Mille Lacs Gets Tough and GOMH Show

On Saturday the wind blew out of the East all day. Normally that makes Eddy's hot. It didn't. I arrived at 8PM and set up on the North Jetty Harbor Mouth. Much to my astonishment nothing happened. Finally at 10PM I went to chuck raps off the North jetty corner and that didn't work. The wind was about 5 mph less than last night. I went to the lighted bobber and a leech and got bit around

Gold Rush!!!

Lord Have Mercy!That was my reaction when I saw the conditions off of Eddy's Jetty. 10-15mph E SE wind so I went to the corner of the North Jetty. I thought it was going to be a serious whack fest, turns out the fishing was just OK.I started casting a couple of minutes past midnight throwing a purple perch Husky Jerk because I whacked them hard on that color in similar conditions in 2007 (and

Fishing Opener Eve 2011

Well it is now almost 11PM on the eve of the 2011 Minnesota Fishing Opener. "Minnesota Fishing Opener" is the day the state fish walleye and those toothy Northern Pike become legal to fish. The Bass Opener isn't until Memorial Day weekend.It's going to be a low key opener for me this year. I plan to hit Mille Lacs at mid-night from Eddy's Jetty for walleye. The weather and bite will dicatate

Bass Openers Last Stand

Since Bass Opener is always on Memorial Day Weekend I consider the MN Bass Opener to be a 3-day affair.Today I slept in and didn't start fishing until about 5PM and I fished the whole time on Platte. The day was mostly sunny but had turned to partly sunny by the time I went fishing. When I first got out winds were out of the WSW at about 7MPH, eventually it got calm for about 1/2 an hour, then

2010 Bass Opener Part 1

28 Bass (11 to 15 inches)3 Pike6 hours (5:30-11:30AM)I was underway a little later than I thought I should be by about 15 minutes, but it didn't matter the Sullivan Platte River Outlet(PRO) river mouth was all mine for the taking and I had it for a good half hour plus until a couple of more boats showed up. I started out the morning casting the purple Berkley Frenzy Popper, but that only lasted

Bass Opener Eve

We are just about an hour out from May 29th, which is the day Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass start their statewide open season here in Minnesocold. All my gear is ready to go. I will have 15 rods in the boat with me in the morning.The Plan: First stop will be the Platte River Outlet(PRO) river mouth. In 3 of the previous 5 years I have been beaten to the PRO river mouth and one of those years

3 More Days...

Including today, there are only 3 more days until the MN statewide Bass Fishing Opener.We had ice off the area lakes in late March, a warm April, and then a cool start to May, but over the last 2 weeks it has warmed up pretty good with record high temps the previous couple of days. The full moon is tomorrow and the water temps are right for the spawn to be taking place even as I write this blog.

The Opener Closer

Minnesota Fishing Opener weekend was coming to a close and I had to make 1 last trip to Mille Lacs before the night ban sets in tonight at 10PM. I arrived at Eddy's at a quarter to midnight. There was a guy and his daughter fishing at the North Jetty harbor mouth, which is where I had planned to go. I ended up taking the center Jetty and fishing where I did last night.About 15 minutes in the

No Wind, No Problem!!! No Skunk!!!

I didn't get out of the house until after midnight last night and when I arrived at Eddy's on Mille Lacs there was no one fishing and it was dead calm. I headed out on the middle Jetty and started out by throwing Raps but that didn't last long. Next I put a leech on a Custom Jigs and Spins Glow Demon. After I lost 2 leeches with no apparent bites, I switched rods to a pink glow hook. Wouldn't you

Not Skunked Tonight!

All night walleye fishing on ML must have tired me out cause I slept in till 5PM. I didn't get out onto Platte until right around 7PM. It was a beautiful mild calm night after a day that had been sunny and in the 70's with light wind. Because it was so late I elected to fish out front on the trolling motor from our place towards Jenny's.Within my first couple of casts I had a hit on an all

No Wind, No Good!!!

Just like 2 years ago there was no wind at Eddy's Jetty on Mille Lacs and once again just like then, I got skunked. 3 or 4 eyes were caught by a group of 3 guys who were flinging clown Rapala Husky Jerks. Around 4AM a light breeze came up out of the SE, but it was to little to late for me. I had a minnow or leech on a lot of the time thinking that cranks just wouldn't go.Grumpy Old Man Hole:

Minnesota Fishing Opener Eve

Checklist:Rods rigged and organized- CheckTackle organized- CheckGas for the boat- CheckBoat launched and moored at lake place- CheckMinnows and leeches- CheckCar loaded-CheckThe plan:Hit up Eddy's Jetty at midnight and from there it is all an audible. If the fishing is OK I will probably stay all night until sunrise. If the fish are not going will probably be back earlier. If I'm back earlier

A Fond MN Fishing Opener Memory

(5.5lbs Walleye Caught MN Fishing Opener 1985.) Pic from Little Jim's Bait Shop Annandale MNCertainly one of my most memorable MN Fishing Openers was in 1985, when I was 15 years old. Just like pretty much every year the 85' Opener was spent up at the family cabin on Sylvia/Twin Lake, now called East and West Sylvia, in Wright County Minnesota. Keep in mind growing up I was much more into bass,

1 Sunfish Rock, Morning GOMH skunk

This morning I was up early so I went to the GOMH and got skunked, not even a bite.Tonight I got out after 8PM just as it started to sprinkle and I went to Rock Lake. I missed a few bites, but was eventually able to catch a 6" sunfish. No pic, cause I forgot the camera. The wind came up a little bit and I was getting cold and wet, so I was gone by 9PM.With rain in the forecast for tomorrow, I

The Weather

This isn't news to anyone living in Central MN, but it seems this year we had May weather in April and now we are getting April weather in May. This is kind of like the flip flop we had last summer with August and September. Today our high temp was only 43°F (avg high now is 66°F). Tomorrow and Thursday are both suppose to be below 50°F with overcast and a chance of rain. Friday is supposed

This Could Have Been Fishing Opener

Now that today is here, I'm glad the MN Fishing Opener was not today. Lousy weather and I'm not ready like I will be by next Saturday.