So hit the bay Tues night to get the labor day Strawberry skunk off me.... wrong answer. I got out fished by a savey munchkin 6th grader. He got the only fish and a wally at that.
His dad told him that he had never caugt a walleye before, to which the wise young one replied "Oh yea well I have!" lmao !!!
Water was a chocolate soup, muddy, murky mess. No boils that we found. Some birds diving but no action. Water was choppy a bit to boot.
Once the water clears a bit I bet it's on good.....
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It is always tough to fish the Bay when it is choppy, at least for boiling wipers[
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WH2
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Small 14"er. We were trolling back to the south marina long lining rattle traps. The walleye was caught on a smaller fire tiger rattle trap at dusk.
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Yep still Muddy as of Sundy night. Lots of diving terns but didn't see any boils. We cruised the whole lake. Nice evening out.
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Willard sucks[crazy] Took the new boat out to break in the engine and never saw one fish hit the water. Boated around the lake 3 X looking for boils. Nothing[pirate] Was told at times people have seen some boils. Not me on Sunday evening and I was out until dark thirty. Not worth the 10 bucks to put your boat on the water now. Good luck and tight lines to Ya!
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My guess is that Willard has turned over because I observed the same thing at Utah Lake last weekend two weeks after Tibble Fork turned into chocolate milk. The water will settle and clear up and the fishing should be getting better in a week or two.
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I wasn't aware that Willard turned like Strawberry does.
Water temp was 70 degrees. Is that part of the formula for the water turning?
I thought it was just mud and silt from the bath tub effect on Willard when the wind decides to white cap the lake.
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I was puzzled by your statement about Willard being muddy because normally when the lake is as high as it has been, for the last two years, you don't get the Bath tub effect as you described. The only other reason would be if the water coming into willard was muddy and in that case it would only be muddy around the South marina and out into the Bay several hundred yards. I haven't been out there for a few weeks, has the water level dropped that much? Can anyone else verify these muddy water conditions?
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[cool][#0000ff]4 of us tuber types fished out of the north marina this morning. Water is NOT muddy. Fairly clean with at least 4 feet of visibility to humans...more to fish. Water temps 63 to 65 and should warm in the next few days again. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Wipers right on the shoreline early...just sucking in shadlets. Not hitting any lures. Two bigguns caught later on minnows...see report. Catfish bite active. Not bad after a front passed through last night.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh yeah, water level is still pretty high for late in the year. About 3 feet down from high water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lots of scales at the fish cleaning station. Somebody is catching wipers.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks for the update Pat, I thought it seemed a little strange the whole lake was muddy. Sounds like those wipers are hanging near the shore line from what you and other have been saying. I guess I need to read your latest Willard report to get the rest of the story.[
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[cool][#0000ff]Actually, the shad are all over the lake and so are the wipers. As usual, we saw large balls of shad all over in the open water and there were little ones picking bugs off the top of the water wherever you looked on the calm surface. The wipers have a lot to eat and easy pickins.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw an occasional surface eruption that looked more like a wiper than a carp but never what you would call a boil. The birds were winging over the water and occasionally dropping down to pick up a stray shadlet but there was no concentrated feeding activity within sight of the north marina.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The small wipers I saw early were in water so shallow it looked like they were rolling on the sand. And the shad they were slurping could not have been much more than an inch long. There must have been a prolonged spawn or poor growing conditions this year because the shad are usually a bit larger by now. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are some 3"ers in the bunch...probably last year's hatch. So fishing the larger lures will get the bigger wipers that are feeding on the bigger shad. But it is the same old story. You have to be on top of the fish when they are actively feeding because they are probably full and inactive a good part of the time. Lots of groceries for fewer wipers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One other note. As the water cools down you need to slow down the trolling speed. The fishes' metabolism slows a bit when the high water temps of summer slide into cooler fall waters. And, just like in the spring, fishing plastics will sometimes work better than trolling cranks at mach 3.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Right now fishing small topwater stuff around the shallow brush and shorelines should be a good pattern. A couple of years ago I met a guy who wades and fishes the brush in the NE corner...with white spinnerbaits. I watched him release several dandy wipers and lose a couple more to getting wrapped in the brush. But he was getting a lot more action than I was in open water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Another guy told me he catches a lot this time of year on 3" white tubes...just dragging them on the bottom. Picks up some walleyes too. A good tactic when the water DOES get too muddy for the wipers to feed effectively by sight. They sometimes drop to the bottom and forage for food down there. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Another consideration is that the colder and murkier the water gets the better you will do with brighter colors. Early and late in the year I catch wipers on fire tiger crankbaits...or chartreuse plastics. They hit the same stuff that those silly white bass hit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Running the whole lake and looking for boils may be a good way to burn up gas but on many days it won't put any fish in the boat. Right now there are days when the temperature never gets high enough to bring shad and wipers together for a good boil. Always pays to have some backup plans and some alternate lures to fish. [/#0000ff]
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[quote ReelMasta] Strawberry skunk off me.... quote] Ya I'm smelling a little skunkie my self...[pirate][pirate][pirate]
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as usual great advice TD. I'm loading up and heading out tonight. Hopefully hook into one or two. Thank you all for the advice! I've only hooked into one all year.
They sure are adictive.
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[cool][#0000ff]Maybe you should join wiperholics anonymous. They have a great 12 cast program. And when you really wanna go fishin'...and can't get out...you call a buddy and he comes over and you get drunk together.[/#0000ff]
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LOL you funny guy. I just got back and we at least landed 1.
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