2021 Opener Plan

My Plan:

I have decided to leave for Eddy's at 11PM. That should assure I can get the North Corner on the Jetty. With a SE wind, that is the spot to be, and being there a half hour early should mean I get it. Todd isn't coming up until sometime tomorrow, and fishing at midnight for walleyes isn't appealing to Steve, so it will just be me. Unless the bite is ridiculously on fire, I'll be out of there by 3:30AM. That will give me enough time to get home to get a bite to eat and get reloaded to launch the Trophy by 5AM. I am doing that rain or shine, minus thunderstorms, of course. I want to be first at the river mouth. The first lure for Larry Bass is going to be a Frenzy Popper. But I think the star of the show could turn out to be hollow-body frogs in the dead rice, which is everywhere. If fish are going in the Sulivan Platte River Outlet, that is where I will spend the morning, fingers crossed. If not, I'll go to Platte and fish my way north. How long I stay out is totally dependent on the bite. I'll need to be back to take Kaylee out by noon, so I can't stay out forever. I will be out in the evening with Todd in the Trophy. I don't anticipate Todd wanting to give eyes a shot after dark at the Jetty, but I'll ask if he wants to give it a shot. Unless he wants to go, I think I will get some shut-eye and go at sunrise again in the Trophy with Todd on Sunday morning.  

2021 Opener Outlook

It looks like we are getting stable weather with a slight warming trend for the 2021 Opener. This should make for phenomenal fishing.

My Plan:

Sleep in on Friday, so I am raring to go come midnight. I should arrive at Eddy's at 20 to midnight if not sooner. I'm going to invite both of my brothers don't know if they are up for it or not.  I'll bring the spotlight and see what I can. I'm guessing water levels are up slightly from last Fall. If the North Corner is open that is where I will start. My guess is that there will be other people there fishing, but you never know. I expect to catch a few walleyes, but I don't think it will be a smash fest. If fishing is really good I'll stay until 3:30AM. 

Developing...More Later.

Fishing In April Was Disappointing

Screen Shot Taken 4/11

Taken 5/1

 I fished every day in April except for the 1st.  The weather was just too inconsistent for the fish to get comfortable. My Fish Per Hour number dropped by three and a half per hour. As tough as the fishing was I was rarely skunked and I caught 200 plus fish for the month thanks to the fact fishing picked up in the final few days. Disappointing, but not a disaster by any means.

My Neely Henry Elite Line Ups

 

Hoping Felix stays hot and Wendlandt bounces back strong.

Looking for home cooking for the Alabama Boys

One More Week Of April

 After the warm end of March, April just couldn't get its act together weather-wise to make for good fishing.  It was just about ready to start popping one week ago, and then that major cool-down happened. It looks like things are gonna change this week. I thought for sure we would be full-on post-spawn by Opener on the 15th, but the Full moon is tomorrow, and there is very few bass in shallow right now. It looks like the fish are set up to go gangbusters in May. Sucks that Opener doesn't happen this year until the month will be half gone. 

Got the Garmin 7sv on the Trophy Today

I finally got my act together, got the Garmin 7sv mounted on my carrier, and discovered that the Brocraft Transducer Arm and Scotty Mounts are compatible. If I had known that, I would have had the Garmin 7 ready right after I got the transducer arm a couple of weeks ago.  Now I've got to learn side imaging. Clear View is pretty self-explanatory.  
 

 Yep, my team had a solid Day 1. I can see Cox getting and Clark getting better on Day 2. I think Felix and Zaldain are the wild cards I need to be worried about. Zaldaingerous is a fitting nickname for that guy. 

My Lake Fork Fantasy Bass Fishing Squads

 

Drain The Lake Roster

Day 1 weigh-in is going on right now.  Feeling good about my main squad. If Felix has a solid Day 2, I may be headed somewhere. Drain the Lake not so much.

Rock Dock In

 The Rock Dock was in today. I think it may have been in the lake yesterday, but I absent-mindedly forgot to check yesterday. I had two bites tonight but didn't hook either one.  There was quite a bit of baitfish activity on the surface. I didn't get a fish at the GOMH either.  

The Cool Weather Snag Continues

 

For the next three days, we will be 10plus degrees under the average for high temps. Some bullheads had moved up on Saturday and Sunday apparently (Silver numbers were same ole same old). Will they stay? I am going to test that out this Monday morning.  I didn't get the Garmin side-imager in the boat this weekend. The second Covid shot messed with my energy levels. I've felt anywhere from 10% to 100% with most of the time being 60% and under. Hopefully, I'll be over the after-effects by Thursday when it warms up. 

We Have Hit A Snag In the Weather Dept.

 Looks like we are in for a slightly below-average stretch in the weather for the foreseeable future. As of today, the average high temp should be 54℉. We are still more than a month away from Opener, which isn't until May 15th this year. I am catching fish and am OK with struggling for a couple of weeks. I didn't start really getting fish last year until the 27th, though I did have a couple of double-digit days previous to that on April 19th (14 fish) and April 21st (11 fish). I hope to have my Garmin Side-Imager in the water by this upcoming weekend. That could possibly be a gamechanger for me in locating schools of crappie. I should probably start looking at Youtube videos to get me started on the learning curve. Better fishing lies ahead. I am confident of that.

Congrats to David Pecháček BFL Champion

 

David Pecháček is a young guy from MN that moved to Florida to pursue his bass fishing dreams. This weekend he won the Gator Division Phenoix Big 5 BFL on Lake Okeechobee.

Congrats Dave on the big win!

Josh Douglas And Pat Schlapper Giving SCHEELS Online Seminar On Tues. April 13th at 7PM

 

They will be giving good info and giving away prizes. Sign up here.

Top Review Geek

 

Top Review Geek is a website with the beginning fisherman and hunter in mind. From my short review of the site; It has a wealth of information available.

My Sabine River Fantasy Team

 

Some Silver On the 7th

 

12" THE Jig/Minnow (G/Pink)

Had my crap in order tonight, and Bear Trax got minnows. I got a couple silvers to pull my bobber under.