Evening @ Willard Res.

AtticaFish

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Worked the retail side of the shop this morning..... if we had a puke smiley, insert it here. [___] I would much rather hide in the back room and do the dirty work. :rolleyes:

Anyway........................ After working the morning away... trip to the store for RV winterizing garb... picking some Halloween pumpkins with the kids... then cooking salmon, walleye and mac-n-cheese for dinner....................... decided to head East one city over to the Willard reservoir to beat the bank for some more 'eyes at dusk. It is a decent spot for big bluegill, yellow perch, bass, walleye, channel cats... if you hit it at the right time for each species. They all get big in this reservoir, but the super clear water tends to make the best fishing right at dusk and late into the night.

Got there at 7:30 (sunset at ~7:10) and was still enough light to not need the headlamp, yet. Windy as heck and temp read 43° on the dashboard on the way over. Started to mist and sprinkle as i pulled into the parking lot. Sounds like fun huh? Started off throwing a 1/8th chart head w/ 4" black twister. Couple bumps, but no solid hits. Went back and forth between 2 rods..... jig on 1, suspending Rapala x-rap on the other. Finally switched the plastic twister over to a sculpin mimic tied jig and the fish turned on. Might have just been the right time of night or conditions or whatever, because i did well with the x-rap as well after that.

Caught this on an over flashed, rabbit & bucktail bushy sculpin looking jig, thumping off the bottom on the retrieve. Black/gold was the color. Walleye went 20".



Also caught a few other small bass with it as well near the water intake building. :icon14: Still switched back and forth with the rapala and caught a MONSTER largemouth as well on the x-rap. Did not even measure it since i kept seeing other glowing eyes from walleye swimming nearby. Would guess it went maybe 18"? Was a hog. Never shook its head and never jumped.... just hugged the rocks. Thought for sure i had a monster walleye until i got a good view of it. :exclamation:

I know, i know, only one fish, big whoop. But that one fish with its thick shoulders filled up a freezer bag nicely.......................i will be back beating the bank after the kids hit the sack later next week. :jig:
 

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JUNGLEJIM1

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Nice eye. I love bass fishing at night when it's hot. Unfortunately there is no place close to fish for eyes at night.
 

AtticaFish

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Got out again tonight (Tuesday, 10/7) for a little more twisted ankle, slippery rock, shoreline 'eye, bank beating fun. :t-up: With the moon bright and high in the sky, seemed like i didn't see as many glowing eyes up in skinny water. Could catch glimpses of them, but they disappeared quickly and were all way out. Only google-eye rockbass on jigs tonight, so switched the X-rap to a floating but much deeper running Rapala and was casting out deeper instead of parallel to the shore.

Went 1 for 2 again with a 19.5" walleye this evening. The one i lost looked like a freakin' MONSTER........ of course, don't all the ones you loose at your feet? Ugh. I'll take it though. Getting at least one each trip out, so happy with that. Another female with eggs starting. Also think i finally have it figured out how to get the cheeks out! The outside cats and (spoiled heavily) dog got equal shares of the belly fat and trimmings.

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BTW - Only the 'good' beer with the extra kick is consumed on the weekends. I still need to get up in a few hours. :)
 

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AtticaFish

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Been out 3 times since my last post here and..... :skunked: .......every time. But i hit a nice one tonight! Another fish under the clear skies with a nearly full, bright moon.

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Cold hands made me give up sooner than i wanted. Had 2 other really good hits that never got the hooks in them. 1 of the bites was on a jig w/ 5" Kalins Northern Bluegill grub. Other 2 (including the one that made it to the net) came on a big, green back X-Rap Rapala. Fish were tight to the shore tonight. Bumping the rocks and gathering dead algae on my lures.... then cleaning them off..... on nearly every cast got my right hand too wet and cold with the temp @ 32° and left my neoprene gloves at home. Frustrated at how many fish i watched just trail my lures and never hit. At east i know there are plenty more waiting for me next time. :cool:
 

JUNGLEJIM1

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Walleye are the only fish that I'll keep if I catch only one. Best fish I've ever eaten. It's been a few years since I've gotten a nice one.
 

AtticaFish

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Right now, starting to see reports from L.Erie piers in the Western Basin (my end of the lake) that they are getting some ridiculous 28"-30" slobs casting from shore. With the public internet reports, they are going to be fishing shoulder to shoulder before long. Closest piers are just about a 2 hour round trip so can't really make that trip on weeknights anyway. Willard Res., where i have been getting these, is a 30 min. round trip and i have only seen 2 other people fishing there between 8 trips. :) I am happy as a clam to plug away with 18"-20" fish.
 
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