Willard Weather Window 4-4-19

[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]At the first of the week the weather forecast for Willard looked good for Friday. Then Mama Nature got all huffy again and Thursday looked better. So I headed for the north marina this morning.
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[#0000ff]Launched just after 7 am. Air temp 47 and water temp 49...rising to 60 and 51 respectively at noon departure. Water level is rising nicely and clarity was not too bad. But my sonar must be acting up. It did not want to show me any fish. Like a desert again today.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hope springs eternal...or infernal. Whatever. I was hoping for an ABC day...anything but catfish. Had to settle for an NBC day...nothing but catfish. More than anything I wanted to avoid another skunking, like on my first trip to Willard last month. Thankfully my everlovin' kitties showed up and showed me some love.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Action was never fast, but I caught my first two fairly quickly after getting out of the harbor. Skunk begone. Fished fligs on one rod while tossing a variety of plastics on the other. Nary a whiff on the plastics. Gave up and went to double flig rigs...each with two fligs. That would haunt me later.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The good ol' fire tiger color caught fish again today. But so did a new color..."clown"...with a hot red head and a chartreuse and white glitter body. Came out about equal to the fire tiger. Decorated them with small chub minnows. Cats voted for them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The fish were running smaller today than some we have been getting...but ideal cookin' and eatin' size. Still, I released the first 3 or 4...before I decided that I should bring home some edibles for the "Kitty Queen". So I kept the next eight and release the last 3 or 4. At least I thought I had kept eight. A count at the ramp tallied only 7. No biggie. Still a couple of good meals for the old folks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My last fish was greedy. Had both of the flig rods out...each with two fligs...high and low. No bites for the past half hour and was nearing the harbor. Just as I was deciding to call it both rods took a dive. Set the hook on one rod and the other went straight. Hadn't missed a hookup all day but was just as glad to avoid a double in close quarters. I fish the fligs in close. When I worked the cat up to where I could see it, it looked like a Christmas tree. All kinds of colored ornaments...4 different colored fligs. It had two in its mouth...one from each rod...and the other two and the beads and sinkers wrapped around its body.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I finished unhooking and unwrapping that greedy kitty I was left with a tangled mess of leader, swivels, sinkers, beads and fligs. No way I was going to be able to untangle it. I took that as a sign that I was done. Cut it all loose, tucked it in a little plastic bag, reeled in the rods and headed for the ramp.
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[#0000ff]And Mama Nature was just tuning up for some afternoon fun.
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[Kent]

Congrats on another fine outing. One of my best days at Willard was when I was trolling a red and white Rapala. Both the walleye and wipers were regularly voting for it.
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[SBennett]

Love that clown color Pat!
My wife and I were fishing two poles each last week at Strawberry in a 'shanty pattern'.
The cutts are so lame you can reel them up and let the other 3 poles stay down, even in that close of proximity, usually.
One of the cutts finally decided to fight a little and wrapped around the other three lines.
Yes, what a mess.
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[jjannie]

Congrats on a great outing, and no 'lost' lures to boot!

[theboilermaker]

Nice catch TubeDude. I like the clown colors. Hopefully the weather will work with my schedule one day.
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[Bduck]

I met up with the TubeDude this morning and had a wonderful conversation. I have been blessed with the Flig style arsenal. Thanks Pat, I can't wait to try those. Was Wiperhunter 2 out on the water?
BTW, nice catch from Willard.
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[k2muskie]

Nice seeing you and saying hello. We also managed a couple kitties they are still swimming. Was a very nice day and first fish in new ride. We’ll be out again very soon.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Pat sounds like a great day, glad your pets didn't let ya down... Very nice job again, and thanks for the report... J
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[muirco]

Good day for you! Hopefully wipers start showing up!
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[fly_fishing_nut]

Pat, when you say you were fishing two flics, high and low, how long of leader for each? I’m still trying to catch my first fish on a flig. Do you try to have enough weight your line is almost going straight down from your pole or like a 30-45 degree angle? I’ve been trying perch meat on mine at Willard and haven’t had a bite yet.
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[gmwahl]

I too would like to know how pat is rigging his fligs up. When I was younger I used to just put a floating jighead in front of a sliding sinker with about a foot or two of leader.

Mike
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[TubeDude]

"Was Wiperhunter 2 out on the water?"

[#0000FF]Nope. Wiperslayer met me at Maverik for a "flig fix", but neither he nor WH2 hit the water.[/#0000FF]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Likewise. Good seeing the "dynamic duo" again. Like your new Lund. Hope it puts you on many fishies in the coming months.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Shouldn't be long now until the "ABC" species start getting more active.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]I am attaching my writeup on "Fishing Fligs". There are some diagrams in it. I have modified one of the diagrams to show how to rig a second (dropper) flig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Basically, I tie a two foot leader on to the Nanofil main line...using a small barrel swivel...and tie a small dropper off the bottom of the top swivel. Then I add the sliding sinker and the bead...and then the bottom swivel...and then the 12"-14" leader. It works great for presenting fligs higher and lower in the water column. I was hoping to find some crappies on the upper flig but all fish on this trip came on the bottom fligs. But I am confident the upper one will get some love when the non-cat species get more numerous and more active.
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[TubeDude]

[quote gmwahl]I too would like to know how pat is rigging his fligs up. When I was younger I used to just put a floating jighead in front of a sliding sinker with about a foot or two of leader. [/quote]

[#0000FF]That is the basic rig I use most. I have experimented a lot with leader length and shorter leaders seem to work best for most species. However, for walleyes it may take a longer leader on some days.[/#0000FF]
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[RockyRaab]

Speaking of weather and Willard, here's a site I find most useful (and for other places, as well.)

https://www.windfinder.com/report/willard
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[SkunkedAgain]

Pat,
I appreciate you putting the picture in there, is so much easier for me to figure things out with a picture rather than just words... I didn't realize you used two mono or fluoro leaders... That may help my sliding sinker to not take off on me when casting... sometimes it slides way up the line during the cast... I started slow catching fish on the fligs, but these days it's at least 50-50 if not higher on my flig catches... In fact I think my biggest so far was a gorilla flig fan... Thanks... J
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Thanks, Rocky. I have use that site in the past. But I have found that many of Utah's waters seem to have their own weather makers. I can't begin to recall all of the times I have planned a trip...based upon a consensus forecast for wind speed and direction...only to experience exact opposite conditions while fishing.
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[#0000FF] However, that has worked both for me and against me. I have cancelled trips based on poor forecasts, only to find later that there was no wind at all. And I have gone despite poor forecasts and enjoyed great conditions. I have also had trips where forecast calm conditions became "perfect storms".[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I employ several forecasting sources...and include nearby areas...to try to maximize the enjoys of any particular trip. Fortunately, my guesstimates are usually pretty close and those who fish with me will attest that I usually pick good days on the water.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Speaking of which, are we going to be able to wave at each other on Willard this year?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I seldom make long casts with a flig rig, but have never noticed a problem with the sinker sliding up the line. But if that is a problem then putting the sinker between two swivels should fix it. I kinda suspect that the sliding sinker is not even necessary at times. When the fish does the "gulp and go" you could have your rig anchored down on a heavy sinker and the surge would still haul the rod down.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I have watched some of the cat tanglers on Utah Lake that use heavy sinkers and a short snelled leader. And I have seen them bring in good numbers of cats that definitely registered a heavy hit in spite of the sinkers. But silly me. I still like to finesse the fish a bit with a sliding sinker. I guess it is sometimes more of an angling perception thing than fishes' reality.
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[SkunkedAgain]

I need to learn how to catch more cats from my toon, I spend most of my cat time bank tangling because it’s fast and easier. Guess I need to prepare a quick launch option for my toon. Have to work on that so I don’t have to rely on long casts. Thanks for the info. J
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