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Willard N. Marina 4-25-22
#1
Another one of those sneak in trips between “weather events”.  Picked a great day for fishing.  Calm and clear.  And fishing was great…even if the catching was not.
 
Launched my tube about 7:20 am.  Chatted briefly with a couple of tooners who were heading toward the docks to dunk for crappie.  They said they had been down a couple of times in the last week but had not scored anything yet.  Also said the water depth at the east end was less than knee deep.  But if there are any crappies left in Willard they will show up there to spawn when water temps get right.  Crappies will spawn in water only a couple of feet deep if that is where they can find some brush or vegetation.
 
Water temp at launch was 49 degrees.  Stayed that temp until about 9 am and then warmed up about 1 degree an hour…reaching just over 51 degrees when I ramped by noon.  Water is coming in strong at the inlet baffles and the level is rising a bit.  Still a long way to go before hitting the upper bathtub ring.
[Image: LAUNCH.jpg]
Was just getting started dragging some fligs when the “Deadly Duo” showed up (WH2 and wiperslayer1).  I handed over some new trinkets they had ordered and they blasted off for their day of fishing elsewhere.  I understand they only got 1 cat all day, so maybe I didn’t do so badly after all…with only 3 cats for my efforts.
 [Image: DEADLY-DUO.jpg]
I don’t remember ever working so hard or covering so much water for such a meager reward.  Didn’t get my first bite for over an hour.  Had a total of 4 bites all day and brought in 3 cats…all about an hour apart and in different areas and different depths.  And saw very little on sonar to give me encouragement.  Tough day…but at least I killed the skunk and backed it up with a couple more.
[Image: SKUNK-KILLER.jpg] 
From the north marina I made S turns and fished all the way over to the north dike.  And then I worked up the north dike…fishing in and out from about 4’ out to as much as 13’.  As mentioned, almost nothing on sonar.  There was a large contingent of bank tanglers about 1/4 mile out on the north dike.  They looked serious…with several large wheeled carts on the dike above where they all had their chairs along the remaining sandy beach of the low water.  Didn’t see them catch anything but heard one of them say to another that they had caught “2” the day before.  No mention of species but I am guessing wipers.  That group of mussel dunkers shows up at a couple of spots around the lake every year and usually harvests quite a few wipers when they are in.
 [Image: NAVY-ASHORE.jpg] [Image: BANK-TANGLERS.jpg]
I did make one great catch just off the dike…a “12 point” snag.  I seldom snag with the fligs but this one came up tight and it looked like I was going to “donate to the fish gods”.  But wonder of wonders, when I moved over the top of it and gave a mighty pull it came up from the depths.  Biggest one I’ve caught there.  But I released it unharmed.
[Image: 12-POINT.jpg]
Only a handful of boats headed out of the n. marina.  And all of them headed across the lake to parts unknown.  None of them came back in for me to get a report before I left at noon.  Beautiful day, with flat glass calm most of the time.  Again, fishing was a lot better than the catching.

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#2
Seems like the fish are slow to wake up an play this year, at least your finding a couple to keep you coming back.
               O.C.F.D.
[Image: download.jpg]
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#3
(04-26-2022, 12:54 PM)MSM1970 Wrote: Seems like the  fish are slow to wake up an play this year, at least your finding a couple to keep you coming back.

Yep.  As you have found in your fishing world, the fish ain't playin' right this year.  I talk to quite a few knowledgeable anglers and DWR folks who mostly agree that the up and down weather patterns have put the "normal" fishing into a "delayed" activity schedule.   Combined with low water levels and increased fishing activities during the "Covid Crud" this has the fish patterns altered somewhat.

I am not a degreed biologist, but I have put a lot of independent study into the factors that influence fish behavior...notably spawning and other cycles.  I have long known that there is a combination of two factors that have the greatest effect...length of daylight hours and water temps.  In normal years the two coincide to bring off a predictable cycle.  But in wierd years it can mess things up.  Here is a quote from a web article I recently researched.  "In the anatomy of fish in the brain there 's an organ called PINEAL GLAND, the pineal gland is programed ( by nature and evolution ) to begin to generate hormones and activate all the mechanisms that prepare the fish for the spawn.  The pineal gland detects the amount of light hours and acts like a biological clock, only when the right amount of light hours are reached the pineal gland activates the mechanism. The right amount of hours matches the rise in water temperature in the spring." 

We can only hope that we get a combination of a lot more water for the fishies and a more stable weather pattern for the anglers.
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#4
Glad a few kitties came out to play yesterday for you Pat. Looks like the water was much clearer for you compared to last weeks report. This time of year the catching can sure be on and off. 

We put all our eggs in one basket yesterday by counting on a good bite on the faster troll and that did not prove to be a smart move. We are planning another trip out on Weds with 2knots and will for sure be bringing fligs on that trip and fishing much slower. One good thing to report, we were marking a lot of suspended fish between the Island and Freeway way, so they were there, we just could not make the conection, even though we tried just about all our normal go to Willard lures. We think it was likely just a slow day but from past experience, we also know that when the water level changes it also changes the way the fish bite and it can take a few trips to dial in the new pattern, at least for trolling cranks. Maybe a couple more days of stable weather will make a difference as well.
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#5
(04-26-2022, 01:41 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Glad a few kitties came out to play yesterday for you Pat. Looks like the water was much clearer for you compared to last weeks report. This time of year the catching can sure be on and off. 

We put all our eggs in one basket yesterday by counting on a good bite on the faster troll and that did not prove to be a smart move. We are planning another trip out on Weds with 2knots and will for sure be bringing fligs on that trip and fishing much slower. One good thing to report, we were marking a lot of suspended fish between the Island and Freeway way, so they were there, we just could not make the conection, even though we tried just about all our normal go to Willard lures. We think it was likely just a slow day but from past experience, we also know that when the water level changes it also changes the way the fish bite and it can take a few trips to dial in the new pattern, at least for trolling cranks. Maybe a couple more days of stable weather will make a difference as well.
I think the fishermen are ready before the fish are this year.  At least a two week lag over "normal" in terms of water temps.  My logs show that until the water temps stay above 55...and move ever higher...that is when the wipers move in closer to shore for their annual foolishness...and when the post spawn walleyes go on the chew. 

Right now the mussel dunkers (wiper bank tanglers) have brief flurries of activity...but only when late afternoon water temps get the inshore zone warm enough for the wipers to move in.  Otherwise, they seem to stay out in deeper water...suspended and not active...until conditions improve.  Anglers who look back on their reports and say "Hey, I caught wipers on Flickr Shads at this time 2 years ago" don't make the connection that the water was a lot warmer at this time two years ago. 

I'm guessing that our Willard get together will be during an ideal time.  Wipers should be active and whatever crappies are left should be playing also.  And if you got crawler harness rigs, the walleye should vote for those too.  I'm thinking that the anglers amongst us will do well on that day.  (Weather permitting)
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#6
(04-26-2022, 01:41 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: One good thing to report, we were marking a lot of suspended fish between the Island and Freeway way, so they were there, we just could not make the conection, even though we tried just about all our normal go to Willard lures. We think it was likely just a slow day but from past experience, we also know that when the water level changes it also changes the way the fish bite and it can take a few trips to dial in the new pattern, at least for trolling cranks. Maybe a couple more days of stable weather will make a difference as well.

A followup.  Got to thinking that those suspended fish might well be mature shad getting ready to spawn.  I have been guilty of working the heck out of a school of "crappies" on my screen...only to foul hook one and find it was a shad...not a crappie.  And I have heard tales from other anglers who have been frustrated by a lack of success when working over a suspended school of fish.  The shad should be doing their thing about now too.
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