Cool Cats at Willard 10-23-07

[TubeDude]

[size 3][font "Times New Roman"][cool][blue]I needed a fishin’ fix. Three weeks is too long without fishing. TubeBabe was gonna be busy and nobody else chimed in so I went solo. Needed a brainbroom anyway, with all the “activity” lately.[/blue][/font][blue]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Arrived at the North Marina about 7 AM. Air temp 35. Left auger in car but wore my gloves. Launched about 7:30. Glad for the neoprenes. Water temp 48 in the shallow marina and 49.4 outside. Water somewhere between cappuccino and chocolate milk. Ugly. Light northerly breeze that stayed steady all morning.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Surprised to see that the water level has not dropped noticeably since last month. Guess maybe it is stabilized. Only two feet deep off the end of the ramp, but drops quickly to 4’. Channel stays about 5’-6’ until the shallow 2’ bar across the mouth of the entrance. Also very uneven bottom. There is 8’-10’ of water for a ways past the shallow entrance, and then about 200 yards straight out there is a sizeable hump that comes up to 18”. I am attaching one pic I took while standing kneedeep on that bar to take the picture. There were also gravel bars both north and south of the channel. Some were out of the water. Some are only inches beneath the surface.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Started out by tossing small plastics as I worked out of the channel. Caught a couple of sluggish little channel cats by pitching to the bank and then bouncing it down to deeper water. Lost one nice crappie doing the same thing. No walleyes.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Once past the shallow spot, I rigged a minnow on my second rod and dragged it to prospect for walleyes or wipers. No luck on either of those, but I did score about a dozen “cookie cutter” catfish…all between 14” and 16”. Got a few more on the little pink plastic jig too.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]While dragging bait on one rod, I rotated through just about every hardbait, spinner and plastic jig I had. Tried all different sizes, colors and retrieves. Not a whack on anything except the little pink thingy…with a piece of worm on it. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Kept a few cookie cutters for the fryer and headed in about noon. Water temp had only risen 1 degree to just over 50. Worked the channel on the way back in and got a couple more cats on jigs. Also got to stretch my string on some carp (toothless golden walleye). Fun fun. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]All in all a nice day. Nary another soul on the lake or in any of the parking areas. My own private lake today…unless you count the waterfowl. Several different varieties, including some fast moving ducks trying to get away from the shooters over in the marsh. Not much shooting. I guess the bluebird morning did not have a lot of birds flying.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]I did see one flock of ducks that were masquerading as pelicans. They had on their white coats and large beaks to confuse the hunters. Pretty good disguise, too. Fooled me.[/font]
[/blue][/size]
[signature]

[AdictedBassTard]

nice report and picks Pat. Willard is @ Utah Lake, right? If so, I can't believe how much it's receded since we were last there.[shocked]

-ABT
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. No, Willard Bay Reservoir is north of Salt Lake, up near Ogden. it is a manmade lake with a big rock dike thrown up around the lake...and the Weber and Ogden Rivers filling it. It has been way down this year while they are working on fixing the dike. There was an area that was leaking and there were no Dutch boys to stick a finger in the hole. It is about 12 to 14 feet down from normal level and that makes it currently impossible for boats to launch. One of the two marinas is closed and the other (where I launched) is "launch at your own risk".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The cats are a lot smaller on average than those in Utah Lake, but they are always plentiful and they are great eating. The glamor fish in the reservoir are wipers and walleyes...with a few smallmouth, largemouth, perch, crappies, bluegill, carp and the forage species...gizzard shad.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[AdictedBassTard]

I see. I'm going to have to give it a go the next time we're there.

-ABT
[signature]

[swedishfish]

I know exactly where that underwater hump is. I went twice 2 weeks ago, and the only place I could catch anything was at the bottom of the north side of that hump (9 - 10 feet deep) - all cats.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I worked out into the ten foot water today, but could find nothing on sonar or on the bottom. Most of my action came from 7-8 feet and as I mentioned, I caught several in the 5-6 foot depths of the channel. But, I know what they were doing in there. Small shad were jumping next to shore while the water was calm...and a few of the cats had those little tykes in their tummies. I should have used my 2" white plastic on a light head.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Strangely, I did catch one cat almost right on top of that hump. It could not have been more than about 3' deep.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Wanna go back Thursday?[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[swedishfish]

Thursday sounds good.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Da bus leaves my place at 6. Have your peeps contact my peeps for details.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[fishfinder462]

Glad to hear your back on the water Pat, im sure the fishies enjoyed the break from you though[].

FF462
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Those fish had a long enough break. In fact, I think they enjoyed getting some exercise. Not many folks playing with them these days.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]On that note, they sure do not fight as hard in the cold water. When we catch them in warmer water they put up a good tussle. Yesterday they smacked the lure or bait pretty good but then they mostly just came right up to the surface and rolled. I guess I would not have much of a fight in me if I had to live in 50 degree water either.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, what a lot of folks do not realize is that those channel cats still feed all winter, even under the ice. I have caught quite a few through the ice at Willard while fishing a baited jig near bottom. Some guys just drop down an unweighted minnow or crawler and catch cats, wipers and walleyes. Some big perch in Willard too. [/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Dusty_T]

Nice report TD. It is a good time of year to get out and experience "ownership" of the water, with all of the wimps sitting by their heaters or out chasing winged fish.
[signature]