Journal of a Minnesota Angler

Date: 7/1/2009
Time: 6:30pm-9:30pm
Body of water: Lake Owasso
Location: Shoreview, MN
Weather Conditions: scattered clouds

My old colleague that had introduced me to the super fluke actually lives in Orchard Lake where I fished last week and after our outing, we stopped in to say hi (he also knew the two colleagues I fished with). While talking to him and his wife, I found out that his wife really likes the pink (“bubble gum” to us guys) colored super flukes. Apparently, she has done really well with them. So I picked up a package this week anxious to try them out.

Mark and I went to Lake Owasso tonight. We decided to start with a bubble gum vs white pearl fluke contest to see which would do better. We first tried the shore just West of the boat launch. Nothing there.

We then went to the docks around the point where we had a bunch of hits the last time we were out. Mark got a small largemouth, but couldn’t boat it, and I had a nice hit, but it didn’t bite hard enough for me to be able to set the hook on it. Mark saw my hit and said it was a better size than the one he got. After that, there wasn’t any action.

We decided to do some lindey rigging with leeches further down the shore where I got a small bass last time. We were getting a lot of nibbles, but no real bites. Mark did, however, catch a nice 18″ largemouth. At one point, I felt a little tug, but wasn’t sure if it was a bite. When I reeled it in, I had a small pumpkinseed sunfish. The only consolation is that the sunny kept me from getting skunked.

After another half hour or so of hits, but no bites, we decided to try another part of the lake. We went across to the entrance of a really shallow bay. I was using a white pearl fluke at that time and got a nice tug, but again, not enough of a bite to set the hook. We pulled out a little from shore to try near some buoys, but that was short lived.

We went back to our lindey rigging spot where Mark did some more lindey rigging with leeches while I tried casting with various different lures. I tried both bubble gum and white pearl flukes with two split shots about 10 inches in front to drop them deeper. I tried the same weights with a 6″ watermelon colored lizard. And I also tried a heavier orange and yellow spinnerbait. I got nothing.

All the while, Mark was losing leeches left and right to little hits. We could see his rod tip bounce, but nothing would really bite.

It was starting to get dark, so we went back to bubble gum vs white pearl fluke in “our spot.” We did some casting on the way where Mark caught a small 12″ largemouth. When we got to the docks that’s our spot, there were two guys fishing with minnows and a few crank baits. They were also having a slow night. We were glad to hear we weren’t the only ones. While it was their first time on the lake, they did hear of a hole in front of a black dock with a black motor West of where we were. That may be our lindey rigging spot. I’ll have to look next time we’re there.

Just before we went in, Mark had a hit on his white pearl fluke and he said it felt like a walleye with a double tick. But again, not a big enough bite to set the hook.

All in all, not a very good night except for the 18-incher Mark landed.