Just moved to davis county and planning to fish willard often. Havent fish for crappie before and its been years since I fished for waleye and wipers. Any advice as to what to throw at 'em would be appreciated.
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Welcome bluemohawk. To read more than you ever wanted to know about fishing Willard click on the "[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?category=55"]Utah Fishing Forum[/url]" link right above "General Discussion" above. Then click on the "Willard & Utah Lake Fish Report Archive".
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Thanks,
I looked there but the last post was in october. I was hoping for advice that was a little more specific. Like what rigs or soft baits to use.
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This is an archive board and there are 17 pages of posts on there dating back to February 2002. Trust me, you can probably get your questions answered multiple times by just spending a little time reading through those posts.
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I've had my best luck on wipers with blue and silver deep diving and lipless cranks. heddon spooks can be deadly when the water warms a bit. I was fishing this pattern in summer so it may be a bit early for this pattern.
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[#0000ff]We started a new archiving system as of the first of this year, and there might be some useful info there for you. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=387491;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]LINK TO NEW ARCHIVE[/url][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you are looking for good info for good current fishing, you are likely to be disappointed. The water level is very low, as you will read in the recent posts, and is likely to stay that way for a year or more. That greatly affects the way the fish act and the way we have to fish for them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crappies? They are only a whisper at Willard anymore. Used to be tons of them, all over the lake. That was before gizzard shad and wipers. The former make it tough for the baby crappies to survive, by sucking up all the zooplankton and the wipers eat the remaining babies before they can get big enough to provide good fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are still a few crappies, but most of them are caught by accident, while fishing for wipers or walleyes. However, in the years when the water levels are up, you can catch them inside the marinas and around the brush in the NE corner. You can also find a few small schools cruising along the rocks from time to time, but there are so few that it is hardly worth the time to look for them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If there are no rocks or brush for crappies to spawn in, like the last two years, there is not likely to be a good spawn and little survival of the unprotected fry. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are more bluegills and lots of small smallmouth bass around the fringes of the lake, however, and they love small white or pearl plastics.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The walleyes are another 
story. When they did a quick drain on the lake last year, a lot of walleyes were attracted to the moving water of the outflow drain and were sucked out of Willard and into the salt marshes. The walleye fishing since then has been almost nonexistent.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still lots of wipers, but they are not as fast and feisty these days. They like clear deep water and Willard is neither. The lake is shallow...no more than about 12 feet...and it colors up fast when the wind blows. That knocks down the visibility and wipers cannot see fast moving lures from very far away. You need to fish slower and using high visability lures with rattles is a big help.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If we can all wait out the completion of the repairs, and Willard gets healthy again, hopefully the good ol' days will return.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks for your response,
It looks like fishing will be tough but its close. I wil go pic up some supplies and give it a shot when i get some time off. I will post my outcome on the willard forum.
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Cool thanks! I will give um a try!!
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[cool][#0000ff]Good luck, and please post your reports, questions and replies on the General Board here. The moderators will take care of archiving your posts after everybody has had a chance to read and reply to them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did not mention that if you want to catch whatever might be biting, drag some nightcrawlers or minnows. Wipers and cats will both hit them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, early in the year (like now) a lot of wipers are caught on a bubble and jig rig. Fish a small plastic or marabou jig 3 to 4 feet below a bobber. Give it a pop once in a while or let the breeze move and jiggle it. The action can get hectic when a school moves in shallow. There have been several afternoons in the SW corner of Willard lately that have seen some good catches by the "bank tanglers."[/#0000ff]
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Are there any courtasy docks in the water in the North Marina right now?
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[cool][#0000ff]Two part answer. Yes, there are courtesy docks. No, they are not in the water. The water level is so low that the end of the docks are several feet from the water line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most folks launch and then take their boats about 10 yards west to a steep mud/gravel bank. You can nose the boat in there safely without worrying about the prop to load and unload passengers and gear.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The attached picture was taken last week, from the ramp looking west.[/#0000ff]
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glass jointed rapalas size 5 or 7 work well but you well find it changes day to day
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