10-09-2019, 06:16 PM
[#0000FF]As a float tuber, much of my choice of north vs south has to do with boating traffic. Fishing can be good or bad at either end...although each offers different options for distance-challenged float tubers. However, during summer months...with more young folks on the water in daddy's boats...I prefer to stay away from the north marina. The sandy beaches at Pelican Beach and Eagle Beach attract hordes of jet skis and other power squadron bozos who think it is fun to buzz the funny guy in the donut.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Also, the decline in heavy boating activity in the fall months seems to signal the local fishies that it is safer to come in closer to the marina. And that is when I do better on the non-catfish species...at least theoretically.
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[#0000FF]I have only flitted around the rock piles a couple of times in my tube. But like most other areas I have prospected...especially the past couple of years...I have caught NBC...nothing but cats. And in talking with knowledgeable Willard boat anglers I have heard no scintillating reports of anyone really whacking much at the new rocks out from the South Marina. I suspect that if they had made only one or two large rock piles...instead of multiple small dumps...there might have been more ongoing attraction...such as there is at the island.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]That being said, there are a few hardcore Willardites who know the lake well and can usually manage to score some ABCs (anything but cats) on most trips. And I am sure that some of them have at least a couple of the new rock piles GPSed because of past or occasional successes. Those guys do not post such info on this board.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]With the deeper water around the whole lake this year it will be interesting to see what patterns develop under the ice this winter. I suspect that the deep trenches off the west dike will continue to be a magnet for all fish species. But I also suspect there will be better ice fishing in the marinas. I found 11 feet back in the north marina yesterday. That is deep enough for most Willard species under the ice. Some of the better ice fishing I experienced on Willard was during low water winters when 8-9 feet was the average depth in many places.
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[#0000FF]Also, the decline in heavy boating activity in the fall months seems to signal the local fishies that it is safer to come in closer to the marina. And that is when I do better on the non-catfish species...at least theoretically.
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[#0000FF]I have only flitted around the rock piles a couple of times in my tube. But like most other areas I have prospected...especially the past couple of years...I have caught NBC...nothing but cats. And in talking with knowledgeable Willard boat anglers I have heard no scintillating reports of anyone really whacking much at the new rocks out from the South Marina. I suspect that if they had made only one or two large rock piles...instead of multiple small dumps...there might have been more ongoing attraction...such as there is at the island.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]That being said, there are a few hardcore Willardites who know the lake well and can usually manage to score some ABCs (anything but cats) on most trips. And I am sure that some of them have at least a couple of the new rock piles GPSed because of past or occasional successes. Those guys do not post such info on this board.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]With the deeper water around the whole lake this year it will be interesting to see what patterns develop under the ice this winter. I suspect that the deep trenches off the west dike will continue to be a magnet for all fish species. But I also suspect there will be better ice fishing in the marinas. I found 11 feet back in the north marina yesterday. That is deep enough for most Willard species under the ice. Some of the better ice fishing I experienced on Willard was during low water winters when 8-9 feet was the average depth in many places.
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