Willard south

[Tin-Can]

What a difference a skipped day can make.  Tuesday I boated 5 nice healthy, overfed cats.
Today I worked the south area at 14 fow to 7 fow from the south marina channel to the old coffer dam area .
Morning launch at about  9 a.m. very light breeze out of south west. Breeze picked up to about the forecast 3 mph, had me drifting at just the right speed .035 - .045 but in the wrong direction. And I was getting just a mite cold, I had left my jacket in the truck.  About 1210 I finally decided to make a trip back to marina, get my jacket and make use of the facilities.  Took me less than 30 minutes to motor into south dock, do what I needed, and get back out on the water................guess what, wind died almost totally.    

Got back out to about where I had left off, just west of the feedlot tower, moved in a bit closer to the wall and started getting almost constant hit, run, release on both poles.   That kept me hoping for another hour or so, then ran out of shrimp, and patience.  Called it a day, and I think a year too.  Gonna work on getting boat stowed for the winter. If there is a day OK to fish, I'll just go bank tangling somewhere. 

2020 Willard Bay score card:  34 trips, 6 skunks, 25 trips in a row from  26 June to 29 Oct without a skunk. 

              

[r2u2]

Forest you got to talk to those fish. Tell them how important it is you catch them and promise to release them. Sometime it helps to sing to them.

rj

[thatchergreg]

Forest,
I'm going to share my sure-fire, never fail technique to make fish bite, open a package of Pop Tarts. For some reason when fish hear the wrapper open they know your hands are busy.
Seriously, 34 trips sounds like a really good year.

[Tin-Can]

Forest you got to talk to those fish. Tell them how important it is you catch them and promise to release them. Sometime it helps to sing to them.

rj

  Sing...??? No I don't think that would do me or the fish, or any other folks on the water any good at all...  . 

  I have been known to cry to them and beg out "here fishy, fishy".  But that has never worked either.  
Is that how you and the Mrs. attracted so many big cats this year ?      

---

Forest,
I'm going to share my sure-fire, never fail technique to make fish bite, open a package of Pop Tarts. For some reason when fish hear the wrapper open they know your hands are busy.
Seriously, 34 trips sounds like a really good year.

  Well Greg, I have had lots of fish hit my lines just as I got hands occupied, but just hasn't been with pop tarts     .

  Let me tell you a funny story, was just recently (about a month ago) out working my favorite area off the feed lot tower. Had boated a couple nice cats that accepted my ...come home for dinner invitation.  Had been slow drifting from north to south. Got to the area with about 8 fow, maybe 100 to 150 yards from the wall. I needed to use my on board portable man bailing bucket. So dropped anchor with both lines still in the water.  Got busy low on the deck, and was almost complete with my task, a big Carp jumped so close to one side of the boat, less than 2 feet away from where I was kneeling, it startled me to the point I almost knocked over the bucket. Fortunately, I didn't.  Now if that wasn't enough, after I emptied the bucket and was getting it stowed,  BOTH lines took very hard, drag stripping and screaming hits.  I got to the closer reel, tightened up the drag a bit, grabbed the other pole, lifted it and tightened drag. Bendo, the fish started to prove how big of shoulders he had.  The first pole was still jumping and bending, drag peeling off slowly. Got about a dozen cranks on the second reel, could feel the head shake and fish roll. Was thinking WOW, how awesome , a hard hit double !!  Got that fish about an arms length from the edge of the net, and watched it open it's mouth and let go of the mangled shrimp it had held on to for maybe 40-50 feet. Poof....gone    .   Oh well, grabbed the first pole, still had line tight and moving parallel to the boat out about 75 feet.  Two cranks, and pop, line, weight, hook minus bait comes sailing back at me.........no fish. 

Now there is a saying that there is no crying in fishing, just cussing.  Well I let out a couple loud  gosh darn it's , only boat for a mile or more.  Thought that was pretty bad, but what made it worse, I heard some rather hysterical laughter coming from behind me.  A bank tangler that had been quietly blending in with the rocks had seen everything.............   and I had not seen or heard him. 

I posted a fishing report that day, but didn't mention any of the above embarrassing parts. I did tell my wife, and between her laughing at me, she had to remind me that people on the rocks could probable see down in my boat. 

It was sure a good  thing I had some cats to clean and  take home to help salve the emotional wounds .....      .