Im assuming the reason for no water going into Willard Bay from the inlet right now is due to the Repair work going on at the North Marina. I went there Sunday Afternoon to get the bugs out for the year and launched at the South Marina. Fished for about three four hours and my partner had one good hit bottom bouncing. no fish at the boat. That lake is extremely low. Gonna have to learn to fish it all over again as in last year because of the big differnce in water depth. Hope they get the spill cleaned up and get some water in there soon.
I also got checked leaving with a complete boat inspection by the DNR but was completely in compliance so heads up on that one.
I heard from a friend that his nephew had gotten notice that the campgrounds at the North Marina are going to be closed in July and he had reserved them for the Fourth and Twenty Fourth. And the State is refunding him his money. But that they will be letting boats only in to launch at the Boat Ramp. Hope this is not true. Has anyone else heard this. Its hearsay and im just seeing if anyone has experienced this or if its only a bad rumor.
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I personally have never fished willard bay but I got you a website that you can keep track of what the water level percentage is.
[url "http://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/basin/tc_wf.html"]http://www.usbr.gov/uc/water/basin/tc_wf.html[/url]
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I would guess there is no way Willard is 73% full. Might be wrong but that seems high right now.
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I was thinking of launching the kayak there tomorrow morning. I'll give y'all my best waguesstimate afterwards.
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[quote rancid_crabtree]I heard from a friend that his nephew had gotten notice that the campgrounds at the North Marina are going to be closed in July and he had reserved them for the Fourth and Twenty Fourth. And the State is refunding him his money.[/quote][font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font][font "Calibri"]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]I just checked the State Parks Reservation website for availability at Willard Bay Willow & Cottonwood Campgrounds (North Marina) and they are currently NOT available for reservations until June 1, 2013. Beyond that, they ARE available for reservations through July 17, 2013 (you can only make reservations twelve weeks in the future for individual campsites). So based on that, I would say your friend is misinformed. It is possible the reservations website hasn’t been updated to reflect a closure in July, but as I said, there is a 12 week restriction on booking ahead for individual spots and 24 July is outside that 12 week window so I would think the rumor is false. But that is a guess, not a fact.[/#800000][/font]
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Wetted my kayak today. The water levels look to be from four to six feet below maximum. It's up to the bottom layer of rocks on the dikes.
Semi-funny anecdote: s I was readying the Prangler for launch, two guys so old they might be my age drove up. They said they had never fished Willard before and where did I think they should fish from the bank. I told them to fish that point right at the marina where it meets the channel.
Four hours later, I pedaled back in and they were standing next to their car. They thanked me profusely and said they caught two wipers, a walleye and a smallmouth.
Me? What's that awful smell? (Not a hit all day.)
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Wow, that is good catching for the two guys you helped, did they mention what they were using? Thanks for getting out there and giving it a try, did you happen get a water temp?
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Water temp was 52 when I was there sunday by the pig farm and freeway bay. 49 at the island wont be long with these warm days for walleyes
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Yup, forgot to mention it above. Surface temp was 51° along the dike.
I didn't ask what those two guys were using. Should've, but I was a bit tuckered after my four-hour pedal. Long winter with little exercise will get to ya.
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