11 fish, one bird day at Willard

[wiperhunter2]

We started fishing by the feed lot and trolled to the east shore, no birds no fish. We headed back to the feed lot with the same result, so we headed to the island and again no luck. Water temp was 57 degree as we ran over to the light pole. We cruised south along the dike looking for fish at a 6mph pace until we started seeing a few on the fish finder so we started trolling. We caught one and then noticed bird activity close to the S/W corner. As we approached the birds we went to full throttle when we saw that the wipers were boiling. When we got to the edge of the boil we caught 7 wipers casting a producer and rattle traps. When the surface
activity died down we started trolling and caught two more a little after sunset. As we trolled to the marina my rattle
trap came to a complete stop and I thought I had a snag. My pole was bent over double before I moved the fish and after a
ten minute fight my partner(wiperslayer) netted the 10lb..... carp with the hook in the mouth.(all the carp we caught this year at willard were foul hooked until this one)I forgot to mention the bird, as I was casting for the wipers a tern (spelling?) flew into my line and it wrapped around its wing.
After reeling it in and fighting the bird I was able to get the line off its wing and release the bird unharmed. All in all a great day at the bay. WH2
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[Teroy]

WOW!!!!!! I didnt think they were that big in Willard. Good catch WH2. I can always catch a few small cats when I troll without foul hooking them. Suprised me first time it happened. I had never caught one trolling and actually had him chase the lure. I think they have been hanging around with the bass for too long [cool]



p.s. Don't let Predator find out you caught a bird like that. He might retry his hunting technique[]
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[RipNLips]

I used to have a heck of a time keeping the seagulls off Zara Spooks while fishing for Stripers down at Lake Mead. They were very attracted to the Spook. As they dove for it I had to yank the bait away before they got to it and then curse them because they just screwed up my retrieval pattern. I caught many seagulls because I'd turn my head for a few seconds looking for surface activity elsewhere, and before you knew it, they'd nailed the Spook. After reeling the bird in and cursing some more, I'd untangle/unhook the bird and release it unharmed. I can't say the same for me (unharmed) however because of them dang sharp beaks that are built for tearing meat off bones.
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[DennisW]

Hey Truc, your bird story brought back a funny memory from last year at Willard. This grebe took a shallow running Shad Rap I was pulling behind a board. I got excited when I saw the board dive. They fry up pretty good and accompany a good meal of wiper! Just kidding--it was released unharmed and very relieved.


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[wiperhunter2]

Dennis, you sure take some great pictures, well I guess your wife took that one, still its a great moment frozen in time.
It seems like every year we catch at least one bird at willard. There has been more bird activity recently than I have seen all year. I think those wipers are trying to fatten up before winter sets in. WH2
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