10-10-2008, 12:35 AM
[cool][#0000ff]I had some minnows left over from my trip to Utah Lake yesterday. Figured I would take 'em up to Willard this morning, ahead of the storm, and turn them into some wipers. Figured wrong.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched just after 7 at the north marina. Figured I would get in on the early bite. Figured wrong. Air temp 45, water temp 62. Only warmed up one degree by 1 PM. Light north breeze picked up to a chilly north breeze for a couple of hours.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was a great morning for shooting the changing sunrise colors. Got a whole series starting with dark grey, going to bright pink and then changing to gold. I know "red sky at morning" and all that, but what do they say about a gold sky? [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Nary a nibble until after 8:30. Finally got a cookie cutter kitty to get rid of the skunk. No more bites for another half hour. Then, I got into my "zone" over in the NE corner and started going through my minnows pretty fast. Glad I brought another package besides the leftovers. Ran out of bait before 10 AM. Probably caught 20 to 25 cookie cutter kitties before the minnows were gone. No wipers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As the lake turned to glass, it looked like it was raining. All over the NE corner there were little rings where tiny shadlets were rising. Sometimes they would pop out of the water, but there was nothing chasing them. They were just feeding on top.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I saw a lot of wiper-looking marks on sonar, but they all had their little mouths closed...and their middle fins raised. Tough fish. Threw all sizes, colors and types of crank baits. Had one hit. Shoulda used CRACK baits like yesterday. They would have been "hooked". Also threw a variety of plastics. ZIPPO.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Dragged crawlers and casted lures on my way back to the launch ramp, after keeping a limit of kitties. No inquiries on worms. It was really starting to bug me that I hadn't got at least one wiper. I read something some guy posted on the board this week that said if there were shad in the area to fish a lure that was about the same size and color as the shad. So, I rigged a tandem jig rig with the top jig being a 1 1/2 inch blue/clear sparkle tube and the bottom being a 2" silver sparkle white, with a white head with a red eye. Both have caught finicky wipers before. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About the time I was beginning to think that guy must not have known what he was talking about, I got whacked and went bendo...but on a small kitty on the blue jig. Okay, better than nothing. A few casts later, another solid whack and a hookup. But, this one had shoulders and attitude. Screamed some line off the drag. No cookie cutter kitty here. Turned out to be a nice 18" wiper. Maybe that guy knew what he was talking about after all. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That kept me there about a half hour longer than I had planned. No more hits. Finally headed for the ramp and then the fillet station.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A couple of notes. Heard some MONSTER skeeters in the marshes this morning. Then I figured that since it was duck season that they were probably airboats. Heard quite a bit of shooting early but it died off quick. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Didn't see any flocks of "regular" ducks or geese. But, did see a lot of ducks disguised as other birds...like terns, gulls, grebes, cormorants and pelicans. Even saw one suited up as a bald eagle. Good work. Nobody is gonna shoot at them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I filleted that one lonely wiper, I found the reason why they were playing hard to get. It must have had about 20 baby shad in its stomach...pretty well digested. Looked like they probably fed the night before and were too full to be chasing many lures...or eating big minnows. (See pic) Those shadlets were only about the size of a quarter. The gizzard shad either spawned later this year or the food has been sparse for the little ones. They are almost always a couple of inches by now.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Launched just after 7 at the north marina. Figured I would get in on the early bite. Figured wrong. Air temp 45, water temp 62. Only warmed up one degree by 1 PM. Light north breeze picked up to a chilly north breeze for a couple of hours.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It was a great morning for shooting the changing sunrise colors. Got a whole series starting with dark grey, going to bright pink and then changing to gold. I know "red sky at morning" and all that, but what do they say about a gold sky? [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Nary a nibble until after 8:30. Finally got a cookie cutter kitty to get rid of the skunk. No more bites for another half hour. Then, I got into my "zone" over in the NE corner and started going through my minnows pretty fast. Glad I brought another package besides the leftovers. Ran out of bait before 10 AM. Probably caught 20 to 25 cookie cutter kitties before the minnows were gone. No wipers.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As the lake turned to glass, it looked like it was raining. All over the NE corner there were little rings where tiny shadlets were rising. Sometimes they would pop out of the water, but there was nothing chasing them. They were just feeding on top.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I saw a lot of wiper-looking marks on sonar, but they all had their little mouths closed...and their middle fins raised. Tough fish. Threw all sizes, colors and types of crank baits. Had one hit. Shoulda used CRACK baits like yesterday. They would have been "hooked". Also threw a variety of plastics. ZIPPO.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Dragged crawlers and casted lures on my way back to the launch ramp, after keeping a limit of kitties. No inquiries on worms. It was really starting to bug me that I hadn't got at least one wiper. I read something some guy posted on the board this week that said if there were shad in the area to fish a lure that was about the same size and color as the shad. So, I rigged a tandem jig rig with the top jig being a 1 1/2 inch blue/clear sparkle tube and the bottom being a 2" silver sparkle white, with a white head with a red eye. Both have caught finicky wipers before. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About the time I was beginning to think that guy must not have known what he was talking about, I got whacked and went bendo...but on a small kitty on the blue jig. Okay, better than nothing. A few casts later, another solid whack and a hookup. But, this one had shoulders and attitude. Screamed some line off the drag. No cookie cutter kitty here. Turned out to be a nice 18" wiper. Maybe that guy knew what he was talking about after all. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That kept me there about a half hour longer than I had planned. No more hits. Finally headed for the ramp and then the fillet station.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A couple of notes. Heard some MONSTER skeeters in the marshes this morning. Then I figured that since it was duck season that they were probably airboats. Heard quite a bit of shooting early but it died off quick. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Didn't see any flocks of "regular" ducks or geese. But, did see a lot of ducks disguised as other birds...like terns, gulls, grebes, cormorants and pelicans. Even saw one suited up as a bald eagle. Good work. Nobody is gonna shoot at them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When I filleted that one lonely wiper, I found the reason why they were playing hard to get. It must have had about 20 baby shad in its stomach...pretty well digested. Looked like they probably fed the night before and were too full to be chasing many lures...or eating big minnows. (See pic) Those shadlets were only about the size of a quarter. The gizzard shad either spawned later this year or the food has been sparse for the little ones. They are almost always a couple of inches by now.[/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40987"][#212126]DARK THIRTY.jpg[/#212126][/url] (359 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40988"][#212126]TUBERS SUNRISE.jpg[/#212126][/url] (120 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40989"][#212126]MIDAS TOUCH.jpg[/#212126][/url] (103 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40990"][#212126]GALE FORCE GLASS.jpg[/#212126][/url] (151 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40991"][#212126]TERN DUCKS.jpg[/#212126][/url] (143 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40992"][#212126]BIG BEAKED DUCKS.jpg[/#212126][/url] (247 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40993"][#212126]FIRST OF MANY.jpg[/#212126][/url] (169 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40994"][#212126]SMALLEST TODAY.jpg[/#212126][/url] (146 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40995"][#212126]BIGGER THAN AVERAGE.jpg[/#212126][/url] (168 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40996"][#212126]MINNOW MUNCHER.jpg[/#212126][/url] (180 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40997"][#212126]BITTY KITTY ON GLASS.jpg[/#212126][/url] (140 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40998"][#212126]LONELY BUT LOVELY.jpg[/#212126][/url] (231 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40999"][#212126]HAT TRICK.jpg[/#212126][/url] (189 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=41000"][#212126]REDEYE WHITE SPARKLE.jpg[/#212126][/url] (118 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=41001"][#212126]GIZZARD GLUT.jpg[/#212126][/url] (271 KB)[signature]