When Will I See My Driveway? #3

A lot of bare driveway on both ends, not so much in the middle.

2020 When Will I See My Driveway? #2

Not a lot of sun the past couple of days. Melting should begin in earnest in a couple of days. It should be ice-free in about a week.

1st Ice Fishing Trip of the Winter, Skunked

4:00-6:30PM Rock Lake
34-36℉, Cloudy, 4-7mph SE

I finally did it.  I got my gear together and headed out ice fishing.  I discovered the bite detector was busted on the rod.  I didn't mark anything out in my area and didn't get to the sunfish hole until it was starting to get dark.  Didn't put a minnow down.  Ice was 20" plus inches thick.

Not sure where I will try on Friday.

Platte Lake Ice Out Prediction for 2020

Well, it is time for me to give my official Platte Lake ice out date prediction for the year.  Last year my pessimistic prediction was wildly off the mark as Spring kicked into gear during the second half of the month and never looked back.  This winter has been on the snowy and mild side.  We got the snow early which insulated the Lake so ice depths at this point are below normal or at least that is what I've heard.  I haven't drilled a hole yet.  Also, we had high water at the start of the winter so we have had current moving through the lake.  We have as much open water right now at the Grumpy Old Man Hole as we did on March 22nd last year.  We have a lot of snow yet to be melted and that is going to take a while to happen.  I suspect we will see ice start coming off lakes in the Southern part of the State in the third week of March.

I predict ice will be off Platte Lake on April 8th this year

2019 Prediction May 9th Ice Off Date April 20th
2018 Prediciton April 22nd Ice Off Date May 2nd
2017 Prediction March 29th Ice Off Date April 1st
2015 Prediction April 20th Ice Out Date April 3rd

Long term forecast looks like temps mostly slightly above average with no big warm-ups just the way I like it with so much snow around.

 

Baxter Bass Snatchers 2020 Tournament Schedule With My Thoughts

Cedar Lake (Aitken): This will be my third shot at Cedar Lake.  The first two didn't go so hot.  I only caught 3 keepers both times.  I am not impressed with the Lake as a bass fishery, but this is the time of year to hit it. On the positive side, both of my boaters did well and neither of them is in the club anymore so I can spill their secrets if I can remember them.

Serpent Lake (Crosby): This will be my 4th tournament on Serpent.  I really like this fishery.  I've caught a limit in each tournament including a 3rd Place and Lunker the first tournament I fished here.  If weather conditions are right this is a lake that gives me a legit shot at winning a tournament throwing topwater.

Mission Lakes: This will be my 7th tournament on Mission.  All but one of those were in the Fall.  Midsummer will be all new to me.  The lake has never been particularly kind to me save for catching the Lunker the last time I fished here.  I can do well in this tournament provided I get a good draw and we are of the same mind coming into the tournament.  In all previous tournaments, I didn't get to pre-fish with my boater.

Rush Lake (Ottertail):  This will be my second tournament on Rush Lake.  The first one was a bust as my boater's spots just weren't holding fish.  I managed to avoid the skunk by catching my only keeper in the last five minutes of the day.  I liked the lake from what I've seen of it, but it intimidates me a little bit.  It's a long drive and chances are that I draw someone with little or no experience here. Gulp

Little Boy/Wabedo:  This will be the third tournament on this system, not counting a MN Muskies Inc. tournament I fished way back at the dawn of this century.  I really like these lakes.

Gull: This will be my 4th tournament on Gull.  I've never been able to pre-fish the Lake.  I think we are going out of a landing on the North end of the Lake, which will be new to me.  Chances are good that my boater will know the lake and be on fish.  Somehow the last tournament I fished here that wasn't enough to get me a limit. 

2020 When Will I See My Driveway? #1

I can't see much of the driveway yet and have a pretty good base of ice.  My guess is I'll be able to see the driveway on the 12th or so.

View from the garage.

View from the Pole Barn

Turn around spot

Black Girls Fish 2

I haven't done a blog promotion in a long time, but I learned about this website yesterday and it is Black History Month, so why not?

Black Girls Fish 2 is a website in its infancy.  I do not know if any black fisherwomen will ever see this post.  I wish Mz. Hooked well in bringing that community of anglers together. Mz. Hooked also started a Facebook Group.

Football Rumor: Third Wild Card Team To Be Added

Here is PFT's Report

I am all for them adding a third wild card team to both Conferences.  That would have meant the Rams would have faced the Packers Wild Card Week this year.  That would have been a winnable game for the Rams.  Under this setup, the Vikes could very well have made the NFC Championship Game this past season.  Who knows, they might have made the Super Bowl even. 

Prediction: Ice Will Be Out By Easter This Year

I hadn't done any blogging so far this month, so I thought I would throw out my first ice out prediction of the year.  I think the chances of ice still being on the Platte/Sullivan area lakes on Easter Sunday, April 12th 2020 is looking pretty slim to me at this point.  In early March I will give my official ice out date guess.  Right now, I'm thinking the chances of a March ice out date aren't very good either.

Here is the forecast for the rest of February:

 

What The GOMH Looked Like Today

 

Haven't fished yet, but seriously getting the itch too. Pete was up last week doing some fishing on Mille Lacs with other vets.

Long Term Outlook Feb. 11th

 

Florida Study Shows Bed Fishing Zero Impact On Largemouth

Facebook Video Here

The Study Here

It has been my opinion for a very long time that having a completely closed season on largemouth bass is nonsense from a scientific perspective.  Angling pressure during the spawn does next to nothing in effecting how successful a body of water is at producing largemouth bass.  This is doubly true in weedy natural lakes.  A lake's fertility, carrying capacity, and spawning habitat are what impact largemouth populations, not fishing pressure.

Get with the program state of Minnesota.  Open up largemouth bass to catch and release fishing when not in season.

WI Goes to Year Round Bass Fishing

Wisconsin is now the latest state to do away with a totally closed season for bass.  Congratulations WI bassheads for getting it done.  Hopefully, MN gets with the program and follows suit in the next couple of years.

Update: This change isn't official yet. 

Women And Professional Tournament Bass Fishing

So I was reading through my blogs from January 2010 and I came across this one announcing the end of the ill-fated Bassmaster Women's Tour.  I was bummed out about it at the time.  So here we are 10-years later and it would seem that women haven't made any progress in that time in the world of professional tournament bass fishing.  The one exception to that is Kristine Fischer who has made a name for herself in the kayak tournament scene.  Kayak tournament fishing is in its infancy but is exploding in popularity and Kristine's success speaks for itself.

So what will the next ten years hold for women tournament anglers?  I think incentives for women are such that it is too easy for them to get sidetracked rather than perfecting the craft required to be competitive against the men. I don't see reaching success at the top levels of the sport.  I hope I am wrong about that.  I would love it if there are more unicorns than just Kristine.       

2019 Fishing Goals Achieved (And Not)

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

Fishing Buddies:  Once again in 2019 I struggled with getting out fishing with people.  I talked about doing it with several people on the list but never got it done.

1. Fish with Dad
2. Fish with Mike Thompson
3. Fish with Jim Bonin
4. Fish with  Mike "Spike" Miller
5. Fish with Jeff and Renee
6. Fish with Todd, Isabelle, and Mallory
7. Fish with Peter W.
8. Fish with Matt W.
9. Fish with Dave Lindmark
10. Fish with Steve and Devin
11. Take Corey Hicks frog fishing.
12. Fish with Kane Phongsavat
13. Fish with Rick Nichols
14. Fish with Pete
Dream Fishing Buddies:
1. Fish with Josh Douglas
2. Fish with Al Lindner
3. Fish With Nattie Up North


Bass Snatcher Goals: Not exactly a banner year for achieving my Snatcher Goals


1.  Get "Wood" in at least one tournament. (1st-3rd Place Finish or Lunker or Co-Angler Challenge). Won the Co-Angler Challenge at Rabbit Lake and was just a few ounces out of 3rd Place.
2. Win my 1st tournament. (My best finish to date is 2nd Place.)
3. Get "Lunker" in a tournament.   (Preferably one over 5-8 to win the revolving big bass pot.)
4. Get paired with Chuck Fields.  (He usually only fishes a couple of tournaments a year so chances of it ever happening are not very good.  I may look into bribing Dennis)
5. Finish in the Top 10 at the end of the year. Finished in the 9th. 
6. Catch a limit at every tournament of the year.  Failed to catch a limit at Alexander and Gull River
7. Pre-fish with at least 3 boaters.
8. List the Rods I'm bringing for each tournament before the tournament.
9.  Win the Co-Angler Challenge at least twice Once is not twice.
10. Make the Challenge Cup Team Team Snatcher Won the Cup once again.  I think that makes the Team 4 out 5 when I am on the team.

Technique & Tackle Goals:
1. Win something in Fantasy Fishing or Facebook giveaways/contests. BBC Fantasy in May and Sept. along with various prizes in Sept. for a 3rd Place overall line up.
2. Catch a fish on % of Mystery Tackle Box Lures (Hold over from 2017)
    2a. 1st Box 100% (5 Lures, 2 Lures to go)
    2b. 2nd Box 60% (3 out of 5, only more lure and I've got this one)
3. Catch a fish on % of Lucky Tackle Box Lures (Hold over from 2017/18) The topwater bite was just to hot this spring for me to mess with the Lucky Tackle Box stuff.
   3a. 1st Box 100%  (6 Lures, 3 Lures left to go.)
   3b. 2nd Box 100% (6 Lures)
   3c.  3rd Box 75% (4 Lures)
4. Catch a bass on the Salmo Bass Bug (Hold over from 2017) Just can't get a bass on this lure.  It catches pike though.
5.  Officially Open the Tackle Warehouse this year.
6. Experiment with the Neko rig to see if it something for me. Neko rig gets a thumbs up!
7. Experiment with the Ned Rig to see if it's something for me. (Hold over from 2018)
8. Get the trolling motor fixed or replaced

Blogging:
1. Blog about anytime I reach a goal.
2. Record all fishing trips at Fish Swami
3. Fish at least 150 days and blog about them I found myself backlogged several times this year.  Hopefully, I'll get those trips put up sometime this winter.

Fish Goals:
1. Catch* 3,000 Fish (3,021 caught in 2018) If it weren't for the motor break down and crappy Fall weather I would have made it. 2,945 was the number for 2019.
2. Average 5 fish caught per hour. (4.07 in 2018, 3.99 in 2017, 4.08 in 2016, 3.62 in 2015, 3.55 in 2014, 4.41 in 2013, 4.31 in 2012, 2.77 in 2011) 4.4 fish per hour was the number for 2019 
3. Have a 100 fish day. Yeah baby, May 21st.

Crappie:
1. Catch a new personal best. (Currently 14.25")
2. Catch* over 100 this year. (Caught 306 in 2018) (I almost put the goal down to 50 crappies due to the fact that I'm not getting out ice fishing anytime soon and the uncertainty of when the ice will get off the lakes.  I could see a situation developing where I catch very few this year.) Caught 58 crappies this year.  No ice fishing and no big schools at the GOMH.

Dogfish:
1. Win my 3rd Minnesota Bowfin Club Grand Championship
2. Catch an MN State Record fish. (11-4  or 35" x 20")
3. Catch a new personal best.

Pike:
1. Catch* over 1,000 this year. (Caught 804 in 2018) Only got 813
2. Catch a 38" or over/personal best. Did catch some nice fish though.

Bass: 
1. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Largemouth Yeah Baby, 6.26lber Aug 2nd on Big Sexy on 6lb Flat
2. Catch a 21plus inch or 6lb Smallmouth
3. Catch* over 1,500 bass this year. (Caught 1,281 in 2018) 1,685 for the year
4. Catch* at least 25 smallies.  (I caught 0 last year) Got 4 this year pretty disappointing for as much as I fished Eddy's in June.
5. Catch a 25lb 6 Fish Bag Just didn't put too many big sacks together this year.
6. Have a 50 bass day

Walleye:
1. Catch at least 50. (Caught 279 in 2018) 258 walleyes in 2019 thanks to the motor being down in June.
2. Catch 30" or new personal best. (28.5 is current PB)

It was a very good year for fishing to bad I didn't ger my motor situation straightened around sooner.

Baxter Bass Snatchers 2020 Tournaments (Tentative)

This is the tentative schedule this year for the club along with my thoughts on the lakes.

May 30th Gull Lake:
I think this lake is getting switched out because it conflicts with the annual Teen Challenge Tournament.

June 27th Serpent Lake:
This will be my third time fishing Serpent.  I like the lake a lot.  Two thumbs up!

July 18th Mission Lakes:  This will be my 7th tournament on these lakes.  The lake has never been particularly good to me, though I did catch the Lunker in the last tournament I was in out there.  My attitude, meh!

Aug 15th Big Winni: Too much driving.  I really hope this one gets changed.

Sept 12th: Little Boy/Wabedo:  Will be my 3rd Tournament on these lakes. I really like them. 

Oct. 3rd: Cedar Lake:  Will also be my third tournament on this lake.  I've never gotten a limit here and had my boater kick my butt both times.  Don't care for this lake. thumbs down.

In place of Gull, I would like South Long

In place of Winni, I would prefer Pokegama

I think the rest of the lakes will remain the same.

Vikings Divisional Week Outlook: House Money Baby, House Money!

How can I help but not be more optimistic than I was last week?  The Vikes beat a hot Saints team in the Superdome.  Too beat the #1 seed this week will require similar great play the team is now proven themselves capable of offering.  We are playing with house money now, so let her rip boys.  SKOL!

B.A.S.S. Fantasy Fishing Is Live For 2020

So get yourself registered, pick a team and join all the leagues giving away free stuff.

Can Kirk?

Can Kirk Cousins win in San Franciso?

My answer is yes if Kubiak/Stefanski can keep the 49er's Defence off balance.

My answer is yes if the Vikings O-Line holds up.  If Dalvin is able to find holes and Kirk has time the Vikes are a dangerous team.

If Kirk gets help we have a chance.

Vikings Wildcard Week Outlook: Not Optimistic

It's not that I think the Vikes have no shot.  It's just that this team has too many question marks for me to get up on the bandwagon for this game.

Is Dalvin healthy?
Will our O-Line be able to hold up?
Is Theien able to meaningfully contribute?
Will bad Kirk show up?
Is Kendricks healthy?
Can the D play shut down Payton/Brees, and Company?

The Vikes will probably need to play their best game of the year to win.  The team has just been too inconsistent for me to place any faith in them.