Willard 4-8-22 (WITH VIDEO)

[TubeDude]

Friday’s weather forecast was perfect for tubing…warm and calm.  So I headed for the south marina on Willard Bay.  Launched right at 7 am…along with a steady procession of other optimistic anglers in boats.  Air temp was a still chilly 32…but calm.  Water temp in the marina was only 44…with the cold water being dumped in at the inlet.  Depth at the ramp was 3’…going to 4 feet in the boat basin.  Channel was from 10 to 13 feet deep and the water is rising.  It has come up to the base of the rocks around the dike.
 
Recent experience and reports from others told me the fish would be in 10-12 feet of water.  So that’s where I started dragging my fligs.  At 9:30 I had covered a whole lotta water with only a couple of feeble pop and drops.  And my sonar showed a mostly empty water column in those depths.  It was like the great Willard desert.
 
As other have heard me say (too often)…”Ya cain’t ketch ‘em where they ain’t.”  Since water temps had bounced up a couple of degrees I reasoned that the water would be slightly warmer in shallower water than where I had been fishing.  So I motored in to as little as 3 feet of water and then started fishing my way back out deeper.
 
When I got between 5 and 6 feet of depth one of my rods went bendo and I killed the skunk with a chunky kitty.  And as soon as I had it off my line and in my basket the other rod bounced and I was fighting another kitty.
  
Over the next couple of hours I landed a total of 6 cats…keeping 4 for a couple of meals of kittie krispies.  I had an orange tiger flig on one rod and a pink tiger flig on the other.  And I caught 3 cats on each.  That’s only fair.
 
   
No walleyes or wipers were harmed in the making of this report.  And I doubt the boaters did much better.  I noticed they were all moving around a lot and not staying in any one area very long.  And the couple I talked to back at the ramp confirmed that.  Nada.  I was outta there and on my way home a bit after noon…for an old man’s nap.
LINK TO VIDEO

[wiperhunter2]

As usual, great report, pics and video Pat. In the one photo where is shows you holding up the cat and the dike is in the back ground, it sure looks like a long didtance to the dike, so you were that far from the dike and still in 5 to 6 FOW? We did get a couple of cats on a drop off area were the depth went from 8 or 9 Ft to 10 FOW seemed some were hanging right there but most were in 10 to 11 FOW, on the flat areas. After reading a couple of reports from shore anglers, I was thinking they might be in water that was a lot more shallow, glad to read you found them there.

[TubeDude]

As usual, great report, pics and video Pat. In the one photo where is shows you holding up the cat and the dike is in the back ground, it sure looks like a long didtance to the dike, so you were that far from the dike and still in 5 to 6 FOW? We did get a couple of cats on a drop off area were the depth went from 8 or 9 Ft to 10 FOW seemed some were hanging right there but most were in 10 to 11 FOW, on the flat areas. After reading a couple of reports from shore anglers, I was thinking they might be in water that was a lot more shallow, glad to read you found them there.

As you guys know, from trolling that area, there are some variables in bottom contour along there.  I started straight out from the feed lot and the "zone" (5-6') was probably 200 yards from the dike.  But that depth was pretty constant for quite a ways out.  I just kept making S turns between 4.5' and 6'...with most of the bites coming between 5-6'.  The 10' plus depths were about twice as far out...with no fish showing on sonar at all. 

This time of year every trip can be different.  Gotta use those side finders and put in some search time.  But once the weather stabilizes a bit...and temps go over 60...I think the fish will become a lot more active and predictable.

[LundLefty]

Thanks for the report. Is the fish cleaning station open yet?

[doitall5000]

Friday’s weather forecast was perfect for tubing…warm and calm.  So I headed for the south marina on Willard Bay.  Launched right at 7 am…along with a steady procession of other optimistic anglers in boats.  Air temp was a still chilly 32…but calm.  Water temp in the marina was only 44…with the cold water being dumped in at the inlet.  Depth at the ramp was 3’…going to 4 feet in the boat basin.  Channel was from 10 to 13 feet deep and the water is rising.  It has come up to the base of the rocks around the dike.
 
Recent experience and reports from others told me the fish would be in 10-12 feet of water.  So that’s where I started dragging my fligs.  At 9:30 I had covered a whole lotta water with only a couple of feeble pop and drops.  And my sonar showed a mostly empty water column in those depths.  It was like the great Willard desert.
 
As other have heard me say (too often)…”Ya cain’t ketch ‘em where they ain’t.”  Since water temps had bounced up a couple of degrees I reasoned that the water would be slightly warmer in shallower water than where I had been fishing.  So I motored in to as little as 3 feet of water and then started fishing my way back out deeper.
 
When I got between 5 and 6 feet of depth one of my rods went bendo and I killed the skunk with a chunky kitty.  And as soon as I had it off my line and in my basket the other rod bounced and I was fighting another kitty.
  
Over the next couple of hours I landed a total of 6 cats…keeping 4 for a couple of meals of kittie krispies.  I had an orange tiger flig on one rod and a pink tiger flig on the other.  And I caught 3 cats on each.  That’s only fair.
 
   
No walleyes or wipers were harmed in the making of this report.  And I doubt the boaters did much better.  I noticed they were all moving around a lot and not staying in any one area very long.  And the couple I talked to back at the ramp confirmed that.  Nada.  I was outta there and on my way home a bit after noon…for an old man’s nap.
LINK TO VIDEO

Enjoyed the movie only missing one thing, where is the deafening, skull cracking hard rock music that everyone likes to crank it up to 10.  Other than that Great job.

[TubeDude]

Thanks for the report.  Is the fish cleaning station open yet?

Nope.  Didn't open 'til May last year.  Don't wanna run the risk of a freeze ya know?  Seems like later every year and closing earlier.

---

Enjoyed the movie only missing one thing, where is the deafening, skull cracking hard rock music that everyone likes to crank it up to 10.  Other than that Great job.

Sorry.  Didn't know your taste in music was so eclectic.  I'll see if I can get recordings of some plane crashes or Russian missile attacks for my next video.  Gotta keep my adoring public happy.