09-29-2010, 10:01 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Nope. Nuttin' kinky. Just another report about the everlovin' cookie cutter kitties at Willard.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I launched about 7 AM at the south marina. Still pretty darkish. But no wipers or walleyes lurking in the low light to brighten our day. Nuttin' but kitties...and a small smallie.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp just over 64 at launch and just over 66 when we boogied a little after noon. Air temps ranged from 52 early to about 80 at departure. Not a bad weather day. Just like summer in the fall.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Took a while to find the active fish. Nothing inside the marina channel but shad and carp. Rare to not even get a minnow chomper before getting out of the entrance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got my first fish...a cookie cutter kitty...on a blue plastic tube jig about 1/2 hour after launching. A few minutes later I kicked into the ZONE and it was cat-smack city from then on. Kitty after kitty...and several doubles...one on each rod. Ditto for TubeBabe.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I thought the fish would be in the typical 12 to 13 feet of water, as they normally are this time of year. But NOOOOOOO. With the warm weather we have been having the fish moved into much shallower water. Got slammed in 8-9 feet today. And they were hitting lures as fast as bait. I got 8 - 10 cats on the blue/clear sparkle tube jig. I also got several on a blue-backed diving crankbait I was throwing for wipers...or whatever. Also got a small smallmouth on the crankbait. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We both had limits of kitties in our baskets early and did a lot of C&R. Tried to find some wipers or walleyes but couldn't keep the cats off whatever we used. I did have a small boil going on between me and the dike at one time. I was about 100 yards away and it was all over by the time my electric motor got me within casting range. That was the only wiper activity I saw. No bird activity other than the terns holding the channel marker buoys down so they wouldn't drift off.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw lots of wiper scales all over the place at the fish cleaning station so somebody is catching a few. What I can't figure out is WHY folks scale their wipers. You can fillet and skin them faster than you can scale them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw several boats heading out and most made a beeline for Freeway Bay. Of the boats coming back in, none seemed to be fish-heavy. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Beautiful day. No wind, clear water and enough cookie cutters to keep us both busy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I launched about 7 AM at the south marina. Still pretty darkish. But no wipers or walleyes lurking in the low light to brighten our day. Nuttin' but kitties...and a small smallie.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Water temp just over 64 at launch and just over 66 when we boogied a little after noon. Air temps ranged from 52 early to about 80 at departure. Not a bad weather day. Just like summer in the fall.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Took a while to find the active fish. Nothing inside the marina channel but shad and carp. Rare to not even get a minnow chomper before getting out of the entrance.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Got my first fish...a cookie cutter kitty...on a blue plastic tube jig about 1/2 hour after launching. A few minutes later I kicked into the ZONE and it was cat-smack city from then on. Kitty after kitty...and several doubles...one on each rod. Ditto for TubeBabe.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I thought the fish would be in the typical 12 to 13 feet of water, as they normally are this time of year. But NOOOOOOO. With the warm weather we have been having the fish moved into much shallower water. Got slammed in 8-9 feet today. And they were hitting lures as fast as bait. I got 8 - 10 cats on the blue/clear sparkle tube jig. I also got several on a blue-backed diving crankbait I was throwing for wipers...or whatever. Also got a small smallmouth on the crankbait. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We both had limits of kitties in our baskets early and did a lot of C&R. Tried to find some wipers or walleyes but couldn't keep the cats off whatever we used. I did have a small boil going on between me and the dike at one time. I was about 100 yards away and it was all over by the time my electric motor got me within casting range. That was the only wiper activity I saw. No bird activity other than the terns holding the channel marker buoys down so they wouldn't drift off.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw lots of wiper scales all over the place at the fish cleaning station so somebody is catching a few. What I can't figure out is WHY folks scale their wipers. You can fillet and skin them faster than you can scale them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw several boats heading out and most made a beeline for Freeway Bay. Of the boats coming back in, none seemed to be fish-heavy. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Beautiful day. No wind, clear water and enough cookie cutters to keep us both busy.[/#0000ff]
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