Pick 'Em Game Added at Bassmasterfantasy.com

 

Bassmaster has added a third fantasy bass fishing game. The new Pick "Em game pairs two anglers, and the goal is to pick the angler who finishes higher/has the most weight. I assume there will be different matchups for each tournament. When I was first doing my picks, I didn't even notice the reason behind the pairings. I think they may keep the AOY vs. ROY match-up for the entire season. 

My Thoughts On The Tentative 2025 Bass Snatcher Schedule

 Dates and Lakes for 2025 were picked at least until the next meeting.

May 31st Birch at Hackensack: This will be the 4th time we have fished this lake since I joined the club. Two of the of the three times were in the Fall. In 2016,  it was the first tournament of the year as well. I haven't had any notable finishes here, but I enjoy fishing clear water and am not intimidated by it.  

June 21st  Lum Park Mississippi: I really want to catch a limit in a river tournament. This provides me that opportunity. I've fished one other tournament here.

July 19^th Edward: This will be the 3rd time in the last 8 years the club has fished this lake. First tournament went well. The 2nd tournament I struggled in the windy conditions, while my boater kicked my butt. I have wanted revenge on this lake. Lots of reeds.

August 23rd Rush Lake by Perham: This would be my third time fishing this lake. The first time, I only got one bass. The second time was a blown opportunity to finish well. It has a lot of reeds and slop.

Sept 13^th Fish Trap Lake: It's an ok lake. I don't love it. I don't hate it.

Sunday, September 28^th North Long:  The lake seems to have a great population of bass in it. I've fished it quite a few times. I think it has topwater potential if the conditions get right. 

Last Day Of January Ride Around

 

Rock Lake Looking NE

Rock Looking South

It was another nice day, and I had an errand to run up to the lake place, so I drove around to see what was up at the Platte/Sullivan area lakes. There were under 10 houses on Bulldog, and everybody was driving out. Rock Lake had even fewer people and no houses on my spot. There were actually a couple of people set up off the point of Jenny's Reeds; I'm guessing it was people staying at the AB&B. There were fewer houses on Platte than earlier this week. The NE Access of Sully is closed because of the pressure ridge. This week was a late January thaw. It will be cooling down somewhat starting in February.

BP's 2025 Snatcher Tournament Lakes Wish List

The Baxter Bass Snatchers will be having our first meeting of 2025 this Saturday.  These are the lakes I would like to see and lakes I'm not enthused about.

Local Lakes I'd prefer to fish (No particular order):

North Long

Gull

Edward

Bay

Whitefish

South Long

Serpent
Rice Lake/Mississippi River

Zebulon Pike/Mississippi River

Away Lakes I'd prefer to fish (NPO):

Pokegama

Leech

Rush (Ottertail)

Fish Hook (Park Rapids)

Woman

Washburn

Thunder

Meh Lakes:

Rabbit

Cedar (Aitken)

Up in the air about it:
Platte/Sullivan: Last year, catching 'em was the most difficult it had been for me in years.

Cabin Fever Has Set In

 

Platte Lake Access

We are now a few days past the average temp coldest days of the year. I haven't been fishing in a couple of months. The first Bassmaster Open concluded today. The first Snatcher Meeting will be next Saturday. I am ready for Spring. Today, I got out for a drive. They are driving out on Bulldog, nobody parking along 8. Sunset at the GOMH. It was 17℉ and windy during my drive. This upcoming week is going to bring slightly above average temps, and the week after is supposed to be slightly below average, not the way below average temps like we recently experienced.

Can KOC and Uncle Sam Win A Playoff Game?

 Going into the Lions game last week, I had zero worries about KOC and Uncle Sam. Then, they both laid an egg in a winnable game. Now, I have very little confidence in the offensive side of the ball. Sam looked terrible. KOC has Campbellitis. I can't get that bad taste from last week out of my mouth.

What will tonight's game bring? Will the squad play with grit and win this winnable game?

I'll believe it when I see it. 

Prove you can do it, coach.

Update: They lost to the Rams 27-9.  Uncle Sam was better than he was in the Lions game, but not enough to make a difference. The Packers and Lions were both one and done as well. It was an all-NFC East Conference Championship Game, with Philly destroying Wash 55-23.

Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing Is Now Live For '25

 Fantasy Fishing is now open for business at bassmasterfantasy.com. The prizes are in line with what has been offered in the past, not bad for a game that is totally free to play. You don't have to know much about the anglers or lakes to win. There are a total of 10 different tournaments from February to August. 

There are two different games. The traditional fantasy game is where Anglers are grouped into 5 different buckets where you select one angler per bucket. The buckets reset every tournament based on AOY standing, so you have to pick a new team for every tournament. Then, there is the Drain The Lake game, which is an elimintor game. You get to pick an angler to do well in one tournament, and then they are eliminated from your choices for the rest of the year.

I recommend joining groups where you can win prizes. The end-of-the-year prizes from the Tackle Warehouse group are pretty substantial. I've never done well in end-of-the-year standings but have won a few prizes over the years.

Uncle Sam Folds Under The Pressure, Vikes 14-3

 

Uncle Sam drove the car into the ditch last night, and I don't know if it is salvageable or not. He may have been too amped up and then got frustrated instead of becoming focused when he couldn't get things back on track. His performance was an A+ disaster. The Vikes would have won if Uncle Sam had shown up instead of Bad Sam. I think Bad Sam only showed up one time this year. Bad Sam was definitely the guy in London missing passes left and right. In Jacksonville, Uncle Sam threw three interceptions in the red zone, but other than those plays was dealing that day. 

I had quibbles this game with KOC not running the ball enough per usual. KOC got Dan Campbelitis, and we have had Special Teams lapses yet again. Gink dropped, an almost sure Pick-6 had he been able to catch the ball. Nailor tripped on himself and fell out of bounds with tons of open field ahead of him. Jets dropped a couple of passes, one of them being in the endzone. But all that stuff doesn't matter much when Bad Sam completes under 50% of his passes. That just won't work with a KOC offense because he was missing just about every downfield throw.

B Flo's Defense played Championship level football up until the drop by Gink at the start of the 3rd Quarter. That sucked the spirit right out of the unit. Game Over! A few plays later, the Lions went up 24-9, and the route was on. Gibbs padded his numbers on the next series, which was garbage time in my mind.

Uncle Sam and the team just need to throw this game in the dumpster and get back to themselves next week, and the team will be fine in LA. I thought the Vikes first loss to the Rams was a fluke based on a perfect storm of factors that worked against the Vikings. That theory gets put to the test on Monday Night Football. It's a chance for Sam to redeem himself a bit and prove the doubters wrong. One step at a time is the only way to get anywhere you need to go. I am still on the bandwagon, even if we are in the ditch.

If the Vikes do lose next week, I will be disappointed this magical season is over, but depression won't set in. I was playing with house money in every game with Uncle Sam, and he delivered 14 wins, which is outstanding! It is just a bad break that the Lions are 15-2 and got the #1 Seed.

If the Vikes do win next week, I will be grateful for another week in a magical season! 

BP"s 2024 Bass Lure of The Year

 

With Platte Lake in its second year of recovery from the 22/23 Winter Kill and me struggling to stay on the bass in Sullivan, it made for the most challenging bass fishing I've experienced in years.  There was a period from the MN Fishing Opener to when the rice came up in early June when the Houdini-colored Z-Man Turbo FattyZ was 🔥. Then the bite just collapsed when the shiner minnows moved deep. I caught the vast majority of 153 bass on the FattyZ in that window. It was the only lure I caught a hundred bass on for the year. I did catch 258 bass on frogs and toads, but that was spread out over about 20 different lures. Here is to hoping that bass fishing in 2025 improves.

January 3rd Sunset at the GOMH

 Happy Birthday to me! I went for a short drive around sunset tonight. Temp out was 10℉. There is almost no snow after that Christmas warm-up. We will be on the cold side of things for about a week, before the temps look to get closer to average late next week. I am grateful to live in lake country.

What To Do With Uncle Sam?

 Honestly, I'm not very worried about what the Vikings brain trust decided to do. They have earned my trust by putting together this season's roster. They know what they have in-house better than anybody. I doubt they let him walk. His skill set is too elite. He and KOC have proved to be a perfect match for each other. The guy has won 14 games with a shot at 15. He is tough, cold-blooded, and puts in the work. I'm sure they will figure something out that works for Uncle Sam and the team. It will shock me if that isn't the case. Uncle Sam knows he's got a good thing going here, and his priorities will dictate what the Vikings organization will do. If Sam chooses to chase the $ like Kirk, the Viking's brain trust will be forced into some hard decisions. Hopefully, it doesn't come to that, and they can work something out where everybody wins, and Sam stays for multiple successful seasons. If the team is forced to go another way because the asking price doesn't meet the budget, I wish Uncle Sam well. Business is business.  

BP's 2024 Top Lure

2024 #1 Lure Was A Glow Demon

 2024 was a crappie year, as witnessed by a crappie lures/jigs being my the top producing lure for the year.  I caught 381 fish between ice and open water on a Glow Demon Jig and a minnow. The vast majority of those fish were crappie/silver bullheads. The Demon shined especially bright at the Grumpy Old Man Hole where it brought in 213 "silvers."