Willard 10-16-21

[wiperhunter2]

Ira and I got up to Willard this morning, launching around 8am. plenty of water at the ramp for his 17.5' Lowe. We got out into the lake and found an average depth of 9 fow, 10 being the max depth on the East side of the lake around Freeway bay. We started our slow troll and for the first hour or so there was nothing but pop and drops but around 9 am after the sun came over the mountain the action finally turn on and between 9 and 10 we picked up 9 or 10 cats with the blue and silver fligs catching them all. Things slowed down between 10 and 11 and finally they came to a complete stop. We hung in there and talked about moving but we just expanded our search in that same area and finally around noon the switched turned on and we picked another 7 or 8 cats for a total of 17, with the largest being 25.5". 
Lots of dead or dying shad. Saw TinCan near the ramp as we were retrieving the boat, good seeing you Forest. Trip #45

[liketrolling]

that sounds like a lot of fun
me I'm stuck in my house watching the wind up north.

[wiperhunter2]

that sounds like a lot of fun
me I'm stuck in my house watching the wind up north.

It was Robert. Are you heading back up to Idaho?

[Cowboypirate]

Sounds like the cats had enough sense to sleep in

[TubeDude]

Gotta love those kitties.  Even when the "other guys" are being difficult the cats come  out to play.

From the looks of the belly on the cat in your first pic, they have been doing their part in cleaning up the shad buffet.

Might be headed up that way late next week.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like the cats had enough sense to sleep in

LOL, yea this time of the year it rarely helps to get there early, at least before the sun hits the water but we had hopes of the perch bite turning on early or at least maybe we could find some but that did not happen.

[wiperhunter2]

Gotta love those kitties.  Even when the "other guys" are being difficult the cats come  out to play.

From the looks of the belly on the cat in your first pic, they have been doing their part in cleaning up the shad buffet.

Might be headed up that way late next week.

All the bigger cats had a good gut on them, those above 21" but below that length were just average for this time of the year but you are right plenty of dead or dying shad to eat. We even saw a few of those shad that were dying get taken from some fish from below in a surface swirl, made we think either wiper or walleye and I did consider trying some surface bait maybe just below a bobber but I rarely have any luck doing that but one never knows, maybe next time. Water temps were 49 to 52 degrees, still too warm for the perch I think.

[TubeDude]

Gotta love those kitties.  Even when the "other guys" are being difficult the cats come  out to play.

From the looks of the belly on the cat in your first pic, they have been doing their part in cleaning up the shad buffet.

Might be headed up that way late next week.

All the bigger cats had a good gut on them, those above 21" but below that length were just average for this time of the year but you are right plenty of dead or dying shad to eat. We even saw a few of those shad that were dying get taken from some fish from below in a surface swirl, made we think either wiper or walleye and I did consider trying some surface bait maybe just below a bobber but I rarely have any luck doing that but one never knows, maybe next time. Water temps were 49 to 52 degrees, still too warm for the perch I think.

I have caught a few stray perch during other times of the year, but the active schools seem to move in after the water temps stay below about 45.  And in the accompanying sonar pics you can see that most of the ones I catch from my tube are in chilly water in the upper 30 degree range.   That usually happens from about the first of November to iceup.

    
 

[wiperhunter2]

That was what I remembered as well, with Nov being the time when those lower temps are here, depending on the year. Lets keep our fingers crossed that we will see them again this year, even if it's unlikely we will see them in the marina. The pics of your sonar was exactly what we were looking for yesterday, with those long marks near the bottom, what we were hoping for, we did see a few and got at least one or two, tap, tap, tap, bites that usually mean perch but no solid hook ups.

[TubeDude]

That was what I remembered as well, with Nov being the time when those lower temps are here, depending on the year. Lets keep our fingers crossed that we will see them again this year, even if it's unlikely we will see them in the marina. The pics of your sonar was exactly what we were looking for yesterday, with those long marks near the bottom, what we were hoping for, we did see a few and got at least one or two, tap, tap, tap, bites that usually mean perch but no solid hook ups.

We also usually do better when water levels are higher.  But I'm sure you remember the winter when we were doing pretty well on perch out in the open lake when the deepest water we could find was about 8'.  They gotta be somewhere...even in low water conditions.  But I seriously doubt there will be many coming inside the shallow harbors.

[doitall5000]

What does the south river inlet look like? Will the perch move into there?

[wiperhunter2]

What does the south river inlet look like? Will the perch move into there?

Maybe Fatbiker or someone else can give you a good answer but I haven't been to the South end in over a month. It might be a few feet deeper in the channel but I really doubt the inlet area by the pump house or the baffles is any deeper than the North marina, two to three feet max. Hopefully someone else can give you some better info.