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[cool][#0000ff]Wanted to hit both Pineview and Willard this week. Only had one day to fish. So I hit 'em both today...naturally. Nobody ever accused me of being the sharpest tool in the deck...or whatever.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched at Willard N. marina at 7:15. Air temp 23 and water temp 43. Cool runnings mon. Saw nothing on sonar and felt nothing on my rods on the way out the channel. Worked a couple of my favorite humps, bumps and channels. Again, saw little on sonar and felt less on my line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked out over a 12 - 13' flat to the south of the channel. Finally got a pickup on the minnow. Very tentative. Pickup and drop. Pickup and drop. I was thinking walleye. I thought wrong. First of several tentative kitties for the day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No more love on the outside so I moved inside the marina and started dragging a minnow on one rod and jigging small plastics on the other. That produced a few fish on my last trip...but mostly on the little jigs. Found one small area that seemed to hold a few kitties. Picked up several on minnows and one on the jig. Ended up keeping six. Could have caught more but I had set a departure time of 10:30 so I could work Pineview a bit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched right about noon at the port ramp on Pineview. Saw several boats working along the north side of the narrows on the way in. Air temp 35 and water temp 48 as I launched.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Couldn't believe how high the water is in Pineview for this time of year. I was told it has actually come up several feet in the last two or three weeks. That made it tough to find my old fall fishing spots. Really had to hunt. Kept looking in 35 to 40 feet of water...as is customary this time of year. Nada, zilch, zip. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Finally found some willing blips in 56 feet. Grundles of perchlets. If they were on the screen they were on my line...two rods at a time. Average was a bit bigger than last year but still far too many dinksters. Did get a couple of sub-tens.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Coming up from that deep some of the perch could not fight their way back down against a distended bladder. The seagulls didn 't mind. No pride at all. But when one of them was gliding in for an easy munch lunch a big ol' toothy tiger beat him to it. Ever see a seagull put on the air brakes and fly backward like a hummingbird?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started seeing a lot of suspended fish that I am sure were crappies. But, like suspended crappies are notorious for (or against) they all had lockjaw, and extended middle fins.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Kept a half dozen perchettes for cut bait and headed in about 2:30. Several boats came in about the same time and I learned that the narrows was producing good numbers of crappies, bluegill and some bass...along the north shoreline rocks...in about 40 feet of water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also got to see the K2Muskie gals coming in. They reported having a good day with the tigers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm tired. Somebody oughtta smack me upside the head when I get tomfool notions like fishing two lakes in one day from my float tube. My old brain keeps writing checks my old body cain't cash.[/#0000ff]
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Great seeing you TubeDude. WOW 2 great bodies of water in one day....we bet you are tired. Yep PV is way high for this time of year...has actually come up 3-4 feet since our last visit. Has us concerned for this seasons hard deck as when it freezes and they let water out which I'm sure they will...well not a good ice scenario. [:/]
Yep fish'n partner kept the Tigers interested did well especially for this time of year. [  ]
Based on your takings looks like you did great also...Sorry PV wasn't more productive for ya...again was great seeing you and chit chatting at the ramp...[  ][ ]
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Wondered why I got a chill today...LOL Sounds like a great day to me...but I was slaving away.[laugh] Someday I will have to try PV. Last time I was there was on waterskis.
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Hmmm, have not seen a PV report from you for a while. Thanks for it, glad to see the skunk can't find you for now.
I am probably not headed back to PV till ice season comes around. Hoping to try willard on the ice too for the 1st time!
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That's awesome! Glad to hear you were able to tempt some of the kitties to play with you. I looooooooove em. Especially when they bark at you, something about it makes me grin ear to ear. Too bad Pineview wasn't more productive but at least you didn't get skunked. Thanks for the always entertaining narrative that you provide with your reports.
You are seriously becoming a hero of mine. Keep on keepin on tubedude!
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[quote flygoddess]Wondered why I got a chill today...LOL Sounds like a great day to me...but I was slaving away.[laugh] Someday I will have to try PV. Last time I was there was on waterskis.[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Water skiers are one of the reasons I seldom fish Pineview during warmer months. Figured they were gone for the year. But NO-O-O-O-O-O. There was one noisy boat with a load of nut cases that put in just before I left. Thankfully, they roared over to the far eastern side of the lake before skiing.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I want you to know I severely chastised those kitties at Willard because they wouldn't play with you. But it didn't bother them at all. They just giggled and said "Neener neener". Catfish are like that. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Only fished Pineview for about 2 hours...in the middle of a calm bright day...during a full moon period. Wasn't really all that optimistic about loading up. I mostly wanted to get a look at water conditions and see where the fish were holding. Getting a few perch was a bait bonus. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If I was really serious about whackin' some crappies I would trudge my tube down that hill at the narrows and work that area...early or late in the day. But I have kinda lost my appetite for fishing there with my tube. That hill keeps getting longer and steeper as I get older. And when they moved the buoys further out away from the dam they cut off most of my best late fall fishing spots. Still some good fishing to be had but not when you are dodging all the boats that "own" that area. They think nothing about getting upwind and drifting right down over where I am fishing. And when the fish are holding tight to one small area that is a problem.[/#0000ff]
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Fine report from the Kitty Whisperer! Full Moon be damned! Just so long as you don't have any bananas on board! Even if they are good for the cramps you'd get from all that kicking! Busy day indeed!
That last kitty looks like she'd had a bit of a run-in with a tail-nibbler! Maybe a swipe by a ferocious Wiper, or toothy Walleye.
Speaking of Walleye - should this be the time for the big fall bite? Or is the water still too "warm"? Not stacking up the slabs in the harbor? Least you "saw" some Crappie at the View. Hope they're doing well for size.
So do you hit the cleaning station for a quick round of fillets at Willard 'fore heading up to da View?
That Bird Meets Musky moment would be an awesome video clip! I'd bet it would go viral! Wonder if ones grabbed a bird or two? I'll bet some baby ducklings have been snarfed up at some point!
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[cool] [#0000ff]Seems like I fish the full moon every month...and I usually catch at least a few fish. But there is no disputing that some species in some waters are affected by it. Funny though, as the moon was dropping over the western horizon yesterday morning I could swear I got a from the man in the moon. Took this pic but the flash against the trees closer up kinda messes up the focus on the moon and the reflection in the water. Still, an interesting picture.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That cut on the kitty's tail was a clean cut...almost like a knife, rather than a snaggle-toothed predator. I can't even guess what caused it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Normally, walleyes would be "on the chew" at Willard with the current water temps and high water level. But I think like most of the other predators they are too well fed. Interesting note yesterday, the terns were all over the lake, diving and picking up small shad from the surface. But the shadlets were dead...probably from cold. I saw a couple of them floating slowly upward and that is what the birds were keying on...the "emergers".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I saw some small suspended schools of fish inside the Willard N. marina that appeared to be crappies too. And there were some around the docks. But like the fish at Pineview they were inactive. Saw one "dock dunker" working around the docks pretty good...knew what he was doing...but didn't see him lift up any fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The crappies I saw or had reported from Pineview were not mega slabs. I saw two caught from the boats as I passed going in and neither were much bigger than hand-size. And one angler reported catching several with the biggest maybe 12". That is good from most waters but so-so from Pineview. There are lots of 13 to 15 inch fish there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The cleaning stations at Willard close down with the first frost. And they open up later and later each year. Almost the first of June this past year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are countless on-the-water moments from my past that would be treasured videos...if I had the camera and the foresight to be prepared to shoot them as they happened. But alas...my crystal ball has never worked right.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Muskies and pike definitely take a toll on the young waterfowl on most lakes. And there have been more than a few larger birds chomped by the big toothy critters. When I reflected on that episode at PIneview I harkened back to a documentary I saw a while back about tiger sharks gathering at an albatross rookery in the middle of the ocean. The young albies cannot fly well and often just flop down in the water just off the beach. Many become instant feathery pizza for the waiting sharkies.[/#0000ff]
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[quote TubeDude][cool]
[#0000ff]That cut on the kitty's tail was a clean cut...almost like a knife, rather than a snaggle-toothed predator. I can't even guess what caused it.[/#0000ff]
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I'd guess it was a prop from some motor. [cool] He looked like he was in definite need of assistance. I'm sure that with a few hours in the smoker and he would be completely healed!
Nice job - as usual!
Do you have any lures that look like small waterfowl in production? [:p]
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[cool][#0000ff]My best guess was that he got wrapped in some fishing line. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been knowed to create fly monsters. Closest I can come to a baby duck is my "Dolly" fly.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, there are various lure versions on the market attempting to imitate that specific prey item.[/#0000ff]
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Nice thing is, it is all about the silhouette so here is a baby duck fly.
http://www.flytyingforum.com/pattern4552.html
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[quote flygoddess]Wondered why I got a chill today...LOL Sounds like a great day to me...but I was slaving away.[laugh] Someday I will have to try PV. Last time I was there was on waterskis.[/quote]
Them damn water skis dont flex on the back cast
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Catchin kitties when the water cools is not all that bad. I hope we see a few more perch that are bigger at pineview this year but not holding my breath. It was good chatting with you friday and I cant wait to try some of the new trinkets I got from ya. I am sure there will be pictures on the ice of fish with said trinkets hangin out of their mouth.
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[inline FTBTB-GF-2.jpg][inline FTBTB-GF-1.jpg]
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It's called the "Flipin the Bird Topwater Bait".
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[cool][#0000ff]I bet it would work in a lot of places...for pike, muskies, bass and even hungry shoreline cruisin' catfish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Many long years ago I witnessed some baby ducks becoming lunch for a largemouth right next to some cattails on a small golf course pond. I took an old Thermos bottle cork, drilled some holes in it and stuffed them with clumps of feathers. Then I ran a wire through the cork and tied on a treble at one end and a loop for tieing my line at the other end.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The rest of the story? I hooked and lost one of the biggest bass I had ever seen before the golf course security guy started screaming at me to get the you-know-what outta there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But I later made some modified (more professional) versions for fishing reedy shorelines in the spring around other bass ponds. I found that just about anything that floated, swam and made a bit of a gurgle would get gulped. Always fun to get blasted on a topwater. Love fishin' froggies on the weed mats.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Yea verily.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Bring it on.[/#0000ff]
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That same boat came out wednesday when I was out there too. Had to be miserably cold.
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[cool][#0000ff]Numb at both ends.[/#0000ff]
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