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[#0000ff]Met up with FatBiker at the north marina about 6:30. Took my cast net to try to get some carp minnows. No good. But there were a lot of spottail shiners popping midges on top and a couple of throws of the cast net got a few for both FB and myself.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Air temp just over 60 at launch. Water temp 76. Levels are staying up pretty good and clarity was pretty good too. No boils but did see terns making periodic dive bombs on careless surface critters.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started in my usual way...dragging a LHBE minnow on one rod and pitching tandem tube jigs on the other. Hadn't even gotten out of the channel into the main lake when I my blue plastic tube jig got whacked...by the first kitty of the day. Got another just like it a short distance out of the harbor...on plastics again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Couldn't believe I had dragged an appetizing minnow around for a half hour without so much as a sniff. So I brought in the unmolested minnow and put it on one of my new "perple purch" fligs. Wow? Hardly got the rod parked in the holder before it went bendo...with another kitty. And so it was for the rest of the morning. Constant munches on the purple flig...either with chub minnow, spottail shiner or perch meat from Echo. Also fished that stuff on a couple of other colors of fligs but they showed a definite preference for the purple.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As soon as I detected that purple was the flavor du jour, I handed off a couple to FatBiker and he joined in the kitty fest. Not sure how many he caught all together but he did get his stick bent and string stretched a bit. Said he got one about 24". That's a nice kitty for Willard.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Wonder of wonders. I even got a couple of bonus perch. One was about 10 inches the other right at 12 inches. I catch a few perch every fall but they usually don't come in and get too active until the water is colder. Must be the extra depth this year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Couldn't have asked for a nicer day. Glassy calm right up until we both boogied just before noon. We had overfunned, run out of bait and had things to do in the afternoon. As I moved toward the ramp I was gobsmacked to see that some brilliant individual had left their trailer in the water with the truck still on the ramp. Guess I didn't get the memo that they owned it for the day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm guessing I caught somewhere around 20 cats, and the two perch. Nothing else. I kept only 5 cats for a fish fry...for my household and some for my next door neighbor. He's even older than I am and doesn't fish. But he sure does like "kitty krispies". And his wife makes good zucchini bread.
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Thanks for the report and pictures. I always enjoy them and I'm glad Willard was hospitable again. It has been almost predictable for you this year, always good. Oops, I hope I didn't jinx your next trip[  ]
I always like your pictures of the early morning surface activity. I tried to throw a cast net for carplets at UL State Park the other day and got the same number you did, minus the shiners. I did catch YOY perch and Largemouth on my tiny offerings fished for the little whities though. I let the largemouth go but fed the perch to kitties and whites later in the day.
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Great report Pat, sounds like another great time at the Bay. Question, is the OW OW OW pic the purple fligs you are talking about? If so, it looks like you have come up with a new design color, replacing black with purple on your fire tiger pattern or is it a totally different pattern? Good to hear the perch are biting already. I think that was what we were seeing a few weeks ago, when we launched from the North marina, spottail shiners, because we were seeing the same surface activity but there was something chasing them by the size of splashes we saw.
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[#0000FF]During the past year I have tried several different color combos for perch and tiger patterns. The "perple purch" is a hybrid...using purple as the back and side bars. My latest models I finish with a glitter highlight over purple paint...with my "purple fire" glitter...red and purple mix. Fish love it. Been using it on bass stuff for years.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Several of us "fliggers" have been using the new "PPF" model for a couple of months. So far it has worked well on several species. BLK has been using the gorilla model in UL but some of those big nasty cats are actually swallowing it. So I have made some up in the "kong" size...with an 8/0 hook. We gonna try it out on Friday. I'll get you guys a few to try. But I gotta warn ya. The price goes up once you get "hooked".
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[#0000FF]I got a few spottail shiners last year too. But there seems to really be a bunch of them in both marinas now. Good for the predators when the shad numbers are down. Here's a pic of a few I kept for bait today.
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Pat, it's always good to spend some time fishing with you. Purple purch was the ticket for the day. I didn't keep track, but I'd guess I harassed a dozen or so fish this morning. All were kissed on the whiskers and returned for another day.
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I can see it now in the pic you attached but I could not tell it was purple on your first pics, just that it looked different. I look forward to giving them a try, as good as your other ones have been for us, I can't imagine how good these new perple purch will be.[cool]
I guess with the higher water levels all bait fish must be on the increase, are the spottail shiners about 5" that you caught?
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[#0000FF]The shiners I got in the cast net ranged from about 3" to over 5"...with about 4 inches being average.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Also caught a couple of 2" crappies that quickly went back in the water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]My camera does a better job of getting the colors right in bright sunlight. Artificial light or flash makes it tough to show the exact shades at times. But that purple fire finish is the same as that on some of the solid purple fligs.
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Pat, if I may I would like to put in an order for a couple PPF Tailed a couple of the magnums tsiled and a couple Pistol Pats. I need to see what the frenzy of the Purple Perch Flog is all about. I know first hand about the Pistol Pat's.
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[#0000FF]Have trinkets...will travel. I'll bring some stuff along on Friday the 13th.[/#0000FF]
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Pat, a question about fligs. The smaller sizes all seem to have very small to almost no barb on the hooks. Is that by design ?
I know it causes less injury to fish and is easier to remove from fish, but my most recent problem is it allows some of the wiley river Cats to pick and tug and slip the bait off. I have been using the Kong fligs at the river, which have a more aggressive barb, and get lots of stripping nibbles, but if the hook is thru the carp skin, the cats can't get it all off and eventually take the whole hook.
Used a medium flig at UL LB yesterday, was trying to get some fresh WB, but one bad attitude cat took it, and I boated him. Then another grabbed it and took the wb skin, the Gulb grub, and left me a bent hook ........[mad]
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[#0000FF]Yes, the Matzuo sickle hooks I use for most of the smaller fligs do have small barbs. It's always a tradeoff with hooks. Larger barbs hold bait on better but also lodge in flesh better too...both in fish and in fishermen...and in clothes. The sickle design actually helps hold fish on well once hooked, but bait stealing fish get away with more.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]And when it comes to choosing the right size flig and hook...well, catfish don't read the directions. I have caught some pretty big cats on small fligs and have had some pretty small cats struggle to get the point of larger hooks in their mouths just to prove how tough they were.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]You will still get "little peckers" nibbling away at the bigger baits on your kong fligs. But, just like using circle hooks, if you wait for a bigger fish to load up the rod then you will catch more big fish. But you can't ketch 'em where they ain't. If there are no big fish active...or even in the area...even the purtiest flig won't catch fish.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I can and do make smaller fligs on heavier hooks. But with balanced tackle and good fish fighting skills you should still be able to land big fish on the smaller and lighter hooked fligs. The main problem a lot of new fliggers have is that they try to tear those Matzuo hooks out a fish with a pair of pliers and bend the hooks. Once bent they lose their temper and their strength.
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Well done you Purple Fligger Flippers!
Nice haul. Amazing lures. I was really surprised at how light they are when I fondled one.
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[quote Irish_Miner]Well done you Purple Fligger Flippers!
Nice haul. Amazing lures. I was really surprised at how light they are when I fondled one.[/quote]
[#0000FF]Hey. Fligs are to be fished...not fondled. They are made of high density foam, ya know. Much lighter than lead.[/#0000FF]
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Well we did not have the luck you did on catching the shiners but if the numbers of small crappie and bluegill don't all get eaten this Winter, we should have a good crop of them, in the coming years.
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[#0000FF]I think this high water spring was probably good for all spawning species. I got a couple of crappiettes but none of the other species. Although I have gotten almost everything in the past.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]One interesting note though. As I was backing my tube out to launch there was a humongous largemouth that came clear out of the water while chasing the shiners. I'm guessing 18-20 inches.
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Good to hear the LM bass are making a comeback, kind of surprising the wipers aren't in there cleaning up on those smaller fish but I guess they have other fish out in the bay to feed on. I was going to ask you when you made this post, if the shiners in Willard are as soft as red sided shiners? Was just thinking they might not stay on a jig as good as a chub would.
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[#0000FF]It is a little know secret but there are almost always a fair number of largemouths in both the north and south marinas. Just what they like...structure, food and protected waters. I suspect that if a few serious bassers were to focus on largemouth tactics for a couple of trips they might be pleasantly surprised. A lot of anglers have been exposed to the growing smallie population around the dikes. And there are some nice ones inside the marinas too...as well as a few largemouths around the dikes.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have only used the spottails a couple of times. I haven't frozen any for future use so I don't know if they turn as soft as the redsides do. I suspect they might. And as far as effectiveness as bait, they will catch fish but my LHBE minnows work better in side by side tests. However, if the spottails are all you got, then use them. Fish eat them.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Part of the reason I prefer the chubs is that they really do stay a lot firmer after being frozen...if done properly. I used some this year that were over a year old and they were almost as good as fresh.
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