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Met with Pat at Willard North today. Not sure what the air temp was but it was a bit chilly. I got out first just before daylight. Stayed in the Marina for a bit. Had some adjusting to do with my sonar. Got it done and started dragging a whirly flig timmes with perch meat. The other rod was a santee rig with perch tail. Nothing inside the Marina. By this time Pat was out to 13 ft of water and hooked up. I made it out that way and the whirly rod went bendo. That was all for me for a bit. I switched santee
for a pale perch with a piece of crawler . Netted another one on that. By this time the pin in my leg was screaming at me. I had switched back to thee santee aand neetted one more. I decided to make an early day of it. No skunk so me was haappy. I tell you being old and beat up is not for wimps. Dont know howw Pat did but rest assured
he did well.
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[#0000ff]I was surprised you got off the water as soon as you did. Sorry for the discomfort. Got a few "twinges" myself but manage to hang in there a bit. I fished about another hour after you left.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let's see if I can fill in a few info blanks. Air temp at launch was 40. Water temp was 57 and stayed right about there until I left at noonish. Cool but nice, with only light breezes from time to time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Today was a "new" day for me. Had a new seat for my tube...and a new 40# Endura Max electric motor. The seat worked great. The motor was balking when I tried to rotate the speed control. I can fix that, but not on the water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We both got rid of any skunkish smell in the first half hour. But I think I probably whacked a few more than you did afterward. As I told you when we were both heading back into the marina...me to fish and you to boogie...I had caught 10 at that time. I caught another 5 cats in the marina and did not see much on sonar to make me even break out my crappie rig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had been served notice that I would be putting on another family fish fry, so I kept a limit of 8 today. Most of the ones I kept were right on either side of 20 inches. Got several "teen inchers" that were kissed and released. Good to see some new recruits coming along for the future.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I know you caught one of your fish in only 7' of water. All of my action was in 13 to 16 feet. And, as we agreed, we saw a lot more fish on sonar than we felt on our lines. Lots of shad balls too. On our last trip I saw a lot of "crappie-ish" marks at mid-depth off Eagle Beach. Today...not so much.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Talked to a couple of boaters coming in when I did. They had trolled up a storm with no bites. And when I got to the fish cleaning station it did not look like it had seen any action for a while.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's a few of the pictures I took to round out the tales of our trip.
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was good to see you. next time I will wrap my leg for sure. I really would like to try the knolls before we cant. if mother nature permits.
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[#0000FF]Looks like Mama Nature gonna give us the cold shoulder...and everything else this week. If the water temp drops below 50 the fishing for kitties in Utah Lake will become pretty tough.
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[#0000FF]I think I would rather hit Echo or Deer Creek. Need some more perch for a chowder.
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Water temperature was 52° at Lincoln this morning. Maybe that's why we couldn't catch much of anything. Maybe we're done.
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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[#0000FF]I have caught UL cats in the past in water temps as low as 40-45 degrees. But their metabolism and their attitudes change. Try moving slower and using smaller pieces of bait. And you sometimes have to cover more water to find the ACTIVE fish. With slower metabolisms catfish are not the round-the-clock eating machines they are during warm water months. That means not all the fish you find will be ready to dine at that particular time. But they do continue to feed all winter...even under the ice.
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[#0000FF]One thing that has worked for me is fishing a "bobber jig" rig...with a piece of bait on a jig head...dangled a foot or two off the bottom. And in cold water the bobber will just slowly sink below the surface on a take...no wild races across the surface or shooting a water jet skyward as it plunges down.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I am attaching a writeup I did on fishing bait on jig heads below a bobber. I have my own style but you can use anything with enough weight to keep it below the bobber in a breeze. And a head from a small white bass is a good bait. Ditto for chub heads or small strips of carp meat.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The key is to try to keep the weighted bait within a couple of feet of bottom. The cats will come up to get it. I had a session in November one year off the springs at Lincoln Point. Water was 7 feet and I was setting the bait down at 5 feet. The first time the bobber just slowly descended I thought it was a snag, until I reeled tight. Ended up with a half dozen more nice cats that all wanted it hanging and motionless.
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Great cats.
It seams like no one can get any eyes. Did you boys try any walleye baits? I know they do take your cat baits to. But trolling crank baits, jigs, lindy rigs. Just can't stop hoping.
I think next spring I'm trying sulfur creek. Anyone want to come?
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[#0000FF]You are right. When the 'eyes are around, they take minnows too. But I also tried throwing plastics today without a sniff...even from a catfish.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]A few degrees drop in temps will likely bring in some walleyes along with some perch. Crappies? Who knows?
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Can I ask you what makes you choose between the north and south marinas?
Each has different structures. It seams the new rock piles have not been very productive. I still have had trouble locating them. I do have the gps but don't find any fish.
I have caught cats over the ice, by the light poll, but maybe this year it might be good action.
It sure is easier getting down the rocks.
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[#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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