05-03-2008, 12:50 AM
[cool][#0000ff]Didn't have great expectations for Willard post front. TubeBabe and I hit it anyway. Launched at the north marina about 6:45. A little sliver of moon over the mountains to the east. 30 degree air temp and 52 degree water temp. Calm and clear. Lookin' good.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The water was much dirtier, after the recent blows, than it was last Monday. Also noticed that it has come up about a foot since the last time I launched at the north marina two weeks ago. The dirt berm in the marina is now covered, but boaters need to know that it is not deep enough to take a boat into.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Now over 8' in the channel, shallowing to about 4 feet at the hump before you go into the main lake. Lots of shad in the channel and marina. Might be looking for a place to spawn. No wipers visible or active. One boat that came back in later said they found a few wipers along the west side. No details.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I threw plastics all the way out the channel and into deeper water outside. Stopped to put out a minnow on the bait rod and got an instant kitty. Barely 7 AM and had a 17 incher in the basket. I thought it was going to be a rerun of the great action I had last Monday. NOT.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fished almost another whole hour before my next bite...a chuck back 13 incher. TubeBabe still had not been bit. We spread out and worked different depths and different baits and lures. SLOOOOOOOW. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I picked up a couple more cookie cutter (15") cats for the basket, but bites were few and far between. TubeBabe had a couple of hits finally, but they were inexperieced fish and did not know how to hang on. I had to stay upwind in the light breezes to avoid the smell of skunk she was starting to develop.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We worked most of the way over to the north dike, without finding any definable group of active fish. The water warmed up a couple of degrees as the sun got higher, and we both got some more bites. I landed mine. She didn't.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About 11 AM the daily west wind started to pick up a bit so we began working back toward the marina. I picked up a few more kitties, including one I caught on a small green jig. Only bite I had all day on artificials. All the other cats came on minnows or carp meat...about 2-1 minnows over carp. Nothing on crawlers. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And, almost every bite came in at least 10 feet of water. There was nothing in shallower water or anywhere near shore. There were a couple of bank tanglers at the point of the marina entrance as we came back in and they had not even had a mosquito bite.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]FINALLY...at 11:45...TubeBabe scored a cookie cutter kitty and the skunk swam to shore. She had a couple more inquiries after that, but didn't get to invite any more fish home.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I ended up with my usual 7 in the basket, out of twelve brought to the tube. No other species besides cats. Missed several bites and lost one nice fish on the way in. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had to be very careful about making any comparisons...or gloating about my success to TubeBabe. She sometimes catches more, but when she doesn't, I obey my self preservation instincts and keep my mouth shut.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The water temp was only a little over 55 when we came in, and the air was only 50. We need some more warm weather...without wind...so the water will warm up and clear up for the wipers. [/#0000ff]
[#ff0000][size 5][/size][/#ff0000]
![[Image: image.gif]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/files/image.gif)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35591"][#63626b]MORNING MOON SLIVER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (91.3 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35592"][#63626b]EARLY DEPARTURE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (147 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35593"][#63626b]TUBEBABE ON GLASS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (208 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35594"][#63626b]7 AM VOLUNTEER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (150 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35595"][#63626b]CHUCK BACK.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (178 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35596"][#63626b]LIL JIG MUNCHER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (135 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35597"][#63626b]SKUNK PATROL.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (214 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35598"][#63626b]FISH OR CUT BAIT.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (217 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35599"][#63626b]SPRINTER (SPRING-WINTER).jpg[/#63626b][/url] (206 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35600"][#63626b]DA RAMP.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (262 KB)
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The water was much dirtier, after the recent blows, than it was last Monday. Also noticed that it has come up about a foot since the last time I launched at the north marina two weeks ago. The dirt berm in the marina is now covered, but boaters need to know that it is not deep enough to take a boat into.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Now over 8' in the channel, shallowing to about 4 feet at the hump before you go into the main lake. Lots of shad in the channel and marina. Might be looking for a place to spawn. No wipers visible or active. One boat that came back in later said they found a few wipers along the west side. No details.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I threw plastics all the way out the channel and into deeper water outside. Stopped to put out a minnow on the bait rod and got an instant kitty. Barely 7 AM and had a 17 incher in the basket. I thought it was going to be a rerun of the great action I had last Monday. NOT.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fished almost another whole hour before my next bite...a chuck back 13 incher. TubeBabe still had not been bit. We spread out and worked different depths and different baits and lures. SLOOOOOOOW. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I picked up a couple more cookie cutter (15") cats for the basket, but bites were few and far between. TubeBabe had a couple of hits finally, but they were inexperieced fish and did not know how to hang on. I had to stay upwind in the light breezes to avoid the smell of skunk she was starting to develop.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We worked most of the way over to the north dike, without finding any definable group of active fish. The water warmed up a couple of degrees as the sun got higher, and we both got some more bites. I landed mine. She didn't.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About 11 AM the daily west wind started to pick up a bit so we began working back toward the marina. I picked up a few more kitties, including one I caught on a small green jig. Only bite I had all day on artificials. All the other cats came on minnows or carp meat...about 2-1 minnows over carp. Nothing on crawlers. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]And, almost every bite came in at least 10 feet of water. There was nothing in shallower water or anywhere near shore. There were a couple of bank tanglers at the point of the marina entrance as we came back in and they had not even had a mosquito bite.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]FINALLY...at 11:45...TubeBabe scored a cookie cutter kitty and the skunk swam to shore. She had a couple more inquiries after that, but didn't get to invite any more fish home.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I ended up with my usual 7 in the basket, out of twelve brought to the tube. No other species besides cats. Missed several bites and lost one nice fish on the way in. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had to be very careful about making any comparisons...or gloating about my success to TubeBabe. She sometimes catches more, but when she doesn't, I obey my self preservation instincts and keep my mouth shut.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The water temp was only a little over 55 when we came in, and the air was only 50. We need some more warm weather...without wind...so the water will warm up and clear up for the wipers. [/#0000ff]
[#ff0000][size 5][/size][/#ff0000]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35591"][#63626b]MORNING MOON SLIVER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (91.3 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35592"][#63626b]EARLY DEPARTURE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (147 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35593"][#63626b]TUBEBABE ON GLASS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (208 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35594"][#63626b]7 AM VOLUNTEER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (150 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35595"][#63626b]CHUCK BACK.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (178 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35596"][#63626b]LIL JIG MUNCHER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (135 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35597"][#63626b]SKUNK PATROL.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (214 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35598"][#63626b]FISH OR CUT BAIT.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (217 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35599"][#63626b]SPRINTER (SPRING-WINTER).jpg[/#63626b][/url] (206 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=35600"][#63626b]DA RAMP.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (262 KB)[signature]