Ok I took the grandson to Willard. Saturday with the other hundred boats on the water. I am so stumped on how to fish this lake. And it is starting to get to me. We trolled with the other boats on the west side. watched a guy catch a Eye trolled up next to him, because WE had not had a bite all morning. Trolled 1.5, 2.1, 2.5. The guy told us they were catching them on purple and white. Ok I got those. Then they hold up a hole stringer of wipers and eyes. I thought you have got to be kidding me. They didn't have a fishfinder so they couldn't tell us how fast to go. Anyway I did catch one eye trolling back to the dock. Even tried bottom bounce with worms negative. Ran into a old Willard pro in his seventies at the dock by himself asked him how he did. Said he caught a bunch of wiper,eyes, crappie,and kats. Using what I asked? Curly tailed grub he said. WHAT!!!. No way. Never thought of that. Anyway I ended up. Thinking I am not as good a fisherman, as I thought I was. PS no more Saturdays for this old duffer. Boats crossing my lines, and my bow. I catch and release I am not that desperate for a fish. But catching a few would have been nice for the grandson visiting. OH well.....
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First tip I can give you is avoid weekends on that pond.
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never again[fishon]
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my best advise for Willard fish shad imitations play with you set back(depth) and speed stick with a bait you trust and cover water , if you hit some fish pound that area util it stops producing then cover more water . until you get fish or get beat up enough to call it a day.[fishin]
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Good place to vent anyway, lol
Serious though, the advise mentioned above is all good.
Curly tail grub is usually the line most guys give when they don't want to give info, imo
They do work, kill the crappies, ok on the catfish, hit or miss on eyes, fwiw
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I took my grandson out from 0900 'til noon and we boated 6 eyes (between 18 and 22") and 1 18" wiper but we trolled at 3.2 mph and stayed as far away from the other boats as we could get. The last 15 minutes before we left we had doubles twice. Hot lures were SHALLOW running (6') purple and chartreuse cranks. 5/7 fish came on the planer board setups too.
Don't be fooled by thinking the boats are where the fish are. I always do better away from other boats.
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sweet I will give it another shot and try trolling faster. Thanks[fishin]
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Boat Fisher,
I was the guy you ran into on Saturday morning. My buddy Gerry lives in Houston and was in town for the weekend so we decided to hit Willard. We started trolling 300 yards out from the marina and headed to were all those boats were hanging out on the west side. We actually caught most of our fish before we made it to the west side. It was the first time using planner boards too so we were still trying to figure the process out.
Any success we had I owe to luck and a guy I met at sportsmen last Thursday. His name was Kent and he gave me a crash course on planner boards, the right color lure/size, speed to troll etc...he was a customer and I bet he spent 45 minutes sharing his knowledge with me.
I look forward to getting back on the water soon.
Tight lines ....Dave
This is my first ever posting so I hope it works out![reply][/reply]
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Welcome to the forum!
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Welcome to BFT! Sounds like you did very well for a newbie at planer boards.
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Thanks for the welcomes! Been a fan of the site for a while. The site has opened my eyes up to new opportunities. I was pretty much a trout guy fishing from a tube or pontoon.
Last weekend I had a riot catching wipers on small to med rated tackle. I had only hooked one wiper before in my life. Pound for pound they are pretty tough. The walleye were not as fun but they taste really good!
My work is taking me out of the state for the next month and I am already missing the fishing.
Thanks again for the welcome....Dave[reply][/reply]
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Tubes and toons aren't just for trout.[
] I spent the day at UL today chasing white bass, catfish, and crappie.
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Yes Dave you guys were kicking butt out there. I am putting forth more effort to fish Willard. I usually go for the trout at EC or Hyrum. don't know why I hate the taste of fish. LOL. Anyway Willard is only thirty minutes from home. So I am doing my best for an old duffer to learn that lake. Well done for Saturday. I did let the grandson reel in the eye after you told us about the purple . I did the netting. That was fun.
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Boat Fisher,
I went back out this evening with a friend that brought his two young daughter and a niece. We fished for a total of 90 minutes...caught 3 nice walleye and lost 2. Then the girls wanted to go swimming and that was the end of the fishing.
Good luck on your next outing! BTW Those colors still work.
Dave
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