Silver Bullheads Moved In(3/14/24)

13" Demon/Minnow

14" Cubby

 Silvers finally moved in. I got the first one over by the Beaver Dam. I was just about to leave when I missed a bite. I then stayed until I ran out of minnows. Catching 2 more silvers and missing 7 more bites. A Bow Fishing Boat came through and I shined two eyes on the Platte side before I left.

1st Fish Of 2023

 

8" Cubby Mini-Mite (Glow)

Turns out I was wrong about no traffic on the lake. I guess it got pounded in December because the bite was on fire and then it really slowed down, probably due to the schools being atomized by Livescope.

Final Ice Trip of 21/22(4/8/22)

 

7+ Rippin Rap

8.5" Cubby

8" Rippin Rap

6:30-9:00PM Rock Lake 8' at the Cane

36-45℉, PC, 4-23mph NNW

I got on OK. Stepped in slush and soaked my right boot. I then walked straight out. Drilled a hole to the South, wasn't impressed with what I saw and headed to my cane holes, which I could not find. I ended up stepping in two of them later on. I drilled one hole out deep. Then moved in closer to the cane and set up there. It was pretty windy once I got past the hill. Also drilled a set to the South. When I got back, there was a school of sunnies off in the distance that I think had a big bass in with them, but it was too far away to tell. Had a few schools of sunnies and crappies swim through, but not very frequently. Saw one pike. I caught the one sunfish and one Crappie on the Rippin Rap. And I got a couple crappie on the Cubby Mini-mite  I packed up at 9 PM as nothing was going on. Checked the Sullivan access on my way home; it's trash. I will probably hit Rock again in the morning and call it a season.

I did not get up, so this was my final 21/22 Ice Fishing Season trip.

 

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

 

1st Bass of the Year Tonight

14" Cubby Mini-Mite w/Minnow

I don't know why the sky is washed out.  That wasn't all I caught tonight at Rock.

No Fooling, 1st Bullhead of the Year!

19" Glow Cubby Mini-Mite

5:30-8:00PM
Conditions: Warm and breezy out of the South, some clouds, some sun.  Thunderstorms popping up to the East and SE.

Tonight I went to visit Jenny to see her quilts after that the plan was to look at the lakes and maybe throw a line in the water.  I was surprised by how open the water was at Bulldog Lake.  I would say it was 15% Open.

(Click to Enlarge Pictures)
Looking to the NE from Access

Looking SE from the Access

Rock Lake didn't look open at all; The same with the East end of Platte Lake.  I was surprised by how open Sullivan and Platte were at the GOMH.

Platte River Outlet Area 85% Open.  Ice was in the area by the river mouth. And water was open well into Sullivan Lake itself.

Chanel Inn Bay and all the way past the South Island

With the amount of water the lakes should be open by some time early next week.  I was planning to leave to watch Survivor tonight, but it was so warm I decided to stay and keep fishing.  I was fishing in shorts and a T-Shirt under my Cabela's jacket.

You can see how low the water level is in this picture.

On a whim I decided to go and fish the Platte side where it was calm.  That is where I got the fish.

 It was quite a night with swans, ducks, geese, and sandhill cranes flying over making a racket.  It finally calmed down and the moon came out for a bit.

Grumpy Old Men & Crappies

Tonight I had my first grumpy old man sightings. I arrived at the GOMH around 3PM, it was calm and sunny, and some guy switched to the North side when I arrived, so I took up the S.W. side. I saw two minnows swimming along the rocks, but that was it as far as action. Grumpy Old Man Willard showed up around 3:30.

Willard doesn't like to have his picture taken.

Willard told me stories I'd never heard before, and he told me about the C.O. before Kuske, who apparently was a hard ass. Willard said he was taken off his duty because he had many death threats against him. True??? Who knows. Eventually, the foul-mouthed Grumpy Old Man Bud showed up.

A couple of boats came and fished, and a family fished on the S.E. side. Nobody caught anything. I saw a couple of boats coming from the river. The clouds moved in around 5PM. When I left at 5:20, a couple of young guys fishing on the North side with bass sized Rapala's came and took my spot.

I went to Sue's Drive-In with my mom for dinner. I got out to a lake that shall remain nameless around 8PM. I was fishing with my pink Cubby Mini-Mite and got a bite. It was a crappie that really wanted it.

It went 9.75," and I put it in the bucket in case I got a few more. I started tipping the Cubby with a minnow, and  I  got another 9.75 incher about 5 minutes later. I missed a bite then I got an 8" which I threw back. It was getting dark, so I went to get might light for the bobber. When I did, the light fell through a hole in the bottom of the pouch it was in and dropped into the lake. Fortunately, I had another light that was still in its package. Eventually, I switched to Custom Jig and Spins Glow Demon. While I was trying to spot the bobber light on the bottom of the lake, a crappie took down my bobber. I was lucky to catch another 8". That was the last bite I got, so I threw back the two I had in the pail. It was dead calm tonight, and I saw many fish out on the lake that were up by the surface spooking while it was still light out. A beaver was chewing on a tree to my North, about 80 yards that I could see and hear. A small beaver swam around me a few times, occasionally slapping the water with its tail. After dark, the loons were calling, and I heard an owl or two. It was a really lovely night to be out. I left around 10:20PM.

Losing Lures: I am having a bad year in the losing lures department. Today I stupidly lost a very productive swim jig when the lure got caught up in Cattails. I did not have the heavy stuff for line on this rod and when I tried to force the lure free the line snapped. I am going to bring my waders to the GOMH tomorrow and see if I can't get to it because it should be hung up on a stalk. However, after I broke my line I could not see it. Instead of forcing the issue I should have just cut my line so I would have had a lead to follow right to the lure.

I also had a Cubby get bit off by a Pike tonight. That was my last glow Cubby, so I switched to an orange Flu Flu and after about 5 minutes caught that lure stealing pike which had my Cubby down in it's throat. When I was getting the Flu Flu out the hook on it broke. I was able to retrieve the Cubby with pliars, but the plastic body was in pretty rough shape. I now have 3 Cubby bodies in serious need of Mend-It.

Fishing Report:

Guntersville 2/ Norman 3/GOMH Report

Morning Fishing Report: I got up at 5:30 and headed to the GOMH. Don W. was there already, but he hadn't gotten anything. I managed to get skunked, but I missed a few bites and had a jumpin bullhead. Don caught one Silver and a bunch of little oranges on waxies. By 7am, I had enough and left. Two guys arrived at the same time as me that fished the NE side and were catching some kind of bullhead over there.

GEM outing at Rush Lake... Nobody told the BP about it. Oh well doesn't look like they needed me.

Evening Fishing Report: I headed to the GOMH at 6:30. The SE side was open, so I took that. Once again, Lee Ander was there with family, and Willard was on sight too. Lewis appeared later, so all the Grumpy Old Men were accounted for. There was lots of coming and goings on this night, and boats were fishing both sides (N&S) of the GOMH. I started out fishing with maggies and a glow Cubby Mini-mite. It was slow at first, but as the night progressed, the action got faster. My first fish was an orange bullhead, followed by a small jumpin bullhead.

I missed several bites but eventually got dialed into a zone to the East of the current. Around 7:30, I got my first Silver which I gave to Lee Ander. About 20 minutes later, I had another Crappie on and missed it at the bridge. I was sporadically hooking several oranges by now. I then caught a couple more silvers, switched to minnows, and got hit immediately 3 times catching 2 nice fish. After another silver or two, I had one on that collided with the weeds, and my line broke. I switched to a glow Ratso with a big hook and kept working minnows; I got my last two silvers on this.

All in all, I went home with 7, having released a few small ones and given 1 to Lee Ander. It was a nice night to be out, 75 degrees, slight SW wind. I did as well as anybody because the SW side was not fast and furious with the silvers.

Tournament News:
Basszone On the Water Blog...

April 27 Tour Notes and Blog SMG... Jay Yelas has a great big fish story.

G-Ville day 2 Bassfan Story...

BassZone G-ville day 2 story...

BassFan Big Stick John Murray G-ville...

Norman FLW BassFan Story...

Fantasy Bass Fishing Notes:
BASS G-Ville: Both Teams have 2 anglers in the top 12 KVD & Horton, Miyazaki, and Jordan. Mason was a no-point stinker for BP1. IKE rallied and got points on the board for BP boys. The success of this tournament hinges upon those top 12 performances tomorrow.

Good Evening at the GOMH (GOM Willard "Bacon" Night)

Fishing Report: Headed to the GOMH at 6:20PM. There were three anglers fishing the SW side. Also at the GOMH was grumpy old man Willard. If he said bacon once, he said it a hundred times over the evening.

Since the SW side was covered with anglers I took the not nearly as nice to fish from SE side. In the first hour I fought two big bullheads but they both jumped me off by slightly bending the cubby hook out. The first hook up was at least a 4lber that jumped numerous times. A lady fishing the SW side said if I gave her the bass to keep, she would give me a couple of brewski's. I think she was half kidding, but then again maybe not.

I landed my first fish, which was a 2lb jumpin bullhead after I had been there about an hour. I was fishing a busted Cubby body with a minnow. I landed two more jumpin bullheads, a 2 and then a 3lber. About 8PM the people on the SW side started getting some action with orange bullheads then by 8:20 some silvers started showing up. I caught an unlucky break when a slimmer broke my line sending my Wing-It bobber into Sullivan Lake. However soon after that my luck changed because the guy and the girl fishing the SW side caught enough fish and packed it up. I immediately took their place.

For the next 20 minutes or so I proceeded to whack and stack silver bullheads on Dad's set up from last night (Chart flu flu and a minnow). Another guy showed up while the action was hot and he immediately started catching them too. As it was starting to get pretty dark the 1st guy left and the action slowed. I put on my lighted bobber and got about 4 more fish. The action slowed the darker it got. I got my last couple of fish on another set up with a Glow Demon. All in all I kept 9 (see pic) and released 3-5.

Word on the street is that Santa Claus Don woke up early and smacked em good in the morning around 6am. He said he also got a 5lb jumpin bullhead.


Classic Bass Pundit: Goings on at GOMH

April 2006 Fishing Log Blog archives...

April 2005 Fishing Log Blog archives...

More Closed Season Vigilanteism at FM.com: Targeting Bass before they are open (Duffman takes a shot at the BP in his post) and Lawbreakers

Hey Duffman, in case you aren't paying attention, I actually do fish for Dogfish. I am the 2004 and 2006 Minnesota Bowfin Club Grand Champion. I will try and repeat again this year. I think I may have missed a my first doggy of the season the other night. FYI I was fishing for Crappies at the time.