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The skunk that didn't happen at Willard
#1
Went out on Willard on 4/15.  I know, day after the big blow, pressure front changing like a Yo-YO, calm, but snow, rain, snow then rain all afternoon; everyone knows that fishing would be poor.  There was almost no wind when I was out there and there were periods between rain or snow.

In my defense, I went out to test my Old-New-0ld ride to see if I needed to change the prop.  I last changed the prop for sea level then gave the boat to my son.  Now that he is getting a new bass boat I got my old boat back.  Fishing was not the point of the trip.....

But HOW can you be on the water and not fish?

First good news, while the RPMs are a bit low, and I should get a new prop, it will do just find until I get a new one.  Second good news, it still floats and I could tell the boat missed me (or was that the other way around?)

Now, for the skunk report...  The water temp at the North launch was running about 52.5 deg. +/-.  Outside the marina it dropped about a degree.  At the south marina it was back up to about 52.5 but I could see no signs of current at the buoy line.  At the light pole and along the North side the water temperature was down to about 51.5 deg. +/-.  This was a lot colder than I expected, but with the storm front I suppose it should have been expected.  

Still, I had to fish some, so I put on a lure I make to test it out and this stupid bass decided it was time to try it out.  Not a huge fish, and the picture I took sucks, but the skunk that was expected was off.  Later I was mapping out some depth changes and tossing the lure out while moving slow and just as I was taking the lure out of the water this stupid Wiper took it.  Talk about a short line rodeo, glad I had braid on.  Just as I was about to put it into the live well (raining too hard to get my smart phone out for a picture now) I remembered I did not expect to catch fish so had no fillet knife or cooler...... It swims to fight another day.  I found I was getting follows on that lure but no more solid hits so I changed to a different color and a freight train (in the form of another wiper) hit it while moving the other way at high speed.  Another good fight and now it swims to fight another day.  So, on a day that should have been a solid and sure skunk, three fish proved that the best day to go fishing is when you can get off work.  I was wet, cold, and had to call the day short.

One bad news, my old fish finder will not work on side-finder mode now.  Oh well, time to spend more money.

Disclaimer, I do not suggest that the best time to fish Willard is after a big blow and during the snow and or rain.  I was shocked that I even saw a fish.[Image: Willard-Bass-4-15-21.jpg]
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#2
Any time is a good time - right

Ok, in fairness, like most reading this, I have been out a couple times when I really really should not have.

And I did not catch a freight train either.

I wonder how you would have done if you were tryingSmile
Remember: keep the lid on the worms, share your jerky, and stop by to say hi to Cookie and the Cowboy-Pirate crew
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#3
Nice report, that bass looks like a LM bass, if so, that was an amazing catch, not many folks catch those fish out of Willard. When I first looked at it, before clicking on the imagine to make it larger, I thought it was a walleye, until i noticed  the horizontal stripe. By the way, try resetting your fishfinder, I had the same thing happen a few years back and after calling customer service they told me to scroll down the menue, then hit factory reset, it worked for me.
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#4
(04-16-2021, 09:05 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Nice report, that bass looks like a LM bass, if so, that was an amazing catch, not many folks catch those fish out of Willard. When I first looked at it, before clicking on the imagine to make it larger, I thought it was a walleye, until i noticed  the horizontal stripe. By the way, try resetting your fishfinder, I had the same thing happen a few years back and after calling customer service they told me to scroll down the menue, then hit factory reset, it worked for me.
Reset it?  I should have thought of that.  Thanks for the idea.
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#5
(04-18-2021, 04:26 AM)Anglinarcher Wrote:
(04-16-2021, 09:05 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Nice report, that bass looks like a LM bass, if so, that was an amazing catch, not many folks catch those fish out of Willard. When I first looked at it, before clicking on the imagine to make it larger, I thought it was a walleye, until i noticed  the horizontal stripe. By the way, try resetting your fishfinder, I had the same thing happen a few years back and after calling customer service they told me to scroll down the menue, then hit factory reset, it worked for me.
Reset it?  I should have thought of that.  Thanks for the idea.
No problem, I felt the same as you when I first noticed the side scan was gone.
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