11-23-2016, 12:01 AM
[#0000ff]Yesterday was stormy. Wednesday is supposed to bring in more weather. But today was supposed to be nice so FatBiker and I decided to do a perch search off the north marina at Willard. The weather was nice but there was more searchin’ than perchin’.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were all by our lonesome as we launched around 7:30. Only one small tin boat ventured out of the harbor during our entire morning on the lake. Talked to him later as he came in...no hits, no fish, no errors.
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[#0000ff]No skiers and no skeeters neither. But the low 30’s air temps made my formerly frostbit first digit on my right hand a tad painful…for a while.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp was a shade over 46 at launch and only warmed about a half degree by the time we departed at noonish. But the lower temps have finally got a few perch showing. Not many, but enough to dispel the smell of skunk.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Felt good when the sun first peeked over the mountains…a bit before 9. I put on my sun glasses so the fish could see me. It worked. First fish of the day…a 20 inch wiper. Good start. Shortly thereafter FB announced on the walkie talkie that he too had landed a wiper..a SIX…incher…his smallest wiper of the year. Sadly, that was his first, last and only fish of the morning. Hope he went out to the west side this afternoon and found some friendlier fishies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My next fish turned out to be a chunky 17” kitty…a Willard cookie cutter. Then it was a long time until my next fish. But then I found a few perch. First one was my biggest…a lean, mean footlong. The second was an 8 inch throw-backer. The third was a keeper 10. Had some more bites but they were tentative…almost like ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I caught every one of my fish today on a dropshot style minnow setup…with a couple of bling beads ahead of a red size 4 hook pinned into a 2” chub minnow. Past experience has “larned me” that many of the fish this time of year eat smaller bites and don’t like to chase their food very far. So I usually do better with the small minnows I sort out after a minnow run…and fish them just off the bottom…with a bit of color to help attract attention. The wiper and the cats both slammed the bait pretty hard but the perch barely vibrated the tip of the rod as they chewed on the minnowettes. I missed several that were too inexperienced to hang on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Beautiful weather. I was happy to score a trifecta but would have liked to add a walleye or crappie to the mix for a Willard 4 species slam. Guess I should be properly grateful for the few I got.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were all by our lonesome as we launched around 7:30. Only one small tin boat ventured out of the harbor during our entire morning on the lake. Talked to him later as he came in...no hits, no fish, no errors.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]No skiers and no skeeters neither. But the low 30’s air temps made my formerly frostbit first digit on my right hand a tad painful…for a while.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Water temp was a shade over 46 at launch and only warmed about a half degree by the time we departed at noonish. But the lower temps have finally got a few perch showing. Not many, but enough to dispel the smell of skunk.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Felt good when the sun first peeked over the mountains…a bit before 9. I put on my sun glasses so the fish could see me. It worked. First fish of the day…a 20 inch wiper. Good start. Shortly thereafter FB announced on the walkie talkie that he too had landed a wiper..a SIX…incher…his smallest wiper of the year. Sadly, that was his first, last and only fish of the morning. Hope he went out to the west side this afternoon and found some friendlier fishies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]My next fish turned out to be a chunky 17” kitty…a Willard cookie cutter. Then it was a long time until my next fish. But then I found a few perch. First one was my biggest…a lean, mean footlong. The second was an 8 inch throw-backer. The third was a keeper 10. Had some more bites but they were tentative…almost like ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I caught every one of my fish today on a dropshot style minnow setup…with a couple of bling beads ahead of a red size 4 hook pinned into a 2” chub minnow. Past experience has “larned me” that many of the fish this time of year eat smaller bites and don’t like to chase their food very far. So I usually do better with the small minnows I sort out after a minnow run…and fish them just off the bottom…with a bit of color to help attract attention. The wiper and the cats both slammed the bait pretty hard but the perch barely vibrated the tip of the rod as they chewed on the minnowettes. I missed several that were too inexperienced to hang on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Beautiful weather. I was happy to score a trifecta but would have liked to add a walleye or crappie to the mix for a Willard 4 species slam. Guess I should be properly grateful for the few I got.[/#0000ff]
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