Posts: 36,010
Threads: 296
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
57
[#0000FF]Met up with FatBiker at the south marina of Willard this morning. Original weather forecast was for calm and sunny. NOT. Cool, cloudy and breezy.
Air temp 34 at launch and water temp 41.6 inside the channel. No fish on sonar going out and no love on baits or lures.
Once outside the harbor Larry worked around the channel entrance area thoroughly. I headed north, moving in and out with big S turns, watching the silly sonar. Only an occasional individual bump on the bottom or a midsize at mid depth.
Stopped whenever I saw anything that looked like it might have potential. Soaked minnows, crawlers, fligs and pitched plastics. Lotsa exercise to keep warm in the pesky cold breeze but no rewards. I finally got two "pop and drops" fairly close together in one area. Inexperienced fish just didn't know how to get hooked. One other quick whack on a flig and that was it for the fishy stimulation. Complete zippo for Larry.
Two or three boats went out today but one of them came back in and left before we did...at 11. Water temp in the main lake was hovering between 38 and 39 in the constant breeze. Need a few more degrees to get the walleye in prespawn mode...and wake up the wipers and kitties.
On the way back in I tried working the boat basin of the south marina. 11 feet of water, 41 degrees. Did not see any promising marks on sonar until I went over a dense school of SOMETHING. Not sure whether it was crappies or big shad but it was thick enough that it registered a false bottom on my sonar screen. See pic. Musta been huddled together tight for warmth. Yeah, right.
One upside of the day was the pair of eagles that hung out in one of the trees along the dike all morning. Always a bonus to see wildlife.
As Larry and I were packing up to leave, he pointed out that it really was not a SKUNK day. We should consider it merely a preseason equipment checkout. I'm good with that.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 1,587
Threads: 5
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
1
Geeez you need to have a warmer day for those pre-season equipment checks. That breeze was actually chilly today even if the thermometer said it was warm. Glad you got out and exercised the casting arm anyway.
[signature]
Posts: 36,010
Threads: 296
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
57
[#0000FF]Yeah, I can't control the weather...or the fish. But I have pretty well mastered the "excuse" lines...or the "rationalizing" lines...like "Good casting practice". Ya might say I got those down "Pat".
Looking to venture south sometime next week. Hope Utah Lake treats me nicer than Willard has the past few trips. Sheesh!
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 33,253
Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2002
Reputation:
33
Sounds like the normal success I have at Willard this time of the year. I would have thought with the water temp that much warmer in the Marina that the catching would have been a little better. I wonder if that group of fish you saw close to the bottom were perch[:/].
[signature]
Posts: 14,256
Threads: 176
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
15
Don’t you guys know it’s trout season? They still like to play this time of year, them kitties want ya to work too hard for’em. Besides if ya decide to keep one they eat at their best in the cold water. Does that make me a turn coat to say such blasphemy? Going to hit the Berry tomorrow on the hard deck I hope. Not much longer left. Later J
[signature]
Posts: 1,031
Threads: 14
Joined: Sep 2010
Reputation:
2
[quote Tin-Can]Sorry bout that Pat. Willard seems to be starting it's "pre-season skunking" [
] kind of early. Weather guessers been saying it may get up in high 50's this weekend. I just might make a bank tanglin trip up to the Bear River. See if I can find Ahi hiding out somewhere. [fishon][/quote]
I tried it Monday. nothing there yet . Think its still to early for the river.
[signature]
There's Always Time For One More Cast
Posts: 36,010
Threads: 296
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
57
[quote wiperhunter2]Sounds like the normal success I have at Willard this time of the year. I would have thought with the water temp that much warmer in the Marina that the catching would have been a little better. I wonder if that group of fish you saw close to the bottom were perch[:/].[/quote]
[#0000FF]I think most fish in Willard are still over in the deeper spots across the lake. Although there was a report last week of someone finding a few wipers right next to the rocks on a sunny exposed part of the dikes late one afternoon. Not likely a lot of fish would move across a whole lake to find the inlet, where temps at best are only one or two degrees above main lake temps. And I suspect that temps near the bottom of the deeper spots are at least that warm.
I seriously doubt they were perch. Perch in Willard seem to be solitary hunters. Hardly ever find more than one or two in any given spot.
More likely shad. They were schooled from about 10 up to about 6 feet...very tightly. Even crappies do not school like that. And I dropped down some crappie stuff without a sniff. I did feel my lures bumping fish, but no takers. Lucky I didn't snag one. Lucky for the fish.
But...as I say about a fish lost on the way to the net..."It can be anything you want it to be, if nobody else saw it to prove you wrong."
The reality is that the ice came off early but the lake is still in winter mode. Short days and cold water. The fish are acting accordingly. Until the days get longer and the water gets warmer and more oxygenated we are likely to get more exercise than fish on Willard.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 36,010
Threads: 296
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
57
[#0000FF]Trout? That's a five letter word. But then, so is wiper.
I ain't proud. I will gladly play with those silly spotted fish if they foolishly munch what I am fishing for other species. But it is rare that I waste an entire trip just to pursue them.
Case in point? You are planning to invest a lot of time and travel expense to go fish Strawberry...a pond that can offer only troutkind. I used to fish that lake a bit...even with flyrods. But it has been over 30 years since I fished Da Berry...for the same reasons. The only fish it holds...besides chubs and suckers...are those slimy spotted hatchery pets.
Seriously, I still love trout. They were the fish of my youth in Idaho. It is just that they are now like ex girlfriends. I still remember them fondly but have moved on to love others. FISH, that is. My wife doesn't let me have any girlfriends.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 2,553
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2012
Reputation:
0
Yup. Eager as I am to get out again, the rational nugget still remaining in my alleged mind says "Not yet."
Year after year, I have used the cherry trees as my fishing season indicator. When they're in bloom, it is time. Still a wee bit early even then. But time enough.
[signature]
Posts: 36,010
Threads: 296
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
57
[#0000FF]I suspect you may see an earlier bloom on your cherry trees this year...with a greater potential of frost damage with late frosts after the fruit trees bloom. Weird year.
It is interesting to observe how much the "angling calendars" around the country are tied into the bloom cycles of local trees. Crappie chasers in some areas anxiously await the blooms of the dogwood or locust trees. In California, anglers only go fishing when there is a good crop of blooming idiots. Good for serious fishermen that there are always plenty of those around...year round.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 883
Threads: 45
Joined: Dec 2015
Reputation:
1
Pat, while the fishing was slow, the company was top notch. Always good to see you!
[signature]
Posts: 36,010
Threads: 296
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
57
[#0000FF]Gee. A sentiment so nice you posted it twice.
Always good to meet up with ya on the water. But between the car repairs and the poor fishing I am beginning to wonder if there might be some luck issues involved.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 14,256
Threads: 176
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
15
Wow I guess I'm a two timer, but I nearly got skunked myself. Only found one that wanted to play with me. Rest in group found a good bunch each but there's a good 12" of ice so maybe I'll get one more try before it melts. Hope so. Later J
[signature]
