Willard...Warm B-4 The Storm 10-15-24

[TubeDude]

Thought I’d get in one more shot at Willard before the forecast major weather change at the end of the week.  Semi hoped to find a few more wee wipers but figured I’d be happy with any tugs I got.  And I was.
 
Launched at the south marina about 7:30…along with Curt & Ira…and several other boaters.  Air temp at launch a cool 45…warming to 72 at noon departure.  Water temps a degree cooler than last week at 63…warming to 65 by noonish.
 

Same ol’ same ol’.  Dragged a variety of cranks and spinners…at various speeds and depths…all the way to the feed lot.  No hits, no runs, no errors.  Saw lots of shad balls, from small to larger.  Even saw a few predator type marks on TV, but they all had their mouths closed and their middle fins upraised.
 
Got to the area I have been molested the last few trips by lots of kitties and sent over a couple of minnow-baited fligs…one blue-silver and the other pink tiger.  Action was not nearly as fast as the previous two trips but enough to bend my sticks and stretch my string.
 
First cat to the net was a feisty 20 incher that liked pink.  Climbed on in only 9 feet of water, only a few feet off the rocks.  Most other inquiries came from 11 to 12 feet of water.  Continued to see lots of shad clusters and sometimes some followers.
 

Lovely weather all morning.  Barely had a breeze ripple a couple of times.  Truly the warm before the storm.  And the kitties came to play.  But about the third or fourth fish was a gobsmacker.  Rod was motionless one second and developed a serious downward bend and a shrieking reel the next.  After running off a few yards of line it turned out in a big circle toward the open lake.  I dared hope it might be one of the bigger wipers that have been showing up for the mussel dunkers from shore or anchored boats.  But, nay.  Not so.  Turned out to be a big scaly “golden wiper”.  But it pulled good and took several minutes to coax into my undersized net.  I even released it without my customary complimentary gillectomy.
  

I tried the “pistachio” color without a single hit.  The pink tiger got all but two of the seven cats I caught…plus the “golden wiper”.   I only wanted to keep a couple of cats today…one for me and one for my appreciative neighbor.  I had my two and was almost all the way back to the marina when I went bendo on a substantial fish.  Turned out to be my biggest cat of the day…a solid two-footer.  But it had snarfed my flig clear down in its gullet.  Not characteristic.  Almost all fligged fish are hooked in the corner of the mouth or at least not very deep inside.  Not wanting to kill the fish with an invasive hook removal.  And not wanting to leave it inside to interfere with feeding, etc., I opted to add it to the basket for removal at the cleaning station.
 

[wiperhunter2]

You did good out there today Pat, much better than Ira and myself, good seeing you out there again. Hopefully the cool down this week will change things up, for the coming weeks.

[oldguy]

You did good out there today Pat, much better than Ira and myself, good seeing you out there again. Hopefully the cool down this week will change things up, for the coming weeks.

You guys usually  do well out there. Do you think the water temperature  is still  to hot for the perch. I know it has slowed down for me. But seems just as the sun hits the water it has been good  for about1/2 hour then it just shuts down

[Redrebel]

As always great report Pat. I was there yesterday, I had close to the same results as my last trip but tried a couple kitty spots by freeway bay that I’ve been trying to record the bottom. Pic is of what worked for me. Smaller crank was more active with the wipers (wiper bite was quick ). I’m interested to see if the perch bite turns on. Definitely was some guys trying to get the perch to hit outside the north marina.

[TubeDude]

You did good out there today Pat, much better than Ira and myself, good seeing you out there again. Hopefully the cool down this week will change things up, for the coming weeks.

Don't know whether to blame it on the moon, changing weather patterns, too much food (shad) in the water or what. But I talked with a few other folks coming into the marina about the same time I did and the overall reports were not good.  Had two different fairly knowledgeable fishermen remark that it was the first time they had blanked on Willard in a long time.  

On the other hand, our friend who launched his new boat about the same time we did actually scored a couple of nice walleyes.  But then, he knows all the fish in Willard on a first name basis.

---

A few comments on the board...and some PMs from a couple of other members...asking or commenting on the (hopefully) forthcoming perchathon.  Thought I would share some personal observations and some opinions voiced by others:  

1.  The extended warm weather this year has delayed the perch.  Water temps are still a few degrees over 60.  Willard is usually about 5 - 10 degrees cooler by now...which starts the annual dieoff of the smallest shad.

2.  With the extended warm water situation, it is possible that the youngest shad may have lived long enough to develop mouth parts to allow them to live on algae, detritus and other stuff...rather than relying solely on zooplankton.  It is the cold water depletion of zooplankton that kills off the youngest shad...through starvation...rather than the cold temps.  There is some winter kill of shad of all ages but gizzard shad can tolerate colder temps better than threadfin shad.  That is why they are in Willard.  Bottom line is that it is possible there will not be as much of a dieoff this year.  Wait and see.

3.  Regardless of the shad situation, the perch are still likely to show up and school up.  That is part of their established fall pattern on Willard.  Females are becoming full of ripening eggs and they start congregating to be around their own kind before "the dating game"...which is still several winter months away.

4. There are massive numbers of perch in Willard.  While angler pressure may reduce the numbers in the most heavily targeted areas...at least temporarily...it does not even put a dent in the overall population.  So if you aren't finding them in your fave spot...find a new spot.  Like all species in Willard, perch move around to find either food or more comfy living conditions.  And, even though there are a few places we have come to find them most years there are a lot of other spots where they gather without ever being molested by perch jerkers.  Good electronics, good techniques, the right lures, the right bait and a lot of patience are your best tools for finding and harvesting perch.

[wiperhunter2]

You did good out there today Pat, much better than Ira and myself, good seeing you out there again. Hopefully the cool down this week will change things up, for the coming weeks.

You guys usually  do well out there. Do you think the water temperature  is still  to hot for the perch. I know it has slowed down for me. But seems just as the sun hits the water it has been good  for about1/2 hour then it just shuts down

As Pat said, and I concur, there is little doubt the water temps are too warm to get the perch coming into their normal spots but just like they were caught during the Summer, they can still be caught now, just not as many as when they start grouping up.

[TubeDude]

As always great report Pat. I was there yesterday, I had close to the same results as my last trip but tried a couple kitty spots by freeway bay that I’ve been trying to record the bottom. Pic is of what worked for me. Smaller crank was more active with the wipers (wiper bite was quick  ). I’m interested to see if the perch bite turns on. Definitely was some guys trying to get the perch to hit outside the north marina.

Glad to hear that your new homemade trinkets are getting some votes from the fishies.  Lookin' good. 

About the wipers.  Just like all the species in Willard, ya cain't ketch 'em where they ain't.  With the limited speed and range of my craft (float tube) I can only fish the area in which I launch.  On days when the targeted species are elsewhere I gotta settle for whatever I can find. 

The greater speed and range of a boat...with good electronics...helps a lot when you gotta search 'em out.  But, as we all know, finding fish is no guarantee you can catch them.  That's where tackle, technique and experience come in to play.  Get it right and you get fish.

[BSF]

I was also there yesterday with high hopes of catching a few Wipers or Walleyes.

I arrived at the north marina around 7:30am. There were no other vehicles or boat trailers there yet. Around 8:00 someone in a kick boat showed up and a couple kayakers.

I played around in the marina for a while chasing many of the marks that clutter the screen of my fish finder hoping to catch perch or crappie with no luck.

Next I trolled flicker shad through freeway bay with no luck. Still seeing a lot of marks including swarms of bait fish on the sonar.

So I raced over to the rock piles outside of the south marina. I spot locked the boat and dropped a piece of worm on a jig over the side of the boat, and started casting and jigging back a worm on a jig. I ended up catching four cats the largest being 19 inches.

The water temp. In the north marina was 65* in the morning and 68* in the afternoon.

[TubeDude]

I was also there yesterday with high hopes of catching a few Wipers or Walleyes.

I arrived at the north marina around 7:30am. There were no other vehicles or boat trailers there yet. Around 8:00 someone in a kick boat showed up and a couple kayakers.

I played around in the marina for a while chasing many of the marks that clutter the screen of my fish finder hoping to catch perch or crappie with no luck.

Next I trolled flicker shad through freeway bay with no luck. Still seeing a lot of marks including swarms of bait fish on the sonar.

So I raced over to the rock piles outside of the south marina. I spot locked the boat and dropped a piece of worm on a jig over the side of the boat, and started casting and jigging back a worm on a jig. I ended up catching four cats the largest being 19 inches.

The water temp. In the north marina was 65* in the morning and 68* in the afternoon.

I almost went to the north marina instead of the south marina.  But spotty reports and the higher water temps suggested to me that I would likely have a better shot at catching SOMETHING out of the south.   I have had reports of a few 10-12" crappies showing up in the marina, but no perch and nothing outside in the usual hangouts.  I can usually scratch out at least a couple of cats but still the south won the coin toss and I am even more glad it did after your report.  

Thanks.  Interesting about the rock piles.  I have heard from others that these are the new catfish dating sites in the early summer.  Had one report of seeing lots of cats stacked up over them...and that they would intercept almost anything dropped down to them.  One guy reported catching cat after cat on a vertical jigged spoon.  Glad the cats have made good use of them.  It was originally hoped they might be more attractive to walleyes.  But haven't heard any reliable reports of improved 'eye catching on or around those rock piles.  Of course, a lot of wallieholics are pretty tight-lipped about divulging anything about their best spots.

[icejunkie]

Gotta say thanks again to the master tubedude, for meeting me yesterday on his way to Willard. I took my grandson out today to try a catch some catfish ,but the kitties didn't want any of our offerings. But we did get his 1st boat driving lesson on the books.

[oldguy]

Gotta say thanks again to the master tubedude, for meeting me yesterday on his way to Willard. I took my grandson out today to try a catch some catfish ,but the kitties didn't want any of our offerings. But we did get his 1st boat driving lesson on the books.

That is awesome  to see the next generation of fisherman with a on there face.I remember my first  boat driving lesson  in 1963 !!! And I still remember having to figure out how to get back to the dock to pick up my dad  after he parked the car. I guess that ages me but oh well.

[TubeDude]

Gotta say thanks again to the master tubedude, for meeting me yesterday on his way to Willard. I took my grandson out today to try a catch some catfish ,but the kitties didn't want any of our offerings. But we did get his 1st boat driving lesson on the books.

Sorry the fish were a no show.  But, as you can tell by reading some of the other reports, the fishing has taken a sudden downturn.  I got a few after meeting you Tuesday morning for a flig download, but I really had to work a lot harder for them than I have been.  Glad you were able to get the grandson out anyway.  I'm sure he had a good time...even if he didn't get abused by any stupid fish.