Chilly Willard 4-9-24

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Woulda druther gone fishin’ Wednesday but Tuesday was the only day this week I had open.  And after my eye surgery on Thursday it is likely to be a while before the doc turns me loose again.
 
Launched about 7:30 am.  Air temp 29…Brrr.  Gotta warm up again.  Water temp only 42 in the channel but 46 in the main lake once you get away from the cold water coming in from the canal.
 

Figured with the up and down temps it was a transition time and it might take some experimenting to find fish and then get them to bite.  I was right.  Hate it when that happens.  Started out dragging a crawler rig on one rod and a flig and minnow on the other rod.  Not much on TV and even less on my line.  Only a stray single fish mark here and there...some on the bottom and a few others above.  No schools and no shad showing.
 
Did my usual big S turns from shallow (10’) to deep (22’)….looking and hoping.  After nary a sniff in about 1 ½ hours I put away the crawler rig and started pitching plastic on my second rod.  Have done well in the past during the spawn and post spawn with white or pearl plastics.  About my third or fourth cast and retrieve on the little pearl shad I got an inquiry.  Solid hookup.  Felt good.  Was good.  A 20 inch walleye.  Skunk killer deluxe.

 
Kept pitching plastics with one rod for the rest of the day.  But only had a couple of light taps and no more hookups.  On the other rod I kept changing up the colors of fligs…tipped with small minnows.  Missed a couple of pop and drops and then went bendo on a 22” kitty.  It hit a pink tiger flig. 
 

After a couple of other unmolested color changes I put on a gold flig with orange spots.  Did well on that for both perch and cats late last year…and then again on Feb 22…my first tubing trip this year.  Missed a good whack on the gold and then went bendo on a muscular 24” cat.  Fought pretty well in the 46 degree water.  And that was it for the day. 
 

Hit the ramp about noonish.  Air temp had warmed up to 52 but water stayed cold.  Will probably creep up a few degrees over the next couple days of warmer temps.  Several boats on the water but did not see anybody get their net wet.  A few boats just blasted off for the west side and I didn’t get a chance to talk to any of them before I left.  Should get better soon.
 

A couple of observations:  1.  No discernible pattern on depth.  I caught the walleye in 20’, the first cat in 16’ and the last cat close to the rocks in only 11’.  2.  The fish ARE feeding.  The spawned out walleye had a 6” baby catfish in its innards.  And both cats had freshly munched crawdads inside.  LARGE crawdads.  No shad remnants in any of my fish.