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Got my boat out for the first time after some minor trouble,Wiperhunter2 and I trolled the East side down to the south end,and 1/2 way back.Picked up one 19" wiper on the first pass,then we trolled out to the island,about 1 mile from the Island,had a hit that almost tore the rod out of the holder!Took the side planner under water!We managed to land a 21" wiper that was 4.5-4.7 pounds.As we continued our run,WH2 caught a 17" walleye on a wallediver.Great day on the water with WH2.
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I enjoyed getting out there with you Mike, thanks for the trip. It sounds like Predator did a lot better than we did but he has been at it longer, I think that Smokercraft we saw was his. I posted this picture under Petty4life's post on Willard but here it is again, do you want me to send it too you also? WH2
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Curt,yes I would like that photo,do you think predator was bottom bounceing?
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No, they said they caught no walleye and it sounded like they were trolling for wipers. I'll send the picture to your E mail address.
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Hey WH2, its not a smoker craft! Theres been a black smoker craft out there for the past two days, but thats not me.
You cant miss my boat. Bodine 11 is the only guy who has a "similar" boat that I have seen in the state. His is quite different than mine though.
Nope we werent pulling bouncers.
Tommorow morning we will be though. We got a good bead on a location stacked up with walleye from an angler who got into them today.
I posted my report in the other thread as a continuation. So many willard threads all the time gets messy.
Find them, stick to them, and follow them. They were progressivley moving north today.
Theres no magic lures to it, at least if you ask me. I try everything and change up lures. Colors, brands, sizes. But mostly I think the big thing is too use your head.
Theres one thing that I am doing different than 90% of the guys that have been out there the last couple days. I think thats the difference. That one thing is SPEED! Most guys assume that you have to fish wipers fast.
Well, realize that they are bass, this is spring, and we just had a several day long cold front move through. Not good conditions and situations for speed fishing bass species.
I have been going 1 - 1.5 mph. You note the fish are in the lower half of the water column, so you need to get your lures a bit deeper to get them in the strike zone. Then you need to get them at the proper speed to trigger a strike.
Soooo many guys get the short strike, or the swing and a miss at this time of year. slow down and let them eat on it.
Trigger as may of thier instincts as you can, dip the crank in smelly jelly. We were dipping in anchovy salt today. Crawdaddy works too. Get the reaction strike, the feeding strike, and any other strike you can all at the same time.
Now whats going to happen for sure is somones going to read this post and start trolling 1 mph in long, high pressure conditions, temps in the 75 degree range and wonder why hes not getting into the fish. Like I said, its conditions. The only reason I selected to go slow was last weeks weather. Shoot, it snowed on the wasatch front thursday!
My advice to wiper fishermen, is buy into the gimicks. Yep, buy them all. Get the lures that work, but dont sell yourself short by thinking only one lure works best, and always out fishes another.
Tom Pettingill, our DWR sport fisheries coordiantor has been one of the most consistent wiper fishermen on willard in the past couple years. Sorry if you dont believe that, but its true. He rarley uses lipless cranks from what I have seen. Long minnow baits are his winning ticket. I dont think I have ever heard him report that he was using a producer prism shad.
Friday we pulled everything from lipless cranks of various brands to plastics, and lipped deep diving cranks. Today we pulled all lipless, but went with rattling rapalas, and producers, but the old lewis rattle traps, frenzy rattlers, and tons of other baits will out produce lipless cranks on given days. The only way to know it to change up.
Tomegun is my kind of fisherman. He changes up lures that have caught fish. If it got one fish an hour ago but hasnt done anything latley, hes digging for something else to try. Deep diving fat raps, minnow baits, plastics, lipless cranks, shoot lets try some power bait!
But I know virtually nothing of wiper fishing these days, you still need good old fashion luck to go along with your ego, and pride.
But I do swear this, if WH2 calls my boat a smoker craft ONE MORE TIME!....
Just kidding you WH2.
Seriously though, I think speed was the main player this weekend. Most guys were blowing by my like i was standing still.
Of course I have my favorite lures and colors. Most of wich are known to you guys who have fished willard with me, or discussed it much with me.
Dont forget this, if you get a second wiper, while fighting the first wiper, on one of your other rods, set the hook. We get so used to just picking up the rods and not having to set the hooks that its easy to space off in the rush as you realize you have a second fish on.
I did this today and it cost me a fish. As I kicked the motor into neutral, the lure started falling on the other rods, and a wiper hit. I picked up, started reeling in, and never set the hook on him. After a couple seconds of that he open up his mouth and out rolled my lure. No fish. Just a reminder.
Good luck, fish often.
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Thanks for the info. PREDATOR,do you think a Shad scent would work on Willard?
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I havent ever tried it. Makes sense though. I find with scents, it the stinkier, the better. I open the bottle right there in the store. If it dont knock your socks off, put that one back and try another bottle.
Shad scent would be worth a try. Like I said, any gimick is worth a try, shad scent might be the ticket that boats you more fish than anyone else on the water on a given day.
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Predator, When it comes to speed, that makes a lot of sense. I noticed that you were trolling with side planers, and moving around abit... When I saw you, I was doing 3.3- to 3.5 mph... actually all day for that matter.
Here, from what I've deduced from your statement... Wipers will hit you early AM and late PM...at that speed of 3.5 mph. But there was no bites during the middle of the day. What does that tell me, perhaps wipers weren't that active, so gotta slow down to 1.5 to get the results that you got. Slow down in the middle of the day, and you're getting results.
Man, those wipers and one walleye that we caught yesterday were all at the speed of 3.5. I swear there was a dull orange gregor boat that was doing a faster clip than mine boat and still caught a five pounder 24 inch wiper last night.
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Great Report Fishcrazy!
And thanks for some good advice given by Predator
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Paul, nope, that wasnt me. I never put on a planer yesterday. And I dint move around too much i was pretty much in the same area all day. I just moved north a little.
Of course theres always going to be active fish and neutral fish. The more active fish will chase down a faster lure.
As for the am and pm thing, I was only out there during the middle of the day. I didnt get there until 11:30 and left at 2:30. I have fished them in the morning and evening hundreds and hundreds of times. But not yesterday.
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I promise, I'll never call your Smokercraft a Smokercraft again, Woops, I mean Weldcraft, just kidding my friend. Thanks for all the info, it sure will come in handy on Saturday. WH2
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