Last Day of a Lost Season

There are things that I can be positive about this season, namely coach Zim, Defensive improvement, and Teddy.  But all those pail in comparison to the tragedy that was the fall of A.P..

In case you didn't know Adrian Peterson was my favorite player to watch in all of the NFL.  What he did to his kid sucks.  His punishment has sucked just about as much to me as a fan.  I don't think what he did to his kid was right or fair.  I don't think how the NFL handled it was right or fair either.  Two wrongs don't make a right.  Adrian should have been fined for the games he didn't play then been reinstated after the court ruled.  Instead Goodell decided to make an example out of Adrian, just as he did of Ray Rice.  I don't think Ray Rice was treated justly either.  I get it, both men made a mistake.  I think both men owned up to it, and were making amends.  Ray Rice's career as football player maybe over and Adrian's as a Viking maybe over.  Like I said, it's a tragedy.  

New Unnamed Area Lake

10.75" T.H.E. Jig and a waxie

2:00-7:00PM
34 degrees some sleet and snow mild North wind
30' or so feet down over 50' or so feet of water

When I arrived there was a guy leaving who was fishing with his kids right by the access.  He was only there for maybe 20 minutes and the kids wanted to go.  He didn't really have any info for me.  He usually fishes on Platte for pike.  He was the only person on the lake and I don't think there was a permanent house on the whole lake.  I went and fished in his holes and a couple of H.S. kids showed up.  They had been getting crappie and they headed north.  I worked the area around the point to the north of the access.  I didn't find any life.  After an hour of that I took the Vexilar and went trolling over the deep water.  I marked a fish, so I went and got my stuff.  When I got there the fish was gone.  I trolled around and marked another fish, so I started drilling holes.  It was about 3:30PM or so before I was fishing.  I put T.H.E. Jig down and had two fish move in immediately.  I caught a 9" which I released.  Then I got the 10.75" which I decided to keep.  That was the biggest fish I got.  I caught 10 fish total, 3 went back.  I think 3 of them went 10" at least.  I got the last three on the Glow Demon and a minnow.  I'll be back.

My last fish of the night:

10" on Glow Demon and a minnow

10 Crappies

Winner Winner For Christmas Dinner

Thank You Gamma!

I went with 3lb in their blue ice line, which is a co-poly.

Update:  Turns out they don't have 3lb line, so I went with 2lb.

Same Lake Different Results

8.5" on T.H.E. Jig and a waxie

2:30-6:30PM
Colder today 21 degrees, Windy out of the North, cloudy, it snowed for a bit

I drilled 4 sets of holes on a line from East to West and started approximately where I ended last night at the eastern most holes.  I couldn't see where any of yesterday's holes were.  I got 4 quick fish on the Demon and a minnow.  The fish were smaller than what I got yesterday.  After the first 4 the crappies got fussy.  I finally got T.H.E. Jig and a Waxie down and got 3 on that.  I wish I had drilled more holes when I first started because when I went to drill again I couldn't get the throttle to work, so I couldn't drill any more holes.  I ended up getting two more after dark on the Demon and a minnow.  The fish just weren't as aggressive as yesterday and I marked far less of them.

9 Crappies 7-9.25"

Unnamed Area Lake

11.25" on T.H.E. Jig and Waxies

2:45-5:45PM
33 degrees Light rain and sleet Windy out of the N NW
20-25' over 31' of water

A little better size than Bulldog.  Got several in the 9.5" range and the 11.25" which was the biggest.  The rain and wind made hole hopping difficult.  I caught my first 14 on T.H.E. Jig's with waxies and the last 7 on a Glow Demon with a minnow.   I plan to go back.

21 Crappies

Wet Sloppy Mess

8.5" Bulldog Lake

2:00-8:45PM
40 degrees foggy light wind

All the snow on the ice melted leaving lots of water on the ice.  I'm glad I had an ice cleat for one boot.  I started off on Platte out of Jenny's.  I couldn't find the point and headed off the lake at 3:30.  I was set up on Bulldog by 4:15pm.  I started getting crappies right away on T.H.E. Jig and a waxie.  I managed to get 7 of them and then the bite shut down.  The foggy and  wet conditions made hole hopping difficult because I couldn't see the holes until I was almost on top of them.  I think the fish went down to the bottom as I didn't mark anything up high once it got dark.  At least it was warm out.

4 Species at Rock Lake

1:30-6:30PM
32 degrees Cloudy wind 5-10mph out of the SW

Got the auger working today.  The issue was that I didn't have enough gas in the tank yesterday.  I planned to drill holes and then look with the Aqua View.  After about the 5th hole it ran out of power.  I didn't see any fish.  The first fish I got into were perch.  They were in almost every hole, so they wasted my time.  At about 4:15 I got to what was going to be my last hole, before I headed to Bulldog.  Low and behold I found some sunfish, so I drilled more holes.

It was getting dark and I forgot I had my sunglasses on.  I wondered why the LED's didn't seem to be putting out the amount of light they did last night .  My bobber with the Glow Demon and Minnow went down and I got a 22" pike on that.

Finally I realized I had my sunglasses on.  I caught one dink crappie.

That was my last fish of the night.

6 Perch
5 Sunfish
1 Pike
1 Crappie

Sullivan Sucked

9.5" on a Glow Demon with Minnow

3:45-7:30pm
30 degrees cloudy 5mph wind out of the SW

I made several wrong calls today.  I went straight out from the West Public Access to where there was only 1 house.  There were 4 or 5 houses about 250 yards to the South.  I started out going to the houses, but decided to go back to the one house area.  I left the hand augers in the car and didn't put more gas in the auger.  It's a pretty good hike out to the spots so I wasn't going to go back and get that stuff.  I had trouble keeping the auger running and it took probably 10 minutes to get a hole drilled.  I was in 40' of water.  I fished with a Grass Pig first.  I didn't see anything so I switched up to a Glow Demon.  I got my only fish on that.  I went to drill another hole to the NE of where I was.  I got it about a 1/3 of the way drilled.  When the guy in the fish house came out and offered to drill holes for me.  I only had him drill 3 holes and only knew the depth at the one where my Trap was sitting in 40'.  Turns out the other holes were in 37' feet.  I got 1 more bite out of the original spot but lost it while taking the transducer out of the hole.  I ended up drilling 2 more holes at around 6:30pm, but they were dead.  I finally left at 7:30pm

I think I'm gonna try Rock tomorrow.

MN Bass Catch & Release Season May 9-22, 2015

We got her done, finally.  From the MN DNR.

Bulldog Again

Dreary Day On Bulldog, But The Hoar Frost Looked Nice In The Trees.  

4:00-7:30PM
28 degrees Cloudy 5MPH wind out of the SW

8.5" 1st Drop

Dad didn't do Ruby's Pantry, so I was able to go fishing.  I decided to hit bulldog again.  I stopped at Bear Trax to get my propane tank filled.  Turned out it was already full.  I don't know what was up with it quitting on me the last time I was out;  It worked perfectly for me tonight.  There was nobody fishing Bulldog.  I went back to my spot.  I drilled a transducer hole in the middle with my 4" auger.  I got 5 quick 8" crappies on the orange/chart T.H.E. Jig with a waxie.  I switched rods to use a black/white T.H.E. Jig and I got some smaller crappies on that.  The bite died so I went and drilled a hole to the North East hoping to find deeper water.  It turned out to be a foot shallower.  I caught several smaller 6-7" fish there on the b/w.

I went back to my holes and got one more on the o/c and then my line got caught in the reel and I broke it trying to unwind it.  I realized I didn't have any scissors to retie, so the rest of the night I used the b/w.  The action slowed down as it got dark, but I still got an occasional fish.  I went to the N hole and got a couple there.  I went back to my holes and got a couple more.  I went and drilled a hole to the South.  I got my biggest fish of the night there.

9.25"

I got maybe 7 fish out of that hole.  I decided to leave at 7:30.  All my fish were caught from 13-18' deep over 27-29' of water.

I still wasn't as efficient as I would like, but I'm getting better.  The LED lights I got at Mills for a $1.99 a piece lit up the house well enough for me to see and the hook on them fit on my cross beams just perfectly.  Not having a scissors or pliers with me was a stupid oversight.  Won't happen again.

23 Crappies Total

Tomorrow I think I'm going to check Sullivan first and depending on what I see there may stay or head to Rock.  I think I'm going to take the Power Auger tomorrow as well as the Aqua View and get minnows as well.

Upgraded My Vexilar Carrying Case

From This:

To This:

I bought the Vexilar Pro Pack 2 Carrying Case as an early Christmas Present to myself.  Now I will easily be able to control the transducer cord and have a spot that my 9/19 transducer fits inside which are things I was always fighting with on the old case..  It also has a movable rod holder and a space to fit a small tackle box.  I think I'm going to check on Ebay for buying a battery meter which has a spot to be mounted on the upper left.

I Got Out!

Bulldog Special On the 1st Drop

3:35-5:15PM
Cloudy 10mph Breeze out of the SW 25 or so degrees.

How deep they were 25'-15' over 29'

Well I got out to Bulldog Lake today.  I am definitely not in the kind of shape I was in the last time I ice fished.  I left the power auger at home and it was all I could do to drill 2 holes in 11" of ice.  Fortunately fish were under the first hole I drilled.  It took me a few seconds to get the Vexilar reading the bottom;  I had to wipe off the bottom and then it worked.  I put T.H.E. Jig down the hole and quickly caught my first crappie,  a 7" Bulldog Lake Special. I caught a total of 10, the biggest of which was 8.75" between orange/chart T.H.E. Jig and a small orange/glow Fat Boy.  I used a wax worm on both, but caught a couple with no meat.  They were pretty aggressive when I first got there, but then got finicky after I lost several of them on the way up.  I ran out of propane in my heater after about 20 minutes.  All I had for light was my head lamp.  I definitely was not the most efficient fisherman in my first trip out on the ice in 8 years.  Those mistakes will be corrected the next time I go out which will probably not be until Thurs.  I may or may not go to Bulldog again.

Give This Man the Ball!

Joe Banyard

I'm sorry, but 2.8 yards per carry with 19 carries isn't cutting it Asiata.  Especially when his average went down later in the game when it should have been going up.  Meanwhile this guy Joe Banyard has flashed every time he's given the chance.  I figure we are losing an average of 2 yards per carry if not more.  I was dumbfounded when Norv kept rushing Asiata when both Tate and Banyard have clearly shown they will give us better production.

Let Banyard Loose!!!  

I Had A Dream...

...this morning that I was out fishing at Lake Sylvia in my Fish Trap using my Vexilar.  I didn't get the fish I was marking to bite before I woke up.

So today I pulled the Trap out of where I'd been keeping it and opened it up for the first time in several years.  Fortunately no mice got into it that I could tell.  It is basically ready to go; The power auger not so much.  I put gas in the auger and much to my amazement it started, at least in fits and starts.  But there is a fuel leak somewhere and it never ran to the point of being able to turn the auger.  Dad will have to take a look at it.   Hopefully it's just the fuel line.  I always have the hand augers.  Hopefully, the blades are still sharp.

I've got the Vexilar and Aqua View ready to go.  My ice reels and line need some attention.  I could be fishing as soon as soon as Wednesday.   I've kind of got an urge to go and try Mille Lacs, not that I've ever had much success there.

Updated 12-7-14 at 2AM: Got reels and line done.

This Next Week May Very Well Be The One...

When I get my ice fishing stuff together and go ice fishing seriously for the first time since 2006.  The weather is supposed to be nice.  I guess we'll see.

Excellent Point Vern!

No changes in the harvest rules are planned. With just three creel survey workers, it seems that the launches aren’t interviewed very often, many launches won’t let the DNR on their property and the survey is voluntary. My thought is: if these resorts, guides and launches are profiting from their customers harvesting fish owned by us, citizens of Minnesota, they should be required to accurately report their catches. If this information isn’t in the DNR Creel surveys, how can they keep saying the harvest is safe? 

Vern Wagner made this point on Facebook while talking about fishing on Mille Lacs Lake.  Without a doubt the launches and guides should be keeping a record of every walleye, pike, muskie, and smallmouth they catch, it's approximate length, and whether or not it was kept.

Out Of The Groove

I was in my best groove in years of blogging in the Fall this October until something happened to get me out of it.  I'll leave it to my readers to figure out what that something was that pulled me into the rut I am now into blogging wise.

I have been meaning to put some thoughts together on the Vikings season and I wanted to have done some ice fishing by now, but I've had some health issues I've been dealing with that put the kibosh on that to this point.  So this is my update for now.

Onward into December!

MN DNR Bass Workshop Meeting Dec. 3rd at Cabela's Rogers 4-6PM

The meeting is open to the public.  Hopefully we will officially get the news that we will have the early catch and release season starting next year.  I am thinking about going myself depending on weather and what happens with my angiogram on Monday the 24th.

10 Years Of Bass Pundit

Happy 10th Blogoversary to Me!!!

 These pictures are 3 out of the 4 looks the blog has had over the years.  I don't have the first one because I didn't know how to do screen shots back then;  It was pretty much the first picture minus the quote from Basil's Blog which I added in 2006.

Last Open Water Bullhead of the Year???

23" Pure Poison bluegill

Got a toothy on the NE side of the GOMH.  Will this be my last open water fish of the year?

Rock Dock is Out! Didn't get a bite

Rich Lindgren-The Contender

The B.A.S.S. Nation Championship is next week at the Ouachita River down in Louisiana.

Good Luck Rich!!!

Morning Skunk, Rock Redeems Me (Barely)

Mille Lacs This Morning Around 8AM

I headed to Mille Lacs this morning in the fog around 5:30AM.  I was fishing by 6.  The fact that I didn't see any little walleye's swimming around was a bad sign.  When i t got light out I saw one baitfish jump, compared to dozens I saw on Monday morning.  I did some exploring, saw some ducks and seagulls and left around 9AM.  I tried Erskine, Bulldog, Rock, and the GOMH with not even a single bite for the morning.

I spent the afternoon getting my tackle organized.  The last couple of years I neglected to do this after my last tournament of the year leaving organizing until Spring.  It's a good thing. I needed to do some work on the Tackle Warehouse that I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

I ended up not getting to Rock about 6:20 or so.  It was dead calm.  I decided to throw the Stanley Phantom Topwater.  Sure enough what I'm pretty sure was a nice bass nailed it but didn't hook up.  I tried throwing the craw tube as a follow up bait, but she gone.  On pretty much my next cast with the Phantom I had a fish hit me beyond the weed clumps to the South.  I stuck this one.

21" Rail of a fish with weird light and dark coloring

That was all I got.

I then headed to the GOMH.  I grabbed two rods and headed to the NE side.  Somebody spoke to me and it was then that I noticed somebody was fishing off the bridge on the South side.  Turns out it was Peter.  After throwing a few casts on the NE side I joined him up on the bridge.  I told him what I've been getting lately.  He didn't get anything, not even a bullhead.  We talked about going ice fishing this winter.  Looks like I am going to have to get my ice fishing gear figured out.

Al Lindner Talks About The Snatchers Today

Al writes about my club's surprising inability to weigh a 5lb bass this year.  Our big bass of the year was an ounce short of 5lbs.  He was right about the lakes we fished this year.  Only Leech is known as a big fish factory and we hit it on a day the fish just were not going very well.  That was the lake Mick Ziebell got the 4.93lber on.  We fish on average one lake a year known to kick out big fish on a regular basis.  Every lake we fish has the potential to kick out a true hawg for MN, but they maybe only have a couple of them in a whole lake; And those fish are smartest or they wouldn't be that big.

  

My Monday Morning Trip To Mille Lacs

...Is now up at the Fishing Log Blog, written as if it was written the same day.

Al Lindner Bass Beard

Bass Fishing Archives has a great article from 1971 on Al Lindner and fishing in MN.

Got Another Golden at the GOMH

20" Swamp Gas Grass Pig

Conditions: Nearly warm and breezy out of the W NW mostly sunny

Rock Lake:
I arrived at Rock at about 6:15PM.  Didn't get anything.  Saw a small fish jump in the floating leaves and out by the reed point.  I left at 10 to 7PM

GOMH:
I arrived at the GOMH and there was this guy Chris from Milaca who had been there since about 4PM getting nothing.  He was waiting for his ride.  I got kind of flustered because I rolled up the window on my St. Croix Mojo Crankster rod when I left Rock.  Miraculously it doesn't seem to be broken; I threw quite a few casts with it down on the NE side.  Chris got a real bullhead while fishing off the South side.  It swallowed his hook and he broke his line trying to get it off.  He threw it back.  Eventually I joined him.  We talked about the Vikes and fishing at the bridge.  He fished there about a month and a half ago when the idiot who trolls under the bridge was there and catching fish.  I was jigging the Grass Pig off of the SW corner when the golden bullhead struck at about a quarter to 8PM.  If Chris wasn't there I probably would have already left.  I let him have it and he was totally grateful.  His ride showed up around 8:10PM.  I fished about 20 more minutes then left.

Past sunset looking SW

FLW Tour Changes for 2015 & 16

Here is the synopsis from Wired2Fish:

• Pros will be allowed to wear their own jerseys on final day
• Exclusive FLW sponsors move from 31 to 9.
• The field has been capped at 150 pros (down from 180 in 2014).
• Co-angler competition will conclude on day 2 of all 2015 FLW Tour events including the Forrest Wood Cup
• Starting in 2016, the Forrest Wood Cup will be a pro-only event.
• Pro entry fees have slightly increased by $300 per event to $25,800 for the six tournaments ($4,300 per event) – co-angler fees are $800 per tournament.

I don't have any argument with any of the changes.  I could care less who's Jersey's a pro wears on any day of competition.  I think making The Cup exclusive to Pro's only was the right move.

Here is FLW's spin on it.

Bass Snatchers Win the 2014 Challenge Cup at North Long Lake

Pic from 2011 Challenge Cup Team
The guy in long pants, Mark Munson didn't fish it this year, the other 3 did.

My bass club, the Baxter Bass Snatchers 6 man team dominated the Challenge Cup on North Long Lake this year.  They put a beat down the teams from Brainerd Lakes Bassmasters and Range Bassmasters.  Total weight for the Snatchers was 72lbs 12ozs to the Lakes 56lbs 3.5ozs and the Range's 34lbs 9.5ozs.  The top spot and big bass went to Dennis Lothspeich, third from the left, with 17lbs 4ozs (6 fish limit), 4lbs 5ozs b.b..  Bill Ludenia, first on the left, came in 3rd with 16lbs 5oz and 2nd big bass at 4lbs 2.5ozs.  Chuck Steinbauer caught almost 13lbs.

Also on the Team were Keith Tuma, Tim Benson, and Darren Kiefer.

Way to go guys!!!

Not Quite Skunked

Conditions: Almost warm, mostly cloudy, wind out of the SW 5:30PM to 7:30PM

Rock Lake:
Nothing, not even a nibble.  Some deer were running around behind me in the woods for a while.  I left at 6:30.

Jenny's:
Spooked something on my first cast.  Got a Spro Frog stuck in a tree. Left at 10 to 7.

GOMH:
Was just about ready to leave.  I was jigging the swamp gas Grass Pig off the SW corner when a golden bullhead just tagged it. BAM! Not skunked.

21"

That was the only hit I got.

Rock 'n GOMH

27"

5:30-7:30PM
Conditions same as last night but about 10 degrees warmer wind out of the E SE

Bulldog Lake:
Nothing

Rock Dock:
Around my third cast into the lake I got the 27" Pike on the Poison.  About 15 minutes later I got a 21" Pike on the same Poison.  I also got this 16" bass on a black spinnerbait.

16"

Jenny's:
Had something small bite at my Horny Toad.

GOMH:
I arrived around 7PM and there was a guy and his teenage son fishing on the NE side for golden bullheads.  He said it was his first time out fishing this year.  They didn't get anything when I was there.    I went down to on the SW side.  I tried the Poison and the craw tube, nothing.  I thought maybe I got a hit on the grass pig but wasn't sure.  A fish boiled on the rocks on my side.  I cast there and got myself a golden bullhead.  Well isn't that something?

16" Swamp Gas

I Caught Some Fish Tonight

Inlet Sullivan Lake

3:15-6:45PM
Cool and windy out of the SE

After the MN Gophers victory in Football over Northwestern I decided to get my gear organized and go fishing.  First stop was at the Sullivan Inlet, nothing.  Then the Platte River Culvert, nothing.  I missed a hit that was probably a toothy bullhead at the GOMH on a bluegill Pure Poison.  I went by Bulldog, but somebody was there so I headed to the Rock.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the dock was still in the Lake.  On my very first cast out into the lake a bass just hammered the Poison.

16.25"

The weeds were kind of a problem for working the Poison, so  I went to a black/blue Craw Tube.  I missed what felt like a good fish because my drag wasn't tight enough.  I tightened the drag.  I was throwing what was going to be my last cast when this chub bit me.

18"

I might of had a hit on the Chigger Craw as well.  I left just in time to see the sun setting over Platte Lake.

24"

Last stop was a Jenny's where I got this pike on a Horny Toad and I missed a pretty good swirl as well.

With the weather warming up  I plan to get out a few times this week.

MN Fishing Blog Since 2005

Somehow the blog Fishing And Thinking In Minnesota has escaped my notice since 2005.  Probably because he is a fly fisherman who doesn't fish for bass that often.  I discovered it today while cleaning up my MN Bass Fishing Blogs blogroll from Hats On the Water's blogroll.