Launched from the south marina about 6:00 last night. Thought I would see if there were any fish boiling, but I couldn't find a single one. There was one place where the gulls were congregated, but as I got close it didn't look like any surface action. After a while I threw on some minnow meat and the action for the small cats was pretty constant. Every five minutes or so I would get a rap. I was just dragging a lindy style weedless slip sinker and the meat. If I took the time to stop and open the bail and let the cats run a little I would hook up everytime, but if I kept moving and tried to set the hook as they picked it up my success rate went down a little. I floated down to what I imagine is the feed lot. East of the south marina about 1/2 mile or so. I only had one bite on cranks all night and having never caught a wiper, but hearing stories about how they hit and fight I'm assuming it was either a channel or a walleye, because it wasn't an earth shaking hit or fight. Never saw the fish. The power squadron was out in full force living up to their reputation for crowding and inconsideration. Had one ski boat come by so close I could have hooked it with a fly rod and nearly rolled me when I wasn't lined up right to ride out the 4' wake that followed. I tossed a few obscenities their way along with the "your #1" salute, but concidering they were moving at close to the speed of sound I sure my appriciation of their behavior fell on deaf ears. When I got out ther was a white ford with a couple of BFT logos on it parked a couple of stalls away. Not sure who it was but if you read this, chime in and say hi. Weather was beautiful; no bugs, only a breath of wind. Water temp was about 80* at launch and around 79* when I got out.
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I own a white ford with bft logos on it. I also own a ski boat that throws a 4' wake and goes the speed of sound!!
Gotcha. I hate those boats also. I ski out there, but I used to work as a park ranger at East Canyon, and I Have first hand experience on why the have the 150' (50 yards) wakeless law. My partner and I were in uniform in a 14 foot aluminum boat. (people don't think cops will be in this kind of boat) Well, there were some wave runners clowning around splashing each other. We crepped up to them, (have to go wakeless to approach) and they didn't even see us. WHACK! one dumb @*# hit us right in the right side of the bow while he was looking back at his buddy to see if he splashed him. Put a 3' dent along the side of our bow, and cracked the bow of his brand new wave runner. In fact, as we met him back at the marina to write him a citation, his dad had the nerve to ask us if we were going to pay for thier wave runner. I just laughed and said "See you in court"
Hope your fishing days go better. Look for a white '99 ford f350 crew cab with a big blue stripe and that is me. I have an older 1979 fiber form with an outboard motor. Call me over and say hi. I promise to show you my 4' wake.
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[size 2][font "Comic Sans MS"][black]Boils? You mentioned that you seen the birds congregating. If they were congregating in the air (as opposed to just sitting in the water) there is a good chance they were eyeing up the shad. Often the boils don't really manifest themselves with surface action. But the birds diving are a very good indication of a boil … even though there can be little or no splashing. My experience about boils is that they are more frequent in the evening and mostly just before sundown. I suspect that the wipers are sensing the end of daylight and are getting one last slurp before darkness.[/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black]Also, from what I am told, the boils coincide with the size of shad. And the different sizes come and go at about 2-week cycles (I have a lot more to learn about this). So, just when you think the boils have stopped for the year, two weeks later you get a nice surprise.[/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black]Last night there was a very large (wide and loose) boil that gave me and Mrs. Coot a BUNCH of fun for about an hour located about 1/2 mile N-E of the island (west of the feed lot). I wish you could have got in on it. Lady Coot has a blister on each hand from working them big boys.[/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black]I own a white '04 F-250 with a BFT sticker. It might have been me you seen. Fairway, wish we could have met.[/black][/font][/size]
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All the birds I saw were just sitting in a big group on the water, no diving, no circling. I switched up the size of my cranks several times not knowing the size of the shad. I fished everything from a 1" diver to a 3" lipless crank. The truck I saw was an extended cab with a short bed. There was a white outlined BFT sticker in the back window and a yellow sticker on the bumper or tailgate. I was in a bright orange pontoon.
One more thing I remember a map of willard someone posted a month or so ago with all the features labeled on it. If anyone has a link to it or remembers what thread it was in could you please let me know.
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Is this the map you were looking for?
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Glad to have someone like you out there putting those [#ff0000]RECALCITRANTS[/#ff0000] in check. Every time I go out there I have a near flip because of those wave runners that like to come within 50 feet of ya.
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Disregard the comment on the map about the island being made of tires. This is not correct, it is a mound of dirt with some rocks on it.
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[red][size 3] [font "Arial Black"][red]Hey I own a 1987 White Ford bronco with BFT stickers on the rear windows, but my boat won't do the speed of sound. LOL[/red][/font][/size][/red]
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[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3] AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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Thanks for the maps guys. TD's was the one I've seen in the past, but Kents is a little easier to read once you rotate it so north is up.
Another question, how much of a depth change is the island compared to the surrounding area? Also, how big is the island?
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