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+--- Thread: Willard on Fire 5-22 (/showthread.php?tid=882354)
Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-23-2014
Hit Willard after lunch today and ran into Wiperhunter and wiperslayer who gave me some great tips on direction to head and lures to try... Within ten minutes I nailed a nice 18" eye and right after I unhooked it, I caught my first wiper ever, not all the big, 14" but didn't matter I scratched my bucket list..
Well from then on it was crazy, I couldn't get the fish off one pole before I had another on the the other rod... Ended up with 17 fish 3 eyes, 13 wiper and 1 crappie... Only slow spot for us was the crappie, took about 40 minutes in two spots to catch one fish... I seen lots of other folks nailing some, but we didn't do as well on them.. Kept a few fish to try and wow they are great eating can't complain at all... I do need TD to show me the trick to keep the upper row of bones out of the meat on the walleye... Pat all of your other filleting tips really helped speed me up tonight.. Thanks... J
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - gmwahl - 05-23-2014
Too cool! I stopped by Willard also today on my way back from the Governors Public Safety Summit and just tried it from the bank in the north marina. All I can say is that I only caught crappies, but boy was it easy and they were nice! 11-13.5". I caught about 20 in the 90 minutes or so that I was fishing and then had to boogie. I kept a limit though and plan on a fish fry tomorrow. I gave my rig to some elderly Asian fellow that wasn't having any luck before I left. I wonder if it helped him get his limit?
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - TubeDude - 05-23-2014
[#0000FF]Excellent. Shows ya what can happen when perseverance, guidance, timing and luck all come together...finally.
About the walleye...and wipers. There is a row of small bones that comes up into the flesh right about where the ribs join the spine. If you cut the rib cages out after slabbing the fillet you can usually remove them with the right cut. Otherwise, you need to make a second cut along that line...and even down into the tail section for an inch or two.
If you cut down from the top of the fish and around the rib cage, you will almost always leave those small bones in the fillet.
Glad you got into them. Now you know why there are so many wiperholics.
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Re: [gmwahl] Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-23-2014
Nice crappie, for some reason I could only get the one to bite in the north marina but I didn't change jigs and try something different. We were supposed to be leaving so I didn't take the time to rearrange things. If you don't mind would you PM how and what colors you were fishing. Thanks J
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - ZATARRA - 05-23-2014
Nice report! I am still trying to figure out the right way to fillet wiper and walleye. Congrats on scratching wiper off your list.
Kevin
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - BagABigOne - 05-23-2014
Great report. My wife and I are looking forward to going there this weekend.
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Re: [BagABigOne] Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-23-2014
Hey Rod if you only fish one time a year this is the time to do it. It's what keeps ya going back to have days like yesterday. Good luck hope she treats ya right. Later J
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - RockyRaab - 05-23-2014
Skunked, when in doubt, use something with some chartreuse in it for crappie. Chartreuse and black is a classic, as is red and...white and...green and...
I caught equal numbers the other day on each jig of my two-jig rig. The small top jig was a yellow and white tube jig and the bottom was a Chartreuse jig head with a two-inch Gulp emerald shiner body. All the bigger fish came on the larger jig. The latter worked so well, I gave my remaining pack of those minnows to another angler when I left. Naturally, that was the only kind of Gulp minnow that Sportsman's Warehouse was out of the next day. Grrrrr.
Don't be afraid to use jig bodies as large as 3" - crappie have large mouths and will smack larger baits than you might think.
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Re: [ZATARRA] Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-23-2014
Thanks Kevin, I think it would be good for all of us that haven't figured the filleting out to have TD show us. He is so good and fast at it that it doesn't even seem like a chore. I do want an electric fillet knife like he has I couldn't get my hand knife through the rib bones like his will do so I'm still pretty slow and need to learn how to get those other small row of bones out too. Thanks for the BL well wish its been an illusive one for me. Good luck. J
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Re: [TubeDude] Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-23-2014
Hey Pat thanks for the well wish and assistance along the way. They are very fun fish. It was fun to catch something that you had to take the motor out of gear to land. Found a couple weak links in my system. I got to get a new net those wipers tied every hook into the net so it cost me 5 minutes each fish to get the hooks out of the net. I also need to learn how to handle wipers better I either got stuck by them or my hooks every fish. They won't settle down for a finger mouth grab and if I tried to hold the body I was getting stuck, but it was worth it. WH2 told me to use the planar board but the fish were biting so fast I didn't want to take the time to set it up so I tied two lines together in a mess. Ended up giving up and cutting the lines and re-tying. Had I not goofed so many times I would have caught a few more. Maybe the big one. Anyway thanks Pat for the assist it was much appreciated. Tried your crappie bump but couldn't find a fish. Rocky must have caught them all. Have a good day. Later J
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Re: [RockyRaab] Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-23-2014
Hey Rocky thanks for the great info, my buddy was trying the yellow and I was using a 3" white with salt and pepper and you're right the larger fish do suck those bigger jigs down. That's why I usually try that one. I wonder if the time of day had sort of shut them down because we only seen a few caught then. When we were trying to launch the boat we had a hard time getting to the ramp for all the crappie fishermen there nailing crappie. Guess we should have tried then, but I had other fish in mind. I sure like my toon better for the crappie fishing the boat was a pain, but it did work better for the wiper troll. Well good luck if you try it over the crazy weekend. Later J
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - CoyoteSpinner - 05-23-2014
Dude - you didn't just scratch your bucket list, you filled it with slime! Dawg - well done. Now your confidence will build, and the next trip - well, you might get humbled again!
Maybe I really should leave my cats and tarpon alone, and take a run down. SURE it'll be a mad-house this weekend!
North or South marina? (care to ping me your GPS marks? Kidding - but more general directional pointers might help me, if I make the venture.) Wish I could hit a weekday.
So - out in the big boat this time. Least you got your trolling fix on!
As for the bones - FEEL it. Like TD said - right down the middle. About the same as a bluegill or bass. Rub from the tail to the top and you'll feel them. Just nip a strip down the middle, or just split the fillet in halfses.
Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - TubeDude - 05-23-2014
[#0000ff]I had to chortle and guffaw a bit as I read of your tribulations in fish handling. They say "Necessity is the mother of invention". I say simply...necessity is a mother. Seems to be an unwritten law that anytime you have a weakness in your setup or system it will become instantly apparent as soon as some big nasty fish joins you...on the end of your line. Something like Murphy's law at work.
That is where you can use the resources of this board, and the willingness of other more experienced wiper chasers, to help you refine your system. You definitely need a large net of that rubberized mesh. That is invaluable when you are trying to control big active fish...dangling from treble hook laden lures. And if you aren't using planer boards you need to have rod holders that spread your lures out as far as possible. But even then those wipers are known for swinging in big arcs as you bring them in...and they know more knots than an eagle scout. Always good to have extra rods, reels, spools and line on board. Oh yeah, don't forget the tranquilizers...for you, not the fish.
Oh yeah, I'm attaching a pictorial on filleting wipers. Forgot I had it. The process is pretty much the same for walleyes. To eliminate those little flesh bones be sure to follow the steps suggested or removing the rib cage...starting your cut back far enough to remove those bones.
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - wiperhunter2 - 05-23-2014
I'm glad to hear I was able to help you find some willing fish Jeff. Once you figure out how to use those planner boards, you will be wishing you had started using them earlier[
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Re: [SkunkedAgain] Willard on Fire 5-22 - LIL_FISH - 05-23-2014
Congrats! I still have to mark that wiper off my list. They are elusive little buggers. I wish I had that kind of luck when I was there. Granted I was on shore and I have been told that it i a whole different ball game when you are in a boat. Hopefully I will have my boat up here soon like next weekend. I have to change out the bearings on the trailer but hopefully I will be able to get it up here soon.
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Re: [TubeDude] Willard on Fire 5-22 - ZATARRA - 05-23-2014
Thank you TubeDude! I am grateful that you are so willing to teach and share your vast fishing knowledge.
Kevin
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Re: [ZATARRA] Willard on Fire 5-22 - TubeDude - 05-23-2014
[quote ZATARRA]Thank you TubeDude! I am grateful that you are so willing to teach and share your vast fishing knowledge.
Kevin[/quote]
[#0000FF]You are quite welcome. Glad to help.
"Vast"? Sometimes more like half vast. Plenty of knowledgeable anglers on the board. But I am one of the few who is always messin' with new stuff and I just happen to take pics of just about everything I do. That's for me...not anybody else. I'm getting older and no longer have a pornographic memory...or however that goes.
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Re: [CoyoteSpinner] Willard on Fire 5-22 - lavaman - 05-23-2014
To continue Yote's constant inquiries:
What depth? What time of day? What kind of line? Color of lure? Exact Lure? Exact Coordinates down to the degree? How many gallons of gas did you use? How were you holding your mouth? Boat license # and S.S.#? Specific knot?? (Instructs on how to tie it, please)
Haha
J/k Yote
Congrats on your first Wiper! Sounds like fun!
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Re: [lavaman] Willard on Fire 5-22 - CoyoteSpinner - 05-23-2014
I can't remember with my pornographic memory (TD: I think you mean eidetic, or is that idealistic? I forget) - have you ever iced a Wiper sunny Lavaboy? Thought you were in Jeff's boat, well - his OLD boat...
I'm no well-seasoned Wiper catcher - that's for sure!
Maybe if (um, when) I get my other boat mobile - you might come troll with me - ya know, when the Sun if HOT and the bugs are - well - bugging! Might be boiling time by then!
I think my Friday night out has turned sour. Don't care for any St Elmo's campfire - thank you very much! I think someone told mama nature to shut down all the fun before the BIG holiday weekend hit. Grr. Might just return to Plan-A - flying for Tarpon!
On the filet thing - one approach I've got for is to trim down the middle - on the back-side above the center bone-line, then flip, and trim down the outside of the ribs - leaving a Y-shaped filet. Works on the Eye, Crappie, Bass-n-Gills, even bigger Perch - sharing the same bone-structure.
So - don't forget - that broth you poached them fish in can be a great soup base. Strain - pitch a few cubed carrots, celery, onion, garlic - have come to appreciate Gnocci - a potatoe dumpling as a good side complement to fish-cubes. Hmmm - rainy day, cool night. I think I hear dinner calling! Catfish stew - coming up!
Re: [CoyoteSpinner] Willard on Fire 5-22 - SkunkedAgain - 05-24-2014
Sorry been busy all day and let a bunch of posts pile up... Anyway North Marina, yes it was the big boat so I could troll at 3 mph... and you really ought to try the bay it's really fun right now, but will be crowded I'm sure... I'd stick to the cats this weekend... By the way I ran out for an hour around noon today nailed a 25" and 19" but I just realized I didn't put my banner in the pictures... That 25" fish was a hog, best fighting fish I've caught in a long time... Took me 15 minutes to land and I have heavy line on that pole and a nice reel... Fun fat fish... Well got to get to bed... Later J
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