3 Species Day at Willard 7-12-22

[TubeDude]

Been off the water about 3 weeks.  Been lookin’ after TubeBabe.  She is still hobbling around on her new knee…but good enough to give me a fishing pass for a day.
Launched at the south marina just after 6 am.  Air temp 68 and water temp 75.  Only one other boat launched when I did but several others launched by 8.
            First fish just after clearing the channel and starting to head north.  Water was a shallow 3.5 feet and was not expecting anything on my whirly flig and gulp until reaching deeper water.  But my rod got bent and there was a fish jumping back behind me?  Not a walleye.  Not a wiper.  Not a catfish.  But a footlong smallie.  Took his picture and let him go.

            About a half hour until my next customer.  Again on the white whirly flig with a white Gulp minnow on it.  Turned out to be a porky 10” perch.  Wow.  Two non-cat species before 7 am.  Could be a 4 species slam day.  Nope.  All I got the rest of the morning were the usual whiskery wipers and walleyes (catfish).  But they hit hard, fought hard and provided some much needed tugs.


            I fished a variety of offerings today.  Did some bottom bouncing with crawler rigs.  Got a couple of whacks but no major munches.  Fished some minnow parts on blue and silver whirly fligs.  Got some cat love on those.  But most of the fish today came on white whirly fligs with a gulp minnow pinned on them.  Those have worked well in the past this time of year when the shadlets are blooming.  But no love today from wiper or walleye type fishies.