Willard Wrapup (with video)

[Redrebel]

Dirty Harry says that a man should know his limitations.   I am now 80 years old and I think I got a dose of reality this week…at Willard Bay.  When I launched my float tube at the south marina on the 29th the air temp was only 18 degrees.  And with the overcast, temperature inversion and cold breeze it literally chilled me to the bone…through all of my normally adequate layers.  Damn cold.
 

The week before…on the 22nd…it was 24 degrees.  But the sun came out and there was some radiant heat, so it felt much warmer.  Still, a guy my age should be staying inside where it’s warm on days like that.
 
Both of those trips were short…with the good fishing only lasting a short time before the fish moved out or got lockjaw.  But I ended up catching about a dozen perch and a cat on the 22nd…and 7 or 8 perch and a cat on the 29th.  Kept 8 perch and a cat on the first trip and 5 nice perch on the 29th.  Much better than smelling skunk…or even an NBC day.
  

Got to try out some new lure designs and colors.  Most of them worked if I could present them right…with the right flavorings.  Had to be kept right off the bottom.  And in my float tube it is hard to maintain a solid vertical presentation.  Can’t use an anchor without tangling my legs in the rope.  And my electric motor don’t got spot lock.  So the best I can do is put out a marker buoy for close visual reference and try to stay as stationary as possible.  Seems to work okay until a breeze comes up.  Then I get pushed all over the place and my lures keep rising up in the water column away from the fish.
   

Water temp inside the south marina on the 29th was only 38 degrees.  And there was ice forming in places around the edges.  Won’t be long until it skims over and then freezes.  Usually happens around the first week of December.  So I may have made my last float tubing trip of 2023.

(LINK TO VIDEO)

Nice video Pat, looks like the redrebel even made an appearance. Hope to see you out there soon!