Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe had a painting project underway so I headed north all by my lonesome. Ready to launch at Willard Bay's N. Marina just before 6:30. No clouds in the sky, air temp 60, no bugs, water temp 76. Lookin' good. Looks can be deceiving.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lots of baby shad and carplets rolling in the thin water next to the launch ramp...and all over the surface of the marina. Saw a few predator slurps here and there. A good omen? Not so much.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked around the entire marina...dragging a minnow on one rod and pitching plastics with the other. Yawn. Nada. Shoulda stood in bed. Did see lots of fish on sonar but they weren't havin' any of what I was offerin'. Stupid fish. Stupid sonar. I don't need to know that I ain't good enough to catch fish when they are there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Best explanation I could come up with was that the water is so full of food...of several species...that the fish are not forced to work for their dinner. All they gotta do is open their mouths and swim. That was partially reinforced on my minnow rod. I almost ALWAYS catch fish on my minnows. But today it was rare to even get an inquiry. And when I did it was almost always pop and drop. I did eventually catch a couple of kitties outside the marina on minnows but barely touched the bag for the whole day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On the other hand, the extra wiggle and jiggle of the tandem jig rig I fished did get more attention. Quite a few tentative takes, short strikes and semi smacks. I got the hook into one good fish that took off on a good run before coming unbuttoned. And I did catch a few small kitties on small tubes sweetened with crawler.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I covered a lot of water...fishing all the way over to the north dike, up the dike a ways and then back. Finished up back inside the marina for the last hour. Saw grundles of likely suspects but they all had alibis. Released most of the perpetrators I netted. Only brought two kitties home for further interrogation. Sentenced them to serve time in a pan of hot garlic butter and then be transferred to a bed of noodles.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Talked with a few other tanglers...mostly boaters. Some blanked, some got one or two. One tin boat with a couple of older gents was trolling pretty fast right next to the rocks along the north dike while I was over there. They trailered up about the same time I hit the ramp and said they had caught a few cats, walleyes and smallmouths...all quite small. Also said that their fish were spitting up shadlets.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Well, I got my monthly Willard fix taken care of. Now to get back over to Starvation and sample a few of the other ponds I have been neglecting.[/#0000ff]
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Good to see that you got out. With all the shad in the water I think willard as difficult as it is, is going to get even more difficult to catch fish now. I am thinking starvation on monday as well. I need to get back out again.
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You caught a few cats, that's better than getting skunked. I think that exotic fishing trip you went on has you spoiled. []
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[quote TheCarDoctor]You caught a few cats, that's better than getting skunked. I think that exotic fishing trip you went on has you spoiled. [][/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Nope. I enjoyed the trip but I'm not silly enough to expect that kind of fishing anywhere in Utah. Our fish here are not as plentiful...or as big. But they are all still fun and when you can appreciate what we have then it's all good.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have mostly completed reentry therapy and my bottle of meds is almost finished. So I am just about back to reality. A few more kitties should finish the process.[/#0000ff]
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