Willard update, 11Aug

[twoblueeyes78]

Went to Willard on Monday water temperature was 80 degrees. Launched my kayak about 5:30pm from the North Marina and headed out to Freeway Bay. Trolling crankbaits was my game.  Launched area to the channel was a max of 7 feet deep. And it was maybe 400-500 yards from the buoy before it got to 10 feet deep out of the channel; Careful out there. Water was quite murkey but cleared somewhat as I got further from the marina to Freeway Bay. Seemed my night at about 9pm. I was the last of the water. 

I only got two bites. I was able to bring home this guy to smoke on the Traeger. Traveling at 3.2mph seemed to be the right speed. Slower speeds got me nothing.  


Wishing you all best of luck.

[wiperhunter2]

Went to Willard on Monday water temperature was 80 degrees. Launched my kayak about 5:30pm from the North Marina and headed out to Freeway Bay. Trolling crankbaits was my game.  Launched area to the channel was a max of 7 feet deep. And it was maybe 400-500 yards from the buoy before it got to 10 feet deep out of the channel; Careful out there. Water was quite murkey but cleared somewhat as I got further from the marina to Freeway Bay. Seemed my night at about 9pm. I was the last of the water. 

I only got two bites. I was able to bring home this guy to smoke on the Traeger. Traveling at 3.2mph seemed to be the right speed. Slower speeds got me nothing.  


Wishing you all best of luck.

Thanks for the report, good to hear you got out and had some success. One thing I can tell you about fishing Willard this time of the year, trolling faster is rarely the best tactic but as you found out, you can catch a few that way. Question for you about smoking cats, do you put them in a brine before smoking them?

[twoblueeyes78]

I spent most of the time going 2mph-2.5 and got nothing. So you feel like it was just a fluke night?

I don't brine them. Just gutted and refrigerated for the next day to smoke for a couple hours.

[wiperhunter2]

I spent most of the time going 2mph-2.5 and got nothing.  So you feel like it was just a fluke night?

I don't brine them.  Just gutted and refrigerated for the next day to smoke for a couple hours.

Read the report I posted, we never troll over 2 mph this time of the year but for cats, going even slower than 2 mph works better. Trolling fligs for the cats does the best for us, at .5 mph. Did you try trolling any bottom bouncers while you were out there? I've never tried smoking cats but TubeDude does and that's what he does, brine them first, I should give your method a try and see how that works out.

[TubeDude]

I spent most of the time going 2mph-2.5 and got nothing.  So you feel like it was just a fluke night?

I don't brine them.  Just gutted and refrigerated for the next day to smoke for a couple hours.

Read the report I posted, we never troll over 2 mph this time of the year but for cats, going even slower than 2 mph works better. Trolling fligs for the cats does the best for us, at .5 mph. Did you try trolling any bottom bouncers while you were out there? I've never tried smoking cats but TubeDude does and that's what he does, brine them first, I should give your method a try and see how that works out.

Clarification.  I do not use a wet brine.  Instead I let the fillets sit with a light coating of salt, sugar and spices overnight in the refrigerator.  This draws off a lot of moisture and helps the flavor and texture.  Here  is the writeup I did on it.


  SMOKIN CATFISH.pdf (Size: 645.52 KB / Downloads: 5)