A Bit of Action

Tonight I got out of the house after 6PM and my first stop was Rock Lake. Today had been overcast with a little bit of rain, but by the time I was out the skies had cleared and there was a 5mph breeze out of the South.

At Rock I hooked up with a couple of bass on a glow Cubby and a minnow.
This little guy was followed by a 15 inch chunk that I didn't take a picture of. I think I may have caught that chunk bass earlier this year.

It was after 7PM when I headed to Bulldog, but that was dead so on to the GOMH. When I arrived at the GOMH there was just 1 car and a lady was fishing on the SW side with worms. I went to the SE side. I don't think she had caught anything and at the first sign of lightening and thunder to the SW she bailed.

I nabbed a couple of 14 inch class jumpin bullheads on the glow Cubby with a minnow and then Rapala Boy and his dad showed up. Right after they got there my bobber went down and I landed this smallish (8") silver bullhead.
I had this one little spot that seemed to be holding fish and I landed a couple of jumpin bullheads, the bigger of which was this 15inch chunk:


Like I said earlier there was a storm heading are way and the skies got darker and there was a lightening show with a bit of thunder. You would have thought the fish would have gone berserk, but I caught one last silver bullhead and that was it.
This fish was about 10" and I would have kept it had I gotten a few more, but back to the lake it went. Rapala Boy and his dad really didn't catch anything. It started to sprinkle a little and so I bailed before it started pouring.

Another Minnesocold Bass Fishing Blog

Shane Hildebrandt

A Few Bullheads...

I didn't put the Flash Card back in the camera and when I discovered this at the lake I elected not to take any pictures because I wasn't sure if I had the cord to connect the camera to the computer. Since I have gotten home a search has turned up no cord; So if I had taken pics, I wouldn't be able to share them.

Anyway my first stop tonight was Rock Lake around 6:30PM and that was a bust; Rock Dock not in. Next I headed to the GOMH and nobody was there. I started on the SW side fishing a white Terminator jig with the larger size Zoom Speed Craw for dogfish. I didn't catch anything and switched to the 1/16oz Panfish Chatterbait and on one of my first few casts I got an 11" jumpin bullhead. A guy, who I will call V from here on out here at the blog, showed up to fish, so I headed over the SE side to try my luck first dogfish with the Terminator jig. I didn't catch anything so I switched up to the Chatterbait and I don't think I had any bites on that. I was thinking about going to NE side, but a guy showed up and took that spot, so I stayed put. I started fishing a glow Cubby with a minnow and I got a couple of small jumpin bullheads on that. V pulled in a couple of jumpin bullheads, then a tiger bullhead, and then amazingly enough he pulled in a silver bullhead. He missed a couple of bites then got another silver bullhead, then another one and then his spot seemed to peter out. My bobber got knocked upwards and I set the hook into a silver bullhead which I kept to give to V. A short time later my bobber started moving off sideways and I got a small silver bullhead that I threw back. About 5 minutes later I got a couple of bites and missed them, but the 3rd time was the charm and I brought in 8" orange bullhead, which I kept for V. I would miss one more silver as it was really dark. The bite was so slow V and I called it a night at the same time around 9:15PM maybe a little after.

GOMH Morning

At 6AM I headed out the door for a quick trip to the GOMH.

Look what I caught:
This thick 18inch bullhead fell for a 1/16oz Panfish Chatterbait.

Another bullhead to fall for the Chatterbait was this guy:
The pink jig head with the worm was stuck in one of it's pectoral fins. It obviously got snagged there and somehow the line which was kind of thick must have found it's way into the pikes maw and got sawed off. The yellow thing in the lower left corner is the Chatterbait minus it's minnow that got all ripped up in taking the hook out of the toothy bullheads mouth.

All in all I got a couple of jumpin bullhead and the toothy bullhead. No sign of silvers and it started raining so I got out of there.

Bought My 2010 MN Walleye Stamp...

Just Fishin'

Tonight I got out right about 6PM and headed to Bear Traxx to buy my 2010 Fishing Licence. Once again this year I paid the extra money to get the optional walleye stamp and yes I paid the extra $2 on top of that to get the actual stamp. From Bear Traxx I hit up Bulldog but the wind was blowing in pretty good and nothing happened.

Next I went to Rock Lake. Rock Dock still not in. I actually talked to a DNR guy today and he says they are working on it, they have 100+ docks to put in and it will get done when they get to it, which should happen by fishing opener May 15th. Well I would hope so. Personally, I find the dock situation this year to be a bit ridiculous, the ice has almost been out for a month. At 5 a day they should have at least 125 done by now and being that Platte, Sullivan, Rock and Erskine are to the South of most lakes, they should be among the 1st to be done.

Anyway I caught a couple of small pike at Rock
This one took a brown grub on one of my first few casts.

A little while later I got one that was a bit bigger.
Note to self: After catching every pike look to see if your line is frayed.

Next I decided to hit of Jenny's, but that was a bust so I headed to the GOMH. Grumpy Old Man Willard was there sitting in his mini-van, Bucket Man was fishing the SE side, and a family was on the NE side. After talking to Willard I got my stuff and decided to start on the SE side trying for dogfish with a blk/red Monsoor Swim Jig with blk/red fleck Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw. No sign's of doggy's and I caught 2 small jumpin bullheads. With the area fully covered I then headed over to the SW side and gave a 1/16oz Panfish Chatterbait a try. I got 3 jumpin bullheads on that and had a few little bites that didn't hook up. After a long time with no fish, I switched over to a glow Cubby with a minnow and I got a couple of jumpin bullheads on that.

Bucket Man and the Family on the NE side left, so I decided to give the NE side a try. The Chatterbait came up with nothing as did the Cubby and a minnow. I got a bite on the Monsoor Swim Jig, but the hook broke. Those Monsoor Swim Jig hooks are thin to begin with and prone to rust; I have had a number of them break on me. With my broken jig I called it a night.

Tonight's Fishing Report

Today I went to the Chiropractor and talked to him about my fishing related back pain issues and he is pretty sure he can do something about it. Getting some relief would sure be nice.

Today was sunny and mild with fairly light winds, so I was hoping the fishing was going to start changing for the better. I got out of the house around 6PM and headed to Rock Lake.
I started out by keeping my streak of little fish alive with this pike. Other than that Rock was dead and the "Rock Dock" is still not in the water. I have initiated trying to get hold of the DNR to find out what the deal is with the docks not being out yet, but I haven't heard back.

About 7:15PM I headed to the GOMH and the only person there was Grumpy Old Man Willard who was sitting in his mini-van. After talking to Willard for a few minutes I headed down to fish and decided to start on the SE side and see if I might be able to catch a dogfish. I didn't catch anything, so I made the decision to head to the NE side and try there for dogfish. I got bit right away and got this scraggly looking bullhead.
No the fish is not dead, it just has a dead right eye and it looks like it has paid the price for not being able to see on that side.

On a subsequent cast my 3/8oz black/red Terminator jig with black/red Chiggar Craw got bit off my something. Unfortunately I had no more black/red Terminator jigs with me. So I went back to the car and got my "bullhead" color All Terrain Swim Jig. I call it bullhead color because that is what I think it's shade of brown would represent. I think I got one jumping bullhead and some little fish of some kind were grabbing the grub or the skirt. I made a switch to the Storm Wildeye Swim Shad to see if these little fish would hit that but I came up with nothing. Next I tied on the smallest size panfish Chatterbait and I caught a couple of small jumpin bullheads on that. There were some swirls that I thought could be dogfish and I wasn't getting anything to go on the bullhead All Terrain, so I went to the car and got a white Terminator and tipped it with a blk/red Chiggar Craw missing one claw. I think I got 3 jumpin bullheads on this and no bites from a doggy even though I think there is a pretty fair chance I was casting at one due to a bigger fish that swirled while chasing baitfish. I also saw something surface out in a place where I've seen dogfish before, but that was beyond casting range.

It was getting to be silver bullhead time so I switched to a glow Cubby with a minnow and promptly caught a couple of more jumpin bullheads. I went back over to the SW side, but it was dead.

Beautiful Full Moon rise tonight.

Tonight's Adventures in Mini's...

I didn't get out of the house till after 6:15PM tonight and my first stop was at Bulldog Lake to try for Dogfish but the wind was blowing in pretty good and nothing was going on. Next I headed to the Rock PA where the "Rock Dock" is still sitting up on shore. This is getting ridiculous, the area docks were in the water at this time last year and the ice had not even been off the lakes for a week. The ice has been off the lakes 27 days so far.

Anyway at Rock I caught a dink on a brown grub.


I didn't stay at Rock long before heading to the GOMH. When I arrived Grumpy Old Man Willard was in his truck and a guy who from here on out will be referred to as MC was fishing with his 2 sons on the SE side. MC said they had gotten a few jumpin bullheads. I started out by throwing a Storm Wildeye Swim Shad but as usual lately the fish wanted nothing to do with it. On my first cast with a glow Cubby the bobber was in the water for about 3 seconds before it went down and I brought in a 13inch class jumpin bullhead. I had a few bites and missed them and MC and his boys pulled in a couple more jumpin bullheads. I got another bite and landed this tiger bullhead.
This was to be my last fish of the night though I did get a couple more bites including one that I fought about half way in that was probably a jumpin bullhead, but might have been a giant silver bullhead.

MC managed to catch 1 silver bullhead and when he left he put it back in the lake.

BP Blast From the Past

This is a picture of me taken probably in 1993 or 1994 on Thunder Lake in Todd County. While working at Camp Shamineau I met Rick Recker, a former Shamineau Counselor, who loved to fish and who's family had a lake place on Thunder Lake. Fishing with Rick are some good memories from what was a very difficult time in my life.

Man do I wish I still had that flannel hoodie. I literally wore that thing until it was in taters.

The Minnesota Bowfin Club(MBC)...

I am the clubs new President and I have started a new MBC Website/Blog

Have added a Facebook Page:
Minnesota Bowfin Club

Promote Your Page Too

And started a Facebook Group for the Club.

Everyone is free to join, even if you don't fish in Minnesota but live release those bowfin.

Forgot my Camera, Didn't Matter...

Actually I probably could claim one little silver bullhead as a catch. I got one bite and reeled the little bullhead right up to the rocks, but as I went to lift the fish over the rocks it came off. Fishing was indeed slow just 1 toothy bullhead on the SW side with me, Kyle, The Grandma who doesn't eat fish, and a teenager fishing it. 3 people on the SE side caught a few jumpin bullheads, a toothy bullhead, and a couple of silvers.

Illinois High School Bass Fishing

The blog you want is Lunker Hunt....

DNF

Instead of being out of here by 5PM like he said he was going to, Pete spent all day putzing and didn't get out of here until a quarter to 9PM.

Slow GOMH

I think Pete and I arrived at the GOMH around 6:30PM and we set up on the SW side. By this time in the day it was mild with a fairly significant wind out of the SE that would die towards sunset. There were 2 guys on the SW side and a group of 5 somewhat young (late teen early 20's) guys and girls on the SE side.

I started off the night with my smallest jumpin bullhead of the year so far.


Eventually Pete started getting some action from the jumpin bullheads, including this nice 2+pounder.



Eventually the 2 guys down with us left. Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up and so did Rapala Boy and his Dad. About 7:30PM Rapala Boy's younger sister and Mom showed up.

Generally speaking the fishing was slow. I missed a few bites including 1 good silver bullhead for sure and all I caught after the jb was this one small bullhead:


Pete had the hotter hand with about 4 jumpin bullheads and 4 silver bullheads (2 of which were keepers). Rapala Boy's Dad caught a couple of keeper silvers and one throw back, Rapala Boy got a couple of keeper silvers, and a boat with a couple of teenagers brought in 3 silver bullheads for Rapala Boys Family. A guy who was on the SE side gave Rapala boys family another silver and Pete gave them his 2 keepers.

Pete and I left a little after 9PM

As promised I got a picture of "My spot." Can you tell which 2 rocks I stand on?

Major Announcement...

I will be taking over the web presence and administration of the Minnesota Bowfin Club.

Their old website is here...

At this point I am not sure if I will be able to update that website or not. Irregardless I will start a Blogger blog for the MBC and will introduce a presence on Facebook.

The Club started a message board last year, but it seems to be twisting in obscurity.

Anyway if you have never read my blogged essay: BP on Dogfish (Bowfin) Fishing I recommend you do. I have just updated and added content to the post.

Kids Night at the GOMH

I should have known something was up when a young girl was getting minnows ahead of me at Bear Traxx tonight. Pete and I got out of the house around 6PM stopped at Bear Traxx for bait and were at the GOMH by 6:30PM. When we arrived Grumpy Old Man Willard was there along with the lady (grandmother it turns out) and girl who were at the GOMH the other night; the lady knows Willard. Also Rapala Boy was there with his Dad and younger sister. Another young kid showed up around 7:15PM.

Pete took up a spot on the SW side of the bridge and I just watched for a while as the SW side was kind of full until Rapala Boy and the young girl from Bear Traxx went over to the SE side. I was fishing in "my spot" by 7PM. "My spot" is a couple of rocks that are easy to stand on towards the Western most area of fishable water before the bullrushes start. Maybe I will take a picture of the rocks (stay tuned for that).

As per usual things started slow. Some of the others missed bites and Pete and I had break offs where we had to work to retrieve our bobbers. I believe the Grandma got bit of once or twice. I had yet a second Cubby stolen by a pike and I had enough of that, so I tied on a green hook.

I got my first bite after 7:30PM by a small toothy bullhead. That was followed up by a couple of tiger bullheads (Yes I said it, tiger bullheads). Then I got into 3 jumpin bullheads, including this 17inch class fish.


The silver bullhead fishing was slow on the SW side. I think Rapala Boy's family caught 3 maybe 4 silvers. The grandma and young girl may have been skunked completely, they left around 8PM and Pete got completely skunked.

I got this one huge bullhead.

Kind of Cool, Fishing OK

( First Silver Bullhead of the night for me)

Today was much cooler than yesterday and when I arrived at the GOMH at 6:30PM it was already time for the winter coat and hat. When I arrived there was a guy fishing the SE side with his son and a guy (Chris) and his girlfriend (Chantel) fishing on the SW side. Those two had been there since 8 in the morning and had nothing to show for it except about 8 jumpin bullheads. Chris was at the GOMH last night fishing the North side and got 7 silver bullheads and said a family of 6 caught about 12 of them. Chris was a really nice guy and since Willard and Lee Ander were no where to be found and I wasn't going to clean fish, I told Chris I would give him what I caught. The guy on the SE side left a little after 7PM, probably because he had his young son who wasn't fishing with him.

Around 7:15pm Chris caught a jumpin bullhead and I caught one shortly after that. Around 7:30pm Chantel brought in the first silver bullhead of the night and I got my first, pictured, about 10 minutes later after Pete had arrived. I gave my fish to Chris. Chris managed to bring in a nice 18+ inch jumpin bullhead; He small eyed it as a 2lb fish when it was over 3lbs easy. I caught another small jumpin bullhead and Chris caught a perch. Chantel got a silver then I got a silver, than Pete got a silver and it was sort of on, especially for Chantel. I caught yet another jumper than a silver while Chantel nailed several silvers and then broke her line on a bigger fish. The action seemed to go in flurries. I ended up giving Chris 3 silvers, Pete 1, and 1 or 2 went back because they were to small.

Between last night and tonight Chris and Chantel were able to put together a limit a piece and they left as soon as they got #20, which they reached with the help of my minnows because they had run out.

Once it got to dark to see Pete's bobber we left, right around 9PM.

Maybe the Best Photo Ever...

(Click to Enlarge)

Good Night @ GOMH

(Grumpy Old Man Willard helps GOM Lee Ander almost land a jumpin bullhead, right after I took this shot the JB came off and dropped down into the water. The whole scenario was quite comical as the fish was too big for Lee Ander to reel up and then with Willard handling the fish in slow motion about 3 inches at a time)

Tonight I had to get out the door in time to hit up the Gross Store because I was down to 4 minnows left and Bear Traxx is closed on Tuesday's. I got in Gross' with 10 minutes to spare at 5:50PM. I noticed these crappie minnows were larger than the one's I've been getting from Bear Traxx. I headed right to the GOMH.

There was a pretty good crowd at the Grumpy Old Man Hole when I arrived tonight. Grumpy Old Men Willard was there of coarse and GOM Lee Ander was fishing from the bridge. There were only 2 guys on the SW side, so that is where I went. The first fish brought in was the jumpin bullhead at the top of this post.

Things went pretty much according to form tonight, fishing started off very slow and got better towards dark. Around 6:30PM Bass Pundit reader Mike B. came through in his Tuffy. He had caught some small sunfish up in Platte and was now going to give Sullivan a try.

A little after 7PM Bucket Man showed up and by 7:30PM his sidekick Kyle was there and Pete arrived right about this time. At this point my bobber had gone under 3 times, but I came up empty each time, probably orange bullheads. An older guy on Pete and my left brought in the first silver bullhead of the night and it was a dandy that I am sure was over 12 inches. My bobber went down and I landed my first fish which was a little toothy bullhead. I think I then landed a couple of jumpin bullheads before I pulled in my first silver bullhead. Some kids on the SE side started getting some orange bullheads.

The bite for silver bullheads was a bit better tonight, I think I landed 7 throwing 2 back and I probably missed 5 good bites. I believe Pete landed 5 keeping 3 and Bucket Man gave us 3 which brought our total to 11.

Will the landing docks go into area lakes today?

This week maybe???

It ridiculous, ice has been out for 21 days now and the docks are not out yet.

Update: Not out today!

GOMH Report w/Pete

Pete went and did Guard stuff in St. Cloud and wasn't back by after 5PM so I headed out around 5:30PM. The Bulldog Lake access was occupied so I headed to the GOMH. Grumpy Old Man Willard was there sitting in his mini-van. An older couple was fishing on the SW side and a couple of teenagers were on the SE side. After talking to Willard for a bit I headed down to get a place on the rocks on the SW side. The older couple said they were not catching anything. I started off with the Storm Wildeye Swim Shad which proved futile. A couple times the older ladies bobber went down but she missed the fish. Eventually I caught a jumpin bullhead on a pink Puddlejumper with a minnow. Tonight I learned those Puddlejumpers are not a very sturdy plastic. Not long after that the older guy got a jumpin bullhead. About 15 minutes later my bobber went down again thanks to a jumpin bullhead which I landed. Around 7:45 the older couple left and I moved my stuff onto the stairs. As I was getting set up a lady and her daughter showed up and Willard knew them so he came down for a profanity filled chat about some of the things that have happened in the aftermath of his brothers death in December. The girl caught a couple of orange bullheads.

I pulled in yet another jumpin bullhead and was bringing in another one when Pete showed up with his dog Sandy. Naturally Pete came down to fish. I think I got two more jumpin bullheads, including one nice 17inch class fish before Pete pulled in the first silver bullhead of the night. Right after that I brought in my first orange bullhead of the season. Inexplicably the lady and her daughter went to fish on the North side just as it was starting to get good. I landed a silver bullhead which ended up breaking my line, so I had to waste time retying. I got back after it and got another silver bullhead. When I was taking it off the hook, the hook ended up going right into my index finger and the bottom of the fingernail. I believe this was the first time in my life I have ever been hooked beyond the barb. I thought it wasn't going to come out easy, but Pete was able to pull it with almost no pain. Pete caught another silver bullhead and I missed a few bites and that was it even though we stayed a while after dark.

That's A Lot of Accidents!!!

Minnesota has a closed season for largemouth and smallmouth bass and according to MN fishing regulations "You may not intentionally fish for any species during it's closed season." As you may know I hold this law in contempt.

Updated to add: The actual rule/law is 6262.0100 GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON TAKING FISH Subp. 5.B Possession of fish while on state waters, which says:

"A person shall not angle for, including catch-and-release, or reduce to possession any species during its closed season."

Anyway I had a thought the other day, that touches on this issue.

I wonder just how many bass are caught in Minnesota by accident before the bass season opens? I think the number is probably is probably well over 100,000 and could conceivably be more than a million bass getting caught accidentally in the closed season.

The question then occurred to me, when something becomes a frequent occurrence at what point does it stop becoming an "accident" and instead enter the realm of being an expectation?

I think it is not so much an accident but instead is more of an expectation that out of season bass will be caught while fishing for panfish in the Spring. For instance when I fish at the GOMH for crappies I would be shocked if some bass were not mixed in with the crappies; It is the nature of the location both species are there schooled together. Growing up fishing for crappies on Sylvia/Twin lake in Wright County it was the exact same thing. You never knew if the next bite was a bass, crappie, or sunfish. I am sure there probably are places where you do not have such intense intermingling of species such as these examples. For instance the North end of West Rush Lake in Chisago County comes to mind. For some reason the panfish load in thick on that North end, but bass not so much.

If it can be established that it is an expectation that closed season bass will be caught by people after panfish than it is an awfully thin line that separates legal fishing from the illegal fishing of intentionally fishing for a species during it's closed season. If there is an expectation of something happening, than I would say there IS an intention to see that thing happen if you are engaging in the activity that brings the expectation. When you intentionally go fishing for bass there is always the expectation that you will catch them, whether you do or not.

Is it really possible to have an expectation about catching fish, without the intent too?

A Little Better Bite Tonight

I was out the door around 5PM and headed over the Jenny's to pick up an apple pie. Since I was as Jenny's I decided to fish from her lake access and I was rewarded with this bass on a brown grub.

Next I headed to Bulldog where I got a couple of bites but no hookups. Willard showed up and was going to give Bulldog a try for some sunfish. I threw about 3 more casts and headed to the GOMH. When I arrived there wasn't a single person there but there were a couple of boats in the Sullivan channel, naturally I took up my place on the SW side. I didn't get any bites for about an hour until I pulled in a small jumpin bullhead on a Storm Wildeye Swim Shad. Around 6:30PM Bucket Man's side kick, who I found out is named Kyle, arrived. There was also a couple on the SE side and they caught a couple of jumpin bullheads. I got a small toothy bullhead and made the mistake of trying to swing it up over the rocks and my line broke; Bye Bye Swim Shad.

A little after 7PM some guys out in the closest boat started pulling in some orange bullheads, jumpin bullheads, and even a silver bullhead. I think I had some orange bullheads messing with my minnow from time to time. Eventually my bobber went down and I got another jumpin bullhead. Kyle got a perch then the first silver bullhead and shortly after that Bucket Man showed up along with the family with the lady that fishes from the bridge. Bucket Man caught a silver right away and about that time Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up. Besides Willard there were a bunch of spectators tonight including an old guy who was giving Willard the business to everybody's amusement; It was a good old fashioned Grumpy Old Man throwdown basically. At some point I got two silver bullheads which I gave to Willard and one more jumpin bullhead. The guy and his buddy from yesterday showed up and decided to fish once they saw there was a bit of action to be had. I would say the number of silver bullheads caught more than doubled from last night. After it got kind of dark the bite seemed to quit and I left a little before 9PM.

A Bit of a Disappointment

Today the weather was a very nice Spring day, lighter winds and sun. You would think on a day like today the fishing would have improved, but instead it kind of took a step back as far as the crappies are concerned.

Here is the days story.

I hit the water before sunrise hoping some of them silver bullheads would be active in the morning. They weren't. I took up the SW side of the Grumpy Old Man Hole and all I could catch were a few jumpin bullheads. I got one that was 18+" and I think this one was 17."
Right around sunrise another guy showed up and started fishing the SE side. He did get a silver bullhead along with some jumpin bullheads and an orange bullhead or two. Eventually a guy who was fishing the SW side of the GOMH last night showed up. I didn't stick around long after he got there. I went home and went to bed.

About 4PM I headed out the door to get minnows, drop fish off at Jenny's, and go fishing. The Bulldog access had people so I moved right to the the GOMH. I was surprised that when I arrived no one was fishing there and so I set up on the SW side. I caught two toothy bullheads right away and then it was nothing for a very long time.
As the day wore on several boats arrived caught nothing an left and people started accumulating on the Shores of the GOMH. Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up and I gave him a tip about some orange bullheads and he actually fished, catching 1 real small orange bullhead. Also tonight was the first time I've seen Grumpy Old Man Lee Ander come to fish. Lee Ander got a jumpin bullhead soon after he started fishing. By the time prime time arrived there were 7 other guys on the SW side with me including the dude from last night/this morning, his buddy, Bucket Man, Rapala Boy and his dad. I think there were 3 guys including one of Lee Anders grandsons on the SE side and a guy or two on the bridge. Eventually a few jumpin bullheads started to get caught and a father and son next to me brought in quite a few orange bullheads on what looked like small hair jigs below a bobber. I managed to get 2 jumpin bullheads and missed a couple of other bites that very well could have been orange bullheads. For all those guys fishing I think I saw 7 keeper silver bullheads landed before I left a little after 9PM. I didn't get a single silver bullhead, not that I would have kept one for myself if I had.

A Little Better Bite...

Once again today it was windy and it was cooler than it has been in a few days, but 57°F is still 2 degrees above average. I think the warm weather we have been having is starting to have an effect and the fishing is improving.

Today I got out around 5PM and got 2 bass while trying for Dogfish at Bulldog. I then went to Rock and it was dead, the Rock Dock still not in. Went back to Bulldog didn't get anything, so I headed to the GOMH. The were two guys and Bucket Man fishing on the SW side on no one on the SE side, so that is where I went. I started poppin bullheads right away on a 2" Storm Wildeye Swim Shad. The first one was a small jumpin bullhead that managed to fight his way into the bullrushes. I was concerned for a bit that I might end up breaking him off because of the 4lb test Fireline, but I was patient and eventually was able to pull him in. I got 2 small toothy bullheads and one more jumper on the Swim Shad. I switched up to the glow Cubby and a minnow under a bobber and it took about 4 seconds before my bobber went under with another jumpin bullhead. I proceeded to catch a couple more jumpers pretty quick then it slowed down. At some point a Dad and his young son and daughter came down to fish with me on the SE side. I offered for them to fish on the rocks where the fishing is pretty snag free, but the boy made a cast right into the junk and came out with nice orange bullhead. The kids somehow managed to pull a few more fish from the junk when they weren't snagged up.

At some point Rapala Boy showed up but instead of coming over to fish next to me with his Rapala, he went on the SW side and fished with a bobber. He caught a nice orange bullhead and a few silvers as well.

At one point the bobber went down and I knew I had tied into a good one.
She went 18.5"

As the sun got lower the guys on the SW side started landing a few silver bullheads. I was not paying attention and my bobber went under. I looked over to see where the bobber was and it was nowhere to be seen, so I reeled in some slack and set the hook into my first silver bullhead of the night.
Next fish was another jumpin bullhead. But then I found a good spot and nailed 2 silvers pretty quickly and then it slowed for me, but the guys on the SW side were getting em pretty consistent. I managed 2 more silvers close to the bridge when it was dark enough that I needed a lighted bobber.
For the night at the GOMH I had:
5 Silver Bullheads
7 Jumpin Bullheads
2 Toothy Bullheads

Better than Nothing...

Today I did just a bit of duty in the Tackle Warehouse putting my new booty away. I ended up not getting out until after 5:30PM. It was in the mid-60's today with a strong West wind. I started out after dogfish on Bulldog Lake. I caught about a 15 inch bass. Grumpy Old Man Willard stopped to talk on his way to the GOMH. A little after 6PM I headed to Rock lake to see if the "Rock Dock" was in yet and to do a little fishing. The dock was not in yet. I managed to catch this 24" pike on a sparkle Cubby and minnow.
Around 7PM I decided to give Bulldog another try. On about my 3rd cast with a black/red Terminator jig with black/red Zoom Speed Craw I had a good bite that ripped all but just a little piece of the Speed Craw from the jig. Could this have been a dogfish?

Anyway I didn't have any Speed Craws with, so I went to casting with a brown grub. While I was fishing I was surprised when BP blog reader Mike B. stopped to talk. He had been out fishing on Platte Lake today. Anyway we had a good chat and when I showed him my chewed off Speed Craw he offered me a bag of black/red Berkley Powerbait Chiggar Craws that he had in his vehicle. I accepted the offer. Mike had somewhere he had to be, so off he went and I put the Chiggar Craw on the Terminator jig and on the very first cast I felt a solid thump, but it wasn't a dogfish; It was a nice 17+ in Largie. I fished at Bulldog until about 7:45PM then headed to the GOMH.

There were a bunch of people (lots of kids) fishing at the GOMH. I saw Rapala boy from last night bring in a pike. Bucket Man was on the SW side fishing from a folding chair and I saw him miss a silver bullhead. A little while later the guy next to him brought in a silver bullhead. I elected not to fish but just watch and by the time I left around 8:30PM there were a few more bullheads in the bucket.

It's Slow...

Today it got to 70, but the wind was blowing hard again out of the SE so things are not warming up as quickly as they would with less wind. Anyway I did catch fish. The first was this 19.75" hawg from Bulldog Lake.
It bit on a brown grub and was the only fish I got at Bulldog. This is the longest bass I have caught in at least the last 2 years.

The wind was blowing in at Rock and I caught nothing.

When I arrived at the GOMH around 5:30PM there were a couple of people on the SE side and Bucket Man and another guy on the SW side. I tried the NE side but got nothing. I then put my rod back in the car and elected to watch for a while. Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up and kept me company. I saw a few jumpin bullheads and toothy bullhead get caught on the SE side and a couple of jumpin bullheads were caught on the SW side. The most bullheads were caught by a kid who was throwing what looked like a small Rapala X-Rap. Willard was giving the kid a hard time, which was entertaining. At about 7:30PM one of the guys on the SW side and his kid left, allowing me to have a spot to fish. I caught a jumpin bullhead pretty quick on my glow Cubby with a minnow. I then proceeded to miss a few bites which stinks because they were probably silver bullheads and you just don't get very many chances at them right now. It was getting dark and Bucket Man was using a lighted bobber when he got a bite and landed a silver bullhead. He left at about 8:40PM and gave the fish to me. It was nice out so I planned to fish well after dark. At about 9:20PM my lighted bobber went under and I landed a silver bullhead. I stayed until 10PM but didn't get another bite. Had I got #3 I would have brought fish home to clean but as it was, tonight these guys got a reprieve.

Bait Monkey Got Loose Today

I stopped into Trails End Bass Pro and Capra's today to see if I could find any good deals and I think I did.


1st Stop was at Trails End Bass Pro where I got 2x 3/4oz Frenzy Rattl' R's. Can't say I have ever seen that size sold in MN before. I also picked up a Blaze Lures popper mostly because it was sporting two VMC feathered trebles. I have had some success with Blaze Lures before and I figured the feathered trebles were worth about the asking price for the lure. I also picked up 2 3/8oz Leathel Weapon 2 Swim Jigs; I have been hearing good things about these jigs lately and I liked the color so I thought I'd give them a try. I wish I had held off because they were 50 cents cheaper at Capra's where I picked up another one.

At Capra's I picked up their last Berkley Frenzy Popper which was on clearance for $2.79, SCORE! Apparently I just missed out on getting several more as about an hour before I got there a guy bought several of them. One of the interesting thing about Capra's is that they sell used tackle and I was able to snap up a couple of Smithwick Devils Horses for about 25% off new, 5 Rapala Husky Jerks for more than 50% off new, 3 Terminator Spinnerbaits for 75% off new, 1 Strike King Spinnerbait for 60% off new, 3 All Terrain AT Jigs for 40% off new and a Smithwick Rogue for 50% off new. All of these lures are prone to theft by toothy critter, so if I do lose these it won't hurt so bad.

Doh!!!

Single Speck

This bullhead is the only fish that bit for me tonight.

I arrived at the GOMH around 6:30PM and there were 3 people on the SE side, someone on the NE side and only one guy on the SW corner, so I quickly moved in next to him. CO Kuske was also there when I arrived. The guy next to me had a silver bullhead in the bucket and he got one more before he left at about 7PM. The people on the SE side got nothing.

Conditions were overcast and breezy out of the NE. The wind was cool but not cold.

Lantern Man showed up at about 8:20PM and took up on the SE side. As I was leaving at 8:45PM he had a 3lb-ish dogfish break him off.

A Major Award

(Click to Enlarge)

Through Facebook/email I have been participating in contests Strike King Lure Company puts on for FLW Tour and BASS Elite Series Events. Basically you email Strike King who you think will win, the highest finishing Strike King Pro Staffer, winning weight and big fish weight.

Saturday I was awaken by the dogs barking for the FedEx Man. I was surprised to be receiving a good sized box from Strike King Lure Company; I was not notified about winning, but I am very sure it was for the FLW Tour at Lake Norman.

So here is my haul (easily over $150 worth of Stuff)
Strike King Cap, Strike King Decals
Mangrove Pro Sunglasses, 10" Rage Thumper Worms
Rage Smokin Rooster, Rage Hawg
Rage Eel, Caffine Shad
5" Ocho's, 7" Ocho's
Perfect Plastics Rodent, 2X Pro Model S3 Crankbaits
2X Pro Model S5 Crankbaits, 4X Red Eye Shad
3X Sexy Swimmer Swimbait, Hack Attack Jig
Tour Grade Swim Jig, Tour Grade Trailer Hooks
Premier Plus Spinnerbait, Burner Spinnerbait
Bottom Dweller Spinnerbait

Now, I am Strike King!!!

BIG THANK YOU TO STRIKE KING LURE COMPANY!!!

This is the 4th time since I've had the blog that I have won big in an online contest:
Spro Online Giveaway...
Bassholes Bassmaster Classic Top 12 Contest...
Fishing Hype Giveaway...

Update: I have spent some time in the Tackle Warehouse today and all the lures, along with a few others I had gotten recently are now in their places. Now only 48 days until Bass Opener.

The View From the GOMH

This is pretty much the Southern view from the Grumpy Old Man Hole when I arrived a little before 6:30PM.

The SW side- Bucket Man and two others

The SE side

The Sullivan Channel

Tonight when arrived the whole South side was covered up, so I stood on the bridge and watched 1 orange bullhead, 1 toothy bullhead, and 3 jumpin bullheads get caught on the SE side.

Finally at about 7:45PM Bucket Man left and I went over to take his spot on the SW side. I asked the older guy who was over there if he had caught anything at all and he said no. Not 30 seconds later his bobber went down and he landed a silver bullhead. About 5 minutes later I got a bite and landed a silver bullhead, which I gave to the guy next to me who had one. I proceeded to miss a couple of bites and a guy fishing off the bridge also got a silver bullhead.

Note- Several jumpin bullheads were caught on the North side of the bridge, including a big one by Lantern Man

It got dark and everyone left but LM, who ended up fishing on the SE side. He caught two toothy bullheads after dark. Eventually he came over to the SW side with me and we chatted and watched our lighted bobbers. Sometime after 9:15PM I finally got a bite and landed a silver bullhead, which I gave to LM. LM missed a couple of bites. Finally I left at about 10:30PM.

Rock & GOMH

After dropping off the filleted crappies at Jenny's I headed over to the Rock Lake public access, this was just after 5PM. For about 45 minutes nothing was happening then I caught this pike and bass within 10 minutes of each other but with casts in opposite directions.


The Pike was about 23 inches and the bass was only 14.5" but super thick, a very healthy fish well over 2lbs. Both were caught on a brown grub.

At 6:30PM I headed to the GOMH. There were 2 boats on the Sullivan side, but they both took off as I was unloading my gear. There was a guy on the SW side and a couple of people with him were on the North side. I took up the SE side and proceeded to start fishing a 2" Storm Wildeye Swim Shad. The other guy and his friends had not caught anything and he didn't see the boats get anything either. About 15 minutes in I got bit off by a pike. After about another 15 minutes the others left, so I took my gear and went over to the SW side.

Some guy showed up and asked if I had gotten any crappies, naturally I told him no. He went back to his truck and got a rod and started fishing the SE side. Soon after that Willard showed up and got out of his mini-van and headed out to talk with us. Apparently the guy had a bite but missed it and was gone in half an hour. Nothing was happening for me as I switched between the Wildeye and a glow Cubby Mini-Mite tipped with a minnow. Eventually the guy and his wife that have been fishing at the GOMH in recent days showed up. He fished the SE side and she fished from the bridge per usual. They both got jumpin bullheads eventually. Around 7:30PM Grumpy Old Man Lee Anders son-in-law showed up with one of his boys. I didn't realize who it was at first and I told them I hadn't gotten any crappies yet, but when I realized who it was I told him about the 3 I got last night.

It had to be about 7:45PM when I got my first bite and it turned out to be this 12.5" silver bullhead.
A little while later Lee Anders grandson missed a bite. Soon after that a couple more of Lee Anders grandsons showed up. They had been fishing Fish Lake by Pierz and catching a bunch of crappies that were to small to keep.

It got basically to dark to see my bobber and I didn't realize the bobber had gone under. I lifted my rod there was a nice 10" silver bullhead had inhaled the Cubby on the end of my line. At that point I switched to the lighted bobber. Maybe half an hour later my bobber started bouncing around and eventually the fish took it and I landed a 8" silver bullhead. It had swallowed the Custom Jigs Glow Demon and I ripped it's gills up pretty good retrieving the Demon, so I kept it. That was it, another night, another 3 silver bullheads to clean.