Fishing Forum

Had the student angler club out last week. 

First a rant.... I don't do it often either... I took the student club around the back side of Willard to fish the rocks around the west side, or at least that was my plan. Nope. New gate and lock installed. You can drive to the south corner and then it is locked. I dont own a boat. That means even if I can access all the shore line it is only maybe 10% of a water I can fish. I pay my same state fees to gain shore access to more water. To lock me out of half is criminal when a boat can access everything. Imagine if they strung a fence across Willard and cut of half the water to you all with boats. That is how I feel. It is hard enough getting Cookie with her MS and Buckwheat with his wheelchair to water without closing off access. Ok I am done. Now happy thoughts...

We opted to go pond hopping so i could show the students a few new places to try. Went to Benson first. They caught a few bullheads and smallmouth. Then we drove over to Pineview. They had a hoot of a time free spooling worms to little largemouth bass. None of them had ever caught largemouth before. They also got a few perch and bluegill. Finally we went back to Willard. Had student who had never caught any kind of cat before. Luck was with us and he pulled in a really nice 25" cat with his ancient zebco reel - reeling it upside down the whole time. I did not feel the need to correct that as he was smiling so big as he pulled it in. There will be another time to instruct - that was just ment to be a moment to enjoy.

Short fun video of the adventure 

https://youtu.be/gEheyQm45dI

Hey Lance, did you hit Benson and Cutler or Newton? Sounds like you had fun anyway... congrats...

Hey is it the state that cut off access, or is it the Irrigation company? I know the company manages the dike access, so you may be cussing the wrong folks... If you think it's bad there, you ought to see what is going on in Idaho just north of the border, they are making Pineview look like the poster child for lake management... Actually maybe you ought to head to Idaho, they manage more for the land locked and against the boats... It's getting really hard to find a pond you can float a boat on in Idaho without paying through the nose, making the other lakes there highly over crowded... Been hearing lots of horror stories that make me glad I didn't buy an Idaho license this year... Anyway is this the final club meeting for this year? Glad you got the crew out to all those fun spots this year... Later Jeff

(05-29-2024, 03:29 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: [ -> ]Hey Lance, did you hit Benson and Cutler or Newton?  Sounds like you had fun anyway... congrats...

Hey is it the state that cut off access, or is it the Irrigation company?  I know the company manages the dike access, so you may be cussing the wrong folks... If you think it's bad there, you ought to see what is going on in Idaho just north of the border, they are making Pineview look like the poster child for lake management... Actually maybe you ought to head to Idaho, they manage more for the land locked and against the boats... It's getting really hard to find a pond you can float a boat on in Idaho without paying through the nose, making the other lakes there highly over crowded... Been hearing lots of horror stories that make me glad I didn't buy an Idaho license this year... Anyway is this the final club meeting for this year?  Glad you got the crew out to all those fun spots this year...  Later Jeff

Good question. There was a sign on the gate but I don't recall what it said. We fished just the Benson Marina, Newton and Willard.

Speaking of Idaho if Buckwhest get a clear pass from his doc today we are headed over Cascade way next week and maybe towards the ocean after that

Hey, thanks for the report. I’m extremely disappointed to hear that the road is now closed. Shore fishing at Willard is hard enough without closing off access. I do have a question about it. Was the gate out by the southwest corner by Harold crane? Or at the beginning of the dike road by the southeast corner? Either way, im not happy at all about it. Thanks in advance.

(05-29-2024, 01:42 PM)Cowboypirate Wrote: [ -> ]Had the student angler club out last week. 

First a rant.... I don't do it often either... I took the student club around the back side of Willard to fish the rocks around the west side, or at least that was my plan. Nope. New gate and lock installed. You can drive to the south corner and then it is locked. I dont own a boat. That means even if I can access all the shore line it is only maybe 10% of a water I can fish. I pay my same state fees to gain shore access to more water. To lock me out of half is criminal when a boat can access everything. Imagine if they strung a fence across Willard and cut of half the water to you all with boats. That is how I feel. It is hard enough getting Cookie with her MS and Buckwheat with his wheelchair to water without closing off access. Ok I am done. Now happy thoughts...

We opted to go pond hopping so i could show the students a few new places to try. Went to Benson first. They caught a few bullheads and smallmouth. Then we drove over to Pineview. They had a hoot of a time free spooling worms to little largemouth bass. None of them had ever caught largemouth before. They also got a few perch and bluegill. Finally we went back to Willard. Had student who had never caught any kind of cat before. Luck was with us and he pulled in a really nice 25" cat with his ancient zebco reel - reeling it upside down the whole time. I did not feel the need to correct that as he was smiling so big as he pulled it in. There will be another time to instruct - that was just ment to be a moment to enjoy.

Short fun video of the adventure 

https://youtu.be/gEheyQm45dI

Last week when I fished with the park managers from Willard, Lost Creek and Echo, one of those guys mentioned that gate and it was news to Ben the park manager of Willard, my guess is it was the irrigation company, you should complain to them.

Not sure if you saw that post I put up a while back but that is the route they are taking to put in the new freeway. It's suppose to run from there to that road that goes to Smith and Edwards. It's the last section of the North run of the Legacy Highway. When Ira and I was there last year, they had already started stocking up on road grade gravel, it was 15 ft high then, so if that is what they are doing, maybe it's staging areas .
Hope the Doc visit for Buckwheat goes well, so you guys can make that trip to the coast.

Lance, best of luck to you and Buckwheat, that sounds like a great summer adventure for you guys... Hope all goes well for you and the crew... Later Jeff