Willard 6-16-25

[obifishkenobi]

Got up to Willard again yesterday with reelfast and Ira. Went to a good spot and had our eye limits, minus one, in case we caught a big one, in two hours, we bled them all out and put them on ice, then we moved a little and started catching wipers and perch. Only two jumbo perch but around 10 wipers, up to 18", lost a nice eye at the net but the rest of the eyes were under 18". It was getting hot by 11 am so we kept our last eye and started getting ready to leave. We ran into Obi and talked for a few minutes before heading to the ramp around noon. The holding tank for the fish remains was overflowing, when we got there but the cleaning station was still working, so it all worked out. Obi said he had a meeting with the Park manager this week, so hopefully we will get a report from him about the cleaning stations. Worm harness worked best early and cranks turned on later in the morning. Talked to Dubob about a new way to cook wipers, I might have to give it a try.
Another great morning at Willard

I talked with Ben the park manager today about the fish cleaning station at the south marina, he explained that they recently pumped out the septic vaults, but what is going on now is, there is a series of three vaults, separated by screens that decrease in size so that all of the solids are collected before the water exits the third vault. The first screen in the seri4es is getting clogged by the increased usage of the station this year from very heavy use, forcing the water to percolate up through the top of the first vault in the series. He also mentioned that the table itself gets jammed up when people put fish down it without turning it on first, and we also talked about the issue with catfish spines. I suggested to him that one of the reasons that people put fish down it before the grinder is turned on is because when you push the button the grinder and that water come on at the same time but the grinder times out and shuts off before the water stops running and people don't realize it has turned off because the water is running and they don't hear that it has stopped. I suggested that the grinder and water run times should be synchronized, but the issue is that the water needs to continue to run after the grinder turns off to flush the line. Maybe they should post a sign with instruction on how to properly operate the station, but the sign wont help with people who do not follow instructions.