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Three of us fished Willard last night with mussels and were able to get a few nice wipers to the boat. We missed a lot of hits as well and had a couple more hooked. It seemed like a lot of the bites were aggressive but we were having a hard time hooking them. I wondered if a wider hook might not have been the ticket. Keeping the mussels on the hook could be a challenge as well. It was great to get out and watch a couple rods bend
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Did you troll any shadraps? I hate soaking bait, but may have to give it a try if they don't want to play with my lures tomorrow!
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We didn't troll at all yesterday. I really enjoy pulling them around too but haven't done it much this spring.
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Any pointers if we have to result to bait fishing? I have the muscles but that's about all I know when it comes to bait fishing Willard.
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HD sent you PM
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"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
Or so it says on my license plate holder
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My family and I are headed to Willard tomorrow. It will be our first time there in a boat and I am wondering if anyone can give me some basic info on what I should be doing there to get into some fish. My three kids are super excited to go there in our new boat and have been talking about reeling in fish constantly today but truthfully I have no idea what I should be doing there. Any basic info would be much appreciated. Thanks.
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Don't get let the kids get down on the place when they see the ridiculous flying mat of bugs on the way out of the marina. They're not usually biting flies and they don't extend out into the bay.
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I am not a wiper expert, but I did up-size my trebles from shore and had slightly better results getting good hook-sets. It seemed like I was missing a lot of hard bites that then just weren't there when I tried to set the hook.
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Soooo. are the little tiny nats out already, or is it the mayflies, or mosquitoes. It really can make a bad day for the ladies and the kids.
When I'm catching walleyes I just eat the bugs for lunch, it don't matter to me. I'll be there saturday. doitall
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WalMart, Camping equipment, mesh head nets, about $5.00 each. Great investment. I carry several on my boat all the time. Keeps those pesky critters out of my eyes, nose, mouth. Makes it kind of hard to drink my coffee though..................[sly]
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"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
Or so it says on my license plate holder
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How's the water levels at the north and south marinas for launching?
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North Marina was about 10 feet going out.
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My success with mussles comes with using circle hooks, they work, not sure the size. Quality brands razor sharp, virtually no misses or losses.
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We had our best success of the year on Wens using mussels but I doubt I'll fish with them again because of the high rate of them swallowing the hook so deep. Does the circle hooks help any in that regard?
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a lot on the lips only, none swallowed. Don't know why or if size of hook is the determinate.
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I've always read that people using circle hooks had better success with fish not swallowing the hook, I might just give them a try, if trolling doesn't work on my next trip out. Thanks for the reply.
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The inward bend of the circle hook point usually prevents it from sticking in the throat or inside the mouth. As the fish swims away with the bait, the hook comes to the lip area and tries to exit the mouth. The hook point grabs right at the lip almost every time. That's the way it is designed to work. The trick is to not set the hook in the traditional way but just let the fish swim and tighten the line. I usually just give it a little pump after the rod is good and bent just to make sure the barb is set solid. Get a hook with enough gap that the bait doesn't block it up or you may not get good hook sets.
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Thanks Nate good info.
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Those are the type hooks we fished halibut with up in Alaska, at least the guide we booked with did and that's the way he explained it.
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