South Marina Tubin' 4/22/09

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Fellow BFT tuber LloydE came out of hibernation this week. As he rubbed his sleepy eyes he invited himself to join me at Willard this morning. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We launched about 6:30 AM. Clear, calm, 50 degree air temp and a "toenail clipping" moon above the pink sky of sunrise. Dirty water coming into the inlet. 49 degrees inside the channel, warming quickly to 54 outside...eventually to 58 about noon when we came in. Water much cleaner away from the inlet channel.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We both started by dragging a minnow on one rod and pitching plastics on the second rod. Lloyd started to holler WOW. WOW. WOW. WOW. about 7 AM. Never knew one person could say wow in so many different languages and at so many octaves. A 4 pound wiper was whackin' him around pretty good...but he eventually scooped it in his wimpy little net.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There seems to be such a thing as the "first fish jinx". Been there myself. The guy who scores first sometimes blanks the rest of the day. Almost worked out that way for Lloyd. We covered a whole lotta water during the next five hours without him putting another fish in his basket. Thankfully, he scored a couple of quick "cookie cutter" kitties just before we came in so he had some dinner fixins. Actually, that porky wiper would be a complete meal for Lloyd and his wife.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I got couple of whacks on plastics, but did not hook anything for about an hour. Finally, I startet catching catfish. Lost what I am sure was a wiper after one big wide sweep and the hook pulled out. But, I did get about a dozen kitties. Kept a half dozen for dining. Got one on a "wiper bling crankbait I made for wipers. Silly catfish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw a couple of other BFTers going out in their boats. Guessing that late afternoon should do well with the warming temps. Good luck guys. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd and I had flat surface and no wind all morning, until the customary westerlies started blowing about 10:30. Then, they calmed and it began to blow a bit briskly from the east...just enough to make it too much work to kick back up the channel.[/#0000ff]
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[kdean]

Well, I fished Willard yesterday for the first time. Apparently I have a lot more fishing to do before I start catching! Thank you for the article on Wiper fishing, it gave me a lot of good pointers on where to go. Tracked a lot of fish on the Fish Finder but I am still working on the whole presentation, retrieving, yada yada yada. However, I had a great time! We left around 830, when the Mesquito's tried to give me a lift home. [] Will try again another day! Thanks again.
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[mactuna]

Nice dat onte water. Nice too see Lloyd and you catch some fish. Looked like a very nice day
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[ParrMark]

[#0000ff]There seems to be such a thing as the "first fish jinx". [/#0000ff]

Amen brother!

Thanks for another great report Pat.
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[lavaman]

Great pics TD! As always, they make great wallpaper. Love that first one.

Looks like the weather is starting to warm a bit, I think it's time to get out and wet a line. Been wayyyyy too long for me.
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[FishNCoach]

It was nice to hook up with ya, after all the years we meet at last, sorry about getting into your line[crazy], the new trolling motor worked out great. sorry about the short -shorts I had to wade in water up to my *&%%. to get the motor trimed out.
I landed 6 wiper, trolled from the light pole to the south west end then came in, used some lures from wall-mart, (silver and black, and a silver with green to it) tryed giging a bit, got some hits (or snags), trolling speed at about 2.30gps and line was out 120ft, the fish seemed to be at a depth of 15-20 ft, I landed back at the south dock at 2:00pm. I left the camera in the truck and forgot to get a photo, so I guess it is just another fish story.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Glad you got into some fish. With all of that cold dirty water coming into the south marina area it moved the wipers out. We caught one, but did not find any numbers. They seem to be orienting along the warmer shorelines.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]No problem on the lines. I was pretty much through fishing and on the way in anyway. It was good to meet you. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No problem with the short shorts either. I am not offended by the gratuitous exposure of skin, but I usually prefer to see it on the other gender. However, I did have to put on my darkest sunglasses to handle the blinding white glare off your legs. Hope you used sunscreen.[/#0000ff]
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[LloydE]

What a great way to get back on the open water---great weather, great scenery, great company, and another great learning experience. I think the fishing at Willard will just get better as the weather and the water warm up.

Thanks for the tubing and fishing lessons TubeDude! I am still learning the finer art of getting in and out of the tube. I thought I was a fairly capable fisherman in a tube, but there are so many more things I need to learn. Furthermore, I guess I will be forever learning about the habits of the fish, fishing lures, and presentation.

The only downer during the trip was the leak/s in my neoprene waders. The cold, cold water inside the left leg of my waders was bad enough; but when I had to kick so hard as I fought the wind getting off the lake the wet clothes rubbed against the skin underneath my left knee and left me with about a 3" open sore. I hope it heals quickly because I am anxious to get out on the open water again soon.
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