Rock Dock In Today/Our Dock Half In

 

Rock Dock In Today

Couldn't get her level, so we pulled it until it was and left it. If Steve wants to put the decking on, he can do it or not.

1st Light Boat @ Rock Tonight

1st Silver Bullhead, Only Bite Tonight

Skunked For First Trophy Trip of '22

 

 

Rock Dock, Not In

I got over to the lake place a little after 2PM.  Steve was home. Couldn't get the bilge pump to work or get the motor to turn over, doh! Quickly figured out that I didn't have the motor in neutral; I thought I did and played with it several times. Finally found neutral when I connected the motor up to the troller battery. I got the bilge pump cleaned out the next day, and now it's working. It was sunny but cool.  So rather than start fishing right away, I mapped the lake for a couple of hours.

I then started fishing in the Platte River Outlet Bay, where many Pelicans were and the warmest water, 41℉. Not a single sign of life. So I spent the last hour and a half between the access and the Cane. I was marking stuff in 6 to 10-feet but didn't have a bite.  Water temps were 38-39, so I figure the fish were just lethargic.

I've got two and a half weeks before Opener, and hopefully, the Pelicans will find greener pastures somewhere else.

Will the Rock Dock Go In Today?

 I think chances are pretty good it goes in today or tomorrow. I would say 45% today and 65% by tomorrow.  The Fishing Opener is two weeks from this coming Saturday, and it's a late ice out. It got put in quickly in 2019 and 2018.

Ice-Off Platte, Bulldog, Long, & Rock Lake Today

 

I didn't make it to the Public Access on Platte Lake today, but it was definitely open today when I made the North Platte Lake Drive loop.

Rock to the South

Rock to the North

Bulldog Looking SE

Bulldog Looking NE

Sullivan Looking SW

Sullivan will probably be ice-free tomorrow. 

My Luck Has Returned, Getting A Fenwick Rod From Major League Fishing

 

It has been a few years. Will be interesting to see which rod they send. I presume it is going to be a Fenwick Eagle. If I could pick, I would go with the 7MH casting. I don't know if I will have a use for what they send, but I'll keep an open mind.

Today's Ice Status And Fishing Report

Ice went off our bay when I was vacuuming out the Trophy.

Red-Wing Blackbird

Did Not turn into a thunderboomer, thankfully

Ice-free to South Big Island

Open to LSB

Ice at the access tonight, so ice out will be tomorrow.

Platte Lake Access

 

North Platte Lake Drive Looking SE towards our bay

Where I park the Trophy, looking OK for now

The rain this morning lit a fire on Bulldog in the access area, and I could see with significant open water on the Eastern side that Bulldog wouldn't have ice for much longer.

Rock dark, but I thought it would still have ice tomorrow.
I was wrong about that.

This morning at 8AM, we got a call from the Chiropractor that he wouldn't be in today, so I headed to the GOMH. Got skunked and left when it started to rain. Got a short downpour at our place and .25" of water. Platte and Mille Lacs got more significant downpours in duration and intensity. I took a nap. Got up around 3:30PM and headed over to the lake place to get the Trophy ready in the 70-degree weather. No thunderstorms, so I got her done. When I was headed over, our bay was 2/3 covered, and there was a kayaker and canoe out along the ice edge. By the time I went down front, our bay was wide open. I took the N. Platte Lake Drive loop, and there was still plenty of ice N and W of the Big Island. Rock was iced up. Bulldog was looking ready to go, as was the ice at the Platte Lake Access.

I fished for about half an hour at the GOMH. Otters were chasing one another in the cattails, and two of them made trips up to the road a couple of times. Red-wing blackbird was in that small tree to the West. Loons were out front. Got skunked again. I started seeing lightning about dark, so I bounced when I heard thunder. The storms never made it this far east.

Open to South Point Small Island Tonight

 

Thunderstorms did not develop today in our area. It was primarily occasional light rain with a hefty ENE wind. It was only in the low 40s for most of the day. Bulldog was slightly more open, same with Rock. Ice was pulling away in a bunch more places on Platte. With the warm temps and high winds and rain, I don't see the ice on Platte making it through the weekend. Don't know if I'll be able to get to work on the boat this weekend or not due to the rain. Would really like to have Trophy in Rock Lake no later than Wednesday.

I took two trips to the GOMH tonight. I took the lake tour during the first one after getting the low beam situation taken care of. The first one I only fished for about half an hour. A guy stopped to talk during the first trip. He remembered meeting me over at Rock Lake. We talked for maybe 5-minutes. He said he would be back next week if it warms up and drove a white pickup. Had an Osprey fly over the bridge, then went around Eagle Perch Point about 20-feet off the ground. Very Cool. Also had a low-flying trumpeter swan fly over to Sully tonight. As I was packing to leave on Trip 1. A second smaller loon joined the one that had been swimming over by Intersection Point. They swam around and around one another while dipping their heads underwater, presumably looking for baitfish. Never seen that before. Maybe it was a mating thing.

I stayed until after dark the second trip, hoping some silver bullheads might show up. Nope. Skunked again.

Tonight Lakes Report and Skunked Again

 

Rock Lake to the south

Sunny when the sun came up, then clouded up quickly. Cloudy when Dad and I went to Onamia. Sun came out again by 3PM. Nice night. Bulldog hadn't progressed much. Whereas Rock had me wondering if it might be fishable tomorrow (it wasn't)

I think Local Walleye Guy fished tonight on the NE side for a while. The weather was pleasant, but I forgot my headlamp. Got minnows today at Reed's. We then went to check Kathio Bridge for suckers, none. Had a turkey take out the driver-side mirror, and dad stopped too quick, spilling the minnows; what a mess. Didn't get a bite. Had a loon make me believe I would get something tonight the way it was bird-dogging on the SE side. There was open water off of the point at SPSI, but was only open 75% of the way there. 

 

A Lake Round Up For Tonight

 

Loon N GOMH

Bulldog

40% to SPSI

Water at the base of the stairs

Saw the pike swimming along the NE rocks, Loon night at the GOMH; saw many birds flying South when I was on the SW side and several flying North when I was on the NE side. Didn't get a bite. Stayed after dark. Cool, but calm. Loons calling from the south and north. No signs of life with the spotlight. 40% of the way to SPSI. Some areas on Platte with significant separation from shore and others none at all. Bulldog and Rock didn't change much with today's rain. But I think there will be a considerable jump toward open water in the next few days as it warms up.

With sun today and high winds through the weekend and Monday. I don't see the ice lasting until Tuesday.

Will I Have The Trophy In Platte Lake By May 1st?

3/23/22

 I figure we are about a week away from open water as of yesterday.  It is supposed to really warm up on Saturday with a pretty good chance of thunderboomers. I hope the storms hold off until evening and that I will be able to get the boat cleaned up and water ready before the storms arrive. I am mulling not putting the Trophy in Platte Lake right away this year. I'm thinking about sampling the fishing in Rock and maybe a couple other lakes first.

Ice Conditions And I Got A Bullhead

1st Jumper of 2022

 

Don't Think That Is Ole Fatso

Slight Progress At Bulldog

Maybe 1/3rd of the way to SPSI

The sun was out until about 4PM, with temps reaching the mid-40s. Bulldog and Rock only slight progress. Platte seemed like there were areas that had pulled away from the shore quite a bit in our bay along the North Shore. About a 1/3rd of the way to the small island with very little open in Channel Inn Bay. Nobody came to visit at the GOMH tonight and I got one jumper.

Tonight At The GOMH

 About 20% open to the SPSI. The cold and snow this weekend really put the breaks on things.  I am thinking somewhere between the 25th-27th for ice out now. Could be earlier if we get a significant rain event. That is what had me over enthusiastic last week.