Willard cats - 2022-03-24

[TubeDude]

Hey Trent, it was good to meet up with you out on the water.  We've been BFT buddies for quite a while now but if I recall correctly this was the first time we have shared the water.  The trip was an "NBC" (nuttin' but cats) day for me too.  I also "scratched" only a couple of kitties...about the same sizes as you reported.

I had a chance to chat with Chris Penne...with the DWR walleye netting crew...before they launched.  He said they had started getting some spawn-ready females and it should be full on spawn very soon with the climbing water temps. 

Also got a free funny show as I was powering out of the marina.  A couple of folks in a boat had been prospecting shallow for crappies inside the marina and they got stuck on a shallow hump.  Tilted up their motor and gunned it while pushing with an oar to get free.  Good show. 

Once I got outside the marina I couldn't believe how the fish picture has changed.  Up until this week there have been good numbers of fish all over just outside the marina.  On this trip it was barren...and continued to be mostly devoid of fish on either the regular sonar or side imaging clear over to the north dike and back.  The two fish I got were right close together in one small spot.  I saw one on sonar and dropped back my chub-baited fligs and got the first one...and then a second.  And that was it.  I got a couple more pop and drops and lost two other fish...one definitely another cat but the other was either a large perch or a small walleye.  They can be anything you want them to be if you don't see them and nobody else can prove otherwise.  The pink tiger flig got most of my hits but one of the fish I lost was on an orange tiger. 

At least it was a purty day.  And the deer and the pelicans massed up for a wildlife show. 
 
By the way, I am impressed with your creative use of PVC in tricking out your toon.