(05-17-2023, 10:28 PM)Gone Forever Wrote: Pat, I noticed the other day on one of your posts that you have a different TV than the one I remember.  Is the Garmin new this year?  What model is it?

(05-17-2023, 09:57 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Weather forecrash for today was partly cloudy and calm conditions.  NOT.  Got wind gusts and soaking rain on two different cells before noon.

Launched at the north marina just before 7 am.  1 boat launched ahead of me and there were about 10 trailers in the lot when I came in before noon.  Air temp was a pleasant 52...warming to just over 70 at noon departure.  Water started out at 57 and warmed only slightly to  a bit over 58 by noon. 

Water level was the highest I can ever remember seeing it.  Good for the fishies but not for fishermen.  Fish are spread out more and unsettled with the colder water and changing water conditions.  I saw very little on sonar today and caught less.  I did see some stacks of fish in the Eagle Beach area but since I got no bites from them I am guessing they were spawning shad.  I know if they were crappies I would have caught some.  Right.

Covered a lot of area with a lot of different lures and baits.  Worked the area outside the marina first.  Then Eagle Beach.  Then over to the north dike...up and down at different depths.  Tried bottom bouncers with worms, fligs with minnows, jigs with plastics and Gulp Minnows...and even some crank baits and hybrid lures.  Had two hits all morning.  The first was a freight train wiper.  Hit a fire tiger whirly flig with a crawler setup.  Stripped line on several short runs.  Had it on for over ten minutes.  But when it was coming in on the surface to the net the small crawler hook pulled out and he swam off.  Easily over 24 inches and probably close to 10 pounds.

The second bite was just as the last rain squall was settling  down.  Hit an orange tiger whirly flig with minnow.  Thought it might be an active cat...it was fighting so well.  But discovered it to be a 14" smallmouth.  At least it chased away the skunk I had been smelling.

Amazing there have been so few cats showing up.  Usually can't keep them off this time of year.  Talked to a couple of other guys back at the ramp and they expressed similar luck and similar observations.  Not much going on.  The bottom of Willard looks like a big desert on sonar.

PS...can't post the pics for some reason.

(05-17-2023, 09:57 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Weather forecrash for today was partly cloudy and calm conditions.  NOT.  Got wind gusts and soaking rain on two different cells before noon.

Launched at the north marina just before 7 am.  1 boat launched ahead of me and there were about 10 trailers in the lot when I came in before noon.  Air temp was a pleasant 52...warming to just over 70 at noon departure.  Water started out at 57 and warmed only slightly to  a bit over 58 by noon. 

Water level was the highest I can ever remember seeing it.  Good for the fishies but not for fishermen.  Fish are spread out more and unsettled with the colder water and changing water conditions.  I saw very little on sonar today and caught less.  I did see some stacks of fish in the Eagle Beach area but since I got no bites from them I am guessing they were spawning shad.  I know if they were crappies I would have caught some.  Right.

Covered a lot of area with a lot of different lures and baits.  Worked the area outside the marina first.  Then Eagle Beach.  Then over to the north dike...up and down at different depths.  Tried bottom bouncers with worms, fligs with minnows, jigs with plastics and Gulp Minnows...and even some crank baits and hybrid lures.  Had two hits all morning.  The first was a freight train wiper.  Hit a fire tiger whirly flig with a crawler setup.  Stripped line on several short runs.  Had it on for over ten minutes.  But when it was coming in on the surface to the net the small crawler hook pulled out and he swam off.  Easily over 24 inches and probably close to 10 pounds.

The second bite was just as the last rain squall was settling  down.  Hit an orange tiger whirly flig with minnow.  Thought it might be an active cat...it was fighting so well.  But discovered it to be a 14" smallmouth.  At least it chased away the skunk I had been smelling.

Amazing there have been so few cats showing up.  Usually can't keep them off this time of year.  Talked to a couple of other guys back at the ramp and they expressed similar luck and similar observations.  Not much going on.  The bottom of Willard looks like a big desert on sonar.

PS...can't post the pics for some reason.

(05-18-2023, 01:40 PM)doitall5000 Wrote: I saw very little on sonar today and caught less.  I did see some stacks of fish in the Eagle Beach area but since I got no bites from them I am guessing they were spawning shad.  I know if they were crappies I would have caught some.  Right.
[Image: SCREEN-5-17-23.jpg]
When I looked at your picture of your Garmin I see fish on the down images but there is no sign on your side scan.  Does the side scan show good structures just outside the north marina?

(05-18-2023, 01:52 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: For me, Willard on side scan is nothing but flat featureless nothing, except near the humps and islands. People tell me you can see fish on side scan, but I sure can't.

(05-18-2023, 02:10 PM)TubeDude Wrote:

(05-18-2023, 01:40 PM)doitall5000 Wrote: I saw very little on sonar today and caught less.  I did see some stacks of fish in the Eagle Beach area but since I got no bites from them I am guessing they were spawning shad.  I know if they were crappies I would have caught some.  Right.
[Image: SCREEN-5-17-23.jpg]
When I looked at your picture of your Garmin I see fish on the down images but there is no sign on your side scan.  Does the side scan show good structures just outside the north marina?

The infrequent "stacks" of fish I saw in Eagle Beach did not always show up on side scan.  For me, it has been better for finding fish on the bottom or close to it.  And, yes, it is useful for seeing "bottom anomalies" (say that fast about 3 times).  I have observed individual rocks, humps and bumps...and even long ridges left over from the dike building days.  And when those things attract structure loving fish, they do usually show up.  It is an interesting show when you pull within range of a rock dike or wall.

(05-18-2023, 02:16 PM)doitall5000 Wrote:

(05-18-2023, 02:10 PM)TubeDude Wrote:

(05-18-2023, 01:40 PM)doitall5000 Wrote: I saw very little on sonar today and caught less.  I did see some stacks of fish in the Eagle Beach area but since I got no bites from them I am guessing they were spawning shad.  I know if they were crappies I would have caught some.  Right.
[Image: SCREEN-5-17-23.jpg]
When I looked at your picture of your Garmin I see fish on the down images but there is no sign on your side scan.  Does the side scan show good structures just outside the north marina?

The infrequent "stacks" of fish I saw in Eagle Beach did not always show up on side scan.  For me, it has been better for finding fish on the bottom or close to it.  And, yes, it is useful for seeing "bottom anomalies" (say that fast about 3 times).  I have observed individual rocks, humps and bumps...and even long ridges left over from the dike building days.  And when those things attract structure loving fish, they do usually show up.  It is an interesting show when you pull within range of a rock dike or wall.

I've just bought the 7sc but not yet used it I'm very interested in the dikes and the west corner. 
There are some humps that are hard to locate that I found a few years ago but can not relocate.

(05-18-2023, 02:26 PM)TubeDude Wrote:

(05-18-2023, 02:16 PM)doitall5000 Wrote:

(05-18-2023, 02:10 PM)TubeDude Wrote:

(05-18-2023, 01:40 PM)doitall5000 Wrote: I saw very little on sonar today and caught less.  I did see some stacks of fish in the Eagle Beach area but since I got no bites from them I am guessing they were spawning shad.  I know if they were crappies I would have caught some.  Right.
[Image: SCREEN-5-17-23.jpg]
When I looked at your picture of your Garmin I see fish on the down images but there is no sign on your side scan.  Does the side scan show good structures just outside the north marina?

The infrequent "stacks" of fish I saw in Eagle Beach did not always show up on side scan.  For me, it has been better for finding fish on the bottom or close to it.  And, yes, it is useful for seeing "bottom anomalies" (say that fast about 3 times).  I have observed individual rocks, humps and bumps...and even long ridges left over from the dike building days.  And when those things attract structure loving fish, they do usually show up.  It is an interesting show when you pull within range of a rock dike or wall.

I've just bought the 7sc but not yet used it I'm very interested in the dikes and the west corner. 
There are some humps that are hard to locate that I found a few years ago but can not relocate.

As you already know, the deeper the water the wider the sidescan beam.  And in our newly deepened waters at Willard you should have a pretty wide display.  So, by using GPS or shoreline references if close enough you should be able to make a grid to check all "interesting" features in a given area. 

If your system is programmable you might be able to widen the beam for individual searches.  Once you get used to how your system displays, and if you want to also employ down imaging to verify your discoveries, you should get a better picture of the contours. 

Man, I can't believe all the years I fished without sonar...and all the years I got by with some of the basic and inaccurate systems I once used.  One of these days we might come up with systems to rig the right lures and make the casts for us.  But then that would finish taking a lot of the interest and mystery out of our masochistic sport.

(05-18-2023, 05:37 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Sorry to hear the catching was so poor for you Pat, sure makes me wonder where all the cats have gone too. I did hear a report yesterday that one guy caught a 10 lber out there, not many that size in there. We were on the West side yesterday and all we got was a few sprinkles but after the storm passed to the East i commented to Ira that it looked like the North marina was getting hit hard, sounds like it did indeed. How long did it come down with that soaking rain?

(05-18-2023, 08:15 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Got a couple of theories about the catfish.  It all has to do with the food chain thing.  In the olden days there were a lot more cats...of all sizes...because there was a lot more cat food.  That was a combination of lots of crawdads and lots of young crappies.  Both hung around the rock dikes around the shorelines...because in those days the lake stayed pretty full year round and the water level was always well up into the rocks.  So the best place to fish for both cats and walleyes was around the dikes...where the groceries were.

In those days, there weren't any wipers or shad.  These days the wipers compete with the cats for crawdads and other available food during the months when there are no shad for their hungry mouths.  Furthermore, young catfish are also on the menu for both wipers and walleyes when the shad are too big, too small or not available at all.  The combination of decreased food supply and increased predation on baby catfish result in fewer cats surviving to become adults.  The upside is that those that do survive to grow bigger.

One of the factors supporting this theory is the relative lack of small catfish being caught.  There were times in recent years when catfish were abundant...but seldom over 18 inches...with lots of "footlongs".  Then, as wiper numbers increased the cats decreased in abundance but have been getting to a larger average size each year.