My Final Fish of 2024 (11/09/24)

24.75" Jerk Shad (Chart Shad)

 

It turns out that this trip to the jetty on November 9th produced my final fish for 2024. Fall fishing pretty much sucked, and I didn't get out in the Trophy the final week I had it in the water, even though there were a couple of decent days I could have. My mind was distracted by the election and my upcoming hip surgery on the 19th. The 2024 Fishing Season was really good for big silver bullheads and that was about it. Not sure when I will get out fishing again, as I don't wnt to take any chance of injuring my new hip.

5/11/24, MN Fishing Opener at Eddy's Jetty Mille Lacs

 

Setting the scene

 

Northern Lights Looking towards Indian Point

Northern Lights Looking South from our place when I got home

1st Fish of the 24 Season

5th Eye of the night

12:00-2:45AM Eddy's Jetty Mille Lacs Lake

43℉, Clear Sky w/ Northern Lights, 1-3mph W light ripple

I arrived at the Jetty around 11:30PM. The Northern Lights had a lot of watchers on the frontage road, but nobody came to fish the Jetty. There was a light ripple on the water. I started with a Minnesota Rig for my first 5 casts. Not a solid plan. After a fishless first 10 minutes, I switched to a Grass Pig and had a fish pull it halfway off the jig on the first cast. I may have missed another bite about 10 minutes later. I spent 45 minutes in the North Corner before giving the Harbor Mouth a try. 

At about 1 am, the Northern Lights got much brighter over the lake, and a baitfish got blasted just to the S of the Center Standing Rock. I quickly made my way to that spot. I turned on my headlamp and saw the fish, so I turned the headlamp off. I then cast about 20' past, where I saw the fish with the Jerk Shad, and it hit on the very first cast, bazinga! It was about 18." I caught 3 more at the Center Standing Rock in the next 20 minutes. I got my final bite of the night at the Old North Corner Standing Spot on the Jerk Shad. I foolishly decided 5 fish was enough and started trying other things. A couple other guys showed up with a boat at 2 am. The guy that went to Center Jetty got a fish quickly. His buddy showed up about 15 minutes later and caught a walleye as I was packing up. He was fishing off the N Harbor Mouth. The NL were really bright from W to E in the southern sky as I made my way home. I took a picture when I got home. Successful opening trip.

5Eyes 

Final Open Water Fish of 2021

 

16.5" Jerk Shad (Tomato)

This trip was it for open water in 2021. Saw one walleye and I caught it. Low water made for terrible fishing at Mille Lacs this Fall.

Steve And I Hit the Jetty Tonight

22" Jerk Shad

21" Jerk Shad

21.5" Jerk Shad

18.5" Jerk Shad (Crackle)

I thought with the SE wind today things would be good at the Jetty. Steve was into it so off we went. Arrive at the Jetty, no wind no waves. I predicted it probably wouldn't be good until after 9PM and I was right. Steve got the first fish around 9:20PM and it was a 21.5" keeper. He would get two more, both in the keeper slot. I put on a crackle Jerk Shad with 3 minutes to go in the night and hooked into my only fish of the night on the first cast. I had Steve throwing the Ghost Shad Jerk Shad the whole time. Steve was fishing off of the Center Standing Rock. A native guy to the North of me at the North Corner got 4 fish as well. Steve lost a good one right before 10PM.

Last Trip In Open Water 2020, Maybe??

I started fishing around 7:30PM. I spotted a moving eyeball when I got up on Pete's Standing Rock. I made several casts to the area. On about the 6th one I caught sight of the eye's obviously tracking to my Tomato Jerk Sahd. I just let the Jerk Shad sit and yanked when I thought it grabbed the lure, which it did. I was glad to have the skunk gone. I wasn't really enjoying myself in the cold and the fish weren't biting so about an hour in I said to myself, next fish in hand and I'm leaving. I was fishing the North Corner just about to go back to the Harbor Mouth and give the Rage Swimmer Jr. a try when the 26-incher grabbed my Sexy Shad Jerk Shad. After releasing the fish I indeed had enough and quit fishing. Will this be my last open water trip of 2020? Not sure, all I know is that I really didn't enjoy the last couple of trips very much. The thought of grinding out walleyes in the bitter cold with freezing hands is losing its luster.

Halloween 2020

 

Steve Got His First Ever MN State Fish Tonight

18" on an Ultimate Jerk Shad (Crackle)

4.78lbs Jerk Shad (Crackle)

Goal Achieved on 5-18-18

 The wind was supposed to blow out of the SE this evening instead it diminished and was out of the South, bummer.  But with the way the weather was, I thought the eyes would really be snapping anyway.  I don't think 4 eyes between the two of us counts as snapping, but I'll take it.  Steve might have had a couple of hits in a Rippin' Rap as well.  We would have undoubtedly caught more, but that stupid 10PM night ban cut us off as they started to bite and Steve figured out what they wanted.  No bugs at all.  Such a pity we couldn't fish until 11 or midnight.  Too bad, I didn't suggest stopping at the Grumpy Old Man Hole before I took him home as there was practically nobody there when I went to check it on my way home.  I didn't fish it either, doh.

Good job, Steve!   

How Opener Morning Went At The GOMH This Year

18.5" Piranha/Craw Fatty (Junebug/B/B)

5:15-7:45AM GOMH NE
Conditions: 54-57℉, Partly Cloudy, Calm to Light NE wind

I arrived a little later than I would have liked do to me putzing around at home a little to much, but it worked out as no one was on the N side when I got there.  There were people on the SW and SE side.  The guys on the SW had gotten one golden, a toothy and jumper or two.  I quickly made my leave.  Got my stuff out and got down to the NE side before anyone else could.  I didn't get anything for about 10 minutes and someone came down on the NW side.  I was thinking about bailing to get the Trophy when this happened.

22.5" Piranha/Swim Fluke Jr. (white)

The toothy was my first fish on Daiwa Tatula 7'1"MHRB with Tatula CT spooled up with 15lb Sunline Assassin.  I then put the junebug Piranha on the rod and caught the 18.5" jumper, and two 15" jumpers before the claws got bit off the Craw Fatty.  I then got three quick jumpers on the Grass Pig and didn't hook up with about 5 bites.  Then this happened.

While that was happening I switched to a Jerk Shad and got a couple of dinks.  Then this happened.

17" & 15" Jerk Shad (Chart Shad)

And there was a third fish trying to take it away from those two.  Not sure if that third fish was also hooked up or not.  What a way to start the season with a double on one bait.  Here's the 17" fish.

17" Jerk Shad

 I didn't think to take a picture of the 15 incher.  I then caught a 15.5", 14, and 16.25" and three toothy's before a toothy done stole my lure, that dirty dog.  So then I went briefly to a green pumpkin 110 Knock Off that I bought on eBay.  I got a toothy on that and then switched to a sexy shad Jerk Shad.  I got a 16" and dink jumper as well as two toothys on that before it got stolen.  More people showed up and the bite died so I got out of there.

7 Toothys
15 Jumpers

Best 6 (18.5, 17, 16, 16, 15.5, 15.5)

Final Open Water Fish of 2015

 

One of two otters that were out there today

4:00-4:30PM
Conditions: 35 degrees, cloudy, wind out of the NE, water level up a bit after yesterday's rain

Managed to get a couple toothy's today on the STX fishing the NE side.

18.75" Luck-E-Strike RC STX

17.25" Luck-E-Strike RC STX

Nothing on the S side.

Yesterday's rain I think pretty much wrecked my ice fishing plans for this weekend.

Got Some New Lures I Had To Try Out Today

Used the top two today

8:45-9:30AM
Conditions: Overcast, light rain, windy out of the SE, 48 degrees

After more than a year of bidding on Luck-E-Strike Rick Clunn STX Jerkbaits on Ebay I finally won 5 used one's at my price point.  I also won a New Spro Mc Stick 110 from the same seller on a different auction.  They arrived yesterday and I gave them a try this morning.  I was rather surprised to get 6 toothy bullheads on a couple of the STX's that I put on.  I didn't try the Mc Stick.  Every thing came on the NE side.

17.75" Luck-E-Strike RC STX

17" STX

20" STX

My Top 10 Baits of the 2000's

Ok I know I said I wasn't going to do a retrospective look back at the 2000's decade but then I saw Hellabass do one on his Top 10 Bass Baits of the past Decade . I thought it was a cool idea and so I am going to do my own Top 10 list.


#10 Mann's Minus One- I use all 3 sizes and they have caught many bass and some big pike. I threw thew them a lot more often earlier in the decade and in the latter part of the decade I have used them primarily for going after pike.

#9 Buzzbait- I don't throw buzzbaits a whole lot but they were the key lure for winning the 2008 Fisher of Men Fishing Club Fall Outing Fally WallEE Trophy  and I caught a 5lb bass on the Herb's Dilly Buzzbait this decade.

Top Brands: Herb's Dilly, Northland, Blue Fox.

#8 Rapala Subwalk- The Subwalk gets the nod mainly because I caught these 2 bass on it in one cast and then there is the episode of getting one bit off, retrieving the lure several days later, and then losing that particular bait never to be seen again.

#7 Rattlebaits- This particular family of baits was hot for me early in the decade, but I have developed upper back issues that interfere with me being able to rip the bait.

Top brands: Cordell Spots, Berkley Frenzy, and the venerable Rattletrap

#6 Swim Jigs- I have pounded bass and pike hard over the last couple of years thanks to swim jigs and of coarse there is the episode of The Lost Jig.

Top brands: Bass Pro Shops Tom Monsoor Enticer, Outkast, All-Terrain, Brovarney.

#5 Buzz Toads- This type of bait is #6 because I just love to throw em and a white Sizmic Toad caught one of my Top 5 biggest bass of the decade.

Top Brands: Zoom Horny Toad and Sizmic Toad.

#4 Suspending Jerkbaits- This decade I hammered bass (Larry and Sally), pike, and walleye on suspending jerkbaits. A green Smithwick Dead-Stick Rogue caught one of my Top 5 biggest bass of the decade and I believe a Husky Jerk was probably responsible for my personal best walleye which was caught trolling in the Fall on Mille Lacs.

Top Brands: Rapala Husky Jerk, Rapala X-Rap, Smithwick Dead Stick Rogue, Smithwick Suspending Rogue, and Bomber Long A.

#3 Slop Frogs- Snagproof Tournament Frogs were responsible for my two biggest bass of the decade and accounted for more 4 and 5lb bass than any other lure. Also Mike Thompson caught the biggest pike I witnessed get caught this decade on a Snagproof Frog.
Top Brands: Snagproof, Spro, River2Sea.

#2 Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke- I have caught a lot of bass (mostly Larry's but some Sally's too) on Zoom Super Flukes over the past 10 years and it has been clutch for me in tournaments. My Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke is responsible for my 3rd place finish and Lunker at the 2008 Baxter Bass Snatcher Club Tournament at Serpent Lake (4/02), Big Bass and Tournament win at a Fishers of Men Club Tournament on Rush Lake (20.5"), My 3rd Place in the 2004 Excel Singles Tournament at Rabbit Lake, and was partially responsible for my 2004 Team Bass win at Bone Lake, WI; there is more but those are the biggest Super Fluke highlights.

#1 Berkley Frenzy Popper- Some of my most fun and prolific times on the water this decade involved the now discontinued Berkley Frenzy Popper. Fortunately for me I snapped up lots of Frenzy Poppers off Ebay before they were discontinued.

BP's Revenge vs. Cyberfish (many months later)


Are You O.C.F.?

Daily Pro Site-ING= "Spin" gotta love the rolling surf sound effect with gulls. I think I'm gonna take a nap.

New Stuff:
Cool Looking Baits

But will they catch fish? I bet they will. I'll probably buy a couple if I ever find some loose change in my pocket this spring.

Note: Checked in Bass Pro Shops, these baits are selling for $12.99 a piece. OUCH! Maybe I won't be buying any. Rapala Husky Jerks and X-Raps are fish catchers for half the price.

BP Newswire:BassFan changes the Bass Professional World Rankings Formula.

State Farm is no longer the title sponsor of the BassFan World Rankings

I suppose it had to be done with all the changes going on in the world of Professional Bass Fishing right now. In case you are not aware there have been many major changes made between 2005 and 2006. BassFan recognized this and has acted accordingly. Under the new ranking formula here are the Top 10 Bass Fisherman in the World by performace over the last two years.

1. Kevin VanDam 228.590
2. Greg Hackney 216.084
3. Edwin Evers 195.297
4. Michael Iaconelli 194.939
5. Takahiro Omori 193.054
6. Skeet Reese 188.520
7. Anthony Gagliardi 186.264
8. Terry Scroggins 185.585
9. Marty Stone 185.188
10. Davy Hite 184.825

Full rankings here.

Of the Top 10 I don't have websites for 6 of them. What does that say?