05-03-2023, 03:40 AM
I had an appointment today in Davis County and decided to finally get the boat out for the 1st time this year later in the day. I invited my son and daughter-in-law to go with me along with a hefty warning that it was still early in the year and we might not catch anything. They were brave and came with me. I was also a bit worried about the wind as it had been blustery all day. I guess Willard has its own weather, and someone forgot to tell the wipers it was too early.
We launched from the north marina at around 4 pm, and I was really glad to see how much the lake had risen. No problems launching. Motored out to Freeway Bay and just decided to pull cranks. Also very little wind and a just a little chop on the water. At 4:15 I put out 4 poles and sped up to 2.5-2.7. I am not kidding that the first hookup was within 5 minutes. A nice 17" wiper. Fluke? Nope! Within 20 minutes of starting we had 3 in the boat all about the same size. We continued trolling back and forth in the bay picking up another, then another, and so on. Then came a big slam on the outside rod. I could tell it was bigger, and it proved it, stretching the tape to 22". What is happening here? This isn't the typical big middle fin, getting laughed off the lake kind of day that Willard is known for. This is actually a lot if fun. At 5:40 we caught our 9th wiper and put it in the cooler, limiting out. We started pulling in the other poles. I grabbed the last pole, took it out of the holder, and as I started to reel it in, it got hit too. Another 17" or so wiper, quick release after netting it, and it was gone.
We motored to the west side to see if we could find some walleye. Drew a blank on those. You know, it's Willard, you can't get too greedy. It gave up more than I had hoped for and my son and daughter-in-law had a great time. They are already asking when the next trip is scheduled.
![[Image: IMG-1016.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/zb354MjQ/IMG-1016.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-1022.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/Cnq0xq9H/IMG-1022.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-1023.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/6T2t0kT2/IMG-1023.jpg)
We launched from the north marina at around 4 pm, and I was really glad to see how much the lake had risen. No problems launching. Motored out to Freeway Bay and just decided to pull cranks. Also very little wind and a just a little chop on the water. At 4:15 I put out 4 poles and sped up to 2.5-2.7. I am not kidding that the first hookup was within 5 minutes. A nice 17" wiper. Fluke? Nope! Within 20 minutes of starting we had 3 in the boat all about the same size. We continued trolling back and forth in the bay picking up another, then another, and so on. Then came a big slam on the outside rod. I could tell it was bigger, and it proved it, stretching the tape to 22". What is happening here? This isn't the typical big middle fin, getting laughed off the lake kind of day that Willard is known for. This is actually a lot if fun. At 5:40 we caught our 9th wiper and put it in the cooler, limiting out. We started pulling in the other poles. I grabbed the last pole, took it out of the holder, and as I started to reel it in, it got hit too. Another 17" or so wiper, quick release after netting it, and it was gone.
We motored to the west side to see if we could find some walleye. Drew a blank on those. You know, it's Willard, you can't get too greedy. It gave up more than I had hoped for and my son and daughter-in-law had a great time. They are already asking when the next trip is scheduled.
