Wiperslayer and I got out for some unbelievable fishing at the Bay yesterday. We launched around 6:30 am and were fishing the Openness by 7 am. I rarely start fishing that early because imo it is a waste of time, that will change as the water warms but at launch the water temp was 62*, it went up to 65* before we got off the main body of water around 1 pm. Meet BFT member Fishgiver at the ramp as we were launching, good to meet you, hope you had a good morning of crappie fishing. We caught nothing for over an hour or so until we got to the West side of the lake, then the switch was turned on and the slay fest began[crazy]. It started slow with one or two fish mainly walleye but then it got crazy with with so many doubles and triples that we lost count, this continued until 12:30 when I called Skunked Again to see if he had launched yet, while talking to him the catching got insane and I had to hang up to help catch 5 in a row. We would start reeling one fish in when another fish would hit a different rod, before we got that fish in another fish would hit another rod and that continued until all four rods went down. I'm not sure how Ira had time to get the first rod back in the water be he did and before I got number four fish to the boat he had number 5 fish on. In the past we have had quad wipers hookups and lands but the was our fish 5er[crazy]. I finally call Jeff back and told him when to start fishing and after a few more fish we called it a day, on the Bay at least[
]. We stopped on the way into the marina and talked to Jeff and his fishing partner for a few minutes then we went into the marina to catch a few crappie. From the looks of it, the shore fishing had slowed way down since my last trip there on Monday but those in float tubes and boats were still doing good away from shore. We ran into Wasatch801(I think that was his username), in his float tube and talked to him as we fished, good to meet you, hope you got some of the big ones before you left. Also ran into an old friend from where I use to work, good to see you again Les. We finally called it a day, to the best fishing day this year. Seems like day like that only happen once or twice a year, so i'll be lucky to get into them like that again. Thanks Ira for an awesome day on the water.
WH2
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Congrats on a great day! Thinking of heading out Tuesday and chasing a few fish. Aside from the great eye and wiper fishing, did you see any carp thrashing around?
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Oh yea, carp are thrashing around all over the place, especially around the docks and shallows.
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Thanks for the heads up. It's much appreciated. Sounds like ill spend the majority of the day getting rid of some of those golden logs
. Also any certain colors or trolling speeds working better than others? I've caught a few wipers from shore but just bought a new boat and plan on trying to troll for a few eyes as they are still pretty elusive for me and I can't seem to cross them off my bucket list. Not looking for any info on spots or anything you don't want to share but any advice would be very much appreciated.
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I am curious... What time did the bite really get started? I am just wondering if the bite that started for you coincided with the Solunar forecast?
I am heading up on Saturday to take a neighbor fishing there for his first time, so I am hoping we have as much good luck as I had last week.
Gotta love those feisty wipers.
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It was nice to have met you. Yes I did well and was able to get back in time to do my chores that my wife had for me. Probably will get back up to try for some Wipers and Walleye.
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Okay I have never caught a wiper and am tired of reading all of these willard reports and never getting out there. If anyone ever needs someone to split costs I live in Riverdale and would be more than happy to do so. [cool]
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[#484848]When your boat starts listing to the side of the Wally[/#484848]
[#484848]live well, you know you have had one of those days where you are afraid that you will wake up.[/#484848]
[#bf0000]Good on ya.[/#bf0000]
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Nice going Wiper. Love the pix [mad] just giving ya carp. But no catfish! Heck - what kind of fishing trip is that. Stupid freight trains and tender filets. Bah - who needs it! [blush][crazy][:p]
Crazy nice day at work, until I got to leave. Deciding to pitch a few curly's in hopes of finding the local Crappie spawn, but no go. Then the flash and bang started, uh - yeah, no - thanks.
Long weekend ahead, there's still hope!
Glad you had such a bang-up day. So you ID'd all them BFTers without flags, or was it the flags/stickers that done did it? [cool]
Hey wiperhunter, I was in the marina shore fishing for a short time when you motored into the marina and started talking to the guy in the aluminum boat and the dude in the tube. I was directly to the east of you guys in the white shirt and had a red fire pickup truck.
I mention this because if the shore fishing appeared to have slowed down it must have really been insane before! I caught like 20 in an hour and a half and they were 11-13.5" crappies. I only had a short time to fish while driving past the bay so I thought "why not?".
Anyway, I wish I could have had my boat out there but it just isn't in the cards for me. That's one impressive day you had though by the sound of it.
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[quote spoondog]Any certain colors or trolling speeds working better than others? Not looking for any info on spots or anything you don't want to share but any advice would be very much appreciated.[/quote]
I've been catching them on many different lures, like the rapala shad rap, in the shad pattern but I have also caught them with blue back lipless cranks like rattle traps, We were trolling around 3mph. We mainly trolled the Openness and started catching fish NW of the island. Good luck.
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[quote Outfishing13]I am curious... What time did the bite really get started? I am just wondering if the bite that started for you coincided with the Solunar forecast?
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We started catching fish around 8am, the action picked up pretty steady around 10am and by 11:30 it was on fire. Not really sure what the Solunar forecast said but the weather forcast rain for tomorrow afternoon so get out in the morning before the next storm comes in, good luck.
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[quote CoyoteSpinner]Nice going Wiper. Love the pix [mad] just giving ya carp. Glad you had such a bang-up day. So you ID'd all them BFTers without flags, or was it the flags/stickers that done did it? [cool][/quote]
My new computer doesn't have a place to download my camera's SD card, so until I have time to set up my old computer again, no pics, sorry.
For the last year or so I've been wearing my BFT garb(shirt and cap) when I'm out fishing, so members see that and the BFT stickers on the boat I guess. When they ask I tell them who I am, most local fishermen know about BFT I guess, more than you think.
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I did see a guy carry a stringer of crappie up to the road but did not notice where he went. That must have been you, were the guys by you catching any fish? I said the catching is slowing down because there were two separate guys that I know that have been fishing it every day, that told me it had slowed. I know there were a lot more people fishing where you were and near the ramp on Monday. I bet it will be packed there tomorrow and next week it will likely be over.
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Hey Curt it was a crazy day sure appreciated the direction to head... We found a little zone that was 200 to 300 Yards long and 100 Yards wide that everytime we went through it, it was fish on several poles at the same time... We had 3 poles out and a couple triples... Most of the fish were 14" but we did get a few 17 to 18" wipers and 19" walleyes with big wide shoulders so they made really great fillets... Well it took the best day of the year for me to finally catch one, hope I can find them on a regular day..... Anyway thanks for the tips and I'll catch ya later... J
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Ya, that was me. The folks that were fishing next to me were an old asian couple. The wife was catching them, but the old man wasn't. He came up and asked me how to get them and I gave him my rig because I had my limit. It isn't very often that I have had an asian ask me how to do it
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You know, it could have been the area you were fishing because the guys I talked to were fishing closer to the ramp. They had been catching limits in 30 min. I bet the majority of the spawn is over but certain spots are still holding fish. We never got any over 12 inches so I'm glad to hear you caught some bigger fish.
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Congrats on catching so many members and friends.....and the amount of fish too!
Username change required....willardhunter2!
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awesome report curt . I don't know what got into that place this year but I like it. I'm headed for the high country this week to see how that goes and take a break from the bugs p/s how can a crappie day of fishing be good[
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A 60 fish day is something I've never experienced at Willard and we did not stay on the lake that long, just one of those days that don't happen often. I don't see it lasting too much longer, in years past it is usually over by June. During the Summer I consider a 6 fish day, an average day but it is crazy now, because last week we caught 10 eyes and 5 or 6 wipers and I was disappointed because that was all we caught.[crazy] It sure has been fun so far, I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will last longer this year.
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