Willard NBC Perch Search 9-26-23 (With Video)

[TubeDude]

LINK TO VIDEO

Met up with JJAnnie  at the north marina and got launched about 7ish.  The goal was for an ABC (Anything But Cats) day...but (as usual) turned out to be an NBC (Nuttin' But Cats) day.

Air temp at launch was a decent 56 degrees...warming to 75 by noon departure.  Water temps in the harbor were only 73...but a degree warmer outside in the main lake...warming only to about 65 by midday.  Since my self imposed cutoff for going without waders is about 65 degrees that will likely be my last trip waderless this year.


Along with J & J I began fishing just outside the marina...alternating between slow-dragged mini fligs and vertical jigging with a variety of jigs.  The hordes of fish seen the week before had largely moved out and we got no love.  

After an hour or so I headed back inside the marina to see if it would treat me better.  It did...sorta kinda.  Still no perch but in a little over an hour I caught 4 cats.  The two largest...24" and 25"...I had hooked on two different rods at the same time.  And after an epic battle I got both of them in the same smallish net I use for float tubing.


I probably could have caught a lot more cats if I had stayed inside the marina.  But I was still anxious to try to find some cooperative perch.  So I spent my last two hours covering a large area outside the marina...making big S turns in water from 10' deep to over 20'.  I dragged mini fligs with minnows while moving and dropped a variety of jigs whenever I detected the potential for perchkind...which was not often.  But no love over the full two hours.

There were only a few boats on the lake.  And most of them moved around a lot...indicating a lack of hot action in any one spot.  J &J cruised by a couple of times and we shared misery and frustration.  I think they ended up with one cat and a dink wiper for the day.  Not good.


As on other recent trips, my sonar showed large numbers of small shad...at all depths.  But there were some larger shad in evidence too...dimpling and jumping all over the lake.  I took a picture of one recently deceased 4 incher I saw floating...before the birds slurped him up.  Did see quite a few random bird strikes on the water but nothing that resembled a wiper boil...or even a simmer.

[jjannie]

LINK TO VIDEO

Met up with JJAnnie  at the north marina and got launched about 7ish.  The goal was for an ABC (Anything But Cats) day...but (as usual) turned out to be an NBC (Nuttin' But Cats) day.

Air temp at launch was a decent 56 degrees...warming to 75 by noon departure.  Water temps in the harbor were only 73...but a degree warmer outside in the main lake...warming only to about 65 by midday.  Since my self imposed cutoff for going without waders is about 65 degrees that will likely be my last trip waderless this year.


Along with J & J I began fishing just outside the marina...alternating between slow-dragged mini fligs and vertical jigging with a variety of jigs.  The hordes of fish seen the week before had largely moved out and we got no love.  

After an hour or so I headed back inside the marina to see if it would treat me better.  It did...sorta kinda.  Still no perch but in a little over an hour I caught 4 cats.  The two largest...24" and 25"...I had hooked on two different rods at the same time.  And after an epic battle I got both of them in the same smallish net I use for float tubing.


I probably could have caught a lot more cats if I had stayed inside the marina.  But I was still anxious to try to find some cooperative perch.  So I spent my last two hours covering a large area outside the marina...making big S turns in water from 10' deep to over 20'.  I dragged mini fligs with minnows while moving and dropped a variety of jigs whenever I detected the potential for perchkind...which was not often.  But no love over the full two hours.

There were only a few boats on the lake.  And most of them moved around a lot...indicating a lack of hot action in any one spot.  J &J cruised by a couple of times and we shared misery and frustration.  I think they ended up with one cat and a dink wiper for the day.  Not good.


As on other recent trips, my sonar showed large numbers of small shad...at all depths.  But there were some larger shad in evidence too...dimpling and jumping all over the lake.  I took a picture of one recently deceased 4 incher I saw floating...before the birds slurped him up.  Did see quite a few random bird strikes on the water but nothing that resembled a wiper boil...or even a simmer.

Guess we fished opposite of you - we did lake first, then marina, so of course we didn't fair as well as you mainly be






cause by time we got back into the marina the bite was done and we got nothing there. We did manage a cookiie-cutter cat while out on the lake and even this baby sized wiper as well that we tossed back to grow up. No doubt the fish are getting so many of those shad it can be a bit difficult to find any perch among the masses of shad. Still, it was such a great day that we hated to call it when we did it was so nice out there.

[doitall5000]

I was surprised to see no dying off shad. Years in the past had dying one inch all along the shores. Maybe deeper water it could be different this year.

[TubeDude]

I was surprised to see no dying off shad. Years in the past had dying one inch all along the shores.  Maybe deeper water it could be different this year.

Good to see you again Verdean.  Sorry the lake didn't treat us better.  

The big dieoff of small shad usually doesn't begin until water temps drop below about 55.  That's when the zooplankton thin out and the baby shad that are not big enough to feed on anything besides zooplankton start to die off from starvation.  Gizzard shad can tolerate colder water than the threadfin shad, but they can't live without food. 

There is a development process in young shad where they grow different mouth parts as they get bigger...so they can feed on algae and other stuff...not just shad.  Baby shad that are spawned and hatch later in the spawn cycle may not develop far enough to survive on anything but the disappearing zooplankton.  

And that's when the perch and some other predators really show up in the shallower waters...to glut on the dieing little shadlets.

[wiperhunter2]

Well I'm glad it wasn't just us with the poor luck. Ira and I got out there on Mon and had similar success as Pat and jjannie but we only found them in Freeway bay, even though we tried the same locations as you did. We did lose a big wiper right at the boat when it got too close to the prop and cut the line.

[TubeDude]

Well I'm glad it wasn't just us with the poor luck. Ira and I got out there on Mon and had similar success as Pat and jjannie but we only found them in Freeway bay, even though we tried the same locations as you did. We did lose a big wiper right at the boat when it got too close to the prop and cut the line.

Yeah, we have been hoping for a drop in water temps.  But when there is a sudden cold front and a quick drop it can relocate the fish and put them off their routines for a while.  But it usually doesn't take long for them to get busy again once they stabilize and become accustomed to the changing conditions.  

The next big number will be 55 degrees.  As mentioned in a previous post, that is when the biomass changes...with zooplankton numbers declining and baby shad dying off when they have nothing to eat.  The adult shad change then too.  They can tolerate the colder water but tend to move toward deeper/warmer water if it is available...like on the west side.  And the larger predators (walleye and wipers) will follow them.  

Sorry about losing the wiper.  Don't get as many shots at them these days.  They have become almost non-existent compared to the glory days of a few years ago when they were planted  more heavily...and walleye less heavily.  There is a hardcore contingent of walleye fans that really live large during the early summer post-spawn walleye session.  But after that the walleye get much harder to catch...even for dedicated wallie whackers.  Wipers, on the other hand, can be caught all year...even through the ice...when they are plentiful.  A lot of us whimper and whine a lot when we harken back to the times of wide open wiper boils...and a fish on every cast.  I love walleyes on the table but for good year round tugs I think I vote in favor of wipers.  They average larger and they definitely fight a lot better.  I doubt I have caught more than a dozen a year the past few years...compared to catching that many or more on many trips when they were more abundant.

[wiperhunter2]

Couldn't agree with you more Pat.

[oldguy]

I fished Tuesday and it was slow for me too but did catch 2 small walleye and 2 cats. I caught the walleye on a bottom bouncer before the sun came up then I had to fish until 1:30 to even catch the cats after going all over the lake. Hope it cools off soon.

[wiperhunter2]

I fished Tuesday and it was slow for me too but did catch 2 small walleye and 2 cats. I caught the walleye on a bottom bouncer before the sun came up then I had to fish until 1:30 to even catch the cats after going all over the lake. Hope it cools off soon.

When you say you caught two small eyes, how small are you talking about, 12" or less? If you don't mind me asking what color blades were you using with your bottom bouncing? I'm assuming you were using worm harnesses.

[doitall5000]

I fished Tuesday and it was slow for me too but did catch 2 small walleye and 2 cats. I caught the walleye on a bottom bouncer before the sun came up then I had to fish until 1:30 to even catch the cats after going all over the lake. Hope it cools off soon.

When you say you caught two small eyes, how small are you talking about, 12" or less? If you don't mind me asking what color blades were you using with your bottom bouncing? I'm assuming you were using worm harnesses.

How deep were the walleyes?

[oldguy]

I fished Tuesday and it was slow for me too but did catch 2 small walleye and 2 cats. I caught the walleye on a bottom bouncer before the sun came up then I had to fish until 1:30 to even catch the cats after going all over the lake. Hope it cools off soon.

When you say you caught two small eyes, how small are you talking about, 12" or less? If you don't mind me asking what color blades were you using with your bottom bouncing? I'm assuming you were using worm harnesses.

How deep were the walleyes?

Yes they were around 14. I was using a blue and silver harness with 3 eyes on the blade on a 2 ounce  bouncer. I caught them as I was going off the west side of the island in about 19ft of water right where it goes from 14 to 19 ft drop.Hope that helps.

[wiperhunter2]

I fished Tuesday and it was slow for me too but did catch 2 small walleye and 2 cats. I caught the walleye on a bottom bouncer before the sun came up then I had to fish until 1:30 to even catch the cats after going all over the lake. Hope it cools off soon.

When you say you caught two small eyes, how small are you talking about, 12" or less? If you don't mind me asking what color blades were you using with your bottom bouncing? I'm assuming you were using worm harnesses.

How deep were the walleyes?

Yes they were around 14. I was using a blue and silver harness with 3 eyes on the blade on a 2 ounce  bouncer. I caught them as I was going off the west side of the island in about 19ft of water right where it goes from 14 to 19 ft drop.Hope that helps.

Thanks for the added info