Because You've Got To See And Read About Last Night

Make sure your screen is tilted correctly to see the colors in the rainbow

What awaited me when I arrived at the lake place tonight.

8:45-9:45PM 3 Loon Flat & S.P.S.I.
Conditons: 70℉, Mostly Cloudy small thunderstorms coming through all evening, Light NNW Wind
Water Temp: 69℉

I wanted to go fishing tonight starting at 5PM, but small thunderstorms kept developing over the lake, so I just staid at home until about 7:40PM when I headed to the lake.  It pretty much quit raining the second I parked the Kia and there was that magnificent rainbow.

Looking NW from our dock

 I didn't know if I was there to go fishing or just drain water from the boat as the weather to the NW looked threatening and that was the direction the storms had been coming from.

An eagle sat up in a tree to the East keeping an eye on the sky with me while baitfish spooked occasionally well out front of our dock.    There were frequent cloud to ground lightening strikes taking place that I could here anywhere from 12 to 18 seconds after I saw them. I was not optimistic about getting out.  At about 8:10 someone from across the bay decided to take their pontoon boat out for a slow cruise around the lake.  I thought they were nuts.  Then about 5 minutes later a fishing boat took off from across the bay and someone else started pulling a tube around. I then noticed a guy in a boat fishing the docks across the way.

I bet he got a big fish off of those docks tonight 

Cloud to ground strikes were still going on.

 Although this picture doesn't really show it some blue sky appeared to the NW at about 8:30.  At that point I put the battery in the boat and got my tackle.  Lesson learned, with all the people with smart phone weather apps, they know what is going on with the weather as it is happening.  I need to seriously think about buying myself one.

I ended up just bringing one tackle bag, normally 3, and 4 Rods, normally 10+.  It was going to be topwater or bust for me tonight.  Should have brought a frog rod with too, because casting in the rice, pads, and reeds doesn't work so great with topwater plugs.

21" Whopper Plopper 90 (Yellow Head)

So I headed out to 3 Loon Flat where I got some bass yesterday.  I got a few pike slashing at my lures and caught this one.  At about 9:10PM I decided to pull the plug and head for the South point of the small island where I wrecked them the other night.

The reeds are off the South point of the big island

 I had to stop and take a picture of the sun as it set, then I was quickly back on my way.  I stopped well short of the juice and could have really used the frog rod to probe the pads, rice, and reeds as I made my way South.  As I got close to the juice I grabbed the rod with the River2Sea Double Plopper Buzzbait on it.  I figured it was a great chance to actually catch a fish on the thing, rather then just have them slash at it.  The first fish to strike at it didn't get it yet again, but sure enough I quickly caught a pike.

21.5" Double Plopper Buzz

And with that fish I closed out a fish on everything in Mystery Tackle Box #3.

Another Blog post on this topic coming later

At that point I immediately put that rod down and went to the Jackall Pompadour and threw it right over the juice where a good fish immediately belted it, but didn't hook up.  Several more casts later with nothing showing interest I put the Pompadour down and went to the Shower Blows knock off. Was hooked up on the first cast with this dink.

11.5" Shower Blows Knock Off (Chart/Herring Bone)

Charles Steinbauer, my boater for the Platte/Sullivan tournament, I'm sure is wondering why they didn't have that buoy out there on tournament day.  I decided not to weigh the fish because it was getting dark quickly.  I got another dink a few casts later after a couple of fish just slashed at it.  By the time I got that fish which was hooked dangerously for me off I was to far to be able to cast to the juice.  I tried working the other side of the trench, but all I got there was a couple of weeds.

I made my way back towards the buoy and a got another dink, this time on the Yellow Head Plopper 90.  By the time I got that fish off I needed to move back towards the buoy.  While underway I made a cast 15 feet past the buoy, but only 5 feet from where my line passed it.  About half way back to the buoy finally a good bass hit the Plopper.  Then the fish started fighting towards the buoy.  I kicked the trolling motor on high in case it made it buoy.

16" Whopper Plopper 90 

Fortunately, the fish cleared the buoy and I landed it.  Unfortunately, the boat went pretty much right over the juice.  I thought maybe it was dark enough I didn't wreck it, but apparently I did because I didn't catch another fish there.  I went in close to the reeds and made the mistake of trying to cast to a lane I thought I saw in the reeds.  The cast was about 7 feet off the mark to the left, so I had to go get the Plopper.  I put on the black Shower Blows knock off and got a quality bass on my last cast of the night.

15.5" SBKO

It was so dark I didn't notice the fish was bleeding until I looked at the camera's LCD screen to make sure I framed the fish correctly. One of the hooks must have clipped a gill during the fight because I didn't take a hook out of the gills to take it off.  The mosquito's were terrible tonight.

5 Bass
4 Pike

At least as many bites that didn't hook up.

Rainy Mystery Tackle Box Morning

16.25" V&M Wild Worm

5:00-8:30AM GOMH NE, Culvert, Bulldog, Rock, Peavy
Conditions: 60℉, Cloudy Light Rain, Calm to Windy ESE, water flowing into Sullivan pretty good.

Maybe the sky was spectacular this morning and I missed it because I was wearing the hood on my rain jacket.  The main objective this morning was to catch fish on the rest of my Mystery Tackle Box plastics.  I did just that and got a bonus fish on the Ima Pinjack.  First Bite was on the Buddha Baits Swagger Worm.

15" Buddha Baits Swagger Worm

I did some reading up last night on the V&M Wild Worm.  I was rigging it weightless, which is wrong because it's designed to be fished on a shaky head; The weight of the jig makes the thing swim.  The fish really liked it when I put the jig with it.  I lost a good one, then caught the 16.25" in the first picture and a 14" later on.

Chowed It On the Jighead

I then got missed a few hits on the Netbait Paca Slim on the Z-Man Shroomz Jig before I landed a 14" and 11" on the combo.

14" Z-Man Shroomz Jig/Netbait Paca Slim

The last fish of the morning was a pike on the Ima Pinjack.  The water at the GOMH is to shallow for the Pinjack, especially now with the low water.

21.5 Ima Pinjack

So I have now caught a fish on all the Mystery Tackle Box plastics.  I really like that Paca Slim.

Here's where I am in fish caught on MTB baits to this point.

Operation MTB: Netbait Baby Mad Paca✔

16" Baby Mad Paca

I got a couple bass and a pike last night on the Netbait Baby Mad Paca fishing out in the Trophy around some docks.  That means all I have to do is catch something on the River2Sea Double Plopper Buzzbait and I will have reached the goal of catching something on everything that came in MTB #3.  I've had hits on the Plopper Buzz,  so it's just a matter of time before I hook something on it.

Operation Mystery Tackle Box Is Underway

12.5" Z-Man Shroomz Micro Finesse Jig/Crusteaz 

8:30-9:45PM Platte River Culvert, GOMH NE
Conditions: 60℉, Partly Cloudy, NW Wind

14.5" Jenko Premium Spinnerbait

So tonight the aim was to catch fish on as many of the lures I got in my three Mystery Tackle Box's this winter as I could.  I started out fishing the River2Sea Double Plopper at the Platte River Culvert and had something small hit it but not hook up.  The same thing happened when I went to the GOMH.  I got the first bullhead of the night on the Z-Man Shroomz Micro Finesse Jig with Z-Man Crusteaz trailer.  Then I put on the Jenko Premium Spinnerbait and got the biggest fish of the trip on that.

14.5" Jenko Spinnerbait

   I then put on the LiveTarget Hunt For Center Crawfish Crankbait and got a bullhead on that after switching from the 6'4" Avid X Rod to the 6'8" Avid Rod.

13.5" LiveTarget HFC Craw Crank

Last bullhead of the night came on the Savage Gear Armor Tube Worm.

11.5" Armor Tube Worm

I originally had it on the hook Texas rigged, but switched to wacky after missing a coupe of bites.  I got the fish, but lost the worm.  I then tried a Netbait Baby Mad Paca and missed a couple of bites on it before the skeeters became to much.

So basically I got 4/6 of Box #3 taken care of,  1/5 of Box #1, and 0/5 of Box #2

  4 Jumpers (4.96lbs)

Mystery Tackle Box NOT Disappointed, Finally!

LiveTarget HFC Crawfish Crank:  Should be a real winner at the Grumpy Old Man Hole provided a pike doesn't steal it.

River2Sea Double Plopper:  I am aware the reviews on this bait have pretty uniformly registered disappointment.  I still wanted one anyway, but sure as heck wasn't going to pay to buy one for myself.  Now I have one for myself.  MTB came through with a topwater bait for me.

Z-Man Project Z-Shroomz Micro Finesse Jig and Crusteaz: This mini jig-n-pig combo is sure to be a fish catcher until a pike steals the two jigs from me.

Netbait Mad Paca: Brush Hog style creature baits are something I have never fished.  I guess you have to buy them to fish them and I never bought any.  If they live up to the hype, I'm pretty sure I'm  going through this bag fairly quickly; not because Netbait are a fragile plastic, but because this style of bait catches 'em so well.  If these prove to be a winner, and I have no reason to believe they won't be, I may add this creature bait to my bag of tricks.

Jenko Fishing Premium Spinnerbait: A very nice looking white spinnerbait made with quality components.  Absolutely will catch me some fish.

I am giving this box an A+

If all of the boxes were this good I would wholeheartedly recommend Mystery Tackle Box, unfortunately I don't believe they were.  If my opinion changes after fishing the baits I have received you can bet I will revisit my opinion in another blog.  Until then, good night and good fishing!  

One Last Chance For MTB

I got an email today that my final Mystery Tackle Box is on it's way.  If you have read my unboxing blogs of the first two you know I haven't been reel impressed with what I've gotten so far, especially the second box.  In hind sight I wish I had waited until now to redeem the gift my brother and his fiance got me.  If there is a Lunkerhunt Froglet in the box all is forgiven and I'll do a #HappyDance.

Disappointed In The Second Mystery Tackle Box

This Months Mystery Tackle Box

What I got

Lucky Craft D-9 Slim Shad: Of coarse they would give me the deeper diver of the two options for a Slim Shad.  I don't know that I have any use for this bait.  It dives too deep.

Nichols Mojo Jigging Spoon:  I have never been much of a spoon chucker, especially for bass.  Was so disappointed to get a spoon.  I'm giving it a try for ice fishing, maybe the pike will like it.

Lunkerhunt Hatch Spin: Tail Spinners have never really caught on here in the North country.  Who knows maybe it will be a sleeper for smallies and walleye's.  I'm also giving this lure a try ice fishing.

Buddha Baits Swagger Worm:  Basically it's a big fat Zoom Speed Worm.  I was unable to get Speed Worms to work for me a few years ago when I tried them. I'll give these a try, but not optimistic.  It will get bit at the Grumpy Old Man Hole.

V & M Baits Wild Worm: A unique shaped 8.5" worm.  I though maybe it was designed to be swam, but they say it's for a shaky head.  Whatever, it's a worm and will catch fish.

Daiichi Hooks: Not a big fan of these style of hooks.  I prefer EWG.  I'll give them a shot.

Was even less impressed with this box than I was with the first.  I'm giving it a D.

My First Mystery Tackle Box

The box actually arrived about 3 weeks back and I just haven't felt like blogging about it until now.  Here is a list of the things that was in it.

 The Lucky Craft Moonsault: It's supposed to be a lipped bait that performs a lot like a lipless one.  I guess I'll see how well that works out.  I see they are on sale right now at Cabela's for $6.99 where they retail for $16.99.

The Ima Pinjack: Another 6-8' running crankbait that is supposed to come through weeds fairly well.  The trick with this on is to back off rather than ripping the lure when you hit a weed.

Nichols Saber Swim Jig:  It's a swim jig with gimmick for locking plastics in place with a toothpick.

Netbait Paca Slim: Sort of similar to a Chigger Craw

Savage Gear Armor Tube Worm:  Has a nylon mesh that is supposed to make the bait last a lot longer than your average Senko.

VMC Wacky Weedless Jig:  It is what it is.  I've never used a wacky jig before.

I believe I should be able to catch fish on 100% of the lures that came in this box this year provided I think to put them on.

I can't say I am blown away by the value in this box do to the Moonsault being a lure I can get new for more than 50% off retail and the fact that they only gave me two of the VMC jigs.

I don't see anything in here being something I would buy for myself with the exception of the wacky jigs.  But who knows maybe something will jump out at me and prove itself to me.  I'll keep an open mind.

Right now I grade this box out as a C-.

Hopefully I'll be more impressed with the next one.

My Older Brother And Bride To Be Got Me...

Blog topics for a minimum of three months by getting me a 3 month subscription to Mystery Tackle Box.  If you have been living under a rock and haven't heard of it;  Basically, it's a company that sends out a monthly box of high quality tackle with product descriptions and tips.  I believe they got me the more expensive level, so I get more and possibly better stuff as well.  I am going to set a goal of catching fish on a percentage of lures I receive.  It will all be stuff for bass fishing, but there is a real possibility I won't have a use for some of what I get.  Hopefully catching fish on the baits won't be much of a challenge, but me thinking to give the lures a fair chance might be. After I see what lures I get I'll come up with the % for my goal.