South Long Quick Report

Picked up the craw tube just like a bass.

Bill Bailey towing us back to the ramp

It was on ok tournament for me.  I got a limit in the first 3 hours and I beat the weight I had in the 2009 tournament at this same time of the year.  My first fish came on the Whopper Plopper.  Lost a couple of fish that would have helped me a little bit, but that's life in the reeds.    I didn't really notice the heat  in large part due to my white Columbia Performance Fishing Gear hoodie and the wind.  It blew as expected.  Nearly had my hat blown off multiple times.  My boater Tony's boat control was excellent.  Unfortunately Tony hit something as we were about to take off to head to the weigh in.  He spun the hub and badly messed up his prop.  I'm not sure if we were DQed or not for being late to the weigh in.  Tony had a fairly good bag. If our weights count, not sure where mine stacks up as we left the weigh in early.  It was a long tow into the wind to get back to the ramp.  

Bass Snatcher Tournament On South Long Tomorow

Wicked Warm and Windy is the forecast for the day and we get more of it because we are starting at 8 and ending at 4.  Not a big fan of 8AM starts for local tournaments.

Maybe it won't seem as hot in the wind.

I don't know what my boater feels about fishing in the wind.  Maybe because it's a fairly narrow lake that sits down in a valley and is surrounded by trees it won't seem as bad if the wind isn't at the perfect angle to blow right down the lake; Which could unfortunately happen with the way the lake sits.

I really hope the conditions don't get me or my boater frustrated.  I need to catch a limit.  I am going to catch a limit.

The Trophy Is In the Water

Sullivan Lake West Access

After 2 years off the Trophy is back in the water.  The point of this trip was to go fishing, not to run the boat.  Dad did take a battery off of one of his tractors, so I could use the Johnson.  I forgot to put Sea Foam in the gas, doh!  I couldn't get gas to go through the first fuel line I tried.  That wasted about 10 minutes.  I got the motor to start but it wouldn't stay running.  For some reason it doesn't seem to be taking gas unless I force it by pushing on the bulb.  After 45 minutes of messing around.  I put the trolling motor down and went fishing.

Not The Morning I Expected, But It's All Good (PB SMB)

20.5" Whopper Plopper (Bone)

4:30-6:30AM GOMH NE SE
7:00-9:00AM Mille Lacs Eddy's Jetty N

After last night's trip to the Grumpy Old Man Hole, I was quite confident when I headed out this morning.  I was a little stunned when forty minutes into fishing the NE side I hadn't even had a sniff and a panfish fisherman showed up and took the SW side.  I switched to the SE side where I have to cast to my right/backhand to get under the bridge.  Also, the casting angles aren't nearly as good because of the way the vegetation and rocks are.  I had one toothy swipe at my Chigger Craw.  After about 20 minutes nothing was happening so I went back to the NE side.  I saw a 17" toothy and sub 10" jumper.  I threw a Spro Frog in the rice, not even a hit, and nothing under the bridge either.  I packed up to leave at 6:30 having not caught anything.

I pointed the KIA towards Mille Lacs, hoping that the rumors I'd been hearing about the smallies going on topwater would work out for me.  With smallmouth, I never know if they are going to be at my main shore fishing spot or not.  I found out on my first cast.

12.5" Whopper Plopper

Yeah, it was a small fish, but it hit topwater and got the skunk off.  About 15 minutes later I got another one.

14.5" Whopper Plopper

About 15 minutes later I got the big one.  I was really hoping it was gonna go 21 inches.  I couldn't decide what I wanted to do to land it as it was to the North of the harbor mouth.  I was unable to steer it into the harbor, so I ended up shimming down a large semi slippery slab where I was able to grab the fish.

 I couldn't see the screen to know I had taken a bad picture and the camera went on the fritz.  A lady and her husband were down front and offered to take a picture for me.  I got the camera to work right again and got the one good pic and one's better than none.  I had to hold the fish upright for about a minute before it swam off.

Clouds moved in and I think I got one hit on the loon colored Plopper that didn't hook up.  At 9AM it started thundering and threatening rain so I left.

My Full Recap June 4th Snatcher Tourny at Birch Lake (Hackensack)

Tournament Winner the humble Dennis Lothspeich in his new ride.

Conditions: 65-55 degrees, Cloudy with some rain, Windy for most of the day out of the NW

Not The Day I Was Looking For:
We blasted off at about a quarter to 8AM.  We went to the channel that separates the two basins.  I quickly had a fish on my D & M Baits Piranha bluegill color, but it was a pike.  As we were fishing through the channel I had the Grass Pig's tail get bit off.  As we worked our way North out of the Western side of the channel I got a 12.75" keeper on a black/blue Piranha with a Chigger Craw trailer.  We kept moving North.  I got a 11" on the Chigger Craw.  The wind came up and it started raining.

We moved to the South side of the Island and fished around the rock point.  As we were working the windward side coming up on Paul and Hammer my boater Darren stuck the Lunker of the Day.  That was the only fish we got in that area.  We worked around the West side of the Island where I got a pike on an Okeechobee Craw Craw Fatty.   We started down the East side and Darren missed a hit.  I quickly landed a 14.75" in the same general area on the Craw Fatty.  We pulled a little more off shore and I got a 14.25" and a 16.75" (2-6) also on the Craw Fatty.  Darren picked up a couple of fish as well on Craw Tubes.  I landed a short and a couple of pike and missed some hits.  Darren got his limit.  The action slowed.  Darren switched to a Senko.  He had a mule on, but his drag was too loose.  He tightened it up to much and the fish broke him off as it jumped just out of reach of the net.

That kind of wrecked the mood in the boat as Darren was pissed off and I wasn't getting bit out there in the wind and rain.  Also my upper back really started to be a pain.  Darren did get another good fish on the Senko and maybe one or two more fish on it.  I tried an Strike King Ocho and a couple of crankbaits.  We finally bailed on the place with about an hour and a half left.

We tried a point where we had gotten a fish in prefish.  Didn't get anything there.  We moved in to try a few docks.  I got a bad wind knot that put my Fluke Rod out of commission.  That truly sapped my confidence.  We tried another point where I got a pike on the bluegill Piranha.  Darren got a fish that didn't help him.  We worked some slop not getting a hit.

We hit the channel on the way in.  I got a rock bass on the Craw Fatty and Darren got a small upgrade, but then he culled two fish leaving him one short of a limit.  That error ended up costing him two places in the final standings.

Results: My 4 fish weighed 6lbs 9ozs and put me in 13th out of 15 anglers.  Darren came in 6th Place with 12-6.  Dennis Lothspeich as noted above was the winner and his fish weighed 14-9, beating Guy Henkensiefkin by 2 ozs. and Chuck Steinbauer by 3ozs

My Thoughts:  Bottom line I didn't fish very well or intelligently.  I skipped right past the Chigger Craw I had on to put on the Ocho.  We were fishing a spot that was ideal for a football head jig.  It didn't even enter my mind.  I should have thrown a jerkbait as well.  I allowed myself to get frustrated and mentally spun out.

I think it really would have helped if we would have had a marker buoy or two out.  We were fishing far enough off shore and a school of fish was definitely there.  Not having a marker buoy made us far less efficient.   I was out there throwing blind.  

I give myself a D for for that disappointing and depressing finish.  I now haven't caught a limit in 3 straight tournaments.

Next Tournament South Long  

Birch Quick Report

A disappointing start to the tournament season for me as I fell two fish shy of a limit.  It was also disappointing because my boater Darrin had the fish on to win, but didn't due to equipment and execution issues.  At least he got Lunker for the day.  I forgot to get a picture of him with it.

My mental and physical game were both off of where they needed to be.  I should have been able to get a limit. On the bright side at least I didn't get bit off by a pike.  I did have to retie about 5 times though.

Snatcher Tournament Season Starts Tomorrow at Birch Lake (Hackensack)

Provided that I can catch a keeper I will get good points for this tournament as there are only 15 guys fishing.  My boater Darren and I are a little befuddled on what the fish are up too.  Most of them have to be post spawn at this point.  Have no clue what the cool weather, clouds and NW wind will do for the bite.  The fish could be shut off like they were when we pre-fished on Tues.  Or they could really be on the chew as Birch has fairly clear water.  I brought almost all moving baits for pre-fish and the fish weren't having it, except the pike.  I'll have all kinds of plastics at my disposal tomorrow.

The big question is how many tungsten sinkers am I gonna lose if the bite is off and I have to fish slow?  I think Darren got bit off about 6 times on Tuesday.

Update: Forecast changed, same winds but now it's going to be sunny with temps getting to the low 70's.

2016 Bass Opener Outlook

Well it's Memorial Day Weekend.

The catch and release season has definitely taken away some of my enthusiasm for the Bass Opener.  It doesn't help that the GOMH is barely hitting on a cylinder at this point due to low water and rain is in the forecast for today.

I think I'm going to hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole for the first hour or so, then quickly try Bulldog, then Mille Lacs. I may get over to Bulldog in the Slop Slip as well.

Not sure what I'll do for Sunday and Monday

If I can get 20 bass the three day weekend I'll be tickled.

Well, I've got to grab some Storm WildEye Swimbaits out of the Tackle Warehouse and throw the Excel Rod rod in the car.  I still haven't officially opened the Tackle Warehouse this year, oh well.  Maybe this week as I've got my first tournament of the year next Saturday.

Sight Fishing Smallies on Mille Lacs And A Muskie Follow (May 17th)

19.5" b/b Chigger Craw

4:00-8:00PM Mille Lacs off tip of Center Jetty
Conditions: Calm, 70 degrees, mostly sunny perfect for sight fishing.

I went to Reeds to pick up the shirt I got for entering a Facebook contest then headed to Eddy's.  Here are the rods I brought with me.

 I started out throwing topwater and was so distracted by doing that that I failed to notice what kind of visibility there was;  I could see out a 35 to 40 feet off the tip.  When I did notice I saw two big smallies and a 14-15" one.  They weren't interested in the Phantom.  So I tried a Slush Minnow.  One of the big smallies eyed it for a little bit, but never went for it.  Next I went to the Chigger Craw.  The little one showed some interest, but never went for it.  The same with one of the big ones.  Then they left after I had been fishing for them for about half an hour.  About 15 minutes later four 17 inch class smallies came swimming through from the SE to NW.  They didn't show any interest and were mildly spooked when a cast landed.  They left in about 2 minutes to the NW.  About a 15" largemouth came from the SE and swam into the North harbor.  I had my jerk bait suspending right in front of it.  But it looked at it for a little bit then continued into the harbor.  A 12-13" smallie came in from the NW and left in the same direction after getting spooked.

I didn't see anything for about half an hour and went up for one last look when three 17' class fish swam into sight from the NW.  I made a cast to them and they initially spooked, but  two of them quickly turned around to investigate.  I hadn't noticed that a 4th smallie came in with them.  I finally noticed him when it picked up the bait as a smallie I was watching went to try and steal it.  I set the hook and played the fish across the Jetty into the South harbor where I landed it.

17" Chigger Craw

When I got up on the Jetty there was a bigger fish a little bit off to my right (SE).  It was just on the edge of the rocks and the South harbor channel.  I made a cast about 10 feet to it's SE.  It spooked for about 2 feet then turned back toward the Chigger Craw when it got back within 10 feet, I hopped the craw and it sped right over and grabbed it.  She did some good head shakes on the surface, but I landed it.  It was full of spawn, probably just under 5lbs.  It is the one in the first picture.

There was nothing for quite a long time and I threw various topwater lures including the cool Salmo Bass Bug.  Which is basically a floating round rock with a lip and a single treble hook.  Darned if that little bug doesn't throw a wake and sound like a small buzzbait.  It didn't attract any bites or lookers.

What did attract a fish was a chart. 1/2oz Rippin Rap.  I could see something trailing it.  But that was no smallmouth.  It was a 40" ski and it nearly caught the Rap before I jerked it away.  The thing then stared me down.  I thought if your gonna do that then I'm going to get a picture of you and I went back to get my camera.  By the time I got back up on the rocks it was swimming off to the NW.   I put my sun glasses over the lens and this was the picture I got.

     Darn camera went on the Fritz.  By the time I got it working right the fish was gone.

I did take this next pic to show how close it came in.  I got a really good look at the fish.

One or two more small 12ish smallmouth's came through, but were spooked easily.  I packed up at 8PM because visibility was deteriorating and I wanted to get back to my area Lakes.

Here is the set up I got my fish on tonight.

TD-Z Type R
St. Croix Legend Xtreme 6'8" Medium XFast.  The rod is a medium light compared to the Avid, but quite a bit more sensitive.

Opener Gold! GOMH Not So Much

25" Rippin Rap (6) Perch

Midnight to 4AM
Conditions: 38-33 degrees, Windy out of the North, Cloudy turning partly cloudy,  it sleeted for about the first hour.

We have groppel

When I arrived at midnight and saw the conditions I thought this is something I can work with.  Waves were coming in hard out of the North.  I put on a Rippin Rap.  After one color change it was fish on.

Same fish as first picture.

I was lucky to land her as she slipped out of the net.  I dragged her on shore by the lure that was hung in the net.  Once she was just barely safe on the rocks she came off.  I decided to do the netting from the dock after that episode.  I missed the next bite I got which felt like a good one.  For the next three fish no net was needed.

13"

12.75"

13.75" Grass Pig

I decided to throw the X-Rap off of the dock and was rewarded with this 22" fish.

22" X-Rap Albino Shiner

After this next fish I was getting cold so I went to the car for a half an hour to warm up.

23" Strike King KVD Jerkbait Bluegill

After getting back from warming up I promptly backlashed cutting my line at the reel.  I quickly grabbed my Mojo Crankster and another different colored KVD Jerkbait and started casting hoping to catch my line.  I caught the biggest walleye of the night instead.

25.5"

KVD Jerkbait Strobe Shad

After not connecting with my line and not getting anymore bites on the KVD.  Some people from the resort came out and asked what I was fishing for and if I was having any luck.  I tried a few different lures finally connecting after several missed hits on an Ultimate Jerk Shad.

13.75" H2O XPress Jerk Shad

 It was coming up on 4AM and I was getting cold again, so I decided to head home, pick up some bass stuff and head to the GOMH.  That move didn't pay off.  I didn't catch anything and only saw three small toothy's get caught.  Nothing at Bulldog and Rock as well.  I called it quits at 7:00AM

I put new Fireline on the Mojo Crankbait Rod

Bass Pundit's Outlook For 2016 MN Fishing Opener

2015 Eddy's Jetty

Fishing Opener is here again and it's going to be a cool/cold one.  I am going to be in full ice fishing gear.  I plan on starting at Eddy's Jetty at midnight.  I am optimistic about my chances of catching a walleye or two.  Wind is supposed to be out of the NW so I should be able to throw my baits out quite a ways.   I am going to start by throwing a Rippin Rap.  I also plan to throw Grass Pigs and various jerkbaits.  I will probably bring minnows along but don't plan on fishing them.

How long I stay will depend on the fishing.  I will probably hit the GOMH at 4:30AM. Hopefully temps will stay above freezing, but Weather.com says it's getting down to 28 degrees.  Hopefully I will be able to get some kind of bullhead.  I will probably hit Rock and Bulldog as well.  I am not planning on taking the Slop Slip out this weekend and the Trophy is still in storage.

Depending on how Saturday Morning goes I may try heading to the East side of the Lake for Saturday night.

300

11" Glow Demon w/minnow

I have now reached both of my goals for crappies this year.  Thanks to the weather this year reaching 300 came a little more difficult than I would have liked, but eventually I got there.  The two I got last night put me at 301 caught for the year.

Calling Out the MN DNR On Pike Fishing B.S.

The MN DNR sent out a press release yesterday encouraging people to get out and fish.  In it they got onto the topic of closed seasons and why we have them.  Here is the line of BS I take issue with:

They are telling us a major reason why we are not allowed to catch and keep pike right now is because some people might target walleye under the guise of fishing for pike.

As our DNR has told us, pike populations in the central portion of this state are having a detrimental impact on walleye populations.  The pike are out of control eating up as many of those precious little walleye's as they can and the DNR finds that acceptable because they can't have a few people targeting walleye's out of season that would be released.

C'mon DNR, get your head out of your ass!!!

If anything pike being closed makes keeping the bass fishing season closed enforceable.   It is the position of this blog that there should not be a closed season for pike in the central portion of this state, period!  Lets get the hammer handle issue under control because that is a real problem.  People catching and releasing some incidentally caught bass and walleye while targeting pike would be a rather small problem by comparison.  

Winner, Winner, Getting Something for Dinner!

Thanks to getting 4 Anglers in the Top 10 at Beaver Lake I had a pretty good Fantasy Fishing roster last week and I'll be rewarded for it.  Probably a Strike King Lure.

This makes the second time I reached my goal  to win a prize this year.

Holding my Muse

Caught a 24" Golden Bullhead on the 13 Fishing Muse Gold Rod last night.

Updated: My prizes from FLW for Beaver Lake

6XD, Hat, 10XD

Don't know if I'll ever have a use for the lures.  Throwing deep diving cranks is something I haven't done in years.  There are some spots on Sullivan Lake I could give them a try if I ever get the Trophy back in the water.

One Crappie Goal Achieved, Just 93 to 300

14.25" Glow Demon w/minnow

The silver bullheads came in with a bang last night at the Grumpy Old Man Hole as I recorded a personal best slabber bullhead.  Getting a 14" or bigger has been a goal of mine since I first got one that went 13 inches back in about the year 2000.  I got 7 silvers total tonight, so now I just need 93 more to reach 300 for the year and make my other Crappie Goal this year.

Get the full story of tonight over at the Fishing Log Blog.  

Personal Best Crappie

 

14.25"

Baxter Bass Snatcher Tournament Season Now Set

Due to the changes made for Mille Lacs this year we had an emergency meeting to get a new date and lake.  We ended up having to change two dates and one lake.  Both tournaments are in June.  Here is our new schedule:


June 4th Birch Lake (Hackensack):  Platte/Sullivan lost out to Birch on the vote.  I'm more OK with that than the 8:00AM start time.  If it's a hot day the 4PM end time really gets to me.  I fished the tournament we had at this lake in October of 2011.  It was memorable tournament to me for a couple of reasons.  My dad had by-pass surgery that week and Bill Ludenia tied me for 6th in Angler of the Year Points; He beat me out of the place on the tie breaker, so I missed out on being in the Club Super Six.  I like the lake and it has smallmouth.  I haven't seen a lot of this lake and we fished it at a totally different time of the year.  It will be interesting to see if that shallow bay on the southern most end is a big player;  I've never been in that bay and don't know if it has rice or what.

Sunday June 19th South Long Lake:  We originally had this tournament scheduled on June 11th.  I like the fact that we are having it on Sunday, so hopefully the access won't be as crowded.

The rest of the schedule is unchanged.

July 16 Fishhook
Aug. 6 Pokegama
Aug. 20 Rabbit
Sept. 24 Whitefish

When Natives Netting Your Lake Is A Good Thing

Last year there were rumor's that Indians were out netting on Platte/Sullivan.  I never saw anything and never bothered to check into it very far.  I figured that people saw the boat that was out bow fishing for rough fish and assumed they were natives like I did until I found out differently.  I also figured Platte/Sullivan would be an odd choice because it's full of hammerhandles and bass and doesn't really have an outstanding walleye population .
Anyway, this past Friday LakeStateFishing.com Facebook Page posted pictures of Fond Du Lac band members at one of the Platte/Sullivan accesses.  I will admit I tightened up a bit, because I was worried about how many bass and bowfin they might catch and what size.  I was tempted to go down on Saturday morning and see if I could check out what they got. But it was to cold and windy for me to bother with.

Turns out I didn't have to go because CO Kuske was there and got a count of all the fish the natives got.  There was a message on the Platte Lake Owners Association Facebook Page letting us know what Kuske told them and encouraging us to call him if we had questions, so I did.  I was relieved to hear they didn't get a single bass or bowfin.  They did bring in 57 pike, 7 walleye, a tullibee, and a bullhead or two.

When is it a good thing when your lake gets netted?  When they take out 57 pike, the vast majority of which had to be hammerhandles.  In my opinion the Fond Du Lac band did us a service.

Rock Dock In, Skunk Streak Out

6:00-8:00PM
Conditions: Cool 40-34 degrees, Sunny, calm to very light winds out of the N.

First I stopped at Bulldog.  Nothing at the access and some fish in the thick bulrushes in really shallow water at Holy Family.  Needed a cane pole to reach them my long rod was about two feet short.  Next I went to Rock.  I got distracted by a large raptor as I came down the hill, so I didn't notice the Rock Dock was in until I could see it in the KIA's back up camera.  I managed to get one pike on a Panfish Chatterbait, so I ended my Skunk streak.

Panfish Chatterbait

17.5"

I left about 7:15 after a little wind came up out of the N.  I went to the GOMH where some guys were fishing on the SE side.  There was fish activity two to three long casts out in the hay on the SE side.  There also was some baitfish activity around the GOMH, so I decided to get my rods and fish.  Didn't get anything, but the guy gave me his minnows.  It was cold so I left at around 8 while it was still light out.

Winner, Winner, Getting a 13 Muse Gold Rod for Dinner

I really didn't know anything about Muse Gold Spinning  Rods by 13 Fishing until they offered one in their weekly contest this week.  I looked up the rods which retail for $175 at Tackle Warehouse and decided to enter the contest.  Thanks to my wit I won.

 It was a caption the picture contest and that is what I came up with.

Where are the Bullheads?

I don't want any more toothy's.  I want some silver and maybe some orange and some more rain.  The Silver bullheads showed up last year on the 13th, ten days after Platte Ice out.  Hopefully they will show up sooner than the 13th this year.

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).

No Dock, No Wind, No Fish

It was a nice day, but the fish never showed up at Rock or the GOMH.  The Rock Dock is still on shore.  Maybe tomorrow.

Will the Rock Dock Go In Today?

Easter Evening at Rock Lake

Most years the dock is in at Rock Lake within a few days after ice out, except in 2010 when it took a month plus for the DNR to put it in.  If not, maybe I'll get the Slop Slip out there on Tuesday.