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[inline "willard02-01-14 004.JPG"][inline "willard02-01-14 002.JPG"]
Wiperslayer and I hit Willard for what could be my last time before ice off. The location where I have been getting on and off the ice for the past 5 trips had melted and was open water but I found one spot that looked ok and we were able to get on at that location, getting off wasn't as easy. We did not arrive until 10am because being there early had not been worth while on any previous trips. We headed out to the hotspot on my last three trips and started off with a 19" cat, then another cat, then a jumbo perch, followed by another jumbo perch and smaller sized pineview perch and finally another cat around 20". Catching shut off at that point, around 2:30pm we decided to call it a day. Where we had gotten on the ice, it had started to melt but it was only a few inches deep so not bad but I'm guessing it isn't good today. We did see a few folks walk on the ice from the pelican bay area but no telling how long that will hold up because of the open water in that area as well. Since my last trip on Mon the edges have really gone down hill but once on the ice it is still solid. Saw another BFT member out there, it was good to meet you. I'm guessing a few more of you that I talked to, have been reading the post about Willard but it would be nice to hear how you did. The other member I had talked to had one jumbo when I talked to last, justed to let him know that right after he left, two more guys came and fished the same hole he was fishing in and caught 3 more jumbos, so you left too early[  ]. I should have taken a pic of the edge where I got off the ice but all I got was one looking back on it and one of the marina.
WH2
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[#0000FF]Well done, son. Tugs is better than skunks.
Did you use any of those left handed blue eyed minnows?
Let's see what the coming week does. If the edges firm up again I might be down for a trip the following week.
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Looks like a great day! Nice perch and some good eats in those kitties, and you didn't have to get out there at the crack of dawn for them.
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I tried the minnows but they wanted nothing to do with them, just mealys and waxies.
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[#0000FF]I'm guessing that the new snow made it easier to get to and from the ice. How deep was it on the ice.
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Curt great job again. Seems too early for ice to end but there isn't ever any guarantees. Way to figure it out this year. Later J
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Going out it helped but it had melted by the time we were going back in, except on the ice. I'd say it was less than an inch of snow.
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now the tricki is finding em when the ice is off... pat,,w/h anybody????
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It should be easy now that I know where they are hanging, at least for the first month for so but it depend on when ice off is.
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Been enjoying all your Willard posrs. Though haven't had the hutzpa ( or your GPS marks) to give it a try. Sounds like time is running out.
Nice finding more footballs ( on football day), and some nice ice kitties.
Wonder how the spring shad die off will be after ice? Bet the kitties will be feasting then.
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Just a matter of days before open water it sounds like.
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[quote zman2]now the tricki is finding em when the ice is off... pat,,w/h anybody????[/quote]
[#0000FF]There is no sure-fire trick to fishing perch throughout the year...especially when water levels keep going up and down like they have. The only reason they have been more abundant and catchable this year is because they had a good spawn during one of the last good water years...about 5 years ago. The ice cover makes the water clearer and allows sight feeders like perch to forage better. The lower water makes it easier to find them because there aren't many options open to them.
The big fish we are catching now will likely spawn for the last time this spring and then die. And they are not likely to have a good spawn because of the lack of suitable vegetation and stickups in the lower water.
There are almost always a few perch around, but never big schools as there are in most perch ponds. There can be areas where you might catch more than one perch in a day of fishing but seldom multiples.
I generally pick up a few stray singles during the open water months, while pitching small plastics for crappies, wipers or walleyes. And they do slurp up the minnows I drag around on the bottom. But most of the perch I catch throughout the warmer months are small...under 8 or 9 inches. For some reason the jumbos seem to turn up more often through the ice.
Anglers who troll crankbaits around at mid-depth, at mach 5 speeds, aren't going to find many perch. But strangely, the guys who drag crawler harnesses at paint-drying speed do not score many either. Not like Starvation or other walleye/perch venues where both coexist and each takes lures/baits meant for the other.
I made a couple of specific perch searches during late fall last year...after a few of the jumbos started showing up for anglers near the north marina. I had one day that I scored nine nice perch on one trip. That is a personal best for me. The best I have done otherwise is maybe 3 on a single day.
In short, there are probably a lot more perch in Willard than we might expect. But because they do not have lots of perchy structure to hold them in any given area they roam around a lot and catching them is generally an accidental and unexpected thing. Fishing for perch, specifically, is best in late fall and under the ice.
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I've been marking what I guess are shad on every trip to Willard, they were right under the ice, eating plankton no doubt. What effects shad more than anything else is how long the ice stays on the lake, they do well when ice only covers the lake for two months, when it extents to three month, it is not good for the smaller shad but I think it has little effect on the larger shad.
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[#0000FF]The biggest dieoff of shad happens in November, when the water temps drop low enough to reduce the zooplankton numbers. Baby shad cannot find enough nourishment and the combination of hunger and cold kill large numbers of them. I have been on the lake outside the north marina some late fall mornings when the top of the water was covered with dead and dying baby shad. The terns and gulls were diving on them and you would have thought there was a wiper boil going on. This situation happens during years when there is a late spring and a late spawn for the shad...like the past couple of years.
Here's a pic of a paper-thin shadlet I picked off the top of the water last year. It should have been almost 3" by that time.
There is always some shad dieoff during the winter. Even though gizzard shad are hardier than threadfin shad...coldwise...some of them don't make it. And, yes, the predators give them a proper "burial".
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