07-28-2008, 05:47 PM
Long time reader, first time poster. I wanted to say thanks to everybody on this board who shares information and the knowledge they know. I've learned a lot from you guys.
However, for this particular trip, a special thanks to TubeDude for providing the areas I needed to attack!
7/25/08 - Friday
I was off on Friday so my brother and I decided to hit up Willard and give it a try. We arrived a little after 5:30am and in the water by 5:45. No wind, perfect fishing weather. There were a lot of boats launching early (I'm sure some were members on here). My brother and I were the shore fishermen right at the entry/exit of the North Marina. Within the first 15 mins, BAM Wiper on. Not too much longer, #2! These fish sure can fight! I don't remember the exact measurements but I think the 2nd came in around 17"s. Things went pretty well until 11ish when the wind pick up and the PWC crew decided to give us a show. We ended up catching roughly 10 fish, 3 wipers for dinner and a bunch of cats we left to grow up. On our way out at the parking lot, we ran into a couple who had caught about 6 wipers. They asked us to snap a picture for them and said they had caught most of theirs trolling the the lightpole. I wonder if you guys are members here?
07/27/08 - Sunday
Since Friday was so much fun, my brother and I decided to go back and this time we brought a friend who wanted to see what these wipers were all about. We arrived around 6am and it was WINDY. Not as many boats launching today as Friday. Both days I saw an older gentleman with a black dog (lab maybe?) in a brownish Lund boat be the first to launch. He's committed like us! Throughout the day, we notice we saw the same boats from the previous trip. We wondered if they were thinking "Hey, those are those same kids fishing the shore again!"
We got things started off early, landing a few cookie cutter cats that had some fight in them. But where are these wipers......Then the drag went ZING! Record setting wiper on my line! Well, not really. Turns out the guy trolling out of the harbor snagged my line and what I thought was a 50lb wiper was a 500lb v-hull. [cool]
The action was good though. Our buddy almost lost his pole because it started skipping towards the water when he was helping me net my fish. It was probably one of the funniest things I've seen. He was able to catch his first wiper and it gave him a great fight, measuring in at 19"s. I landed the monster of the day at 20"s. My brother landed one in the 18"s. Total, we caught 5 cats and 7 wipers, all 16"+, before going to grab lunch around noon when the X games started. We probably lost at least half a dozen more. After lunch, we headed over to the light pole and the action was hot there too. We caught 10 wipers but they were smaller compared to the ones we were catching at the N Marina. The boats trolling the area were catching a few too. We ended our trip around 3, pulling well over 20 fish total, the majority of which were Wipers. It was our best fishing day yet!
I've attached a few pictures to share. Again, thanks to TD for sharing his knowledge of the Bay and where us shore fishermen need to go. Hot lure of the day: All fish caught using good 'ol fashion nightcrawlers off the bottom. [
] Who says you need a boat?
TK
However, for this particular trip, a special thanks to TubeDude for providing the areas I needed to attack!
7/25/08 - Friday
I was off on Friday so my brother and I decided to hit up Willard and give it a try. We arrived a little after 5:30am and in the water by 5:45. No wind, perfect fishing weather. There were a lot of boats launching early (I'm sure some were members on here). My brother and I were the shore fishermen right at the entry/exit of the North Marina. Within the first 15 mins, BAM Wiper on. Not too much longer, #2! These fish sure can fight! I don't remember the exact measurements but I think the 2nd came in around 17"s. Things went pretty well until 11ish when the wind pick up and the PWC crew decided to give us a show. We ended up catching roughly 10 fish, 3 wipers for dinner and a bunch of cats we left to grow up. On our way out at the parking lot, we ran into a couple who had caught about 6 wipers. They asked us to snap a picture for them and said they had caught most of theirs trolling the the lightpole. I wonder if you guys are members here?
07/27/08 - Sunday
Since Friday was so much fun, my brother and I decided to go back and this time we brought a friend who wanted to see what these wipers were all about. We arrived around 6am and it was WINDY. Not as many boats launching today as Friday. Both days I saw an older gentleman with a black dog (lab maybe?) in a brownish Lund boat be the first to launch. He's committed like us! Throughout the day, we notice we saw the same boats from the previous trip. We wondered if they were thinking "Hey, those are those same kids fishing the shore again!"
We got things started off early, landing a few cookie cutter cats that had some fight in them. But where are these wipers......Then the drag went ZING! Record setting wiper on my line! Well, not really. Turns out the guy trolling out of the harbor snagged my line and what I thought was a 50lb wiper was a 500lb v-hull. [cool]
The action was good though. Our buddy almost lost his pole because it started skipping towards the water when he was helping me net my fish. It was probably one of the funniest things I've seen. He was able to catch his first wiper and it gave him a great fight, measuring in at 19"s. I landed the monster of the day at 20"s. My brother landed one in the 18"s. Total, we caught 5 cats and 7 wipers, all 16"+, before going to grab lunch around noon when the X games started. We probably lost at least half a dozen more. After lunch, we headed over to the light pole and the action was hot there too. We caught 10 wipers but they were smaller compared to the ones we were catching at the N Marina. The boats trolling the area were catching a few too. We ended our trip around 3, pulling well over 20 fish total, the majority of which were Wipers. It was our best fishing day yet!
I've attached a few pictures to share. Again, thanks to TD for sharing his knowledge of the Bay and where us shore fishermen need to go. Hot lure of the day: All fish caught using good 'ol fashion nightcrawlers off the bottom. [
] Who says you need a boat? TK
]
