Happy Halloween on Willard 10-31-22

[TubeDude]

LINK TO VIDEO

[b]With the forecast for more “weather” the next few days, I figured I’d better hit the water on Halloween if I wanted to get in some fishing this week.  And I had a few new tricks I wanted to try…to try to get more “treats”.  And it worked.[/b]
 
Launched all alone at the south marina about 8 am.  Air temp a chilly 32…warming to 55 by 2 pm departure.  Water temp down to 46 at launch…and up to 48 by 1 pm.  I was prepared to have to wade a ways before being able to plunk down my electric motor and get moving.  Thankfully,  there was just enough depth to set up my motor within a few yards of the water line.  But the bottom of my motor dragged in the mud a few times and my sonar kept blinking at 1.1 foot of water.


Target species for this trip were perch.  So I took only light or medium light rods…and 6 or 8 pound line and leaders.  And I rigged so that the baited offerings would stay near the bottom…on shorter leaders of 10 – 12”.  But the silly kitties didn’t read the instructions and they attacked my perch gear with gusto.  Got the first cat within 15 minutes of flinging out the first rod…on a pink tiger no-tail flig with a small minnow.  I probably got 2/3 of the cats I got all day on that rig…with a short sliding sinker setup.



A few minutes after bringing in my first cat, I got my first and biggest perch…on an orange tiger flig.  Black and orange…good Halloween colors.  That rig also got my second and final perch later…along with several silly kitties.

 

I had a couple of rods rigged for vertical jigging…including one with a dropshot flig rig.  I made up some pink tiger fligs on ring eye hooks and tied one directly to the line…with about 6-8 inches of leader down to a 1/8 oz. hook.  Didn’t get any perch on it but a couple of everlovin’ kitties liked it just fine.

 
Couldn’t ever find any kind of concentration of perch like there seems to be at the north marina.  Found a bunch in previous years off the south marina but with the weird conditions of low water and stained water this year is different.  Still, I did spend some time with vertical presentations…with no results on the perch.

After deciding that the south marina area was not going to fill my Halloween basket with treats, I found some 7-8 foot depth and followed it down to a couple of areas I like to the north.  Found my second perch about halfway to the feedlot…along with a bunch more kitties. 

Lots of fishy activity on TV out from the feedlot.  Lots of shad…and catfish.  Didn’t get any doubles but had several climb on as soon as I pitched out a freshly baited flig after removing it from the kisser of another kitty.  Got a couple of 2-footers and a small footlong...along with multiples in the over 20 inch class...on three different no-tail fligs.  Colors for the day were pink tiger, orange tiger and blue/silver.


[b]I had maintained a count and figured I had about 16 cats by 11:30…my usual wrapup time.  So I brought in my lines and roostertailed back down to the channel to try for more perch in the channel out from the south marina.  No perch, but several more cats in quick [b]succession.  Headed back in and hit the ramp about 1ish.  Guesstimated I had caught somewhere between 20 – 25 cats.  I used up a whole package of small minnows…which usually have between 30-35 minnows.  Only missed a couple of strikes so most of the minnows scored either perch or catfish.
[/b][/b]
[b][b]A beautiful day on the water…with only a few light breezes.  But cool enough that I kept my gloves on all day.  Just an old wimp, I guess.  Only saw a couple of boats.  One was the “Deadly Duo”…early in the day.  The other was another boat that had launched from the north marina.  They worked over the channel area for a brief time and then headed for the southwest corner.  Since they did not stay long near the south marina I suspect they were fishing for perch and didn’t find any.[/b][/b]

[TubeDude]

Since I put this post up I have had a few PMs requesting additional info on the current conditions at the south marina.

First, the water is definitely too low for boats to launch.  Only a foot of water between the ramps and the channel.  And there is a big chunk of concrete sticking up out of the water a short ways off the end of the docks.  Too bad someone can't get in and remove that before the water comes back up...to prevent future prop damage.

Second, it looks like the big water pump set up in the channel last month is being shut down.  It was running as I launched Monday but a truck showed up and shut it down before I left.

Third, the cleaning station is also shut down.  It was open when I got there early in the morning but when I went to fillet my fish it was closed and covered.

[wiperhunter2]

Since I put this post up I have had a few PMs requesting additional info on the current conditions at the south marina.

First, the water is definitely too low for boats to launch.  Only a foot of water between the ramps and the channel.  And there is a big chunk of concrete sticking up out of the water a short ways off the end of the docks.  Too bad someone can't get in and remove that before the water comes back up...to prevent future prop damage.

Second, it looks like the big water pump set up in the channel last month is being shut down.  It was running as I launched Monday but a truck showed up and shut it down before I left.

Third, the cleaning station is also shut down.  It was open when I got there early in the morning but when I went to fillet my fish it was closed and covered.

Kent was saying they were going to put a bigger pump in at the SW corner. The North marina cleaning station was also closed. Glad you got two perch and it's always great when the cats provide extra fun with the tugs, when the perch don't want to play. The only cat we caught was a smaller cat, less than 20".

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Pat loved the video again, looked like a great fall trip, thanks for posting and filming.. Nice perch... Later J

[TubeDude]

Hey Pat loved the video again, looked like a great fall trip, thanks for posting and filming.. Nice perch... Later J

Thanks.  Glad you like my stuff.  Looks like we ain't gonna get out on the water together...again...this year.  And I don't do ice no more.

[SkunkedAgain]

Too much farming taking all the time... Do you still do boats? Maybe if you don't have another whitefish trip lined up, we can try that in early December... Have a little better floating option this year so perhaps that's an option... Hope we get some calm days about that time of year so it will be a fun trip... I don't enjoy fighting waves though... We'll keep my options open... Later Jeff

[TubeDude]

Too much farming taking all the time...  Do you still do boats?  Maybe if you don't have another whitefish trip lined up, we can try that in early December... Have a little better floating option this year so perhaps that's an option... Hope we get some calm days about that time of year so it will be a fun trip... I don't enjoy fighting waves though... We'll keep my options open... Later Jeff

Sure.  I'd be glad to join you in the Skunked Maru.  Let's watch the weather and the early whitie reports.  Lake levels are way down this year and that is likely to affect where the fish show up and how we fish them. 

About the farming...you have my understanding and sympathy.  As a kid in Idaho I had several family members who continuously pretended to make a living at farming...while going further in the hole every year.  Seemed like every year was something new.  Late frosts, early frosts, not enough rain, too much rain...and whenever the crops were good the prices they got were down.  But most of them loved their land and their crops enough to keep on keeping on.  Terminal masochists.

[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds good Pat on the whitie trip.... and guilty as charged on the description of farming addiction... About this time in life I'm sort of glad those options on more ground didn't work out... I would have never made it fishing.... better to just have enough to think I'm a farmer... Later J

[Cowboypirate]

I can't believe I let the whole cat season go by without catching up to you at willard. At least you let me enjoy the wiskers vicariously through the videos

[TubeDude]

I can't believe I let the whole cat season go by without catching up to you at willard. At least you let me enjoy the whiskers vicariously through the videos

Yeah, I missed you guys this year.  Don't pretend to know all of the "distractions" you have been having but hope you have a better year next year.  And, anyway, it is better to have loved vicariously than never to have loved at all.

[smokepoles]

First, the water is definitely too low for boats to launch.  Only a foot of water between the ramps and the channel.  And there is a big chunk of concrete sticking up out of the water a short ways off the end of the docks.  Too bad someone can't get in and remove that before the water comes back up...to prevent future prop damage.

 

It would appear to be object negligence of state parks to both leave such a hazard there in the first place and subsequently not remove it when there is such opportunity. 

[wiperhunter2]

 

It would appear to be object negligence of state parks to both leave such a hazard there in the first place and subsequently not remove it when there is such opportunity. 

I contacted the Willard bay park manager James Morgan and told him about the problem. He said it was there for the anchor point to the dock, that it is in front of. He said the water level was much higher when it was placed there and he guessed that who ever dropped it there did not try to ensure it was level and flat on the bottom. He said he was not aware of it sticking up and was grateful to Pat for taking the pic. He said they would take care of it ASAP. 
I also found out that the new pond at the North marina was open and could now be fished.

[EyLayo]

Interesting, do you know what they ended up putting in there? I know the plan was to have it real similar to the main fish in in the bigger pond.

[wiperhunter2]

Interesting, do you know what they ended up putting in there? I know the plan was to have it real similar to the main fish in in the bigger pond.

I heard different things from the Parks guys and DWR guys, so I'm not exactly sure at this point. I heard bluegill, perch, crappie, cats and trout and bass, then some bigger fish, like walleye and wipers once the pan sized fish were more established. I'll reach out to Chris Penne and ask again, to see if anything has changed.