06-04-2017, 12:04 AM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]With the weather stabilizing and the water temps increasing at Willard, I and my buddy Randy decided to try for some wipers today. We didn't launch very early since, for me over the last few years, the wiper bite doesn't come on until about 10:00 AM anyway.
We caught a wiper and a walleye over just outside the island. The bite seemed slow so we decided to go give Tournament Alley a try. There we caught six more fish.
The fishing wasn't fast all day, but about every 30 minutes, we had one on. That was plenty to keep us from having a bad day.
Both Randy and I were sporting new rods and reels. Boy I LOVE those Pflueger President reels! Here's Randy with his new rod/reel combo.
[inline "444-Randy's-Fish-on-New-Rod-Reel.jpg"]
We were running level-wind reels to planers out each side of the boat and two spin-cast rods straight back. With the clicker on, those level winds really scream when a wiper hits. And the straight back spin cast rods really bend, bounce, and dance when they hook up. I love watching and listening to those "screamers and dancers".
[inline 444-Rods-and-Planer-2.jpg]
We were in 24 feet of water most the whole time. We were marking fish generally from about 15 feet and deeper. So our crank baits had to have some deep diving lips on them and then we had to make sure they were at least 100-150 feet out there so that they could user their full diving potential. [/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]The trolling speed that worked best for us was 2.8 - 3.0 mph GPS. Over 3.0 gave us nada.
I used my i-Pilot to do most of the driving for me all day. That i-Pilot is just so stinking cool for trolling Willard! It makes those turns so smooth and graceful. And the best part, it just keeps on steering when we are landing fish as if a human was driving ... actually BETTER than a human!
Bug nets were a necessity. But prior to putting on the head lingerie, we did manage to swallow plenty of those knats.
[inline 444-Bug-Nets-Were-a-Necesity.jpg]
Most of the fish we caught were right around 20 Inches with a couple just under 23 inches. Finally, some bigger wipers!
[inline 444-Randy-lipping-a-big-wiper.jpg]
The lure that caught the most fish was the #7 Berkley Flicker Minnow in the color "Prime Time". It has a purple back and that distinctive shad dot. I think that a #9 in that style/color might have done even better (deeper) had we had one to try. After that, the next best lure was a #7 Rapala deep runner Shad Rap in the color "Walley". Doing just as good as the Shad Rap was another Berkley #7 Flicker Minnow but in the color "Slick Alewife" (an oil-slick purple color). Notice that I painted a black shad dot on it.
[inline 444-Hot-Lures-of-the-Day.jpg]
That Prime Time lure didn't come with that feathered tail hook either. One of the wipers destroyed the original hook so we replaced it with that one. That feather didn't seem to help or hinder. We just kept catching fish with it.
Didn't see too many guys bringing in fish to filet at the cleaning station.
[inline 444-Ready-to-filet.jpg]
The water temps were 68° in the morning. Probably pushing 70° by afternoon.
I think the better wiper fishing has started up … finally!
--- Coot --- [/size][/#800000][/font]
[signature]
We caught a wiper and a walleye over just outside the island. The bite seemed slow so we decided to go give Tournament Alley a try. There we caught six more fish.
The fishing wasn't fast all day, but about every 30 minutes, we had one on. That was plenty to keep us from having a bad day.
Both Randy and I were sporting new rods and reels. Boy I LOVE those Pflueger President reels! Here's Randy with his new rod/reel combo.
[inline "444-Randy's-Fish-on-New-Rod-Reel.jpg"]
We were running level-wind reels to planers out each side of the boat and two spin-cast rods straight back. With the clicker on, those level winds really scream when a wiper hits. And the straight back spin cast rods really bend, bounce, and dance when they hook up. I love watching and listening to those "screamers and dancers".
[inline 444-Rods-and-Planer-2.jpg]
We were in 24 feet of water most the whole time. We were marking fish generally from about 15 feet and deeper. So our crank baits had to have some deep diving lips on them and then we had to make sure they were at least 100-150 feet out there so that they could user their full diving potential. [/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]
[/size][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]The trolling speed that worked best for us was 2.8 - 3.0 mph GPS. Over 3.0 gave us nada.
I used my i-Pilot to do most of the driving for me all day. That i-Pilot is just so stinking cool for trolling Willard! It makes those turns so smooth and graceful. And the best part, it just keeps on steering when we are landing fish as if a human was driving ... actually BETTER than a human!
Bug nets were a necessity. But prior to putting on the head lingerie, we did manage to swallow plenty of those knats.
[inline 444-Bug-Nets-Were-a-Necesity.jpg]
Most of the fish we caught were right around 20 Inches with a couple just under 23 inches. Finally, some bigger wipers!
[inline 444-Randy-lipping-a-big-wiper.jpg]
The lure that caught the most fish was the #7 Berkley Flicker Minnow in the color "Prime Time". It has a purple back and that distinctive shad dot. I think that a #9 in that style/color might have done even better (deeper) had we had one to try. After that, the next best lure was a #7 Rapala deep runner Shad Rap in the color "Walley". Doing just as good as the Shad Rap was another Berkley #7 Flicker Minnow but in the color "Slick Alewife" (an oil-slick purple color). Notice that I painted a black shad dot on it.
[inline 444-Hot-Lures-of-the-Day.jpg]
That Prime Time lure didn't come with that feathered tail hook either. One of the wipers destroyed the original hook so we replaced it with that one. That feather didn't seem to help or hinder. We just kept catching fish with it.
Didn't see too many guys bringing in fish to filet at the cleaning station.
[inline 444-Ready-to-filet.jpg]
The water temps were 68° in the morning. Probably pushing 70° by afternoon.
I think the better wiper fishing has started up … finally!
--- Coot --- [/size][/#800000][/font]
[signature]