(04-21-2022, 02:19 PM)doitall5000 Wrote: Looks like a busy day. Very good looking channel cats. I wonder why your not getting some larger cats. 10 lbs should be in there.There are probably a few "larger" cats swimming in Willard. But anything over 24" is big by today's standards. I caught a couple in that range yesterday. In the "olden days" it was common to have at least one or two bigguns in a day (or night) of fishing. But, as you observed, most of the ones we catch are perfect frying size. And as I have been known to say "they ain't no better eatin' catfish than Willard Bay catfish." But I didn't keep any this trip. Still got a couple of packages of fillets from the last trip and my wife is visiting our daughter in California this week. By the way, I have a new tempura recipe that is killer on "catfish fingers" but also works great on perch, crappie, white bass or other panfish. (See attached)
I can see on your Garmin a Sean that looks like it's snowing, is that baby shiners?
Did you notice the outside parking lot full of cars? Fishing the inlet still.
You said a few trailers in the lot could you tell where the boat were fishing?
Sorry for all the questions not much reporting from willard this spring.
Those cats looked like a great fry, nice size and fat to.
Great job Pat.
The "snow" is intermittent interference. I sometimes need to tweak the gain on my sonar. It is clear most of the time but under changing conditions it sometimes shows specks. Too early for shad fry to show up and there aren't enough spot tail shiners in Willard to form large schools. Most just a few here and there...and mostly inside the harbors.
I could see almost the whole lake and I did watch the boats. No single area seemed to draw them. One was working over the new rock piles west of the south marina. Some headed for the SW corner. One other seemed to like the area around the island...but only for a few minutes. And there were a couple of boats working in several spots around "Freeway Bay". Also looked like a couple of boats...probably from the north marina...were working along the north dike. Just as on my last trip the boats moving around a lot seemed to suggest that there were no concentrations of active fish...or that the boat tanglers didn't know what they were doing...or both.
Only one vehicle in the outside lot. I suspect the walleye spawn is about over. But in a few weeks it will fill up again with all the happy harvesters hitting the wipers that swarm in their for their faux spawn.
(04-21-2022, 02:28 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Sounds like a pretty good day considering the weather. Ya know I've noticed the same pattern you pointed out this year, I've had several trips that I have had to change the lure to catch the next fish and I have caught few fish on the same color the same day... Probably just a coincidence, but interesting you noticed the same thing... I usually stick with the same color all day, so it's a rough pattern for me to deal with. Later J
Einstein is often credited with saying "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over...and expecting different results." I think that we as optimistic anglers often fit that definition. Over the years I have encountered innumerable fishless anglers who use the excuse "Well, this is how I caught them ONE TIME". And I have proven through a lot of trial and error that almost anything will work at one time or another...on one species or another...under some given set of conditions.
What a lot of anglers fail to realize is that fish don't have conscious reasoning ability. They can't think and they can't really remember things. Sure, some harsh lessons may become ingrained in their subconscious...keeping them from falling for the same things that almost got them killed once before. (catch and release?) And they see colors differently than we do as well. So when they seem to prefer a certain color on one day...under a certain set of weather, water clarity and light conditions...it ain't just that they like THAT purty color. It's usually because they can see it better...and they tend to strike what they can find easier. As we troll or move around a lake, the light and clarity (and water chemistry) conditions can change. And so should we if we want to catch fish.
That's why it's good to have good sonar and know how to read it. If the fish are there...and you are not catching...then it is time to keep changing up your offerings or your presentations until you find a pattern. Either that or accept that the fish are not in an active mode and go find another group of fish to pester. Odds are that on any given body of water there will be fish in a feeding mode somewhere on that water. Of course, immediately after a big front passes through can also change that outlook.
Ain't fishyology fun?