Two Silver bullheads and a Jumper

Today the weather was cooler than expected, so tonight I didn't head to the Grumpy Old Man Hole until 6:30PM.  There was only 1 guy there.  The wind was blowing almost straight in from the South so I couldn't cast far.  The other guy eventually went to fish on the North side.  At 8PM the "Meat Guy" an his girlfriend showed up and took the SE side.  He had a jumpin' bullhead get off on his first cast.  A couple of minutes later he reeled in another one.  About 5 minutes later I got a 17 incher.  About 5 minutes later the girlfriend reeled in a silver and then they got another 1.  I switched from the smoke to the glow Cubby body and was rewarded with a silver bullhead.  As I was about to grab it, my line broke just like it did the other night.  The fish hit the ground and the jig popped out of it's mouth.  Fortunately I was able to find it this time.  About this time the Johnson's showed up to fish.  While I was retying I heard a couple fish get caught on the SE side.  Everyone was other there.  One the Johnson group got his lighted bobber stuck on a cattail stock and broke off.  He went in to get it all the way up to his chest.  Once "Meat" Guy and girlfriend left their were 5 people fishing over there.  They would bring one in every 5 to 10 minutes.  I got another one around 9:10PM.  I stayed until 9:30PM.

Drats

Dan Morehead missed the Top 10 cut at Table Rock by 1 place.  Those extra 200 points would have been useful.

Bass Snatchers Meeting Today

Apparently we are going to have a re-vote on the 5 fish limit this time with everyone aware the vote is taking place.  I have no idea how it's gonna go.

Also we are having the liar's meeting where we hear how and where the Top 3 in each tournament fished last year.

The Vote:  As of right now it is 14 to 10 in favor of going back to the 6 fish limit.  But the votes won't be totaled until 2 weeks from today.  I think I know of 3 votes to keep the 5 fish limit, so it's gonna be close.

I changed my vote from for the 5 fish limit to the 6 fish limit because it would mess of some of the stats at the club website.

A Little Rain and Bad Luck

I headed out at 6PM and I was the only one at the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  About 6:20 it started to sprinkle and then became a steady light rain.  I missed my first 3 hits, they were on the SE side so I shifted all my stuff there.  First fish was this pretty green jumpin bullhead that hit a jig and minnow beneath a bobber.

I then got a little pike on the jig and minnow

The toothy bullhead actually broke my line but that was after I had him up on shore.  It did almost get back in the lake though.  Quite a bit later the bobber went under and I brought up this silver bullhead.

Unfortunately when I was lifting it in my line broke and the jig went flying into the rocks and disappeared.  Because it was cold and getting dark I had trouble trying to put on a new jig.  Eventually I gave up trying and threw a beetle spin after about 5 minutes of that I gave up for the evening.  It's really unfortunate I couldn't get another jig tied because I think I might have gotten more.

My Table Rock FLW Fantasy Team

I thought my line up sucked, but then I saw what Web Guy Greg  Huff and Rich Lindgren had and then I didn't feel so bad.

5th Annual Fishing With The Pro's Benefit for the Minnesota Fishing Museum April 13th

www.mnfishingmuseum.com

Something Anyway at Rock and the GOMH

Today was sunny but cool.  I headed out just after 5PM and went to Rock first.  I immediately caught this pike that had a hook in it's jaws.  It  must have broken off some how by the swivel.  I was hoping it was going to have a Cubby that I had cut off last week, but it didn't.  That was my only bite.

At 6PM I headed to the Grumpy Old Man Hole and there was 2 guys on the SW side and 2 on the SE side.  I went on the SW side.  Neither group had gotten anything.  Around 6:30 a guy got a jumpin bullhead. They left 10 minutes later.  At 7PM the guys next to me left.  2 other guys showed up around 7:15PM.  It was starting to get dark and I got a jumpin bullhead that got off right next to shore.  About 5 minutes later I landed this one:

15.5"

It got cold quick with the sun going down, so I didn't stay until it got dark dark out.

Rock Dock and GOMH

Today was sunny in the morning with wind blowing pretty good out of the SW,  it got to 65 before turning cloudy in the afternoon.  I headed out to fish at 6PM.  First stop was a Rock Lake and much to my surprise the Rock Dock was in the water.

 I was surprised because 2 years ago when the ice went off the lake early it took more than a month for it to be put in the water.  Fishing off the dock I got a pike and a bass.  I heard my first loon of the year.

I headed to the GOMH at 7PM and landed 3 jumpin bullheads including this 16" which was the biggest

We Got Something!

Today was much cooler than it's been especially after another cold front moved through today.  We headed to the GOMH just after 6PM.  "We" as in Pete and I, as Pete is still here.  He was supposed to leave on Friday night.

When we arrived there were 4 guys fishing, 2 on each of the South side and nothing was happening.  I went down on the SW side and eventually a  couple of small orange bullheads were caught next to me.  I did get a bite around a quarter to 7PM but missed it.  Pete went to fish on the SE side.

Finally at about 7:30 Pete got a silver bullhead and I got a small jumpin bullhead.  I then landed a small silver bullhead from the same spot.  Pete landed another silver and I missed a good bite.  After it got dark we both picked up another silver on lighted bobber.  We left around 8:30PM.

Ishama Monroe Elite Series Okeechobee Champion

B.A.S.S.

Congratulations to Ish who found his mojo again and wrecked 'em with 30-15 for a total of 108-5!!!

Elite Series Day 4 Lake Okeechobee

Well it's looking like Ish is going to hold on and go wire to wire as Basstrakk has him just under 30lbs.  I was really hoping Lane was gonna do it as he's on my Fantasy squad.  Oh well.

For some reason there doesn't seem to be the War Room today.

I'm guessing Ish is the first  guy to lead a B.A.S.S. tournament for every single second as he weighed first on the first day.

Livewell 2012 My New Blog Page

It's the place I am putting a gallery of pictures of my notable catches for the year.  I may or may not go into the past and add a 2011, 2010, and so on.  To see the pics, click on "Livewell 2012" on my page line below my blogs header.

Dog Day at the GOMH

Looky what I caught this morning.

27.5 inches

I caught this Fin on a Cubby jig head no plastic with a little piece of minnow that was torn up because of the "bullheads" I'd been catching on it.  It took me about 10 minutes to get it in.  Then once I got it in when I went to reach down for the camera it bit my jacket, so I had to grab the pliers to get it unstuck.  I released it.

16.75"

  I got this one eyed jumpin bullhead along with 3 others and I also got this silver bullhead along with 5 others and 5 or so orange bullheads.  All came on Cubby with a minnow or piece of a minnow, but only 2 jumpers and 2 silvers came with the plastic on the jig.

Evening trip: I got out from 5:30 to 8:30 tonight.  The South side was loaded with people and there were about 7 boats.  People on the SW shore were catching them along with the boat closest to that shore.  I just watched for 15 minutes then went to fish the North side and got nothing.  By the time I got to the South side again it clouded up when a cold front came through and the fish quit biting.  I got one silver and a guy next to me got a smaller dogfish that he killed.  I saw a boat catch a fin as well.  Very slow.

Fishing with Pete and not with Pete

Today I fished with Pete in the morning from 6:15am to 10am.  The silver bullheads showed up and we got 5 a piece.  I got 5 jumpin bullheads and Pete got a couple. I also got 2 orange bullheads.

Pete with his prize catch

Same Fish

Then tonight I headed out alone at 6PM after dropping off filets for Jenny.  I was alone because Pete was supposed to be going home (didn't happen).  Fishing wasn't great as I got 1 silver and 4 jumpin bullheads.  My friend Mike B. was there, he got a bunch of jumpers.  A couple guys showed up and whacked some orange bullheads.  Guys fishing the North side got jumpin bullheads and some silvers as well.

Here's one of the evening jumpers

Pete's Silver Deuce

Didn't get out until after 6PM which worked out alright because fishing wasn't great and there was nobody else fishing but the guy we saw last night and he got there after 7:15PM.  I had a small flurry of 3 jumpin bullheads and missed a couple of hits.  All Pete got were these two silvers on a jig n minnow.  The other guy got a couple of jumpers.  We left at around 8:30PM

Elite Series Day 1 Big O

My Fantasy Line Up

Ish starts the weigh in with the big boys 34-5, nobody is even close at this point with more than a 3rd of the field weighed.
Yep nobody came close to Ish.

Mercer made it sound like the guys were really catching them and the weights would be huge.  Other than 2 guys I wasn't impressed.

Morning at the GOMH

This morning I headed out a little before 7AM.  Pete didn't want to go and I should have left sooner.  Right away I missed a bite and then I landed two silver bullheads quickly.  I thought it was gonna be on like Donkey Kong.

Pic taken later in the Morning

But then I caught this jumpin bullhead and it was all over.

Then I snagged an orange bullhead and caught several more jumpers

Not the actual fish

And I ended out the morning with my first toothy bullhead of the year after loosing two Cubby's to the first two that bit my line.

I ended just a bit before 10AM

Congratulations to Brent Ehrler Major League Challenge Cup Winner

KVD figured out the fish too late and couldn't catch up.  Brent got 52.25lbs to Van Dam's 43.50lbs.  Basically Ehrler pulled a Van Dam in the first round getting 25lbs when everyone else was in single digits.  Brent extended the lead to 20lbs a  couple of different times.  Van Dam figured them out in the last period but by then it was to late.

Great Job Brent!!!

1st Silver Bullhead of the Year

Today Pete and I fished from about 1 to 3PM at Jenny's, Don's, Rock, and the GOMH.  I saw some small sunfish at Rock and a little pike and I presumably had my pink Cubby and a minnow bit off by a pike.  We saw  Kuske at the bridge.  That was it for action.

We headed back out at 6PM

When we got there was 2 guys fishing the SE side.  That got a jumpin bullhead and told us crappies were biting at Little Rock Lake.

Pete was 1st on the board with a jumpin bullhead.  He got it on a beetle spin.

3lber

Next up was me getting a high 4lb JB on my Panfish Chatterbait. Chatterbait is in it's lip.

A while after that Pete and I got doubles on 2lb jumpin bullheads.  Another guy showed up and started fishing the SE with me.  He was at the steps and I was on the Eastern shore.  He caught a jumper on his minnow and I went back to the SW side with Pete.  The other guy got a couple more jumpers and I missed a bite on my glow Cubby and minnow.  An Eagle flew over and circled and then we noticed another Eagle up in a tree just to the West of us.  Eventually I got another bite and it was quality silver bullhead.

A little while later I got another on the Cubby.  Kevin Wotceck showed up and said he was getting fish at Fish Lake;  He didn't fish.  The guy across the way got a silver which he ended up giving to us.  I didn't get any bites on the lighted bobber and Pete was so busy messing around with his to be worthless.  One other guy came by and saw we were getting fish.  I expect their will be a crowd tomorrow provided it doesn't rain.

Major League Fishing on the Outdoor Channel

Well it's on enough that I should be able to catch the show.

Orange Bullhead at the GOMH

.

Today Pete and I headed to the GOMH a little before noon.  This was the first bullhead of the day.  Kind of surprised me on the Cubby.  A couple minutes later I pulled a jumpin bullhead off of the same spot.  About an hour later I got another jumper on a beetle spin.  Pete caught a jumper on the SE side while trying to retrieve a jig that was stuck on leftover cattail.

Hopefully it won't rain and we can go back this evening.

Update: Tonight we got skunked.  I had a good jumpin bullhead hang me on something on the bottom and get off.  I had to break my last small beetle spin off :(.  Pete said he had something twice but who knows.

And Ice appears to be out on Sullivan, so the area lakes are probably ice free.

1st Bullhead of the Year

16"+

 I got lucky in that the rain held off after a brief shower, so I got back out for one last try and this bullhead was the result.  As you can tell from the pic, she bit when it was almost to late to see the bobber.  The pic makes it look darker than it actually was.  That's a pink Cubby Mini-Mite in her upper jaw.

Earliest 1st fish since moving North in 2003.

Platte Lake is OPEN!!!

Click to Enlarge

There was a path threw the ice out to the Lake at the public access, therefore I am calling it open. Frankly I am shocked the ice went off this fast.

From GOMH 

Sullivan looked to be locked up except for the Platte River Outlet area.
Long was about 50% open
Bulldog was about 50% open
Rock was about 20% open

Major League Fishing Challenge Cup Champion is ???

I'm not going to reveal it until Wednesday Night.  I will tell you this: one of the anglers not KVD got off to a Van Dam like start.  The only question is can KVD run him down?

Tracking Ice Out 2012 & First Fishing 2012

Minnesota Climatology has changed the way they are keeping track of ice out this year, so I'm not going to bother with it.  I will keep track of my area lakes.  Today I first checked Rock which was iced up completely.

Click to Enlarge Pics

 I then checked Platte which was pretty much iced up except for the GOMH which had at least 150yards of open water into Sullivan.

 I would say there was 75yards of so into Platte

Can you spot the bobber?

It was so nice I decided to fish. Didn't get anything.  Even though it was breezy it was plenty warm.  Saw geese, ducks, and muskrats.  Beautiful evening!

I am guessing ice out won't be until Wednesday  at the earliest.  Pete is coming up on Tuesday, don't know if fish will be in before he leaves on Friday.  May or may not fish tomorrow as it's supposed to rain, but it will be warm, so I'll probably go.

Alton Jones Elite Series St. John's River Champion!!!

B.A.S.S.

Congratulations to Alton Jones in winning his first ever Elite Series event.  His lead from yesterday was just enough to keep Todd Faircloth back by 1lb 2ozs.  He won throwing a Yum F2 Dinger.

Elite Series St. John's Day Final

Looks like it's gonna be a nail biter for Jones, as Faircloth has a pretty good bag.

Allton beats Faircloth by 1lb 2oz!!!

Elite Series St. John's Day 3

I slept in later than I thought I would today.  B.A.S.S. has the War Room today and Basstrakk.  And  I can't forget the Blog.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Elite Series St. John's Day 2

If you didn't catch Bass Zone Wide Open last night  with J Todd and the Cajun Baby watch the replay

Sounds kind of slow today from Bass Zone.com.  Once again there is no Live Blog or Basstrakk today;  Hopefully the will do that starting tomorrow.

Bass Talk Live will be on today at 1PM

Today was to nice to sit inside to watch the weigh in.  Hung out in the Tackle Warehouse.

Elite Series St. Johns River Day 1

Well it looks like we'll be able to watch the weigh in and see some photo's on Day 1.  No Live Blog, No Basstrak, and No War Room.

I see Bass Zone doesn't go Wide Open today until 1PM, so I won't be able to catch that. Should have got up earlier!

B.A.S.S. St. John's Fantasy Team 2012

Minnesota DNR Statement on the Alabama Rig

Alabama (Yumbrella) Rig

The configuration Alabama (Yumbrella) rig as it is commonly promoted and sold is not legal in Minnesota waters. The rig pictured here is different than using a single lure with multiple treble hooks that is designed to catch just one fish.

Instead, the Alabama/Yumbrella rigs are artificial lure/baits that involve many separate lures/baits attached via wires to a fishing line. Consequently, these rigs are not a single artificial bait/lure, rather a collection of multiple artificial lures/baits each capable of catching a fish.

In the water, the rigs simulate a small school of bait fish and YouTube videos show anglers catching two and even three largemouth bass on an Alabama/Yumbrella rig at the same time.

Minnesota law restricts anglers fishing in inland waters and the Canadian border waters to one artificial lure/bait on a single line. While each artificial lure/bait may have more than one hook (a crankbait, for example), only one lure or tackle configuration is allowed on a single line.

However, a Alabama (Yumbrella) would be legal if not more than one hook or artificial lure/bait is attached. An angler could place a single bait/lure with a hook on one of the wires and attach hookless spinners or plastic baits to the other wires.

On border waters where two lines are allowed, anglers would not be allowed to fish with any other lines at the same time if two hooks, baits or lures are attached to these rigs.

Tackle Warehouse Opener 2012

I opened the man cave today as it got to 61°F.  What a mess!

Last year it opened on March 19th The year before the Tackle Warehouse Opener was March 17th 2010 and the year before that was March 22nd 2009

Cyberfish Makes the USA Ice Team

Congratulations to Michael "Cyberfish" Thompson in making the USA Ice Fishing Team this past weekend at Big Eau Pleine Reservior  in WI.  Here is a story from Yahoo News.

Here are the final standings: