[cool][#0000ff]After yesterday's report of open water at the ramp at the south marina I changed my plans. Went there instead of Pineview. Big mistake. It was frozen solid beyond where someone had broken up the 3" ice block. (see pics). I could have carried everything around the point and launched there, but there was still lots of refrozen ice almost all the way out to the point of the channel. It was only 20 degree air temp so I didn't figure it was worth waiting around for it to thaw. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Headed for the north marina. I have busted out through shore ice there before so figured I might have to do the same this morning. Yep. Had to put the tube in on the west side of the dock and then wade along the shore, breaking 1/2" ice and dragging the tube behind me until I got to an open spot where I could launch. Got 'er done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Air temp up to 22 degrees at launch. Water temp 35. Heck, it was warmer both ways at Deer Creek yesterday. But the air and water were both 36 when I got off the lake a bit before 2. I could feel the burn.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started off with a bang...and a zing. A 22" wiper that really had some shoulders. 5.2 pounds of string stretchin'...only about 5 minutes after I got launched...still inside the channel. Thought it might be the start of a great day. Nay.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fished a long time before I had my next hit. Missed about 3 pop and drops in a row. Cold, inexperienced fish. Came back inside the channel and tried finessing some of the fish I had seen suspended. Figured they might be crappies. One of them was. It ate my little jig. Onliest one for the day though. Saw lots more than I caughts.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked the heck out of both the inside channel and outside both north and south of the marina entrance. Worked from 10' to 20' deep. Again, saw a lot more fish than I felt. I did snag a few carpkind but managed to longline release them without having to bring them to the tube for surgery.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Was planning to head out about noon but decided to make one more circuit over the breakline of the channel. I had gotten bites on minnows there almost every time through but still had not put a hook in the perpetrator(s). On the way back in for the last time (yeah, right) I had another line popper. After picking up and dropping the bait several times, the fish seemed to have the minnow firmly in it's mouth. My wrist snap met with solid resistance and some animated gyrations. Yeee hawww. A wallie...21" and 3.2# of yummy munchin'.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Had several hits today that felt like catfish but they just never got the hook inside their mouth well enough for a good hookset. A kitty would have made a grand slime. But, I guess I can settle for a triple play.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There was still fairly thick ice guarding the ramp when I came back in. I had to get out near where I launched and tow the tube through the trail I had broken in the ice earlier. It was worth it. [/#0000ff]
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Hey Pat,
Those wallies get any bigger and you'll need longer arms to photograph the catch. Nice photos.
Waitin' on Starvation to freeze for a perchathon.
Mike
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Well its wasnt a super day of catching but it looks like it was worth the trip because of the quiet if nothing else. And a few wanted to give the pleasure of chewing their goodies so thats a plus too.
It looks like your tubing might be on the back burner soon so you best charge up that auger ol' buddy.
Way ta,,,,
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[cool][#0000ff]No worries about arm length. I had the "angler makeover". Arms are now adjustable for length. Comes in handy for tellin' bigger fish stories, for holding fish closer to the camera...and further away from the camera if you are taking the picture alone.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let me know when Starvy caps up and the fishing turns on. Otherwise, I might still wander over with my tube instead of my auger. But since I won't expect to see any boating wimps on the water I'll leave my rear view mirror home.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, it was not the fastest fishing I have ever had, but good enough. In fact, I was laughing to myself when I caught the wiper right after launching I could probably just go home and it would still be a good day. But, even though it was cold it was doable...and no water skiers or bugs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crazy weather. Never know whether to take the tube or the auger...or both. Could have used the auger to help launch the tube today.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You been down to the "spot" yet this winter...or has the ice still been too iffy?[/#0000ff]
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Yep, the weather is right at the stage its an iffy call day ta day..
Nope, I havent been out that way for a couple months but I'll probably take a look see shortly. I'm starting to get the bug cause I've been land locked, so ta speek, for awhile but its getting time to warm up the Strikemasters and attact their new cutters, as well as touch up the edge on spud bar.. Infact, I was outside today getting the snowmobile, wheeler and shanties ready for the big push, or pull as the case may be..
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Another classic report, all down to the details, by Tube Dude. Thanks for the efforts and the info!!!
I showed my wife a pic of your tube, now she can see there are others just as insane bout' this great sport as I am.
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dude, nice report. Thats a good outing. willard has been tough this year even during the prime times. I would be happy as hel with that hual in.
Nice!!
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[cool][#0000ff]Willard has been tough this year...for most folks. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have not fished it as much as I usually do and I have not gotten into the wipers like most years. In fact, that phatty I caught today was my FIRST wiper this year. Didn't realize it until I was updating my fishing logs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]WHEW! Almost whiffed it on the wipers this year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The walleye was a chunky fish too. I expected a gut full of shadlets but it had a small catfish in it. Ya never know.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's hopin for a better year next year for everybody...except Brian David Mitchell.[/#0000ff]
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Are there any open shore areas that are fishable? Or is it even worth to fish from the shore right now?
Nice hattrick of fish there!
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I've been tempted to air the tube up and head out tomorrow was actually thinking the veiw or causey since there seems to be a lack of Ice close by and some reachable open water, haven't been fishing for almost a month and a half and the jones is getting worse. don't really want to break a path or I would go to willard, unfortunately the weather isn't suppose to be on my side the rest of the week[frown]
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Looks like all those fish were caught in the same spot Pat. Was it a finesse bite? From the looks of it they were stacked in the channel.
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I spent around 20 days out there myself and if i averaged out the wiper catch it would be around a wiper a day for me. A few ok days, a few skunks, and a few one zys and two zys. A damn good crappies bite early though and i can count on two hands all the walleye. Now the smallies were on fire, i definetly am gonna chase them next year again, they fun too.
I like the tough fishin, it teaches ya alot and keeps the weaklings home.[
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Once again nice catch!!
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[quote JohnnyTheHook]Are there any open shore areas that are fishable? Or is it even worth to fish from the shore right now?
Nice hattrick of fish there![/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]As of right now, the channel is open and the shoreline is clear. You can easily cast to the spots where I caught both my wiper and the crappie. Or you could soak baits all up and down the channel. Minnows or crawlers should produce something. Fishing small plastics too. Best bet for suspended crappies might be slip bobbers and small ice jigs with some waxies. Lots of fish suspended all up and down the channel. I just did not finesse fish them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can access that channel either from the ramp parking area or by driving around on the other side and walking out on the point. Completely clear.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And, until the lake freezes there is open access and some potentially good fishing along the north dike. Almost always a few wipers and walleyes within casting distance. And the crappies move up and down the breakline. Not fast, but you can get into them. Catfish are always a possibility too. [/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Pineview is open and will probably stay open for a while. I am codgertatin about hitting it next week myself.[/#0000ff]
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[quote wiperhunter2]Looks like all those fish were caught in the same spot Pat. Was it a finesse bite? From the looks of it they were stacked in the channel.[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]That's what I meant to show by posting the pics I did. The fish are available and close. The wiper came on a minnow cast close to the ice edge as I was starting up the channel. By the time I netted it I was a few yards further out. The crappie was also pretty close to the edge of the ice. And there were some good schools of suspended fish all up and down the channel...inside the points.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, after the first hour, I could not get any more hits inside. So I followed the dredged channel straight out into the lake and worked along the edges and up onto the flats. Most bites came at about 15 feet deep...and there were lots of fish scattered both along the bottom and suspended.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tried throwing several different hardbaits and a variety of plastics...from small tubes to larger tubes, twisters and shad bodies. No hits on lures in the 35 degree water. The fish were simply not moving fast enough to chase even a slow moving plastic.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did get quite a few hits on minnows and a couple on whole crawlers dragged slowly on the bottom. But again, the bites were tentative...pop and drop. I let some fish play with the bait a long time before trying a hookset and still came up empty. The exception was the wiper. It did a "grab and go" and had the hook down deep. I had a couple of other "freight train" hits outside the channel but they dropped the bait quickly after picking it up and did not come back.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I suspect that some of the "inquiries" were from perch. I have caught them in the past while dragging minnows but usually only after letting them work on the bait for a while and then gulping it. Even a small perch can handle a pretty good sized minnow if you let them work on it a while. I have also caught a few crappies on minnows when they are more active and are feeding near the bottom. Not yesterday.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was a surprise to NOT catch any catfish yesterday. Almost always get a few on minnows, even right before iceup and right afterward. But, I did not go to the areas I usually do best for cats. I wanted more wipers and wallies. The kitties are always there.[/#0000ff]
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Wow Pat, It look very cold in both of those marinas. Most people would turn around and go home if they saw that.
Very cool that you pressed on. It sure looks like it paid off! Those Walleyes are the biggest I've seen come out of Willard this year. Nice also to see a good Wiper. Very nice.[cool]
PMs after the weekend.
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks Todd.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]To tell the truth, I almost headed for Pineview after seeing the south marina. And, when I saw that the north marina had refrozen too, I was right on the edge of bagging it. But I walked the edges to the west of the dock and found that I could easily break through the thin ice and I figured "What the heck. Go for it." Glad I did. I have fought my way out through worse ice and I would have probably beat myself up afterward if I didn't try it. But I would have really been torqued if I had not caught some fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All the fish in Willard are fat and healthy this year. The superabundance of shad is being well used by the predators. Even the cookie cutter kitties are getting larger. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Catch ya later.[/#0000ff]
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When you hooked up with the Wiper, were you dragging a minnow?
Well after reading the rest of your replys I see you did catch it on a minnow. I will have to try that.[
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Nice catching
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