Daily Dozen at Willard 9-23-22

[TubeDude]

Well, I din’t kill ‘em at Willard yesterday.  But I sure sore-lipped a few.  Plenty of tugs even if it was an NBC day (Nuttin' but cats).  Beats heck out of almost anything I could have been doing at home.
 
Launched from the south marina about 7 am.  Air temp a brisk 50…warming to a lovely 68 by noon departure.  Water temps down to 64…10 degrees colder than my last trip…and warming to only 65 at noon.  Glad I decided to bring my waders.  65 is my low temp threshold for this old body.

 
Had to wade out a ways from the water’s edge at the ramp to find enough depth to drop my electric motor and sit down in my tube.  Only 1 to 1.5 feet in the boat area to the channel.  Then the channel was a good 8-9 feet all the way out.
 
Looked at my sonar screen as I got into the channel and was amazed at all the fishy life I could see.  Several different sizes and types of fish.  Some looked suspiciously perchy and I rigged up to try for some.  No sniffs in about 20 minutes of sincere effort.  So I rigged one rod with a large fire tiger whirly and a minnow.  Wham.  Bendo.  First kitty at 7:42…inside the channel.  But didn’t get anything else until I started working in the extended channel out beyond the entrance.
 

Water level was from 8 to 10 feet for a couple hundred yards out from the channel entrance.  And I have never seen so much fish life on my sonar at Willard.  There were intermittent clouds of shad…surrounded by hordes of “USOs”…Unidentified Swimming Objects.  I have my own ideas on what some of them were but didn’t prove it on the end of my line.  I figured those fish were so full of shadlets that anything I might show them would not get much attention.
 

However, throughout the morning I did get a few minor munches that looked suspiciously like perch inquiries.  No proof though.  But the everlovin’ kitties did come to play.  However a few of them only did a pop and drop howdy and did not commit.  The few that did gulp and go gave me plenty of enjoys.  Got about 12 before I ran out of minnows a little after 11.   Got a dozen on my last trip so maybe that is my new norm.
  

I tried a variety of rigs, baits and colors today.  Couldn’t get a sniff on anything with worm on it.  Everything I caught was on small chub minnows…and whirly fligs…on 3 way sinker dropper rigs.  The only two colors that produced in the stained waters were fire tiger and the chartreuse with 3 hot red spots.  Fished my usually productive blue and silver a long time with no love.  Ditto for orange tiger and pink tiger. 
 

Only saw 1 boat leave the channel.  It was a flat bottom with one of those long shaft mud motors.  Once he got well outside the channel he raised the long shaft and prop out of the water and began trolling around with a bow mount electric.  Saw him move over a whole lotta water without any evidence of interruption. 

[b]The water pump newly installed…as previously reported by WH2…was in full operation.  Pretty noisy.  And I noticed a lack of fishy marks on sonar for quite a few feet on either side of it as I went by.[/b]


[b]I’m guessing that if the water level drops any lower, I will have to move my assault to the north marina.  I was kicking up mud on this trip inside the marina with my electric so if it drops some more I will be walking out and back.[/b]


It was definitely cooler.  But...no wind, no bugs and no power squadron.  Not bad.