Rock Lake In The Slop Slip(4/9/26)

 

Blocked by ice in the PRO

18.40lbs

3:00-8:30PM Rock Lake Ice Line fish in 6' to 10' with weeds

34-38℉, Cloudy, 1-6mph WSW

Water Temps: Low 40's/High 30's maybe

After my walk up to the corner, I was up for taking the Slop Slip to Rock Lake. I was disappointed that the ice line hadn't moved much yesterday. Down towards the reeds It was over some deeper water, but I didn't get any bites. There was a parade of four eagles. I went into the Platte River Outlet and was blocked by ice at the inner mouth of the narrows. That worked out because chances are pretty good that the Beaver Dam is a waste of time.  The ice line was farther off the bank at the NW Corner. I ended up missing two bites off the reeds in the Lone Sunfish Area on the Chatterbait. I had both fish on for a solid five or six seconds. The first one may have been a pike, and the second I'm pretty sure was a bass. I got back out to the ice line and missed a couple of bites on the Chatterbait. The ball of my BallerZ got bit off. I decided to throw the Rage Swimmer one time and came up a winner. 3.92lb bass. The Rapala scale was set to KG, I Googled how to switch it back, and fortunately, the correct way was the first result. I got a couple more solid bass on the Faisox Chatter and lost a couple of more bites. I kind of lost the plot as I drifted to the NW Point. I worked the NW Point pretty well without getting any bites. It started to snow. I worked the ice line back and missed a couple of bites before hooking up with another 3lber. I couldn't get the camera to work, and my iPhone battery was getting low. I turned off the music and put the phone inside my bibs to keep it warm. I missed a couple more bites as I was moving toward the fish, but got a final 4lber.  I think I missed another couple of bites. I turned toward the Lone Sunfish Area and got my only pike. I threw it back, and the sucker jumped up on the ice. I thought about leaving it there for an eagle, but I was able to get it back in the water. I cruised quickly across the PRO opening. I had a really good feeling bite along the ice line out from the reeds, but it swam under the ice and got hung up and came off. That was my last bite of the night.  It took me a while to get the boat landed and into the car. I gave the Frittside, Chicken Jigs, and X-Rap a fair shot. They wanted the Chatter today.

5Bass 

1Pike (18.48lbs for the 5 bass)

Bassin Plan of Attack Post Ice Off to May

 

Fish:

2026 is the first year when it is legal to fish for bass in Central MN before the MN Fishing Opener in May.  Here is my plan for bassin the Platte/Sullivan area lakes. 

Location:

The Grumpy Old Man Hole, the bridge between Platte/Sullivan, is the first area to have accessible open water, so this is where I have already started flogging the water. Unfortunately, it locked back up completely with the sub-zero temps. It's my guess that I will be able to pick up a few bass at the Grumpy Old Man Hole before I am casting anywhere else. I will also fish at the Rock Lake access before the ice is off the lake, provided the ice doesn't get pushed into the Access area as it retreats from the shoreline. 

Once the ice is off the area lakes, I plan on fishing in the Slop Slip on Rock Lake, provided things are not "Going Gonzo at the GOMH." Hopefully, the area docks, including the family dock, will be in quickly post ice out. I will get the Trophy in Platte ASAP after the family dock goes in. Once the Trophy is in the lake, weather and fishing conditions will largely dictate where I fish on a given day. If I get on a hot bite somewhere, I will ride it out. If I am not catching much, I'll do a lot of bouncing around between Platte/Sullivan, Rock, Erskine, and Round. Not really sure how much I fish at the GOMH from shore. I'm guessing a lot of morning trips.

Presentation:

I have made a fishing goal this year of catching 82 fish on a Trap, 155 fish on a crankbait, and 260 fish on a jerkbait. The crankbait and lipless numbers were derived from all the fish I have caught on those lure categories since I started keeping track with Fish Swami. The jerkbait number is my highest yearly total, which was from 2016. Those lures will see a heavy rotation early, as well as a Chicken Jig, Chatterbait, soft swimbait, Turbo FattZ, and Spinnerbait. The weather will determine how early I start mixing in topwater.

Slop Slip First Trip (A Bit of a Trainwreck)

4:00-6:00PM Rock Lake RPRO
58-℉, PC, 0-6mph NE
Water level low.

I got the lettering put on the Slop Slip, and because the winds were light, I thought I would give her a trial run. It could have gone better. I elected to go with the 55lb of thrust Min Kota. I think that is overkill, and it doesn't tighten itself to the boat easily. I found that out when I pushed the boat into the water, and it fell in the lake. Good thing I had the batter terminals attached. I fished it right out, and it worked fine. On the way to the RPRO, I didn't have the troller adjusted right with it being too low in the water. I ran into the log on the bottom at full speed. I was lucky nothing broke.    I then didn't follow my plan of making my way to the beaver dam but drifted/fished my way there. The first thing that happened was a fish swirled on my orange Rocket Bobber; That happened at least a half dozen times.    Shortly after that, I caught the 13 inches. The water level is low. I didn't see much baitfish activity and kept having to pick off weeds. I landed one bass on THE JIg, One on a craw tube, and one on the Poison. I also got a pike on the Poison. Missed a bunch of bites. I never found any concentration of pannies and lost the one for sure sunfish I did have on. The water was pretty clear. It would be really nice if the water level came up 6-inches. Because I was struggling to find the pannies, I turned in at 6PM.

Got Skunked in the Slop Slip

Rock Dock not in yet, so I improvised.

I started out by going to the Grumpy Old Man Hole today.  It was a good thing I was there because Mike B. stopped by pulling his Tuffy.  He had been out on Rock Lake and didn't have any luck.  I didn't have any luck at the GOMH.  I then went to the lake place and got the Slop Slip and drove over to Rock.  The wind was heavy enough that I wasn't going to paddle anywhere so I stayed out from of the access.  Didn't get a thing.  I stopped at the GOMH on the way home and tried for about an hour. Nothing.

Maybe the warm temps tonight and rain we are supposed to get will bring some fish in before it turns cold tomorrow night (fingers crossed).

Pretty Night For A Paddle on Bulldog Lake

On my way back to the Holy Family Access

7:50-9:30PM
Conditions:  Mostly sunny, 70 degrees, slight wind out of the South diminishing to nothing

I decided to take the Slop Slip to Bulldog for a quick trip tonight because of the light winds.  I figured fish would still be where they were last week on Thurs.  There were, but they weren't as aggressive.  I had two or three fish that I missed the hookset on and another 5 to 7 that didn't get the frog.  It was such a nice night with the loons calling as I paddled back that getting skunked didn't matter.

Good Night On The Slop Slip On Bulldog (Thursday Night)

Headed North

5:00-9:30PM
Conditions: Temps in the low 70's, mostly sunny, wind out of the NNE dying down to nothing.

I put in at Holy Family Access and headed North into the wind.  I missed my first bite in the open area in the reeds past the dock with a pontoon.  I got my first bass out of the pads behind the reeds.

14.5" Sweet Revenge Mad Maxx

I traded of 14.5" and 13.5" fish on the Mad Maxx and I got a 12.5" on the Hack Attack Jig with a breen Chigger Craw trailer.  Then I got this beast.

28.5" Mad Maxx

I got into a good area for prime time.

15.5" Out of shallow slop

16" Mad Maxx

I caught about 10 fish and missed 4 or 5 bites.  On my way back in I missed one, then got my biggest of the night, a real chunk.

17.5" Mad Maxx

I was off the water by 9:35PM

I ended with
15 bass
1 Pike

Break from Fishing???

Today we pulled the Trophy out of the lake to put in a new impeller on the motor. When Pete was here he said it wasn't spitting water well enough and that it needed to be replaced. Cyberfish the motors owner was of the opinion that the motor never spit water very well and I tend to think that has been the case. Anyway I continued to use the boat and when I ran it, it did dribble water at a steady rate and it's not like I take the motor at full throttle for very long runs. Still for some unknown reason the boat has been losing speed noticeably. Today on the way to the ramp my max speed was about 13mph which is off another 3 mph from what it was when I last ran the boat. It is possible the culprit is a combination of weeds on the prop shaft and rain water accumulating in the boat that isn't draining for some reason. I first noticed the slow down after it had rained pretty good and the weeds had come up on the way out from the dock. So anyway the Trophy is out of play for a few days minimum.

It appears that my shore fishing spots at Mille Lacs and the GOMH have dried up to pretty much nothing and the weather is turning hotter than my comfort range.

However if I do get the itch and the weather is right I have the option of running the "Slop Slip" or maybe breaking out the float tube on some of the smaller area lakes or even hitting Mille Lacs in the float tube like Cyberfish and I did a couple of years ago.

Weather, Notes, and FM.com Whiners

Weather: Sunny and 65. Nice! Allergies were bugging the heck out of me this afternoon. AhhhhChoo! Eyes watering to tears and nose running like a faucet. I finally gave in and took a generic Claritin and now I am Caritin Clear.

Picked up the 2007 fishing licence today, I was going to get it yesterday but both of the local bait shops closed up before 6PM and so I couldn't get it. Today I also ordered a pair of Cocoons Sunglasses from Bass Pro Shops (Thanks Steve and Kim for the gift card). This spring I have been unable to find any of the three pairs of amber polarized Sunglasses that I wore last summer. I believe Cocoons used to be called Fitovers. I had a pair of Fitovers and loved them, then I lost them sometime last year, so it will be nice to have a new pair. I also discovered where the propane Coleman Lantern was plus a 5 gallon bucket/livewell for Spring time Crappies; Yeah for me!

On the down side, my boat mechanic (aka BP's Dad) informed me that I won't be able to use the Trophy (the boat I use) until he inspects and probably does something to fix the transom. I am not totally sure what he thinks is wrong. There is a spot on the back port corner of the boat were there is some cracking on the top of the boat. It doesn't look serious to me, but what do I know. I'm not even sure if that is what Dad is concerned with. With the trophy out of commission I will be forced to use the "Slop Slip" (10' Coleman Crawdad Jon Boat). Out of the slop slip I would probably try some Spring Crappie fishing at Bulldog, something I've not done before.

At FishingMinnesota.com the armchair anglers patrol is out in full force whining about the suspected "targeting" of out of season fish. I look forward to this annual rite of Spring that is the armchair angler patrol crying their eyes out till they are red in the face and steam comes out of their ears about anglers who they suspect of "targeting" out of season fish.

This weekend I sat and watched a boat fish for "slabs" with their plugs. They caught fish after fish and were having a ball...yet not ONE that was the "right" fish. When I finally called them on it "Oh, we are just fishing for big slabs".
At least some people are giving the offending anglers the benefit of the doubt.