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[#0000ff] Had a few BFTers show up at the north marina this morning early. I got there first, then Pa, then WH2 and Wiperslayer. Fatbiker showed up later when we were already out on the pond.
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[#0000ff] Air temp 52 and water temp 65 at 7ish launch. Both temps will probably drop this next week. Water was reasonably clear but somewhat stained. Levels are still well up above normal for this time of year.
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[#0000ff] I was last of our small group to launch, but got almost instant bendo as I put out lines shortly after clearing the harbor channel. I had tossed out a flig n minnow on one rod and then pitched a tandem jig rig tipped with worm. The jigs had just touched down when I got munched on plastic. Good fight on the first kitty. But just as I was dipping it out of the water my flig rod developed a serious bend and line came off the drag. Deposited the net with fish #1 on my rigid lap apron and subdued the second kitty. Got them to  for a quick pic, recovered my jig and flig and got back to fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] After that quick jump start I figured it was going to be a wide open day. Nay, not so. Subsequent bites became further and further apart. But had enough to catch about a dozen and kept 6 for the fryer.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] As indicated in the caption, today was an NBC day...nothing but cats. I did have a small (6") crappie almost to the tube but it arranged its own early release. Saw lots of marks on sonar...lots more than I felt on the line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] I tried a variety of lures and baits today. Most cats came on fligs...fire tiger, perple purch and blueback silver. As mentioned, the first took a worm-tipped white plastic tube jig. I tipped the fligs with minnows, perch meat and/or crawlers. Got inquiries on all of the above.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] Saw and caught most fish between 12 and 15 feet. Saw lots of fish both shallower and deeper...and quite a few suspenders (crappies?) Only surface activity was from a few frisky carpkind. Big whoop.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] I know Pa had a bit slower day, but did catch a few cats. After a brief howdy, Fatbiker and his furry crew member fished quite a few different spots, but none near enough to trade info or results. WH2 and Wiperslayer headed first over to Freeway Bay but came back by us at a distance and ended up over by the north dike. No idea how they were doing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] About 9:30 a slight north breeze picked up and became a bit problematic. Not quite whitecaps but made a finesse drift presentation tough. No bites for the last hour so I decided to try inside the marina for a while. As I was motoring (electric) back in my motor did not seem to be putting out the usual power. Hmmmmm?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff] Good news...bad news. My motor up and died. That's the bad news. The good news is that I was already inside the channel and didn't have far to kick with fins to make the ramp. When I got there I felt the motor head and it was hot. Toast. Only about 10 years old. But I guess we all gotta go sometime. The good news is I got another one just like it in the garage.
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I hope ya left one still hungry. Cookie and I are going to soak some bait there this evening and watch the sunset.
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Good read as always. Gotta question about your crappie "marks". Do you generally see them suspended by themselves at Willard, or are they hanging together below bait marks? I got into a group of small perch and wipers this weekend, and had fun pulling them out. In the meantime I was watching the occasional mark below. When I saw them I would drop down a perch chunk and sometimes catch a cat. I just assumed crappie generally traveled in groups, but I'm wondering if some of the lone marks were crappie, in which case my offerings were too big. They were likely unimpressed cats, but I'm trying to convince myself I found some crappie. Any thoughts?
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I start my 3 weeks of vacation starting on Friday and hope to be able to have my freezer full of Elk and have some time to make a quick trip to Willard on the week of the 14th some time. Keep me posted on how the pond is doing and let me know if you can plan a trip on that week. You have to remember Pat NBC will be just fine with me but I would like to get into some Wipers and eyes.
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was a slow day for sure but still enjoyed it. I tried different fligs and bait but only managed 2 cats. No skunk so all is well.
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[#0000FF]So far I have not seen any sonar that would show spots, stripes, scales, whiskers or other definitive ID on fish "marks". The best you can do is rely on your personal knowledge and experience...of the water and the species...to make semi informed guesses.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Crappies are generally considered to be a schooling fish. And they are, whenever their numbers are great enough that they can find enough others to hang with. But the ratio of water to crappies in Willard is such that many of that species show up as singles or a loose assortment of several random marks at mid depth within a generalized area. About the only times I have witnessed anything close to a school is during the spawn...late April into May.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The marks I am guessing to be crappies are about mid-size...compared to larger and smaller marks of other fish. And they are usually from about 5-8 feet deep over deeper water. However, I have caught them right near the bottom and also very near the top. Depends on what they are eating and how active they are.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have been fishing crappies in Willard since the late 1970s. Before the advent of wipers and shad, crappies were the greatest biomass in Willard...with huge numbers of all sizes to be found almost anywhere in the lake. But you could ALWAYS catch them close to the dikes...almost all year.
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[#0000FF]One thing that has been true of Willard Crappies through all the changes is that they slow down and go for smaller offerings when water gets colder. And they also like stuff suspended...either by vertical jigging or under a bobber. So if you can find an area with crappies in it, put out a rod with a small jig...tipped with worm, gulp or other sweetener. Hang it about 3-4 feet under a bobber to start...and lower it about six inches at a time until you get bit. Remember, crappies look up to feed. If you are fishing below them you are not fishing...just wishing. But they will rise a couple of feet or more to take something above them if it looks good and smells right.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]If you use a bobber, don't use the biggest old red and white one you can find. Small and sensitive is better. When crappies are picky they simply swim up to a jig, suck it in and then spit it out. No chomp and no pulling the bobber under. Sometimes there will just be some small rings spreading out from the bobber. Other times it will lean slightly to one side, or move two inches in one direction. If there is any change in the force, set the hook. Hooksets are free.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Right now you can do well with white or minnow colored offerings. As the water gets colder, change up to chartreuse...with hot red head or spots. And if you can find wax worms, they are wunnerful for late season crappies under a bobber. Just like ice fishing without the ice.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]But, to lend credibility to your other statement, about some of the suspended fish maybe being cats, that is entirely possible. Some of the cats I filleted today had small shad in their innards. And I know that cats will come way up off the bottom to feed when there is food available. My biggest cat today...a skinny two foot long male...took a blue and silver flig...tipped with a small white gulp minnow. I had it riding about 3-4 feet above the bottom, hoping for a crappie. But NBC.[/#0000FF]
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Pat, always good to see you. Willard was tough on me today. Fished around the north marina for a couple hours with no love. Started to smell a skunk so I headed to the feedlot. Took an hour but I finally got a dumb one. No skunk today. Wind and waves made it hard to fish so I took a rough ride back to the marina. Once inside I decided to drift and drag a flig and a Santee rig. Got a second one just off the handicap pier. I've started to really like a good catfish curry so off they want for dinner. Sure missing fishing in my tube. The boats better than not fishing, barely.
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"NBC will be just fine with me but I would like to get into some Wipers and eyes."
[#0000FF]If we can get Mama Nature to serve up some decent weather, Willard will almost assuredly serve up at least some cats. And they pull good. The wipers and walleyes are always iffy...but very possible from now through iceup. Every day on the water is the "biblical system"...seek and ye shall find...maybe.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Be sure to remind me a few days ahead of your intended trip so I can cancel my golf dates with Trump. But be careful how much you broadcast your intentions. If you give the weather gods too much advance notice they can really cook up some good stuff. Willard isn't as bad as Starvy but it can be "blustery". Not good.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Hope you do well enough on elk that you have the required amount available for my Willard guide fee.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]It was good to see you and your furry first mate on the water. Sorry to see you relegated to boating, but like you say, better than not fishing at all...barely.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Water temp was still a bit high for prime fall fishing. Should get better after next week.
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[#0000FF]Glad you got the fixin's for some kitty curry. Sounds interesting. I need something to relight the pilot light in my heartburn.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]If you like chili, you might try putting some kitty chunks in your fave chili recipe. Good stuff. Got a recipe if you want it.
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Thanks Pat. I agree sonar reading is just educated guessing, which is why I asked for your educated opinion. The marks in question were a mid size, so who knows, maybe I'm correct. Heck, I guessed right on the catfood. Blue and silver gorilla with perch meat did the trick. Solid purple tailed flig w/ crawler caught the small wipers and perch. Thanks for the tips for the incoming season.
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Hey Pat, good to see you this morning and thanks for refilling my dwindling supply of fligs. We ended up doing a little better than you did but not by much. We caught two cats trolling down in Freeway bay, saw a few splashes that made me think we might see a boil but that wind started coming up, so my hopes were dashed pretty quick.
We decided to head back up your favorite area but with the wind starting to crank up pretty good, we tucked in below the dike and found a good spot that kicked out some nice cats up to 25" and 5 more that were 22 to 24". Most were male cats today and of the 2.5 hours that we slow trolled fligs, fire tiger and pink colors produced the best.
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Good to meet you out there today Pa.
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Was that you Larry, that we saw at the ramp launching around 1:30 or so? I thought that looked like your boat but I thought you had a truck you pulled it with[:/]. We came in just as you were launching and retrieved our boat right beside you.
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Elk steaks will be provided!!!
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[#0000FF]Happy to hear you found some fish. The fire tiger was my best producer too. But as the annual fall shad dieoff approaches, the blue-silver gets good. That is what I got a lot of my perch on last year...as well as the "usual suspects" (cats). In the picture you will note the water temp is a bit cooler. So good perchin' is still a ways off yet.[/#0000FF]
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Awesome report and pictures as always. Thanks again. I even enjoy your reports when the fish aren't cooperating...almost as much[  ]. That is rare for you though. I hope to get to Willard again sometime, but right now I'm still playing hide and seek with a couple more 30" cats at UL.
As you probably guessed, they are doing the hiding and me mostly seeking. Good fun though.
Keep up the great reports!
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[#0000FF]Thanks. I do enjoy your reports from the south too.
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[#0000FF]There must be some place on the lake where the old codger cats hang out...and tell stories about the fishermen they have ignored...or the ones they broke off or outwitted at the last minute. If you could find that place you'd have it made. Not sure what you would have to use for bait. If they were human you could just look for hot air bubbles rising to the surface.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Good luck in your quest. I might still make it down for another one or two assaults myself.
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[#0000FF]When it comes to "guessing" crappie marks at Willard there is one element neither of us has mentioned...SHAD. While they tend to school up more when they are small, they become more solitary as they get bigger...except at spawn time, like the crappies. And since they also typically cruise at mid-depths they can easily be interpreted as crappies on sonar. So just because a suspended fish does not latch onto your dropped offering, you don't have to curse the finicky crappies or jump off your tackle box. At least that rationalization will help maintain your sanity when you are 0 for everything.
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[quote fish_fanatic]Elk steaks will be provided!!![/quote]
[#0000FF]Excellent. As long as they are legal...and tender...I will accept them as legal tender for guide fees.[/#0000FF]
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And you as well. Hope you did better than I did. No doubt we will run into each other more.
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