I Give You Jay Kumar

 From the latest Bass Blaster eMail.

Jay commented on the Texas DNR equivalent about how they don't view forward-facing sonar as a threat to crappie populations in their state. Of course, the threat that FFS poses depends on the individual fishery itself with smaller bodies of water being the most susceptible to overfishing. Larger bodies of water are extremely tough to impact crappie populations if they are somewhat fertile for panfish. For example, there will be way more fish than fishermen on Lake Minnetonka here in MN. Only X percent of fishermen are going to shell out the money for FFS. X percent of those guys are dedicated crappie meat fishermen who eat crappie a couple of times a week. The vast majority of fishermen are not X. Smaller bodies of water are susceptible to overharvest of crappie, the population crashes, and then the lake's reputation among fishermen crashes; People ignore it for a few years until the population builds back up and the boom-bust cycle repeats. It has happened in smaller MN fisheries for years, even pre-social media. Word got out on a hot bite.    

Snatcher Little Boy/Wabedo Plan, Goals, and Rods I'm Using

 The Plan: Pre-fishing with Chuck didn't give me much to hang my hat on, and conditions will be different on tournament day. So the plan is to wing it and hope I can find something the fish want during the tournament.  Ideally bass will be hitting on a frog and buzzbait and I won't have to resort to finesse. I'm not sure how much attention we are going to smallies, if any.

Goals:

Catch a bass 5/8 or bigger

Win the Lunker Pot

Catch a limit

Finish in the Top 5

Win the Co-Angler Challenge

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4"H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula Gen 2 (Frog)

7'4" H Zillion (Buzzbait, Swim Worm)

6'10" MH (FC15)(Chatter, Texas Rig, Ozark Rig, Ned Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Braid) (Jig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC17) (Jig, Texas Rig)

6'8" Avid (Topwater, Jerkbait, Ned)

6'6" MH Abu Veritas (Fluke, Dinger, Ned)

My Snatcher Lake Osakis Tournament Recap June 1st

Pre-fishing with Darren, his first cast of the morning

Also some pre-fish

Top 3 (Tuma, Sarah, Darren)

Conditions: 50-74℉, Mostly Sunny, 2-9mph WSW

The Day:

I thought I had everything packed and ready to go, nope. Forgot to pack my terminal tackle fanny pack. I also forgot to bring my phone with me to the boat, so I had to walk back to the car and get it. Our Plan A spot in some reeds up the lake was not happening, so after a fruitless hour, we bailed and headed further up the lake and tried a few points and docks getting nothing. We did watch Snatcher Ludenia catch something during that stretch. We went to the smallie area and I got a short smallie on my very first cast with the Stunna. Dennis and Nate joined us in this area, both boats were struggling. I got a 2lb smallie on the Stunna as well as a Rock Bass on the Stunna before we left. It was now about mid-day so we went back to Plan A again; Darren got a keeper in the boat quickly and  I got a ToadZ keeper shortly after. This was the time of day Darren discovered his pattern and it held true. Slow but consistent throwing a jig in the deeper reeds.  Darren then caught the next 4 fish including some really nice ones. He got his fifth fish back where we started the day. I lost two Hack Attack jigs in short order We were just about ready to head South when we got into an active area. I was fishing with my life jacket on anticipating the move. I got my third keeper then lost two good blowups when my jerry-rigged ToadZ because the split ring on the Gami doesn't play well with a Power Clip. Shortly after that trainwreck, we headed South. Darren got a nice one to fill his limit or maybe it was a cull. He was in disbelief he got that bite. The day ended with me being extremely frustrated and angry over the blown opportunity for me near the end.

Results:

My 3 fish put me in a dismal 18th Place out of 20 anglers fishing. First Place and Lunker went to Snatcher Tuma 24/3 and 4/3 all smallies. 2nd Place and Co-Angler Challenge winner went to Snatcher Sarah "The Senko Queen"with 18/14, all largies, and 3rd Place went to my boater Snatcher Darren with 16/8.

My Thoughts:

High hopes dashed; I should have double-checked my stuff to make sure I had everything. Learning that Power Clips and those ringed  EWG hooks don't go together well was an unlucky break. Bad taste in my mouth from this one. But I am happy that Darren's pattern held up and was good enough to get some wood. I'm quite surprised nobody caught a 5lb bass. Hopefully, this will be my throw-out tournament for the year. 

Tournament Grade: D

Opportunity called at the end of the day and I missed it, sucks

 

 

Fothergill Wins Euflala Open Qualifying for 2nd Bassmaster Classic In A Row

 And he now leads the pack EQ Qualifier points. This kid from Grand Rapids, MN is a bass fishing phenom. With the remaining venues, there is no way he will crash the car at this point. He will be in the Elite Series next year.

Plan, Goals, & Rods I'm Bringing For Lake Osakis

The Plan: This will be the 8th time I have had the good pleasure of being partnered with Snatcher Darren in a tournament.  We had a productive pre-fish, so I'm confident we will be around some nice-sized largemouth. The fish would not hit a moving bait on Wednesday. My hope is that they will be far more active and I can get them on a frog and buzzbait. We are going to be fishing a lot reeds and cattails. If they will not hit moving baits again I'll throw a jig, Mag Fluke, and a Texas Rigged Dinger. I doubt we will fish for smallmouth, but I've got my smallie favorites just in case.

My Goals:

1. Beat Tuma

2. Get Wood by Placing anywhere in the first three places or catch the tournament lunker.

3. Catch a fish bigger than 5-8, winning both the days Lunker Pot and the Progressive one as well.

4. Win the Co-angler Challenge $

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Mag Fluke, Swim Worm, Swim Jig, Spinnerbait, ToadZ)

7'4" H Tatula XT Gen 2 (Buzzbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite  (Jig,Chatterjig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Jig, Texas Rig)

6'10" MH Tatula (FC) (Chatterbait, Spinnerbait, Jerkbait, Texas Rig, Jig,Dinger/Fluke)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater, Jerkbait)

MN Fishing Opener Outlook And Plan

 I think it has the potential to be a banga. We have rising water levels and very good water temps so the shallows should be full of hungry fish. 

My plan is to sleep in on Friday, so I am well rested. I plan to leave for Eddy's Jetty by 11PM, which hopefully will allow me choice of location on the North Jetty, Maybe no one will be there and I'll have it all to myself. Unlikely, but it has happened. 

Decision Time will be at 2:45AM. If the fishing is nonstop lights-out action  I'll stay longer,  if not I'll head home with the goal of being at the Grumpy Old Man Hole by 4:15AM, which should allow put me there after the midnight crew and before the early risers thus getting me the NE corner. This may be the end of my Opener morning if the Trophy is not available.

I'm not sure if the Trophy will be in the water. The Pontoon lift is where I traditionally beach it and I think the water level is probably too high now for me to beach it on the West side of the dock where I beached it last year when water levels were really low. I'm pretty sure Todd and Kristen are coming up  this weekend, which means I'll have to tone down my fishing ambitions and assist Todd with getting the pontoon and wave runner launched.

I hope to update this when I know more. I've still got three days to get things nailed down. 

Update: It's Thursday. I plan to put the Trophy in Platte Lake this morning. It looks like there is enough room for it to fit and if not I'll tie it off on the East side of the dock. I'll do my tackle prep for Opener after I wake up Friday afternoon. I really haven't given much thought to bass fishing yet at all for this year. I would say there is 75% chance I will fish for at least a couple of hours in the Trophy Opener morning. I'm not sure what time Mom will need the car.  The rest of the weekend is up in the air. I'm guessing Todd and I will go out Saturday night for bass if everything goes smoothly getting the pontoon in. A Sunday morning trip is a big ? at this point; I will just have to see how fishing goes on Saturday and consult with Todd.

Victory Achieved (sort of)

I finally stopped putting off getting the Trophy in the water, but not before sleeping in long enough to ensure I didn't have any time to fish; I just put it in and made sure the motor didn't have any issues then took it right back out, so I would be home before it got too dark. It rained while I was on the lake, which was a positive because it cleared out the guy fishing at the Rock Dock and the last trailer in the lot. The (sort of) is because I left fishing time on the table by sleeping into the afternoon. I would have been on the water about 3PM if I had gotten up on time.
 

Vike's Draft Little KOC, Me Likes

 The 2024 NFL Draft couldn't have worked out better for the Vikings, IMO. Kwesi played his hand as well as can be. JJ sounds just like KOC, extremely impressed with his first press conference. And the nice thing is he doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders from Day 1, thanks to the Darnold signing. I think the team could contend for a wild card next year with Darnold at the helm. The NFC North matchups will be must-watch for the next few years if all the QB's stay healthy.

I Predict My Whole Line Up Improves on Day 2

 

Fantasy Bass Fishing @ The St. John's River

 I will throw Harris Chain into the round file, not an angler in the cut. Terrible!

My Drain the Lake Team at Harris Chain was a success thanks to Mr. Garrett leading wire to wire and getting the W.

Here are my lineups for this week's tournament at the St. John's:

I ended up switching out J Pow with Lester.

Lake Place Dock In

Steve got the dock in today.

 Here is how things looked yesterday when I went down front. Steve must have felt some peer pressure with everybody else's docks going in.

Mr. & Mrs. Bass 2023

 Tonight was the Baxter Bass Snatcher Awards Banquet. It was a low-key night because Snatcher Ruff, the club comedian and normal event MC wasn't able to make it.

Ice Off Platte, Take 2

 

Today was the 2nd Ice Off on Platte Lake of 2024!

I shoveled out a path on the SW side of the GOMH and fished for 45 minutes, losing one gator bullhead. A lot of swans around tonight. I saw the beaver again. No loons yet.

GOMH On April Fools

 

Too much snow

There is quite a bit of open water in Channel Inn Bay

I saw two beavers tonight

Some open water in the NW Bay

I brought my fishing rods with me tonight, but no shovel. I didn't fish. I watched the beavers for a while then headed home.

GOMH & Platte Report

 It was in the low 40's today. I didn't head out tonight until around 7:30 when the front/clouds were moving in. Platte and the GOMH are still mostly iced up. It was getting pretty dark when I got to the Rock Access road, so I decided to turn around rather than see if anyone blazed a trail down to the lake. I'm guessing not. It is only supposed to be in the low 40s for the next couple of days, so I am guessing 2nd Ice Off won't be until Tuesday or Wednesday.