02-16-2003, 12:17 AM
Water temp 39 degrees. North marina depth- 3-4 ft. Total number of fishermen on the water, 2. Number of hypothermic waterskiiers, 3! Thats the story from today. The fishing was a bit slow, but to be right honest its FEBRUARY! I iced fished willard this time last year, but this is as early as I have been out on willard in a boat. I have got wipers when there was still ice sheets floating around, but always later in the year. Today all that I could find was catfish. They were eager to bite though. The other fishing boat on the water managed at least one wiper that I saw them catch. Could have got more. Funny thing was the colder the water, the slower and deeper I go. These guys were trolling thier outboard, running lures mid depth. Who would have thought? I was lindy riggin and like I said, the cat fish liked it, but thats about it. I missed several fish early due to using a one hooked snell. I fixed that up real quick though. There was several guys bank fishing the north marina. One more water skiier thought about launching, but as soon as they had the boat off the trailer they must have hit bottom because they put the boat right back on the trailer and left. I figure this year at willard we will all become experts at the shallow launch and load. Man it felt good to be back out on willard even without the wipers and eyes.
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