over there but saw many spawning pike. 

4/3 Bulldog, Rock, GOMH

 

Me with My New Glasses at Rock

Woodpecker at Rock Lake

Immature Eagle at Bulldog Lake

E of GOMH

Fishing Story From Bass Pundit's Youth: Nine Mile Creek, Bloominton MN

 On IDO Outdoors Fishing Forums, one of the regulars was reminiscing about wade fishing in rivers, streams, and creeks in his childhood. 

I gave a three-paragraph reply, which I will share in three separate posts. This is Part 1: Nine Mile Creek.

The first paragraph was about Nine-Mile Creek, a quarter mile from where I grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota. I don't think I have a single picture of me ever fishing there. Maybe getting one fishing in my old stomping grounds is a future fishing goal in the making.

Nine Mile Creek in Bloomington, MN, was not much for fishing in my youth, or at least not in the stretch close to home in the Moir Park area. We might catch a sunfish, bullhead, or crawfish if we were lucky. There were two to three-pound carp around occasionally. And one summer when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old, I think they stocked the area with bass, but they may have been trout. They were about 8-10 inches long, and I never caught one of them. They swam as a school, and I spied them frequently in a particular bend in the creek. They seemed to be on the move quite a bit. When I got older, I caught a few pike and bass where Nine Mile enters Lake Normandale. I heard stories of huge pike, bass, and crappies coming out of Normandale. I favored wading and float tubing in Hyland and Bush, mainly Hyland, where I had better luck and there was more shore access, being fully surrounded by the park.