Killed them today at Willard

[wiperhunter2]

Obifishkenobi and I hit Willard today and ended up with 20 cats but only kept our limits. it was one of those days when they seemed to like what we had to offer. We got to the North marina a little after 7am and found the water level had gone up since the last time I was there, it came up about 6" to 12". We headed over to the Feedlot area where Ira and I fished a week ago and started catching them there. After we caught 7, we decided to check out the work they did in the South marina channel that Ira and I noticed on Wed. Water level was 8 to 9 ft all the way back to where we were fishing. After we got back out of the channel and into the Bay a few hundreds yards we set up again and started drift fishing, our speed varied from .7 to 1 mph because of the breeze. We must have found the mother load because for the next two hours it was kitty city, with doubles and triples. All cats were between 21 and 24" and the same fligs Ira and I used on Weds worked today, as well as a blue one Shawn used, not sure if he used another color. We called it quits at noon and headed in. Thanks Shawn for a great trip today.

Water level coming up, this was bare ground last week, now just a few rocks exposed



Shad on the ramp



Our catch today



One of Shawns cats



Cats stomach contents



Baby cat

[obifishkenobi]

Obifishkenobi and I hit Willard today and ended up with 20 cats but only kept our limits. it was one of those days when they seemed to like what we had to offer. We got to the North marina a little after 7am and found the water level had gone up since the last time I was there, it came up about 6" to 12". We headed over to the Feedlot area where Ira and I fished a week ago and started catching them there. After we caught 7, we decided to check out the work they did in the South marina channel that Ira and I noticed on Wed. Water level was 8 to 9 ft all the way back to where we were fishing. After we got back out of the channel and into the Bay a few hundreds yards we set up again and started drift fishing, our speed varied from .7 to 1 mph because to the breeze. We must have found the mother load because for the next two hours it was kitty city, with doubles and triples. All cats were between 21 and 24" and the same fligs Ira and I used on Weds worked today, as well as a blue one Shawn used, not sure if he used another color. We called it quits at noon and headed in. I'll post the pics when I get them off my phone. Thanks Shawn for a great trip today.

It was great fishing with you, I got mine on the silver and blue flig and a purple perch pattern, they where in the 7-8’ of water range. I now have a stocked freezer for winter fish fry’s. Thanks for going with me today Curt. 

[wiperhunter2]

Got those pics added. Enjoyed fishing with you as well Shawn. Was the purple flig like the purple tiger flig I was talking about, guess I did not notice which one you had.

[EyLayo]

Good trip guys. Interesting to see corn in the mix. Wonder if someone was baiting some carp. I know cats are opportunistic feeders, just wondering where they found it

[obifishkenobi]

Good trip guys. Interesting to see corn in the mix. Wonder if someone was baiting some carp. I know cats are opportunistic feeders, just wondering where they found it

There where several with corn in there belly. We Drifted over the same fish 3 times.Would probably be a good kid trip.

[wiperhunter2]

Good trip guys. Interesting to see corn in the mix. Wonder if someone was baiting some carp. I know cats are opportunistic feeders, just wondering where they found it

As much action as we had in that second location we were wondering if someone had dumped a can or two of corn in that spot. Just a theory, we did not see anyone doing it but it made us wonder. On another note we were the only boat out there yesterday, no one there when we launched and no one there in the parking lot when we came back. Cloudy when we arrived but we never got rained on, all in all a great day on the Bay.

[TubeDude]

Good trip guys. Interesting to see corn in the mix. Wonder if someone was baiting some carp. I know cats are opportunistic feeders, just wondering where they found it

I have found corn in the cats caught out off the feedlot for several years.  I talked with one of the DWR biologists about it and suggested that the seagulls eat it in the feedlot, but do not digest it...so it passes on through.  And big flocks of seagulls fly out of the feedlot and settle in groups on the lake..."downloading" the undigested corn.  Cats do eat corn so when they find it, they eat it.  The biologist scratched his head and admitted that was probably the best theory.

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Got those pics added. Enjoyed fishing with you as well Shawn. Was the purple flig like the purple tiger flig I was talking about, guess I did not notice which one you had.

I make that perple purch in several of the sizes and shapes.  It could rightly be called a purple tiger.  It definitely works on multiple species.

[obifishkenobi]

Good trip guys. Interesting to see corn in the mix. Wonder if someone was baiting some carp. I know cats are opportunistic feeders, just wondering where they found it

I have found corn in the cats caught out off the feedlot for several years.  I talked with one of the DWR biologists about it and suggested that the seagulls eat it in the feedlot, but do not digest it...so it passes on through.  And big flocks of seagulls fly out of the feedlot and settle in groups on the lake..."downloading" the undigested corn.  Cats do eat corn so when they find it, they eat it.  The biologist scratched his head and admitted that was probably the best theory.

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Got those pics added. Enjoyed fishing with you as well Shawn. Was the purple flig like the purple tiger flig I was talking about, guess I did not notice which one you had.

I make that perple purch in several of the sizes and shapes.  It could rightly be called a purple tiger.  It definitely works on multiple species.

That’s the one, thanks Pat worked great.The only thing I did differently yesterday was run a longer 2’ leader I don’t know if it was just a great day or if that really made the difference. Curt pointed out that there is a silt layer all over the bottom of the bay, but the whole water column is pretty dirty right now.

[TubeDude]

[quote pid="1137581" dateline="1663423650"]
I make that perple purch in several of the sizes and shapes.  It could rightly be called a purple tiger.  It definitely works on multiple species.

That’s the one, thanks Pat worked great.The only thing I did differently yesterday was run a longer 2’ leader I don’t know if it was just a great day or if that really made the difference. Curt pointed out that there is a silt layer all over the bottom of the bay, but the whole water column is pretty dirty right now.
[/quote]
A lot of times fish don't pattern on specific colors as much as they do colors (or color combos) they can see best under the prevailing conditions.  I make several different perch and tiger patterns and they are often more visible in poor visibility conditions just because of the contrasting patterns of dark against a lighter background. 

You mentioned using a longer leader.  I'm going to suggest you take it one step further and go to a 3-way rig...to get the fligs just a bit higher off the murky bottom.  See attached.  I have been using that for dragging my whirly fligs around and it seems to produce much better than just having a weight on the line above the flig.  Catfish will come up quite a ways in the water column to hit a bait or lure...as will the other species.  We've all caught them at mid depth while trolling at mach 3.  And I have had them come up to take a chub minnow fished six feet below a bobber in 18 to 20 feet of water (during better times). 

I also suspect that part of the reason you did as well as you did on this report was the bait.  You mentioned using perch meat in your last "so so" report.  But with the Deadly Duo aboard I'm guessing you had chub meat for bait.  That has always worked best for me...especially on days when I had 3 or 4 options and gave all a fair try. 

Still looking forward to joining you on a future excursion.

[wiperhunter2]

Shawn actually had that rig set up ready to go but I don't think he used it, would have been interesting to try them side by side to see if one produced better than the other. Ira had to work yesterday but he was there in spirit but the number of cats we caught. That makes sense with your theory on how the corn got there. Chub was indeed the bait of the day.

[doitall5000]

Do we know what the willard water temperature is??

[wiperhunter2]

Do we know what the willard water temperature is??

It was 67 degrees when we were there.