Willard N. Marina 8-27-24 (With Video)

[Foamy8]

Got my replacement GoPro camera and wanted to finish a video I had started on fishing Willard Bay’s north marina.  Lousy weather with a lot of wind last week…and dropping water temps.  Wasn’t wildly optimistic about the fishing potential.  Expected it would not be too good inside.  I hate it when I’m always right.
 
Got set up and launched in my float tube by 7 am.  Calm with air temp a brisk 52…warming to 75 by noon.  Water temp just under 70…rising only a couple of degrees by midday.  The cool down in water temps from previous weeks likely slowed down the fish.
 

As planned, I started off fishing inside the harbor…with a variety of lures and baits.  Average depth inside was just under 12 feet…with some 13 foot spots.  Saw very little on TV…either bait or bigger marks.  In an hour and a half fishing all my fave areas I only got a couple of tentative tugs…and no hookups.
 
Been there and done that before.  Ya cain’t ketch ‘em where they ain’t.  So I moved out of the marina and went lookin’.  Moved around in big S turns, dragging baited fligs from 11’ deep to over 22’.  Worked a few spots out off Eagle Beach that usually treat me well…including “Kitty Condo”.  Had one good hit but lost it halfway to the tube.  Did bring in a couple of overeager but undersized wiperettes.
 
Finally rigged up with a white whirly flig and a white gulp minnow on one rod and a blue-silver whirly flig and a small chub minnow on the second rod.  About 10:30…just as I was getting ready to bag it for lack of support…I finally went big bendo.  Straight out off the north marina in 21 feet of water a chunky 21” kitty ate my white flig with gulp.  Then, only a few minutes later, the rod with the blue-silver and minnow made a big bounce and developed a serious bend.  A 22” cat.  And not too long after that the white whirly and gulp rod got busy again.  This was my biggest cat…at about 24”.
 

When I’m on “caregiver curfew” I gotta hit the ramp by noon to get back to my poor ailing spouse by midday.  That means bringing in the rods by about 11:30.  Just as I was reeling in the first rod, the second one got bent and I had my fourth kitty…but only about 18-19 inches.  A few years ago that would have been a biggun.  But these days they are growing them bigger.  So it was my smallest.  Still big enough to shed a couple of fillets.
 

Back at the cleaning station…which was working fine, thank you…I met up with JJAnnie (Jeff & Jill).  Had chatted with them briefly as we both started fishing…but they went one way & I t’other.  Found out they had a similar day.  A few cats and a couple of wee wipers.
 
Got home and checked the footage on my video camera.  Got some useable stuff but decided to fluff it up with some “blasts from the past”…along with some pics, maps and a lot of blather rhetoric.  Hope it helps someone and that it is well received.
 
LINK TO VIDEO

More importantly, how is TubeBabe?  A little R&R is helpful to the soul.