Date: 6/6/2010
Time: 8:00-11:00am
Body of water: White Bear Lake
Location: White Bear Lake, MN
Weather Conditions: overcast, windy
My phone rang at 7am Sunday morning.
“Hello, ” I said groggily, knowing full well who was on the other end.
“Let’s go!”
It was Mark. Saturday, after our outing, I asked him if he was going out Sunday. He said to have my phone close by. Frankly, I didn’t think he would go that morning. Saturday night I had gotten all my stuff ready to go out to the 22 acre lake I’ve been wanting to hit lately.
“Give me 15 minutes.”
Fifteen minutes later, I walked out my front door to Mark and his boat parked in front of my driveway. We headed to Bald Eagle, but the parking lot was all full. Mark theorized there was a muskie tournament on the lake for muskie opener weekend. So we headed to White Bear Lake instead. There were plenty of spots open there.
For the three hours we were on the water, we hit 6 spots:
Spot #1:
Mark called this Mahtomedi Bar. It was a bar that ran across the lake East to West on the Southern end of the lake. We tried lindy rigging for walleye, but weren’t getting anything. After 30-40 minutes, we decided to start casting.
Spot #2:
We headed West to the docks and Mark started casting with a chartreuse/white spinnerbait and I picked up a bubble gum super fluke. On my third or fourth cast, my line became very hard to reel in. I set the hook and… Fish on! After reeling a few feet, it jumped. It was a bass. In the net, I thought it was about 16″, but it only measured in at 14″. Not a pig, but a really nice fish.
Species: Largemouth Bass
Size: 14″
Lure used: Bubble gum super fluke
A few casts later, I felt some ticks, but I didn’t feel any weight on the line. When fishing with texas rigged super flukes, always wait for the weight. I tried to keep my cool and kept retrieving as I normally would. Then I felt another tick-tick tick, but still no weight. A few more feet of retrieve and finally I felt some substance. I set the hook and pulled in a 21″ northern. I decided to keep it for pickling.
Species: Northern Pike
Size: 21″
Lure used: Bubble gum super fluke
My fluke was pretty damaged, so I got a new one and set it up. A few more casts and I had another fish on. This time it was a 22″ northern. I kept that one as well. Three fish in a span of about 15 minutes!
Species: Northern Pike
Size: 22″
Lure used: Bubble gum super fluke
The new fluke was beat up again, but before I could get a new one on, I realized I had committed a cardinal sin for anglers. I ran out of bubble gum flukes! I couldn’t believe it. (Well, actually, I could because I hadn’t been having much luck with them lately, so I didn’t feel the need to keep a supply on hand. Silly me.) I put on a baby bass color instead, but after a dozen casts and no action, Mark said I should switch to the pearl white package I had brought along. I agreed.
White pearl on and not more than a few casts later, I got ticked again. But this time, the fish never grabbed on, so I couldn’t set the hook. However, I was to hook a small bass that shook himself off when he got near the boat.
Mark wasn’t getting any action, so I offered him a fluke. He said no. I was surprised Mark was so one dimensional that day. He usually switches up if nothing is happening for him. But it would pay off.
It started to slow down for me, but then started to pick up for Mark. He caught a northern about the size of my two. And shortly after, a nice bass at least the size of mine. Then it got quiet for both us. So Mark decided it was time to try a new spot.
Spot #3:
We motored across the lake to try the docks on that side. I got a couple of ticks, but nothing bit hard enough to try a hook set. Mark was quiet as well. We weren’t there very long before we moved on.
Spot #4:
We headed back across lake a bit further North than our other catches. On the way I looked at my damaged bubble gum flukes and found one with the nose fairly in tact. I was able to rehook it to use at our new destination.
The weeds were really dense and thick here. You could see the difference in color of the water from all the weeds far out into the lake. Again we hit the docks. I landed an 11″ largemouth and Mark landed another northern. But there was nothing else.
Spot #5:
A while later we motored to a point that was under water a few years ago, but was now exposed due to the low water levels. There were a couple of buoys warning boaters of shallow water. Mark got a phone call, but I was casting. We had just passed the second buoy when I cast into the shallows and felt something heavy on my line. I set the hook and it wasn’t just heavy. It was HEAVY. I heard Mark tell the person on the line that I just got one on and he got off the phone. I was holding the line high as it was going over the back of the boat and over Mark’s head. I must have let off the pressure just a bit as I tried to move it to the side of the boat and all of a sudden the weight lightened up. I knew immediately what happened. I reeled in and just had weeds on my fluke. The nose was all torn as if it had been pulled down on the hook.
Mark believed it was a muskie. I tended to agree with him. Whatever it was, it was BIG. It had to be 60″ plus! I’m just kidding of course, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was a muskie near 40″. But we’ll never know.
I then had to switch back to a white pearl fluke.
Spot #6:
It was getting late, but we headed over to another shallow point. We went over to the North side and could see a steep drop off under the water from the sandy shore. As we were casting, Mark saw a large bass cruising along the bottom part of the ledge exactly where you’d expect to find a fish. He pointed it out to me and I saw it just as it was passing me. I threw my fluke ahead of it hoping to get a strike. Nothing. Mark then saw another bass off his end of the boat.
This was a rare opportunity to try something to see if it worked since you don’t usually know if there are even fish around what you throw, let alone if they are interested. I put on a blue jig and pig and threw it parallel to the ledge and also across it toward a dock. I tried bouncing it up and down near the bottom as well as using it as a swim jig. Neither techniques produced a strike. Mark didn’t get a hit on his spinnerbait either, but he saw two more bass.
After about twenty minutes, we decided to call it a day. And a good day at that.
