Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
[#0000FF]Weather forecast for today was "warm before the storm". Figured I would sneak on Willard on a Monday and try to find some early crappies. Trouble is about 1000 of my newest best friends all had the same idea...about hitting Willard today. It became the swarm before the storm with the north marina lot sporting a whole lotta trailers.
Only one boat out ahead of me about 7 am. Air temp a chilly 34 and water temp about 53...warming to almost 56 before I left just after noon. Bet it drops down a bit in the next few days.
Rigged with weightless tube jigs...dropshot style...with a piece of clothes hanger as my weight. Call that my "hangershot" rig. Second rig was a standard tandem tubejig rig...one white with red eye and the other blue/clear sparkle. Hadn't got too far outside the marina...watching a procession of boats roaring off into the middle of the lake...when my hangershot rod developed a serious bend. Line singing off the drag? Crappie? Nay. A silly 19 inch wiper that could not read the "crappie only" sign. Fun start.
That was the first and only wiper. After that I got one here and one there of some dandy crappies. Smallest was 12" and the biggest 14". The rest were right about 13". Fitting on Monday the 13th. Never did find any schools. All singles. No marrieds. Most hit the blue/clear sparkle...either on the tandem tube jig rig or the hangershot rig. Got one crappie on the white with red eye on the HS rig. That was also what I got the wiper on.
As always, I took some minnows and periodically dragged one around for awhile. Not much love. Did finally score a couple of cookie cutter kitties late in the morning on minnows.
Headed for the marina about noon. Watched 3 bank tanglers soaking bait off the north entrance point. Thought I saw one bring something in one time. Figured it might be a cat. Then, just after I rounded the point and was headed up the channel all three guys went bendo simultomateously. And all three brung in wipers. Whoodathunk?
Several of the boats came in about the same time I did and it seemed like everybody was catching fish. Some hit wipers. Some hit walleyes...or a mix. I'm sure there were other crappies caught on the lake today but I was happy with the five I kept for din-din.
Anxious to see how big and how bad the next weather system is. No matter what it does, I can almost gayrontee that there will be plenty of crappie for all within two to three weeks. There were some of the inside marina crowd today but didn't see any action. That will change soon. Going back to the late 1970s Mothers' Day has historically been right at the apex of the crappie silliness.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 2,367
Threads: 19
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
1
Nice report as always. Thanks for the update.
[signature]
Posts: 2,144
Threads: 47
Joined: Jul 2014
Reputation:
4
Great report - and to think some of us had to work today.... looked almost like weekend day in parking lot. [laugh]
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
[#0000FF]I put in "my time" as a "wage earner". Now I get to enjoy 7-day weekends. Only problem is that now when I'm older I don't have the strength and energy I did when I was younger...and working. I haven't been able to get on the water for about a month because of a dinged up ankle...to go with my dinged up knee on the other side.
Today was a test to see if I was ready to resume speed. Truth is that I was having so much fun I forgot to check in on the injuries and had a great time. I guess I'm ready.
Yeah, that was more activity than I have seen on Willard for a long time...especially on Monday. I guess we have to blame BFT for all the yeehawww fishing reports.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 2,144
Threads: 47
Joined: Jul 2014
Reputation:
4
Luckily the 7-day weekends won't be too far off for us.
Glad to hear you're on the mend - but taking an Advil when you get home can do wonders too.
[signature]
Posts: 3,715
Threads: 131
Joined: May 2011
Reputation:
5
Hey Pat,
Maybe that cool water was good for your dinged up extremities. Ya think? [sly]
[signature]
"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
Or so it says on my license plate holder
Posts: 248
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2007
Reputation:
0
Great job my friend, and excellent post as always!
I spent my morning today clearing a path through my winter woodworking projects so I can get my pontoon out. I should be ready gear wise by next week after this whopper storm goes through, but I've been mentally ready for weeks now.
I was thinking you were in California this week so I was surprised to see your post.
[signature]
Posts: 11,130
Threads: 4
Joined: Mar 2006
Reputation:
0
I thought that was you out there today. I was in the red beast of a boat going all over the place. Man the parking lot filled up fast after we arrived. A lot more than I thought was out there. Here's the crappie we boated today.
[inline DSCN2011-400.jpg]
[signature]
Posts: 2,007
Threads: 17
Joined: Apr 2007
Reputation:
9
Enjoy it while you can TD, because time is short and I will be joining the ranks of the retired, and then you will have to deal with my ineptness on the water !! At least I will be able to get on the water during the week instead of the weekends.
Posts: 11,130
Threads: 4
Joined: Mar 2006
Reputation:
0
The weekdays are the best any way.[laugh]
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
[#0000FF]I have been getting in some time on the treadmill so I have kept loosened up. No lingering afteraffects from the 5 hours of kicking but I could tell I had been there.
No hardcore drugs (like Advil) for me. I just snort a line of Smelly Jelly.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
"I was thinking you were in California this week so I was surprised to see your post."
[#0000FF]We were planning to leave next Thursday but there were some issues that developed on both ends. So we postponed for a while.
Lemme know when you wanna get your toon wet.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
[#0000FF]I look forward to fishing with you again old friend. But it's only been over 30 years since we last molested fish together. Heck, seems like only...over 30 years.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 14,585
Threads: 202
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
15
Hey Pat I'm sure glad you're back in the  dle, love your reports and it looks like you had a great day. glad to see the bay is still producing, if there is still a parking spot left I'll have to come join the crowd again. Hey I've been enjoying that new read thank you. J
[signature]
Posts: 399
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2008
Reputation:
0
Thanks for the report Tubedude, my main fishing goal this year is to catch a crappie, and I have half done that by catching some white crappie down in my neck of the woods at Gunnison Bend, however I need to catch some of those big black ones you were into in your report. I will be taking two days off at the end of next week, and will be float tubing it up, and I am more and more convinced to try Willard.
I was curious, when you fish for crappie there at Willard, do you ever tip your jigs with bait, or do you leave the jig as is. Also, about how far out were you from shore? Thanks for any information!
[signature]
Posts: 1,590
Threads: 5
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
1
Pat we must have passed you out there. Didnt see ya. We hit the north marina about 8 and on the water by 8:30. Willard was stingy for me today. Managed 2 walleye and we had a couple wipers that decided the net was way to scary so they gave us our lure back and went home. It was a pretty day. We did see a couple guys fishing the west wall for crappie and they seemed to do alright. Maybe next time I will give the crappie a try for a bit. 13 and 14 inchers are purty fish. Saw Curtis heading out just as we came in. Maybe we got there too early or it was too calm or the moon phase or the cold front. Heck I got lots of excuses.
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
[#0000FF]Shoot me a PM before you come up next week. I might be able to join you and arrange some personal introductions to those Willard Crappies.
I do often tip small jigs with a bit of crawler. But a bit of Gulp minnows, crappie nibbles or maggots will help too. Or you can just squirt a bit of shad scent on the jigs. I did well on the bigger crappies last year, when they were really active, by fishing 3 inch gulp minnows whole. And the hits were hard hits too. Not the typical crappie "sniffs".
If you are going out of the north marina, you can start fishing as soon as you get past the entrance. Use your sonar and go straight out until you find at least 8 to 10 feet of water. Then make S turns going north and watching your sonar. Look for the humps that run all the way across to the dike. You can see those out from Eagle Beach on one of the two maps I have attached. Distance from shore will be anywhere from 50 yards to 200 yards.
The good area is big so you have to keep looking around and making fan casts in all directions. There will be fish in different spots. Once you find a few, toss out a marker buoy and fish that spot thoroughly. You might be able to stay in that one spot for hours...or only for a couple of fish before they move or quit biting. Bottom line...keep moving until you find active fish. Then don't leave them to find more.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
"Pat we must have passed you out there. Didnt see ya"
[#0000FF]Yeah, I'm just a little guy...and pretty hard to recognize with all that PVC and motor on my float tube.
I was fishing just out from Eagle Beach most of the time...north of the marina entrance.
Nice walleyes. I didn't mention it in my report but I lost a nice walleye too. Hit one of my jigs right under my tube. I thought it was a catfish and hoisted it up to the surface...where it went into the walleye death roll, opened it's mouth, shook it's head and let me have my jig back. I think the fish in that lake go to different schools together. The wipers and the walleyes...and crappies...all seem to know how to spit lures back atcha. The catfish, not so much.
Excuses? I don' need no steenking excuses. The fish you don't bring in are just too inexperienced and don't know how to hang on. That's their problem. But I gotta admit there ain't many of the standard angler excuses I haven't used at one time or 'nother. Heck, I may have even invented a few my own self.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 510
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2007
Reputation:
0
Good job. Glad you were able to get kickin it! WiperHunter2 and I made it out later Monday. It was a bit slower for us. We did manage 4 or 5 Wipers thou. Medium size. Thanks Curt it was a good time fishing with you and learning more about the lake.
humpy
[signature]
Posts: 36,163
Threads: 307
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
62
[#0000FF]Glad you got to join Curt. He has put in enough time on that lake to get to know it pretty well. Rare that he blanks...and usually catches at least a few when others ain't.
Too bad all he likes to do is troll.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
|
