Opener Report 2 (Sat & Sun)

Piggie on the Rage Swimmer at Mille Lacs

20.5" Grass Pig

What we had for dinner

8:00-9:30 GOMH NE
57-52℉, Partly Cloudy, 3 mph

We had crappies for dinner then I headed to the GOMH.  There were people on all three sides.  A lady down on the Sw side caught a golden while I was watching.  The guy on the NE side left, so I quickly took the spot.  The first cast under the bridge I got gold on the Grass Pig.  A kid who fishes with Chad Grisby and money tournaments went down on the NW side.  He caught a 30+ walleye out of Platte Lake.  I caught a couple jumpin' bullheads when we talked.  They left and I had to take the walleye back as not to have it in my car when I was at Mille Lacs.
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Before leaving in the morning

11:00PM-5:00AM North Jetty
41-45℉, Partly Cloudy, Light SSE winds
Swimbaits and Shad Shallow

Two guys were there when I arrived, but they left after about 20 minutes. I had caught one by the time they left.  The fish were on swimbaits.  I was getting them on a Grass Pig to start, then I switched to a Rage Swimmer and got the biggest one of the night so I stayed with that for a while.  The action was pretty steady until the moon went down.  I was just about to leave when I discovered they would take the Shad Shallow so I stayed nearly to sunrise.

19 Eyes
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16.75" Hack JIg/Chigger Craw

May 12th Sunday
6:00-7:00AM GOMH SW
49-44℉, Mostly Sunny, 3mph SW
3 Jumpers

Nobody was at the GOMH.  A kid was fishing out of a small aluminum.  I got 3 decent sized jumpers and missed some bites.

Probably a bass/walleye mix
I wasn't real good about weighing everything yet.

Opener 2019

25" X-Rap (Big Fish of the night)

24.5" X-Rap Shallow Shad (Lure saver fish)

24.75" Jerk Shad (1st Fish of 2019)

20.5" Grass Pig

16" Jerk Shad

12:00-3:40AM Eddy's Jetty
40℉, Clear moon till about 2:40 or so, 2-6mph SW, High Water

When I arrived at the Jetty, the North Harbor Mouth was taken and the NW corner was open so I went there.  I could see multiple eye' swimming around. Instead of casting right away I decided to watch the first casts of the 5 guys to the South of me.  A couple seconds in and a guy on the Center Jetty was hooked up, a good sign.  I quickly switched from the Rippin Rap to the Swimbait, to the Jerk Shad.  I saw a few more fish get caught prompting quick changes.  Got a 24.75 on the first cast with the Crackle Jerk Shad.  About 15 minutes later I got a 16-incher.  I switched lures a few times.  I got two (24,25) nice ones on a pearl X-Rap.  They wanted it extremely slow.  I switched to X-Rap  Shad Shallow and got 17" and 24.5" that freed the bait when I was trying to free it from the rocks.   Snagged snagged snagged then the rod was almost ripped out of my hands when the 24.5" grabbed it.  I was very thankful that fish saved my lure.  As the moon was going down I got on last smaller fish on the Jerk Shad. I also had one last bite that didn't hook up on the Jerk Shad.  It seemed like I would get a bite every 15 to 20 minutes. for the first hour and a half.  The other guys picked up a fish occasionally.  As not much was going on I made the call the head to the GOMH at 3:40AM.

4:15-7:15AM GOMH NE
40-52℉, Partly Cloudy, 4-6mph SSE, High rising water

Wheelhouse Guy arrived just a few minutes before me and was down on the SW side.  He was all by himself at that point.  We talked for a couple of minutes then I went down on the NE side.  I got 20.5" golden on my third cast into the tube on the Grass Pig.  I thought this might be good, but that was the only golden bite I got. I gave the fish to WHG.  I was just about to head to the Trophy when I started getting jumpers on the Crackle Jerk Shad.  I also got some jumpers on the Brovarney Jig with Grass Pig Jr. trailer.  After the second boat came through the action stopped. It was awfully sunny out.  Other than a few of WHG family, nobody showed up until I was packing up to leave.  WHG lost a good pike and brought me a banana.

Not a great start, but it was solid.

My Plan of Attack for the 2019 Opener

It is right now 12:03AM 48 hours before the MN Fishing Opener and I have a pretty clear plan of attack in mind for how I am going to go about the first day.  Due to the snow storm, we are right now in the midst of experiencing and the wind forecast for Saturday I am pretty much writing off bass fishing.  Wind and cool/ cold water equal no bueno in my experience for bass.  I think the conditions might be setting up for me to take advantage of walldogs, so that is what I am going to focus my energy on the first day.

The Plan:
Of course, I will be fishing on Mille Lacs at midnight which is now a longstanding tradition.  Hopefully, Eddy's isn't full of people because that is my first choice.  I think I'll plan on leaving the house a little after 11PM. That should give me time to assess the situation and possibly give me the opportunity to pick my spot.  Ideally, no one will be there and I can fish free as a bird wandering the North Jetty at will.  Who knows how having a one fish limit will affect angler interest. I'm betting there will be others there fishing at midnight.  Therefore, I want to get the NW corner.  If I don't get that. There is the Harbor Mouth and Standing Rock.  Less appealing is the Center and South Jetty, but beggars can't be choosers. I better bring the long net, just in case I get stuck on Center.

I am going to start with a Rippin' Rap.  If that doesn't work I'll go to a swimbait, then to suspending jerkbaits.  If they are there they should bite on one of those three.  I think I am also going to bring along some Shad Raps, Flicker Shads, and a hair jig.

Success or lack of it depends on what I do next.  At 3:30AM I will make the call to stay or go.  Three and half hours of straight casting is a long time especially if I"m not getting bit.  If I'm feeling good and catching fish I might choose to go until dawn.  Chances are better that I will be looking for a break and change of scenery so I may head home to give a quick blog and get a bite to eat before heading to the Grumpy Old Man Hole.  If I'm there before 5AM hopefully there is an open side.  If not I may head back to Mille Lacs (unlikely), go to the Trophy (also unlikely), stay at the bridge and watch what happens (unlikely if the wind is blowing).  I probably will just go back home if there is nowhere to fish and return sometime in the afternoon after the wind has kicked up and it's warmed up.

With the forecasted South wind, I think I may be able to pull out some daytime gold out of the GOMH.  Then from there, it's most likely back to Mille Lacs for Round 2 after dark.

That's my plan.   

Winner! Winner! Finally In 2019 I'm A Winner!

The month of April had come and gone and I hadn't won anything yet.  No giveaway's, no Fantasy Fishing prizes, nothing.  My luck changed this week when I won the Bass Boat Central opt-in Fantasy League for the Elite Series at Lake Fork.  So basically I think I'm a few bucks up on what I paid out while participating in this league for the past 3 years or so.

Fishing Goal Reached! 

First Trophy Trip 2019

Calm at least for a bit

15.75" X-Rap size 6 (Firetiger)

Safely returned

I departed the Grumpy Old Man Hole at 6PM in hopes I would be able to recreate the magic of yesteryear at the mouth of the Platte River in Lake Sullivan.  To do that, I would need the assistance of a boat obviously.  By the time I had loaded up and was underway the wind had calmed down significantly just like it was forecast to do.  The water temp was 52℉, which was right but the fish just weren't there other than a few straggler bass.  I went a little way up the river, but that was unproductive.  I got surprised when a front quickly blew over bringing some rain.  But that made the bow light work, so I can't complain.  I ran the hay flat looking for fish with my Go For Wild Headlamp. Unfortunately, the water isn't as clear as it could be and there was some ripple as well.  I mostly spied shiners and a few small sunnies.  Lantern Man was at the bridge and had only gotten one silver bullhead.  I was starting to get cold so I called it a night at 10PM.

Trophy's Floating

So I headed to the lake place at about 1:30PM. Getting the prop put back on and the trolling motor mounted went smoothly. The bow light still didn't work, and I realized getting the new bilge pump connected would require me to get that stuck wingnut off the terminal. I called dad and told him to bring some WD40 . Dad didn't find any WD40 but brought some lubricant that Pete brought up last fall. He suggested I spray the lubricant in the light receptacle. I'll be darned that worked. I made a little headway on the wingnut, but it was extremely slow. Meanwhile, the CO detectors were going off in the lake place, which Dad had opened. I propped the porch door open and found a pipe wrench in the basement. The pipe wrench allowed Dad and I to get enough leverage to get the wingnut off. I ran to Bear Trax to get a different wingnut and some minnows. We headed to the Platte Lake Access at around a quarter to six. The motor started right up and I was off. Victory Achieved!   

Rock Dock In, Morning And Evening Fishing Reports

 

16.75" Panfish Chatterbait

17.50" Cubby Mini-Mite

16.25" Panfish Chattebait

5:30-7:00AM GOMH NE
50℉, Cloudy, 5mph SW
High rising

I started on the NE side nothing.  Went to the SW side, nothing.  Went back to the NE side and avoided the skunk, but it wasn't a doggy either. Stopped at Bear Trax, no minnows.

Went to Brainerd with Dad in the afternoon.  Picked up some Rippin' Raps, Rocket Bobbers, and Tackle Trays at Fleet Farm.  At 4:30PM, I went to the lake place to get the new bilge pump connected and get the trolling motor post redone.  Had some thunder boomers going off. That was a surprise.

Rock Dock is in

6:00PM-6:30PM Rock Lake
6:35-6:50PM Bulldog
7:00-10:00PM GOMH SW
74-60℉, Partly Cloudy with some sprinkles, 0-7mph WSW

It sprinkled as I got to Rock and the Rock Dock is in.  There was no activity.  I then went to Bulldog.  I could see activity to the South again tonight, but nothing was going on, and I quickly left.  I was pleasantly surprised no one was at the GOMH.  I got the 17.75" jumper immediately on the Cubby.  I thought maybe the fish were in, but they weren't.  I got one more jumper, one toothy, and got bit off once.  At dusk, the shiners showed up everywhere.  I did have a golden on that I brought to the surface while fishing off the bridge.  No silver bites tonight.  Not surprised because I didn't have minnows.  Bear Trax is supposed to get minnows tomorrow.

Got the Trophy Out Today

Dad didn't want to get up so I headed up to the lake place on my own.  The first job was to move the lawn tractor.  I couldn't get it started, so I called Dad and he came up.  While I was waiting for him to get there I tested out the new auto-bilge pump. Dad got the tractor started.  I didn't push the throttle up high enough to get it in the choke position.  We pushed it out of the garage.  I got it vacuumed out.  At first, it wasn't sucking very hard.  I took off the hose and it was filled up with sand.  Once I got it cleared it worked a whole lot better.  I couldn't get the bow light to work.  I've still got to switch out the bilges and get some other things done.  Hope to have it in the water by Friday at the latest.

Ice Out Platte Lake(4/20/19)

Platte Lake Public Access to Jenny's Place was ice free

Rock Lake was 80% ice free with two boats in the water

Bulldog was 70% ice free

Tackle Warehouse Opener 2019(4/16/19)

Goal Achieved: Under Technique and Tackle Goals

It was so nice out today (68℉) I went down and opened up the Tackle Warehouse for the first time this year.  It's definitely on the late end for a TWO thanks to the snow, but not the latest either.

Earlier this month I also achieved the getting the Trolling Motor fixed goal.  It's got a brand new head thanks to them having one just laying around.  I should work at low speeds now.  Hooray!

The lakes should be open by the weekend (4 more days).

Lipless And BP

Lipless cranks are a lure that I had pretty good success with occasionally before I moved North in 2003.  For whatever reason, I haven't been on a good trap bite in years.  I've caught a fish here and there on them or nothing, definitely no memorable whackfests.  I've got the right equipment and dozens of lures. Maybe 2019 will be the year.

The Tactical Bassin video brought the subject to mind. (Hmmm for some reason the video embed code flat out disappeared.

Rock. Sully Inlet, and GOMH(4/7/19)

It looks like ice out is going to be delayed for a few days thanks to it getting cold with snow this week.  I think ice off will now not be until the 18th, 19th, or 20th.  Hopefully, we won't get a bunch of snow.🤞.  My guess is that most of the lakes in the Twin Cities will be ice-free before the cold weather hits.

1st Bullhead of 2019 (4/6/19)

20.5" Cubby Mini-Mite (Glow)

About the same as yesterday

7:35-8:20PM GOMH SW NE
45℉, Cloudy fog, 5mph NE

I stayed to watch Auburn go down to Virginia at the Final Four then headed out expecting to get another skunk, but that was not to be.  I started on the SW side and didn't get anything.  I switched to the NE side.  Sure enough, a bullhead pulled my bobber under and I landed my first fish of 2019.

The weather was once again running at least 5 degrees below the forecast.  It was foggy as well.  The one positive is that it didn't get under 40-degrees last night.  Maybe it will be warmer tomorrow.

Ice Fishing Goals Achieved and Not Winter 18-19

Goals achieved in bold green
Goals not achieved in red
Partly achieved in purple
Commentary in blue

The weather made for an abbreviated ice fishing season for me this year.  Once the Snow and cold hit in early January I was done.

Tackle Goals:
1. Have my tackle ready to go by November 24th.

Fishing Buddies:
1. Fish with at least 2 others this winter. I did go fishing with Pete, so 50% achieved isn't too bad.

Blogging:
1.  Record all fishing trips at Fish Swami
2. Blog all Trips at the Fishing Log Blog

Fishing Goals:
1.  Catch at least 300 fish. Caught 203 Fish
2. Catch at least 12 fish per outing.I struggled to catch them on a bunch of trips, but I was starting to get there when the weather turned against me.

Crappie:
1. Catch at least 200. I Caught 78 Crappies

Sunfish:
1. Catch at least 100. I Caught 40 Sunnies

Pike:
1. Catch at least 1. I caught 4 Pike

Bass:
1. Catch at least 1. I caught 1 Bass

Walleye:
1. Catch at least 1.I caught 12 walleyes
2. Fish Mille Lacs at least 3 times. I fished Mille Lacs 5 times

Tulibee:
1. Catch at least 1. Didn't really try for them

Lakes:
1. Mille Lacs
2. Bulldog
3. Rock Lake
Also fished Long and Platte

Any Day Now A Bullhead Should Show Up

I am a little disappointed with the pace of ice disappearing at the GOMH so far this week.  It has generally been a few degrees under what was forecasted to happen.  Later today it is supposed to get near 60 degrees and it's supposed to be above average for the next 4 days after that.  Bullheads could move in at any time.  Odds are it won't be until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week at the earliest, but the GOMH has been known to pleasantly surprise me from time to time.

Update: Looks like it's only going to get to the mid 50's today if we are lucky. Drats

Relaxing Night at the GOMH(4/4/19)

Cloudy Cool Night with some light snow to start

7:15-8:10PM GOMH SW NE
38-36℉, Cloudy, 10-5MPH East Wind

A gloomy night cool night, but I was into it.  Casting out and listening to my 2019 Playlist.  Very relaxing. It's supposed to warm up tomorrow.

GOMH Skunk(4/3/19)

Not much progress at Bulldog

5:40-6:20PM GOMH NE SW
45℉, Mostly sunny, 5mph NW

Dang light snow we got this morning didn't melt off the lakes today keeping the surface white so instead of absorbing heat under the ice we got practically nothing out of this sunny day.  No activity detected.  A couple guys briefly fished the NE side as well.

Cool Dreary Monday @Dog, GOMH, Inlet(4/1/19)

I believe that over the next week, I'm going to witness quite a bit of progress towards ice getting off the lakes.  Today was a bit of a disappointment in that regard because it only got to about 40 degrees due to the thick cloud cover.  I didn't get a hit at the GOMH, and the water has clouded up quite a bit.  It's still rising.  I also went to Bulldog and the Sullivan Inlet.