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[#0000FF]Finally arranged a long overdue meetup with Skunkedagain. We hit the north marina at Willard about 6ish...launching about 6:45...me in my tube and he in his toon. Air temp 37 and water temp 55 at launch. Warmed to almost 60 by 1 pm departure.
Water inside marina still only about 4'. 8-9 feet in channel going out...and dropping quickly to 11-12 feet straight out from channel entrance.
We both dragged minnows while pitching plastics. Jeff also worked a crankbait a bit. Made big S turns from about 6 feet deep to 12 feet deep. Saw most fish in 8-10 feet but no biters. Finally started seeing some suspenders and dropped straight down to them. First crappie. Got a second a few minutes later in the same area. Then one more before moving off to hunt for bigger game. Figured I could come back later.
Covered a lot of water...almost all the way to the north dike. Caught a couple of cats on minnows and had a couple more pop and drops.
Jeff scored one cat and one nice crappie to drive the skunks away. But just as he was getting into some crappies his one pontoon started sagging and he beat a retreat for his pump...back in the truck.
The spot we had planned to work for crappies was taken. There was a guy in a yellow kayak that had put out a marker buoy right on my numbers. Turned out to be someone I knew...and who uses my jigs. He limited on crappies. Thass okay. Grumble grumble.
Also saw Wyoguy out on the water...with his furry deckhand. Said he had a wiper hooked but arranged an early release for good behavior.
One boater reported catching 15 wipers early, on a spot where they were stacked up. Other boats did not seem to be doing too well.
Back at the ramp Jeff and I had to wade out to help a big pontoon party boat get back on the trailer...after it quit and wouldn't restart. Brand new boat supposed to be delivered to a buyer in Lake Powell. They were taking it out for a quick checkout. And they were glad a couple of tubers and tooners were there in their waders to help trailer the ailing boat.
Beautiful weather all morning. Water temps were coming up fast. Should be gangbusters the rest of the week.
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[#484848]Nice ....... Field and Stream would probably pay for the picture of those two destroyer class boats at the ramp.[/#484848]
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Glad your day didn't live up to HIS name! Sorry to hear about the flotation diversions. At least it wasn't from that crank I badly casteded at him once! Unfortunate you couldn't help the 'ol guy break his Wiper skunk, but not slaying on the Crappie.
Maybe this time he'll learn to love those cats (at home).
Sure wish I could have made it, but "the man" had plans for me, and couldn't turn the other cheek. But hey - not all bad when a guy that has the power to make one's life a living hell tells me "I'm his silver lining" - I'll take that +1!
Maybe next time around. But glad Jeff got to toon with-ya, best way to learn, up close and personable.
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I plan to head out there tomorrow in my 'yak. Still deciding whether to launch north or south, but it will probably be north.
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Whaaat? No wipers??? At least the cats will have each other as company in the smoker!
Oh well, looked like a decent day. Almost about to try that place again by myself.
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Nice report and pics Pat, thanks for sharing, it will give me a good place to start fishing in the morning[  ]. How big were the crappie?
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Glad you two trouble-makers got out and caught some fish. I've never caught a Wiper, I need to get down there and try the Willard one of these days.
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If I told you I'm sorry for taking your Crappie spot I'd be lying. It has been a long time sense I have caught Crappie and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was fun to get the two Small Mouth as well.
It was good to be able to say hello again.
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Hey Pat it was a pleasure to tag along and learn from the master. I don't think we could have ordered a more beautiful day. Thank you so much for the tips and company, was a fun day. I think you covered the trip so well I get a night off. I did see one question on size I had a 18" cookie cutter and a 12" crappie. I didn't see what size Pats were. He sure does a fast nice job of filleting.
Have to admit that low toon got me a bit nervous, I hadn't noticed it going down and I had just put the crappie in the basket with the cat, so I was afraid I had gotten stuck and it was a fast leaker. Got lucky and it ended up just a couple pumps low and it never did go back down. But it rousted me out of that spot and I had just had bites on both poles at the same time and caught the crappie. Wish I would have been able to fish that spot awhile it was fun. Well thank you again I sure enjoyed it. Jeff
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Hey it was nice to meet you and sorry I crowded back in there that spot was really fun today. Nice Yak too, hope it serves you well. Later J
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Hey Yote don't think my toon trolls fast enough to catch wiper. May have to take the boat. Fun day out there, seen some interesting marks on the finder that I guessed were wiper, but maybe they were carp. Anyway need to go again, but wouldn't mind a Cutler troll either. Later J
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While your out watch for a couple red tubes covered in TD style pvc. Brother in law and I are heading out tomorrow too. Also heading to the north marina. 
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Thanks for all the tips and replies on my other thread about getting the boat going for the first time in years. We did make it to Willard. We launched from the south marina and took off out across to test out the old boat. She did pretty good overall, but a bit sputtery it times. Hopefully more fresh gas can help that. We probably started around 930. We first tried around the island, the up to the north dike out to the west. Only a couple small hits the whole time. We pulled into the north marina, found it is WAY to shallow there (little ding on the prop). Headed back out and South around 2:30. Before long we had a good hit on a bottom bouncer / worm, but lost it. Right after that things really improved. We landed 6 wipers in about 30 minutes using shad raps. It then died off again. We did later get one walleye on a shad rap to ice the cake. A very good day considering I had no clue with fishing there.
Thanks again to everyone offering advice. That's what it's all about!
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How deep is the south marina?
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[quote TyeDyeTwins]Whaaat? No wipers??? At least the cats will have each other as company in the smoker!
Oh well, looked like a decent day. Almost about to try that place again by myself.[/quote]
[#0000FF]Can't ketch 'em where they ain't. There are wipers in different spots around the lake...just not where we were.
Cats were sauteed in garlic butter and served over noodles.
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[#0000FF]Crappies averaged about 10 inches. The one the skunk man caught was about 12. All healthy with nice thick fillets.
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[#0000FF]Good to see you again too Mr. J. Sorry I couldn't remember your BFT handle.
Hey, if I gotta give up a fishing hole to a friend and fellow angler, so be it. Glad you found it and were properly rewarded. It's all good.
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Nice job! Glad you got on them. J
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[#0000FF]It was good to finally "hook up" on the water. It really was a nice day for fishing...even if the catching wasn't as great. Still...better than living up to your handle.
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Yup, awfully hard to stick it out here at work today, want to be back on the water... I think I should take the next month off and fish everyday, but that only happens in my dreams so best keep work'en... Hard to drive the van past Willard this morning it kept wanting to head into the north marina for some reason.. Oh well guess I need to get things caught up around home too so I better let this habit ease a little... Thanks for the visit and we'll have to try it again later on... J
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