Where did my bullhead go????

[harvey lee]

I had the pleasure of fishing with Waste Water Guru last evening on the Minnesota and a fun night it was. We didnt pick up any fish but we did have some very light bites.

I personally lost 4 bullies and never even knew I had a bite. One time my Moyer rod did load up for a inch or so and not even close to a click of the clicker. Low and behold though, my bullhead was gone and this happenned 3 more times. When it was time to go, I pulled my rod in and-no bullie. I do not know what was stealing my bait but there were slick for sure.

OH well, I had a great time and thanks for the company and boat ride John. We will have to do it again.

[Grant]

Sounds like your fish and mine were reading the same memos- I was shorefishing in Jordan and several times my bullhead would get all chewed up, barely a wiggle on the rod tip- mostly not enough to even make the bells sound... the only reason I even knew is I was sitting on the rod butt and felt it just barely twitch. Only got one little run, and when I picked up the rod there was nothing there.

there were a couple other fellows out in that stretch as well, fishing channels with stinkbait and crawlers, I think in 5+ hours they had two mediocre fish to show for it.

[aanderud]

At least you had bites! Lowblazah and I were out last night from 8 til 4:30 and we got 0 runs. A couple tiny hits on cutbait but nothing substantial, and nothing at all on bullies. Tried 4 different spots -- rocks, creeks -- no wood to speak of nearby.

Oh well, you certainly can't get them every night. It was interesting that the wind was pushing me upstream when we launched the boat and I was waiting for LBZ to park/walk down. SLOW current, to say the least.

[Shack]

Walleye!

I feel firm about that if it was not a channel, it is a walleye!

When my brother in law pulled that good sized one in the other week, their was never even a click or any drag. It was just on their and I think it had been on their for awhile.

[Larry FlatCaster]

We must have gotten lucky.

1 small Flat

1 Channel 13lbs

1 nice Flat 18lbs

1 really nice hook up and then break off in a snag.

Aandrud. I think you were hearing the play by play and then the #%&@!!!! when boink.

Tonight will be the night.

[aanderud]

Sounds like you guys had some good action about the time I was on the phone with y'all. Good luck tonight!

[ec30_06]

Hanson and I did ok last night. We picked up one more channel after we talked to you aanderud. We eneded up with 1 flat and 4 nice channels.

[Kyle B]

Lastnight I got a 6,14,22 and a 11 lb 10oz channel. Missed to many fish, and hooked some that got away. The bait kept dying it would only last about and hour and it would be dead! kinda a bummer! But it was atleast an alright night.

[wooduck26]

We boated 2 small Flatties (5-7lbs) and one decent Channel.......we lost a couple fish to the trees....pretty slow night, overall.

[fisherman-andy]

I got one word for you. TURTLES! You be surprise how light they bite and will chew the bait off without you ever knowing.

[hanson]

Couple ideas...

1- Bully wiggled itself off the hook. It happens. If you aren't careful when you hook them, or they've been on awhile, they hook hole can enlarge enough for them to wiggle off.

2- You cast the bully off or it came off when it hit the water.

3- If you cast over a small branch or near some rocks, the bully could have gotten caught and popped off as the boat was swinging slightly. Many times when the rod just slightly loads, its because you are very slightly hung up, enough to cause resistance.

4- "other" fish

5- Flathead and you missed it.

[Shack]

Good points!

After this weekend, I have made another "possible" connection when fishing with bullheads.

A couple of spots we fished were very rocky. After I switched up to cut bait, my brother in-law keep with live bullies. Every cast he made would get snagged. He would cast and let it drop and put poll down. Now I was doing the same thing in the same area and I never once got snagged up. I figure, since this has occurred in the past that the freshly hooked bullhead is swimming into rock crevasses to hide. It is the thing to do if you are a target for bait (I would think). My cut bait would just drop down and sit on top. I must of casted two or three times right on top of were he casted at and never once got hung up (ruled out log jam). The other point I found, he would have to let it sit for awhile and he had on about 18” to 20” snell and a couple of times when he reeled in, only the hook was gone.

My main point is what good is a hidden bull head under a rock. It sure did not help my BIL on Sat…

Just a possible view point to help others. You got to give something back, even if it may or may not be good advise .

[harvey lee]

Bully was fresh, didnt see it fly of and not two splahes. They were hooked very well and the later ones were hooked even deeper. Some fish or turtle had to have picked it off and very carefully.

[ec30_06]

Kyle lost one last week to a fish that bumped the rod once, and after letting the rod sit for awhile he reeled in to find his bait gone. The bullie was hooked well and it was a weak hit.

[hanson]

Regardless of how it got off, it just proves you need to check and recheck your bait periodically. Thats why a super sensitive rod tip is soooo important IMO. When your rod tip is telegraphing your baits movements, you are good to go. When it stops moving for more than 5 minutes, time to pull it in to check. Sometimes you just have to pull your bait in a couple cranks and he'll start kicking again. Then just leave it alone.

There really is nothing worse than sitting for a long time without checking your bait only to pull it in and find its gone. Kind of a kick in the crotch if you ask me.

[harvey lee]

The wierd part about it is I was using my Moyer rod which has a tip that a 3" bullies can move the tip with no problem. It had to be a very light bite or I missed it as the tip never really move enough to believe that a fish could have tugged it off. I guess whatever was playing with my bully can get it off without seeing it on the rod tip.

When I would real my line in to check is when I discovered that Mr bully was gone.