06-10-2019, 09:21 PM
"If they are trolling worms at 2.5mph-- some like it fast. You ever seen that before?"
[#0000FF]Nothing that happens on Willard ever surprises me. I have seen it when anything worked...and when nothing worked. And I have seen plenty of times when different boats...fishing different areas with different lures...at different speeds...all had good success. But as is usual, each of them swore that their method was the only thing that was working on the lake that day. And some of them insist on fishing that exact same way for the rest of their lives.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Always good to have a variety of things to try and to keep changing up until you find the pattern du jour.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]But as soon as the fish quit hitting you either have to find other active fish or change up your approach. While there are weather and barometric situations that will govern how the fish act...not all of them in the same lake act the same way.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]One of the object lessons I learned a long time ago was to never assume you had walleyes (or any species) figured out on Willard. In earlier times, before wipers and shad, crappies were the main forage species for walleyes and both species tended to hang out closer to the rock dikes. So I concentrated my finesse casting with plastics and cranks closer to the rocks.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Late one afternoon I noticed a small tin boat noisily exiting the south marina and heading in my general direction. They were moving pretty fast but were trolling as they went...with four guys in the boat and only one rod fishing. As they got closer it was apparent that the guys had been liberally sampling adult beverages. Loud and obnoxious. I made a mental note that they were not likely to catch much, since they were not making slow deliberate presentations along the dikes...like me.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]That's when I got gobsmacked. The single rod, dragging a big nickle spoon at mach 3, kept bending over with a succession of chunky walleyes. As the guys noisily passed back and forth...a hundred yards offshore...they kept trading the rod around so each could reel in a fish. No downriggers, planer boards, snap weights, crawler harnesses or fancy schmancy joined crankbaits. Just a silver spoon flatlined a short distance behind a fast trolling noisy tin boat. The walleyes must have been desperate that day. Never seen anything like it since.
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[#0000FF]While I fish from a float tube, I have learned a lot of alternate plan Bs to try when my plan As ain't working. Sometimes I do well. Other times...not so much. But I always have fun. The big thing on Willard is you usually gotta cover a lot of water to find fish...and my "big motor" on my tube just don't allow me to cover more than a small area each trip. If I find fish I usually score okay. And I seldom smell skunk altogether. But I don't burn much gas either. Unless I had burritos the night before.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Nothing that happens on Willard ever surprises me. I have seen it when anything worked...and when nothing worked. And I have seen plenty of times when different boats...fishing different areas with different lures...at different speeds...all had good success. But as is usual, each of them swore that their method was the only thing that was working on the lake that day. And some of them insist on fishing that exact same way for the rest of their lives.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Always good to have a variety of things to try and to keep changing up until you find the pattern du jour.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]But as soon as the fish quit hitting you either have to find other active fish or change up your approach. While there are weather and barometric situations that will govern how the fish act...not all of them in the same lake act the same way.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]One of the object lessons I learned a long time ago was to never assume you had walleyes (or any species) figured out on Willard. In earlier times, before wipers and shad, crappies were the main forage species for walleyes and both species tended to hang out closer to the rock dikes. So I concentrated my finesse casting with plastics and cranks closer to the rocks.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Late one afternoon I noticed a small tin boat noisily exiting the south marina and heading in my general direction. They were moving pretty fast but were trolling as they went...with four guys in the boat and only one rod fishing. As they got closer it was apparent that the guys had been liberally sampling adult beverages. Loud and obnoxious. I made a mental note that they were not likely to catch much, since they were not making slow deliberate presentations along the dikes...like me.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]That's when I got gobsmacked. The single rod, dragging a big nickle spoon at mach 3, kept bending over with a succession of chunky walleyes. As the guys noisily passed back and forth...a hundred yards offshore...they kept trading the rod around so each could reel in a fish. No downriggers, planer boards, snap weights, crawler harnesses or fancy schmancy joined crankbaits. Just a silver spoon flatlined a short distance behind a fast trolling noisy tin boat. The walleyes must have been desperate that day. Never seen anything like it since.
[/#0000FF]
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[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]While I fish from a float tube, I have learned a lot of alternate plan Bs to try when my plan As ain't working. Sometimes I do well. Other times...not so much. But I always have fun. The big thing on Willard is you usually gotta cover a lot of water to find fish...and my "big motor" on my tube just don't allow me to cover more than a small area each trip. If I find fish I usually score okay. And I seldom smell skunk altogether. But I don't burn much gas either. Unless I had burritos the night before.[/#0000FF]
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