Willard 5/4/2016

[FishinFool53]

The wife, my step daughter and I fished Freeway Bay from the shore (Wednesday) after a long walk in from the north. Water has really come up so shore fishing is really limited because of the over growth sticking out of the water. Fished for 3 hours with just 3 weak bites.Thousands of carp spawning along the shore line.
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[RockyRaab]

It wasn't much better afloat. The good news is that the water level is up to almost the old full mark and water visibility is good - oddly good considering the wind lately!

I went out to try my new fishfinder - which wouldn't even turn on, dagnabbit! Gonna troubleshoot that today. Also on the fritz was my thermometer, which happily claimed the water was 95.5°F. Not.
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[wiperhunter2]

[quote RockyRaab] The good news is that the water level is up to almost the old full mark and water visibility is good - oddly good considering the wind lately!
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When the water level is up on Willard, the water visibility is usually good. Thats because when the wind blows, it isn't sloshing around against a dirt bank, just the rocks, so the water will stay clear, except for whatever come in from the inlet.
Too bad you finder did not work[].
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[Uintaman]

It was a tough day from the boat as well, and other boaters struggled as well. Solor Lunar calendar said good day, but something was up. Nice day anyways.
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[jjannie]

Hey Rocky - thought that was you we'd seen loading up as we too were loading up about 3ish... but sorry couldn't hang around to chat there were several folks coming and going on the ramp about that time.

Hopefully you can figure out what was not working properly - and that temp reading... yeah something strange about that too.

Did you happen to catch anything while you were testing out the finder? We went hoping for crappie and when that didn't pan out we luckily got a few eyes, then a few wipers (which we released since we still had some on hand).

[RockyRaab]

No, I didn't. Wasn't there long. I did pedal out to "my" hump via my GPS and drifted back into Eagle Beach towing jigs. Got one half-hearted bump, likely a crappie. Then made one pass along the outer edge of the docks but only saw carp trying to make babies there. Saw one bank tangler catch a crappie there in the marina basin.

I also made an inspection of the picnic pavilion in advance of the Flotilla/Rain Party. Water is halfway up the beach, right to the vegetation line. It'll be slightly awkward to beach boats there, but not impossible.

Oh, and today I re-installed my old fishfinder. Gonna return the dead one and hope the old one keeps working a bit longer.
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[TubeDude]

[quote RockyRaab] Also on the fritz was my thermometer, which happily claimed the water was 95.5°F. Not.[/quote]

[#0000FF]Gerbil worming?

Sounds like you need some remedial training.

First...this is a hook. Going too fast?

Hey, we need to get together for serious again.
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[Therapist]

Sounds like my experience at Willard yesterday was similar to most !! Went up with my buddy Dave. Got up there about 1ish and trolled around till 5. We caught one crappie and lost another. Lots of fish showing on the graph, not many takers. Talked to a couple of guys that were trolling jigs under bobbers. They had been looking for Walleye, but when that did not pan out, went after the Crappie. They reported they limited out, lucky dudes. We were all fishing the bay north of the north marina. This was my first time on Willard in 25yrs, so I need to spend some more time up there and relearn the water !!

PS: water temp was 62-65

[jjannie]

Hopefully you can get something worked out before too long - old is better than not having one that's for sure!

Thanks for checking out the pavilion for us!

[RockyRaab]

You're welcome, Jil. And thank YOU for catering it. I may or may not drag my kayak out that day. If not, I'll just come early and help you prepare the feast.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]When conditions are stable and the crappie are aswarmin' almost anybody can score well. But when there are daily changes in the environment it can be more difficult. Even some long-time Willardites have suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fishing this past week.

PM sent.
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