Juggling Balls Keep Falling To The Ground

 O-Line injuries, QB Injuries, D inconsistent play. Vikes at 2-2. Where are we at, and where is this all headed?

I've got no clue.

Snatcher North Long Preview: The Plan and Rods I'm Bringing

 The Plan:

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'6" H (Jigs, Chicken Jig)

7'4" H Tatula 1 (Buzzbait)

7'4" H Tatula 2 (Toadz, 

7' H Avid (Texas Rig)

7' MHM Mojo Bass (Chatterbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC)(Jigs, Dark Sleeper)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Chatterbait, Spinnerbait)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater)

Spin:

6'6" MH Abu Veritas (Neko)

Snatcher Fishtrap Lake Preview: The Plan and Rod's I'm Bringing

 

My boater, Club President Snatcher Benson

The Plan: During pre-fish, pretty much everything we tried produced a bass or two. So I'm gonna prepare to junk fish and see if I can drill into a pattern. The goal is to get a limit and beat Tuma.

Rods I'm Bringing: 

7'6" H Tatula (Jigs)

7'4" H Tatula (Frogs/Toads, Jigs, Buzzbait)
7'4" H Tatula (Frogs/Toads, Jigs, Buzzbait)

7' H Avid (Texas Rig)

7' MHM Mojo (Chatterbait)

6'9' H Tatula Elite (FC) (Jigs)

6'9' H Tatula Elite (Braid)(Spinnerbait)

6'9' H Tatula Elite (Braid)(Chatterbait)

Spinning Rod:
6'6" MH Abu Vertas (Neko, and Fluke)

I Think I Feel Attacked, Wired2Fish?

 

I will read the article later. That was my reaction to the title, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Kids Got Grit! Vikings 1-0!

 Vikings win the opener in Soldier Field 27-24. It wasn't looking good for the purple through three quarters. Da Bears had Da Vikes on the ropes. But the D got stops. McCarthy found his footing and the rest his history. JJ McCarthy wins his first game, capped off by an RPO tuddy run by JJ.

The kid has the heart of a champion.

The Vikes really miss Darrisaw. Hopefully, he is back next week. 

The McCarthy Era Begins On Monday Night

 

Vikes all-new interior on the O-Line, all-new signal caller, new young stud running back, Addison out for 3 weeks due to suspension, Theilen back, a healthy Hock at TE, will Jets and Darrisaw be 100%?

The Defence has an all-new interior as well. How will Caleb and Ben Johnson fare against the Vikings D?

I don't know what to expect. Week 1 in the NFL is usually full of surprises.

Have to wait for answers to my questions, so wait I will, impatiently. 

Snatcher Rush Lake Preview, Part 2: The Plan and Rods

 The Plan: Snatcher Tuma was not impressed with what we saw up shallow, so we probably will not be throwing frogs.  It's going to be windy. If the bass are up in the water column and aggressive, it will be Chatterbaits and Spinnerbaits. If they are not up and aggressive, it will be jigs and Texas rigs on the bottom.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'4" H Tatula (Plopper, Frogs/Toads)

7'4" H  Mod Zillion (Punching)

7' MHM  Mojo (Chatterbait)

7' H Avid (Texas Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Jigs)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Spinnnerbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Jigs)

6'6" MH 763 Loomis GLX (Ned)

BP's Line-Ups for LaCrosse

 I thought I had a really good lineup for St. Clair, but it did not turn out that way. Here is to hoping this lineup hits.

BP's Fantasy Bass Line-Ups For St. Clair

 

I replaced Whitaker with Redwine and Mueller with Gussy. (That last sentence brought to you by Grammerly's AI.)

Snatcher Lake Edward Preview: Part 1

 

Yes, Part 1 is being written and released after Part 2. My prerogative as a blogger to do things that way.

My History with Lake Edward:

Today will be my third tournament on Lake Edward. I'm not sure why the club didn't fish the lake between 1989 and 2017. Access issues, maybe? I'm sure I have heard the story; I just can't remember it. My introduction to the lake in 2018 was positive. I recorded that I caught 18 fish that day.

Light bulb moment, just happened. I am going to add "Bass Snatchers Tourny" to my Fish Swami Fishing Partners list, so all of my Tournaments will be easily searchable once I get them all documented that way. I think I will also make a list of days I pre-fished as well.

The second tournament day, pre-fish and tournament, was plagued by wind. Not a good thing for Edward, which is just a wide open basin pretty much. It looks like wind will be a factor today. It isn't supposed to blow hard hard, but anything above 5 mph is going to have half of the lake rocking and rolling. It is also supposed to be cloudy to partly cloudy, which is usually a positive for clear bodies of water such as Edward.

I had some pretty good finishes in July and some real stinkers, like last year's Last-Place finish on Mission Lake. The 2025 Season has been off to a terrible start. Hopefully, Arnie's fish are there and chewing. That is the secret to success in July, drawing a boater on a school or pattern that is on and stays on long enough to put together a solid bag. 

Wish me luck!

Snatcher's Lake Edward Preview Part 2: Rods and Plan

 

The Plan: I will be blasting out in boat #1 with Ranger Arnie. He will forever be Ranger Arnie here at Bass Pundit, even though he is a part-time Snatcher now. This will be the first time I fish with Arnie as a Snatcher. I did draw him for my boater for the Challenge Cup on Platte/Sullivan back in 2019 when I got skunked. Arnie may have been skunked as well, but I think he caught one keeper bass. 

Arnie took two trips, prefishing for Edward, and did well fishing the cabbage, so that is where we will no doubt spend the majority of our time. I will start with a buzzbait, but quickly switch to a jig and Texas rig if Arnie is catching them and I'm not. If it's a tough bite, I'll go to a free rig, Ned, and Neko. 

Rods I'm bringing:

7'6" H Tatula (Jig)

7'4" H Tatula (Toad, Frog, Jig, Buzzbait) Just in case Arnie has a reed spot.

7'3" MH St. Criox Legend Tournament (Free Rig)

7' H St. Croix Avid (Texas Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Flukes, Neko,  Dark Sleeper, Chatterbait, Spinnerbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Braid) (Jig, Chatterbait, Spinnerbait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Braid) (Dark Sleeper)

6'6" GLX 783 (Jig Worm, Dark Sleeper, Ned, Jerkbait, Paddletail) 

Spinning:

6'6" Abu Veritas (Neko Rig, Ned Rig)

Bass Snatcher Mississippi River Tournament Recap

Conditions: 70-90℉, Partly Cloudy, 2-5mph

The Day:

We went straight to Little Rabbit Lake and started in the same section as Arnie and Theo. We were working the slop, and they were working deeper. After 15 minutes of nothing, I started casting out over the calm water with the Walkine Boss. I had a pike miss the Boss. Theo got a couple of pike. I think I had a small keeper take a shot at the Walking Boss, but it didn't hook up. Arnie and Theo, I believe, both got on the board and caught a pike as well. 

We entered the third bay, and I got the skunk from the boat with a 2-lber on a frog off some wood. Darren missed a bite and got hung up. We went a little further into the bay, then Daren got the skunk out of the boat with a small bass off the same piece of wood where we had caught those two bites as we were on our way back out of the bay. We fished almost to the mouth of the Bay we started in with Darren getting a couple of boils, but no hook-ups. We fished in the first basin for quite a while, along with a number of other Snatcher boats. Darren and I both pulled a non-keeper out of a slop area that had some life. 

We then returned to the bay from which we had started. Darren got three small keepers on a Chatterbait, and I got what would be my final keeper of the day on a Chatterbait. I think we could have gotten our limits, but a guy was trolling in the area where Arnie and Theo got their fish. We decided to bail for the entrance to Little Rabbit. The life that was in the area in the morning had mostly left. 

We then went to the backwater where I had success with Ruff. It was lifeless there, other than one attempt by a pike to get my frog. We went to an area where Darren got a 4-lber pre-fishing. We started downriver from the juice, and he got a bonus smallmouth right next to the bank on a piece of wood. The area where Darren got the 4-lber had a lot of life in it. The first time I had seen really abundant signs of life all day. We fished this area too quickly, in my estimation. I don't remember if Darren caught a fish or not. He definitely had a couple of blow-ups. I had a good bass eat my frog, and I got a very good hookset, yet it jumped and got off. Tough luck, I was sure that bass was going to come in the boat. 

We ran a good bit of the river, hoping to duplicate the smallie bite, but it never happened. We then arrived at another area where Darren caught a couple of pigs in pre-fish. He had a blow-up that missed his frog just before we crossed paths with Tyler and Dave, who were both struggling. Darren ate his lunch, and I piloted the boat.  Darren resumed fishing with me on the troller and immediately had a blow-up that missed. A little while later, I had a great opportunity to put a good bass in the boat on a Livetarget Frog. I knew the bass was there because it missed the frog the first time, and I let her have it on the hookset. But it buried me and got off.  I was pretty pissed off, and that propelled me for the final hour and a half. Unfortunately, I only had one more blow-up, and I'm pretty sure it was a pike. Darren got two small keepers with the final one coming in the last five minutes. It just wasn't my day yet again. Frustrating!

Results: Third from last, I'm moving up baby. DJ.Kicker got 1st, 2nd Place  went to Dennis and 3rd Place and Lunker (4/10) went to Nate.

My Thoughts: Lost fish cost me yet again. The bite was much tougher than expected. I thought I would average at least two bites an hour. I had maybe 6 bites from keeper bass for the day. The hot weather didn't bother me, and I fished hard all day. Having an infection in my left eye did affect my vision and casting accuracy. Once again, I could not get my limit on a river. Hopefully, we will schedule the Gull River for next year. With two bombs now on the record, I am in a hole for the year.

Tournament Grade: C

Lost fish suck, but when you get good hooksets on a frog, and that is how things go. Fortune was just not with me again.  

Snatchers Mississippi River Preview: Part 2 (Plan & Rods)

 

Snatcher Darren showing me how it's done.

The Plan: Frog myself up a limit of three to six pounda's.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'6" H Tatula (Pitching Jigs or Texas Rigs)

7'4" XH Zillion (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Frog, Toad)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Fluke)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Pitching Jigs)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Texas Rig)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater)

I've Got The Platte/Sullivan Lake Blues

 

These are my trips in the Trophy, so far this year.

Wrecking 'em I ain't. The results from this past weekend can be attributed to the post-spawn, post-cold front conditions, right? Oh brother, it is going to be a tough year if I don't up my game and innovate. 

Here are all of my trips since June 5th, 

Bassmaster Fantasy At Tenkiller, My Picks

 Posting my picks in hopes my fortunes change. My results haven't been great in the last several tournaments. 

Snatcher Tournament Birch Lake

  

Conditions: 65-78℉, PC to Cloudy, 0-7mph SE

The Day:

I met up with Snatcher Herman at Fleet Farm, and we headed North. As Herman predicted, nobody went to our starting area. The area seemed to be a lot less alive, maybe due to it being early in the day. I noticed there was a channel cut into the shore that I didn't know was there. Where the cut meets the bay is a high percentage spot. Unfortunately, we moved in to close and spooked what was there. I did catch a small pike on a buzzbait. About 5 minutes later, Herman had a fish blow up on his swimbait, but miss in a group of pads. A few minutes later, Herman got the skunk out of the boat with a little bass. A couple of minutes later, I did the same thing with a spinnerbait fish (1.56). I switched to Zoom Super Fluke because the area was sloppy. I think I got a bass in the boat (1.58) pretty quickly after going to the fluke. I got more bites, but couldn't get them in the boat. I broke off on a fish that buried me in a pad root and discovered that most of the flukes I brought were torn up and basically unusable. I had four good ones left. We worked our way out of the slop bay, and I took the helm while Herman worked with his tackle. 

I worked a weedline and then some docks that had sunfish on them, but no sign of bass. We bailed on the area and went just West of where the inlet from Ten Mile Lake is. Herman and I quickly put fish in the boat, but mine was barely over 12 inches. Herman got another keeper, and we watched Smitty and Tim pull a couple out of the pads. We worked that northern shoreline, hoping to bump into something, but it just wasn't happening. A little before noon, Herman made us sandwiches. 

We then went to the southern end of the West Basin to a small slop bay, and Herman got his limit fish in front of a tree at the entrance to the bay. I got a keeper and a non-keeper off the tree on a fluke. I then had a pike wreck my second-to-last remaining fluke. I switched to a Z-Man Popping Shad and got a line burner that was hooked in an inopportune way through the eye, so I threw it back.  I lost all three bites I got on a frog in this bay, two of which I had hooked, and they were both 2-lb-class fish, minimum. We then went around the point to work more pads. Herman got a good cull quickly. I got a line burner and pike on my last fluke, which the pike did in. I put on a bubblegum Yum Dinger, but never got a hit on it.  I got my big bass with about 45 minutes left on a frog. We worked pads for 35 minutes. I had a couple of fish boil on the frog, but not take it. With 10 minutes left and still being one fish short of my limit, I pulled the plug on the slop, and we went to the channel between the basins. I fished a tree just to the SW of the channel, nothing. I ended the day getting my limit with a very small keeper on my last cast of the day, just to the SE of the channel.

Results:  I came in second to last. Tuma won and got Lunker (4/03),President Benson got 2nd Place, and Dennis got 3rd Place.

My Thoughts: I had the bites to be in the top half of the field. I didn't bring any Trick Worms, and my packing the wrong Fluke bag was just dumb as well. Lost fish on a frog when you get a good enough hookset to bring them in, most of the time, is tough luck. 

Tournament Grade: C 

I fished hard and got a limit

Birch Lake Preview Part 2: Plan and Rods I'm Bringing.

 

The Plan is to eat well again, thanks to Snatcher Herman.

The Plan: We didn't find any size, but did find bass in the pads during pre-fish, so fishing pads is Plan A. As of right now, it looks like it will be sunny with light to moderate wind. So pads could be a player. If that doesn't work, we'll wing it, I guess.

Rods I'm Bringing:

7'6" H Tatula (Swim Worm)

7'4" H Tatula Elite (Frog)

7'4" H Tatula (Toads)

7'4" H Tatula XT (Buzzbait)

7'H Avid (Texas Rig)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (FC) (Spinnerbait, Buzzbait, Wakebait)

6'9" H Tatula Elite (Swim Jig, Paddletail, Dark Sleeper, Chatterbait)

6'8" M Avid (Topwater, Ned, Jerkbait, Trap, Neko)

5'6" MH Premier (Fluke, Senko, Ned)

Snatchers Birch Lake (Hackensack) Preview, Part 1.

 

Thanks to recent changes at Fish Swami, it is easy to look up my history at places I have fished since 2011, the first year I seriously started logging my trips. I have fished three tournaments at Birch Lake and pre-fished two of those, for a total of five days on the lake. In 2016, it was also the first tournament of the year. The "heart" for May 31, 2016, was for a 33.5" pike I caught. The bass we got pre-fishing in 2016 were pretty random, and I kind of remember where we caught bass in the tournament. I will be pre-fishing the lake on Tuesday with my boater, Herman. It looks like the weather going in will be warm and stable going into the tournament. I suspect most fish will be post-spawn by next Saturday. 

Pre-fishing done, we have a plan. See Part 2 on Saturday.

2025 Opener Part 1: Mille Lacs

 

8" Rippin Rap (Chrome Blue)

12:00-4:00am Eddy's Jetty Mille Lacs

44-49℉, Partly Cloudy, 7-12mph N

I elected to take the North Jetty Harbor Mouth due to the stiff wind blowing in. There was one guy who showed up at about twenty to midnight, and two boats headed out and came back a couple of times before heading out for about 3 hours. I got a cigar 40 minutes in, then lost a 20+" inch fish at the rocks about 5 minutes later. Both bites on the blue/chrome Rippin Rap. I lost the Rippin Rap.  

I thought it was going to be AWWWN. I didn't get another bite for almost two hours, a 21.5" fish. I got that one at the North Corner. About 20 minutes later, I lost what felt like a keeper at the Harbor Mouth when dialed into the retrieve. At 4 am, I decided to bag it and head to the GOMH. 

An OK Opener, but with conditions, I should have had more opportunities.

3 Eye 

Complete 2025 Opener Report is at the Log Blog

2025 MN Fishing Opener Outlook And Plan

 Today is Thursday, May 8th, and the Minnesota Fishing Opener is in two days. As of this moment, I have done zero prep for getting the Trophy into the water. I haven't even taken the cover off once. The bite at the Grumpy Old Man Hole has just been too good, and there was always tomorrow to start boat prep. Now my back is against the wall. I hope get some things done about the Trophy today, but I doubt I will have it in the water for the Opener. Todd will be up this weekend, but to what extent is unclear. His baby daughter graduates from High School this year, and that is where he is focused.

Spring gave way to summer this week, and that will continue for Opener Weekend. So, I expect many boats to be out this week, especially for the Opener. Fishing has been so good this year that I have been spoiled. The thought of dealing with crowds just does not appeal to me like it would if fishing were a struggle.    

 

The Plan:

As of right now, my only plans are to do my traditional midnight at Eddy's Jetty and hit the Grumpy Old Man Hole for sunrise.

Update: If the bite is anything, I'll probably stay through sunrise at Mille Lacs. Conditions look favorable, so I am optimistic.  If nothing happens by 2AM, I'll bag it, come home, and be at the Grumpy Old Man Hole by 4am. My bass tackle is in disarray right now, and the Trophy will not be on the water this weekend.  I'm not sure how much bass fishing I will do for the opening weekend.