Willard - Win Some, Lose Some

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Wanted to try to hit Willard between storms. Forecast was for south winds...6-10 mph. Standard. Went anyway. Good I did. Expected to see the gate still closed on the south marina at 6:30. Nope. Win one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Win two for the weather. Calm at 7 AM launch. Water temp 46 degrees. Expected colder. Scored two kitties before getting my minnows out of the boat channel. No hits on plastics or cranks on the way out. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Headed down the dike north of the marina. Fished in and out from 8 feet to 15 feet. Saw a lot more fish on sonar than on the end of my line. Suspect mostly shad and carpkind, but some of them looked suspicious. Kept getting molested by cookie cutter kitties every time I cruised through 10 feet depths. Love them little tykes. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About two hundred yards from the channel entrance I got a wham on a white plastic tube. Brung in a chunky little wallie. Win one. Look out folks. Gonna be a barnburner day. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After several more kitties on the minnows, I got a pop - zing on the bait rod and hooked up to a freight train wiper. Got it almost to the net before he forgot how to hang on to the hook. His loss. Lose one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Played around with my new small crankbaits. Small and light. Really a floating diver. And, they dive fast when you pull on them. But, as light as they are you gotta cast them a long ways...and you can't. Probably better for trolling behind weight.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tried rigging one "Carolina crankbait" style, like I used at Starvation last year. Used a 1/4 oz. painted spinner body weight slipped on the line ahead of a swivel and 3 feet of leader to the crank. About the third or fourth "cast, splash, sink and crank", I got thumped and had my second walleye...another 20 incher. Win one. But, shortly after stuffing that fish down in my wire basket, he rocketed back up through the unfastened lid. Lose one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No more action on the cranks. Tried several colors. Good wiggle but no more whacks. Kept catchin' kitties though. Probably caught somewhere between 20 - 25. Just about went through two "long dozen" bags of minnows. Finally kept my eighth and put up the minnows.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Really started concentrating on throwing plastics on the way back to the marina. Had several bumps but no hookups. Then, I felt weight and set the hook HARD. Hoping for walleye, but reeled in a whiplashed crappie. Flopped off the hook about six feet from the tube. That would have completed my 4 species "grand slime". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did manage to land a wiper just before reaching the channel buoys. It took a small pearl Maniac minnow. Strong fight but not flashy. Cold water. I was thinking carp. Nope. 17" Wiper. Win one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp was up to 52 degrees as I hit the channel going in. A couple of folks just going out claimed to have been getting walleyes in the evening with regularity. All spawned out. Looks like the post spawn is on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Another guy just coming in when I was loading up also had a couple of nice 23" walleyes...trolling Freeway Bay.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Quite a few bank tanglers, but all they were hooking was brush. Brutal. Might be good for some bobber fishing when the crappie move in to spawn, but right now it is hopeless.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Had to battle my way back in against 1" JP ripples. I feared for my life. Ha. Banana belt sunshine. Thought I was back in Arizona, where I spent last week.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeBabe]

I didn't get to go fishing, but I sure did enjoy dinner (walleye and wiper)!
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[muskyhunter]

Nice Pat! Good to see the weather be on your side!! Nice basket of fish also!![cool]
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[bassrods]

Nice pictures, it sure is fun when they say windy and they forgot to tell the wind to blow....
Is Willard close to full???
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Looks like about another 4-5 feet to high water mark. Any kind of runoff amount from now on will put it to the top. Yeeee hawwww.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I hereby declare open season on PWCs and water skiers. Mandatory keep and kill. No limit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Maybe Pineview will subside bit this year.[/#0000ff]
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[waljustia]

What a great trip. Too bad that walleye got out of the basket!
So, overall were you happy with the performance of those new cranks? They run well?
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[mactuna]

Nice report and a nice assortment of fish. Lots of deeper water.
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[onehun]

nice report I NEED A TUBE!!!
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[BigBassaholic]

Thats a great report, next nice day I am outta here and headed to willard.
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[TubeDude]

[quote waljustia]What a great trip. Too bad that walleye got out of the basket!
So, overall were you happy with the performance of those new cranks? They run well?[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Yes, they do run well. But, they are not a good lure for casting and retrieving in deep water, unless you add weight to get them down.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I fished them (without weight) on a couple of different rods...different weight and different line. I threw a variety of different colors and carefully watched the vibration on the end of the rod during the retrieve and how straight the lures tracked. They all seemed to perform well.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The biggest disappoints were that on a short cast, the lures will not get down more than a few feet...and that you cannot use "dressed" hooks on the tail ring. Any addition of feathers or other drag almost kills the vibration.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]BUT, I am guessing that these lures will work great for casting in shallower waters...like Utah Lake and others...where you do not want to run too deep or the fish are hitting in the upper water column.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am going to be making up some "trout colors" soon for some special applications.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[quote onehun]nice report I NEED A TUBE!!![/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]But...you either need to drink less, stay closer to shore or bring a porta-potty.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As the water warms, the fishing gets better and better. You can also go without waders. ( )[/#0000ff]
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[Lingwall]

you sure do know how to make not want to work and fish. nice haul we need to go again i really want some more wiper it was delicious.
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[TubeDude]

[quote Lingwall]you sure do know how to make not want to work and fish. nice haul we need to go again i really want some more wiper it was delicious.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Glad you enjoyed them. But next time you have to catch your own.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once the water warms a bit and the fish turn on, we can get after them again. It is a completely different lake this year, with all of the water back in it.[/#0000ff]
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[Strikes_R_Us]

Great report as allways TD! If that report don't get you excited....you must be DEAD![] Can't wait to get the boat summerized and ready to go. Just trying to find the time.[:/]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks fer the kindly comments.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got a suggestion. DON'T FIND TIME...MAKE TIME. All a matter of setting priorities and not letting other things get in the way. Losing your wife, kids and your job is a small price to pay for being able to get out and go fishing when the fishing is good.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Disclaimer: NO...I will not show up for a divorce hearing to testify that I was the cause of your problems.[/#0000ff]
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[fishinfool]

Nice haul TD!!!![fishin]
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[onehun]

Ill second that
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[grousehunter]

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[b][#0000ff]Got a suggestion. DON'T FIND TIME...MAKE TIME. All a matter of setting priorities and not letting other things get in the way. Losing your wife, kids and your job is a small price to pay for being able to get out and go fishing when the fishing is good.[/#0000ff]

[#000000]Thanks TubeDude, I needed that. Great job on those fish.[/#000000]

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[catfish-logic]

Dear Mr Tubaholic In-Fisherman,


So how fast were you reeling your jigs and crankbaits when you scored the walleyes?
When you cast a jig for a walleye(out from your tube) do you just "smoothly reel in" the jig? Or do you give your jig any yanks?

Also, do you inflate your tube with oxygen or helium?
If oxygen where do you buy it, and the helium as well.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I was using a tandem rig, with two plastics. One was a 2 1/2" Freshwater Basics pearl sparkle, with a 1/8 oz. head. The bottom jig was a 2" white Maniac Minnow on a different 1/16 oz. head. I caught the first walleye on the tube, while maintaining a slow steady retrieve, just off the bottom. I got the wiper on the Maniac minnow, while hopping it up off the bottom with rod tip action on the retrieve.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Generally, I keep mixing up the retrieves until I find what the fish want. Some days they are less active and will slurp in a slow steady retrieve. Other days they smack the lures better when they have some action to them. And, on the same day I sometimes catch fish on several different retrieves. I let the fish choose what they want.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As far as the crankbaits, I usually just reel them in fast enough to maintain a visible wiggle on the end of the rod...keeping them as close to the bottom as possible. But, on some occasions, I let the weight pull the crank down to the bottom, then lift and retrieve a few feet before stopping and letting it settle again. I have had quite a few strikes on the Carolina rigged crankbaits while they are floating back up after stopping the retrieve. You need to pay attention and be prepared to set the hook if you feel something when you shouldn't.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Now, all that was for walleyes. For wipers, I have found that if they are active you can't reel fast enough to get it away from them if they want it. One of my most effective techniques, to wake up lazy wipers...suspending off the bottom...is to cast out the tandem jig rig, let it settle to the bottom and then reel it briskly up through the water column...through the fish. After a few of these waker-uppers you will get some bumps, from tentative fish. You have to keep your wrist cocked and not strike at every bump. But, when one finally takes it, while you are reeling, the rod tip will load up with weight and then you pop them. Once you hook a couple, the others seem to wake up and smack the jigs harder...and you have to take one of the jigs off or you hook doubles. Two wipers at a time on my 6 pound line usually spells double trouble.[/#0000ff]
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