Forecast For 2020 MN Fishing Opener a Week And A Half Out

The Weather:
It looks like it may be wet and cool, which is better than wet and cold. OK, 37 degrees is cold when combined with rain or wind, but right now it says showers which may mean not much precipitation.  And judging by the winds if it holds around the 10mph range, that probably means winds diminishing in the evening and picking up during the day.

My Plans Right Now:
As for my 2020 Opener, the plan is my usual Eddy's Jetty at Midnight And every night thereafter until the night ban starts.  Ice will basically be off the lake for two weeks at that point and it doesn't look like we are going to jump into June temperatures so the fish should still be shallow where I can get them.  Last year they were shallow throughout June.

The Big Question I Can't Answer: Will the motor on the Trophy be working by Opener?
My optimism on this question has diminished significantly.  None of my original ideas were as easy as they first appeared and now I'm in a time crunch. I most likely will have a boat on the water for Opener. It may be the Slop Slip in Platte/Sullivan, Rock, Erskine, Long, or Bulldog.  Or maybe I will outfit the Trophy with two trollers and launch that somewhere and do put and takes like it's the Slop Slip.

Update on the Big Question:  Hopefully, I didn't jump the gun on this.  I still had one iron in the fire still on my original ideas.  I didn't hear back from him last night, so today I took it upon myself to drop The Trophy and Motors off at a local Marine/Small Engine place. He had no idea when he would be getting back to me.  Obviously, this is the busy season for marine and small engine repair.  So now I wait and plan on using the Slop Slip on Opener unless a miracle happens.

Godspeed Smoke

Our gregarious very dog-like cat was put to sleep today.  Run free Smoke.

April Has Been Brutal So Far

Fish Swami won't let me submit a fishing trip entry without a fish being entered, so I added skunk to the list of fishes in 2015.  This year has been a banner year for the skunk.  I've got 20 of them so far. But things are about to change.  I plan on whacking the snot out of the panfish this year once I get them figured out.  Multiple hundred fish days shouldn't be out of the question if the wind doesn't blow too bad. Whack and throwback, baby! Whack and throw 'em back!

I Was Proven Wrong And Skunked

Rock Dock In

Fished Channel Inn Bay tonight

Also fished the GOMH by boat and from shore

Well, my theory about the docks not going in until after Opener was officially disproven as they put Rock Dock in today.  I threw a few casts off of it and came up empty.  Same at Bulldog.  I then went and got in the Trophy because the lake had calmed down some and headed to Channel Inn Bay.  Couldn't locate any fish in the hay.  Gave the GOMH area a try.  Lantern Man showed up just as I reached the bridge.  I talked to him for a little bit, then headed in.  I stopped at the GOMH on the way home.  L.M. didn't get any bites and neither did I.  I stayed for about 15 minutes and used one minnow.  It was a refreshing night on the water.

Rock Dock Not In Yet

Well, Rock Dock isn't in today.  I will be amazed if they put them in the area lakes by Opener.  Normally they would be Johnny in the lake by now.

When Will Rock Dock Go In?

By my reckoning based on past experience, the Rock Dock should have been in by today, tomorrow at the latest.  I don't know if the DNR has stopped putting docks in lakes or not.  It wouldn't surprise me if they have either called this a non-essential task or have re-assigned the workers to other issues.  If the docks aren't in by the end of the day tomorrow, I think it is going to be a while.  I can understand them not putting the docks in as a way to ensure some social distancing;  Docks are a chokepoint for people to come into contact in close quarters.

The Rock Dock is a nice option to fish from, but it isn't what it once was due to the coontail and cabbage all but disappearing in the area. 

The Trophy is in the Water 2020

It took me about an hour to get her dug out of the garage and water ready.  A little mix up over what I did with the boat key was resolved when I called Dad and had him look for it in my room.  When I didn't find the key attached or in my life jacket I just assumed I left it in the boat as I was packing stuff to go to the lake place.  I had actually placed it on a shelf in my room, which is where I directed dad to look.  He delivered it to me just as I finished up.  I had to wait for about 20-minutes for Steve to get done with work.  The dock wasn't in yet at the public access which was kind of expected.  I had Steve drop her in the water.   The motor started no issues.  I unhooked and went fishing.  Didn't get a bite.

Go Visit YourBassGuy

I got an email from Alex the creator of the educational webpage YourBassGuy asking if he could be put on the blogroll.  It's been a long time since I've had one of those requests.  They are always welcome.  Alex started the site in memory of his grandfather Virgil Renfroe who got him into fishing.  The site has multiple people writing for it.  Check it out and learn something.

2020 Platte Lake Ice Out (Also Rock and Long)

View to the West Platte Lake Access

View to the NE Platte Lake Public Access

View toward Jenny's

Scattered ice and foam off of West Point at the current break.  It was really rolling out there.

Rock Lake looking NE

Rock Lake looking SE

I hit my ice-out prediction on the nose, April 8th it is.  Today's heavy winds were enough to bust up the ice on all but the extreme north on Platte Lake.  Jenny's to the Public access was doable so it's official ice-out day on Platte.  Rock and Long went out as well.

I caught my first bullhead of the year as well.

I also got the Trophy vacuumed out.  Steve was working so I just vacuumed it in place in the garage. I also discovered two more Mad Maxx's (Big Sexy & Bluegrass) that I had given to Steve three years ago.  He had them down in storage in Florida when he moved up here the first time.

Yes A Big Sexy

Sullivan went on the 9th.

I Gots Me A Bullhead

7" Cubby Mini-Mite/Minnow

6:30-9:30AM GOMH, Bulldog, Rock
38-44℉, Partly Cloudy, 3-8mph W

So I took my first-morning open water trip of 2020 this morning.  I got a bite, finally. It was none other than a tiger bullhead; First time that has ever happened for a first fish in open water.  I got it on the SE side.  John W. showed up as I was posting to Instagram.  I ended up getting his phone # before he left.
I was back on the SW side ad I made a cast into the hay area.  The bobber was drifting at a steady pace in the wind when it just stopped moving and turned sideway.  Thinking it was caught on a weed I didn't set the hook.  I'm pretty sure I rolled a big jumper because I saw a lot of white.  That was my last bite.

I also tried Bulldog and Rock without any success.

In the afternoon I vacuumed out the Trophy and discovered some treasure I had given to Steve three years ago that he left in Florida when he moved up here the first time. Two Madd Maxx Frogs (Big Sexy and Bluegrass).

I should have done this last year before I put it in the garage

Score

Clear at Jenny's

Heavy Wave with a brisk SW Wind

The vacuuming took longer than expected.  It was filthy and I had to stop for a break to get something to eat.  Steve gave me an energy bar that did the trick.  After I was done I went down to the boathouse and discovered the rods that I accidentally left there last winter.  I had intended to go back and get them late last Fall, but it slipped my mind.

Because I didn't get out of there until after 5 o'clock I went straight home rather than fish.  I ended up eating a Porky Burger which held me up until after 7PM.  When I crossed 27 conditions turned nasty fast.  Heavy snow and wind.  I was like dang.  By the time I got to Church the sun was beginning to poke out.  I went to Bulldog first, nothing biting.  It looked like ice was still on 40-50%.  Then I went to Rock briefly, the ice was out.  I drove Platte Lake drive and could see ice in the North Bay and some along the NW side of the Big Island.  I then drove to the Platte Lake Public Access which was totally ice-free, so Platte Lake ice out is official at Bass Pundit

 

Skunked With A Full Moon

Bulldog Tonight

Bulldog 20%

Rock 20%

4:00-5:30PM GOMH SW, Rock, Bulldog
64-68℉, Partly Cloudy, 4-8mph WNW

I started at the GOMH.  There was a guy fishing with his kid on the NE side who got there on a side by side.  Before I arrived at the GOMH I went and checked the Platte Lake Access because it looked like there might be open water up that way, but there wasn't.  I guess the open water line was along Channel Inn North Point to about midway to the Southside of the Big Island.  There was some open water beyond the SPSI.  Wheel House Guy showed up as I was packing up.  He hadn't gotten anything on Long.  I dropped something off for Kim.  Rock was fishable, but no fish.  Same for Bulldog.  I headed home at 5:30.

7:00-7:20PM Rock
7:25-7:40PM Bulldog
7:45-9:00PM GOMH NE SW SE
53-63℉, Partly Cloudy, 0-5mph NW, Full Moon

A big muskrat was at Rock, no fish.

There might have been some fish activity just to the South of where I could cast.  I was disappointed that I couldn't draw a bite at Bulldog.  Thought with the sun today I had a decent shot at getting something.  It didn't happen.

Nobody was at the GOMH.  Got to hear some loon calls. I started on the NE side, nothing.  Nothing on the SW side.  Got the lighted bobber out and tried the SE side with the Cubby/minnow nothing.  Went back to the SW side.  Thought maybe I saw a glowing eye briefly and a baitfish at the SW bridge opening when I was looking down from above with my headlamp.  I tried the NE side again, nothing.  Came back to the SW side, nothing.  I stopped fishing a little before 9PM.  Skunked again.

The weather forecast is not what I want to see.  Multiple cold cold fronts with high winds.  I'll probably put the boat in the water on Friday although if the lake open up by tomorrow afternoon their is a real outside chance I will dump it in then.  Man I got to start catching some fish.  These skunks are beginning to wear on me.

Very Soon, But Not Tonight.

7:00-8:15PM GOMH NE SW
49-55℉, Partly Cloudy, 0-3MPH S

I heard my first loon calls tonight.  Had a couple eagles do flybys.  There was a flock of seagulls that flew over to Sullivan when I was down on the SW side.  Open water was 66% of the way to the SPSI.  I expect it will be open to the Point by tomorrow night. Channel Inn Bay was 20-25% Open.  I didn't get a bite and Lantern Man showed up around 7:45PM.  I didn't put my headlamp in the Cabela's Jacket, so I left a little earlier than I would have otherwise.  It was nice out when I left.