12-24-2019, 01:03 PM
[#0000ff]Stick a fork in me...I'm done. Our weird weather pattern this December allowed me one last shot at the north marina. It is typically total hard deck about the first week of December.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Launched a bit before 8am. Stiff breeze out of the south making waves even in the marina...on the half not already iced over. Air temp 41 but the wind chill made it feel much colder. Water temp inside the marina 36. Main lake temp two degrees colder.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Started inside the marina. Hoped there would be a few fish inside, since it was a bit bumpy outside. Covered virtually all of the open water without seeing anything on sonar...or the end of my line.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Decided to brave it outside the marina. The steady breeze marching across the lake was making some "Willard Wipples". No whitecaps but still bumpy. The bottom line on my sonar looked like a saw blade from the steady up and down of my float tube.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Success. Within a short time of putting out my lines outside I got a munch on my "traffic light" flig. The fat 13 inch perch put up a pretty spirited battle. I was thinking that maybe I had found some fish and might be able to salvage the day after all. WRONG.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was the first, last and only perch I got all morning. Only had a couple of other "maybe" taps.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I did get some good tugs from a couple of "golden wipers" (carp). For some reason those chilled buglemouths seemed to like my chartreuse perch flig adorned with perch meat. The first one grabbed on, put the line over its scaly shoulder and ran off some line. I actually thought I might have a wiper...for at least a few seconds. Then it slowed into a steady pull and a few sluggish head shakes. I netted it for an onboard pic and sent it back in for Fishskibum to catch next spring.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The second carp was a tank. Probably close to 15 pounds. Since I had nothing else going on I fought it for a long time and eventually got it close to the tube. I could see it was hooked by only a thin piece of the rubbery mouth. So, instead of bringing it to net I grabbed the line and gave a hard jerk to pull the hook free.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was it. I did motate around under power to see if I could locate any fish on sonar...from shallow to deep and both to the north and south of the marina. I did see one small group of fish (see pic) but they all had their little mouths closed and their middle fins upraised.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Went back inside the marina...hoping some fish might have showed up. Nope. Silly me. There had been one dock dunker fishing through the ice from the docks on the north side of the marina...and a pair doing the same from docks on the south side. By the time I came back inside the marina about 11ish there was nobody else fishing the docks. They had either limited (yeah, right) or had enough of the cold wind (most likely).[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I loaded up my gear and left about noon. I reflected that Lady Willard had not been too unkind this year. I only blanked on one trip. But that has been about the standard. One trip early in the year I might smell skunk, but I almost always get something. I am properly grateful and look forward to next season.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Launched a bit before 8am. Stiff breeze out of the south making waves even in the marina...on the half not already iced over. Air temp 41 but the wind chill made it feel much colder. Water temp inside the marina 36. Main lake temp two degrees colder.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Started inside the marina. Hoped there would be a few fish inside, since it was a bit bumpy outside. Covered virtually all of the open water without seeing anything on sonar...or the end of my line.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Decided to brave it outside the marina. The steady breeze marching across the lake was making some "Willard Wipples". No whitecaps but still bumpy. The bottom line on my sonar looked like a saw blade from the steady up and down of my float tube.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Success. Within a short time of putting out my lines outside I got a munch on my "traffic light" flig. The fat 13 inch perch put up a pretty spirited battle. I was thinking that maybe I had found some fish and might be able to salvage the day after all. WRONG.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was the first, last and only perch I got all morning. Only had a couple of other "maybe" taps.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I did get some good tugs from a couple of "golden wipers" (carp). For some reason those chilled buglemouths seemed to like my chartreuse perch flig adorned with perch meat. The first one grabbed on, put the line over its scaly shoulder and ran off some line. I actually thought I might have a wiper...for at least a few seconds. Then it slowed into a steady pull and a few sluggish head shakes. I netted it for an onboard pic and sent it back in for Fishskibum to catch next spring.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The second carp was a tank. Probably close to 15 pounds. Since I had nothing else going on I fought it for a long time and eventually got it close to the tube. I could see it was hooked by only a thin piece of the rubbery mouth. So, instead of bringing it to net I grabbed the line and gave a hard jerk to pull the hook free.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That was it. I did motate around under power to see if I could locate any fish on sonar...from shallow to deep and both to the north and south of the marina. I did see one small group of fish (see pic) but they all had their little mouths closed and their middle fins upraised.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Went back inside the marina...hoping some fish might have showed up. Nope. Silly me. There had been one dock dunker fishing through the ice from the docks on the north side of the marina...and a pair doing the same from docks on the south side. By the time I came back inside the marina about 11ish there was nobody else fishing the docks. They had either limited (yeah, right) or had enough of the cold wind (most likely).[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I loaded up my gear and left about noon. I reflected that Lady Willard had not been too unkind this year. I only blanked on one trip. But that has been about the standard. One trip early in the year I might smell skunk, but I almost always get something. I am properly grateful and look forward to next season.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]
