11-09-2011, 12:29 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Sorry you got "Willardized". That lake has been stingy to most folks all year...for all species. We have had some brief flurries of walleyes, crappies, wipers and kitties. But the "average" trip for most guys has been pretty disappointing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This time of year it can be especially tough. I have fished Willard since the 1970s and I usually like the late fall - early winter period for walleyes and crappies. But I also catch a few kitties right up until ice keeps my tube off the lake. I can tell you that most trips during this "cool down" period can require a lot of searching to find just a few fish. I cover a lot of underwater real estate to locate the fish...and finding them is never a guarantee they will bite. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the years I have found a very few spots that are most likely to produce something when the water is cold and the hard deck is not far away. And none of those spots are within casting distance of any shoreline...with the exception of a couple of spots inside the marinas. I used to do a lot more bank tanglin' around Willard and I still fish close to the rocks during warmer times...but at this time of year I have never done well in water shallower than about 12 to 15 feet...and there ain't many spots that deep within casting range from the shoreline.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not sure you would have done any better with minnows. On my last two trips to Willard my minnows have gone largely unmolested and most of my fish have come on small jigs tipped with worm. It has really been surprising when I am not getting bites on minnows but am catching catfish on small jigs on my second rod. Most of the time a nice chub minnow is money for the kitties. But the last ones I caught inside the north marina had not even been eating anything. I suspect that they hit the little jigs on a "reaction bite" rather than because they were actively feeding.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been flipping a coin all week, trying to decide between Willard or Pineview. As soon as Mama Nature closes the freezer door for a day or two I will have to decide. Might even start early at Willard and then be ready to change venues if my walleyes or crappies don't wanna play. Decisions decisions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This time of year it can be especially tough. I have fished Willard since the 1970s and I usually like the late fall - early winter period for walleyes and crappies. But I also catch a few kitties right up until ice keeps my tube off the lake. I can tell you that most trips during this "cool down" period can require a lot of searching to find just a few fish. I cover a lot of underwater real estate to locate the fish...and finding them is never a guarantee they will bite. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Over the years I have found a very few spots that are most likely to produce something when the water is cold and the hard deck is not far away. And none of those spots are within casting distance of any shoreline...with the exception of a couple of spots inside the marinas. I used to do a lot more bank tanglin' around Willard and I still fish close to the rocks during warmer times...but at this time of year I have never done well in water shallower than about 12 to 15 feet...and there ain't many spots that deep within casting range from the shoreline.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not sure you would have done any better with minnows. On my last two trips to Willard my minnows have gone largely unmolested and most of my fish have come on small jigs tipped with worm. It has really been surprising when I am not getting bites on minnows but am catching catfish on small jigs on my second rod. Most of the time a nice chub minnow is money for the kitties. But the last ones I caught inside the north marina had not even been eating anything. I suspect that they hit the little jigs on a "reaction bite" rather than because they were actively feeding.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been flipping a coin all week, trying to decide between Willard or Pineview. As soon as Mama Nature closes the freezer door for a day or two I will have to decide. Might even start early at Willard and then be ready to change venues if my walleyes or crappies don't wanna play. Decisions decisions.[/#0000ff]
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