My, My...A Walleye Willard 6-8-22 (with video)

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LINK TO VIDEO

Ashamed to admit I had not yet scored any walleyes from Willard…with the apparently wide open bite for the boating contingent.  But since my speed and range are limited by my electric motor and single battery I have to work a little harder sometimes.  I can’t rocket to all parts of the lake in search of fish…or I can’t troll at the high speeds that are most effective for very long.  But once I get on fish I usually catch a few.  Last year I did well early.  This year I have had trouble finding fish in the areas I am limited to fishing from my tube.  Water levels are low and it has been a weird year.
 
Launched Wednesday morning at the south marina about 6:30 am.  Air temp a comfy 60 (warming to 75 at noon departure).  Water temp started at 64 but only warmed a couple of degrees before noon…due to the overcast and light breezy conditions.  But I was still comfy even without my waders for the first time this year.
 

Started off dragging whirly flig crawler rigs…on a 3 way dropper setup.  Started fishing in about 6 feet of water but did not see any fish or have any hits until I was past the 11’ depth mark.  After missing a couple of pop and drops I had a solid take and killed the daily skunk with my first cat of the day…on a chartreuse whirly crawler rig.
 

Barely had time to release that kitty and rebait when the other rod got busy.  Set the hook and felt something “uncatlike”.  Yee haw.  First Willard Walleye of the year.  A healthy 18 incher that totally gulped down the fire tiger whirly/crawler rig.  I dared hope I might add some toothy companions to this fish in my basket.  But alas, that was the first and only.

 
I did have a few “rattle rattle” bites…and some others that were not the typical “gulp and go” munches of a catfish.  And one major whack hauled the rod down, stripped line off the drag and then let go.  Inexperienced fish.  Didn’t know how to hang on.  Or maybe it was too experienced and knew how to avoid the hook.  I was guessing wiper but it can be anything I want it to be if nobody else witnessed it.
 
I probably sorelipped between 8-10 catfish today...using several different colors of whirly fligs.  Most hit hard, fought well and provided some appreciated tugs.  Would have liked to catch more walleyes…or a wiper…but I was seeing very little on sonar all day…and catching even less.  Of the fish I caught I don’t remember seeing any of them either on down imaging or side imaging before they hit.  All of them seeingly came in from the side in response to the flash and vibration of the little airplane spinner blades on the whirly fligs.  And I used only crawlers today.  Didn’t even bring any chubs.  And I can’t remember any trip on which I have caught so many cats on crawlers.


I also tried throwing some plastics on one rod while dragging a whirly flig on the second rod.  Never got a sniff.  And I trolled crankbaits back in (at almost 2 mph) for the last half hour of the trip without either of them being molested.  I talked to a couple of returning boaters that had scored well on walleyes on other parts of the lake.  They confirmed that being able to see some marks increased the percentages of being able to catch fish.  Guess it’s true.  “Ya cain’t ketch ‘em where they ain’t.”