Has willard shut off for the year as far as boils go? Last week I had a blast fishing willard several times and getting into boils pretty much every time but I went out last night and didn’t see a single one. We even trolled for a little while and still didn’t catch anything. One thing I did notice though was on the north west end when we were cruising around there were thousands of little ripples everywhere in the water and the birds were going crazy. I assume little shad? But they weren’t like the shad you normally see in the boils, they were so small that even as we cruised past in the boat you couldn’t see anything, just tiny ripples. And they were EVERYWHERE! That got me wondering though, is there just tons of new shad and the fish aren’t hungry anymore? And also does that usually kill the fishing for the year or should the boils start up again? Or could the bad fishing just be from the weather or something?
The fish are fed, but still actively boiling. Willard is a big bowl of soup. The fish are where the bait is, and he bait can be anywhere. The same place can be good a couple days in a row, then dead for a spell. The shad get bigger and the boils do as well. It is tough, you have a couple good days in a row, then Nada. I can promise you it will get better though. Just my 2 cents, but the big wipers appear to be fewer in numbers right now.
You gave all the correct answers and you observed the same thing I have noticed over the last two weeks. I’m not sure if there was a late hatch this year or for some strange reason the shad are growing slower than normal but the cool down in water temps had some effect on the fish. It dropped almost 10* in a week, maybe these warmer temps so far this week will get them in a feeding mode in the next few days but with fall coming we will likely have more days like you had yesterday.
The boils might have stopped for the moment but they will start up again and they should be bigger in the coming weeks and months. The ripples are shad for sure, I’ve been seeing them for weeks, all over the lake. There are a massive amount of baby shad in there right now but it should really get those smaller wipers going as soon as the weather stabilizes.
took my tube out there yesterday. late start, got there at about 9am gave up at 4pm. put in at the south corner. I to seen lots of baby shad. no boils. only got one keeper. did notice guys on the shore catching lots of dinky wipers.did not talk to any but it looked like they were using muscles. my son and I are going this evening from shore. hope things do improve
Yeah I realize that one spot that does good can have nothing the next day and you pretty much have to just chase fish around since there isn’t much structure but we covered a lot of water and didn’t see a single boil, and couldn’t even find any fish trolling all over the place. But yeah I figured the weather could have played a big part. Like you said, hopefully it will pick back up with this warmer weather. Maybe I’ll have to go give it another shot this weekend or something.
jordan, lets go give it another shot this weekend
well we went out at about 6pm until 12:30am.
water was as flat as glass.still no boils. I started out casting twisty tail grub and rattle traps without a single taker. as dark fell I changed my game plan and set up for cats. as i was lighting up the lantern my rod made a deep bend almost pulling it from the holder.I yelled big cat. but as soon as i grab it and felt it run taking line i knew this was not a catfish. after a few quick runs I landed it . sure enough it was a wiper. not a monster but big enough to make it fun. sadly to say it was the only fish of the night
Nice to hear from ya Ahi! So when you put out for the cats - what - switching to baits, bottom offerings?
I got some glowsticks I figured I’d try sometime - after dark.
Haven’t really heard a lot of Cat stories out of Willard this year. Suppose the cats are there, just not the posts.
hey coyote, been away for a while thats why I havnt been posting .
went to bait carp meat on one rod mussel on the one that caught the wiper.
yes glowsticks. I just get the bracelet ones from the dollar store get 5 for a buck duct tape them to the tip of my rod they last all night. a lot cheaper then the ones that they sale for your rod, and get five different colors to look at all night when their not biting. LOL
Good for you, good to see there are a few of those larger wipers still in the lake. We were out there as well in the evening and managed 3 of the smaller wipers. I’m sure glad the big crowds are gone.
The crappy weather is making me a little nervous to go out this weekend. 1. the fishing probably won’t have picked up much, and 2. my boat sucks if the wind gets bad.
I agree with you, wiperhunter, about how nice it is without the crowds though!