Willard...not so hot 6-6-24

[obifishkenobi]

This year seems a bit tougher than usual.  I dislike the option of worms but may have to resort to them if the trend continues.

You are right.  Referring to years of fishing logs on Willard I am seeing that although the fishing actually started to pick up earlier, it declined and changed up and down with the repeated fronts moving through...keeping the water colder longer.  Worms?  Always been a bait of choice for at least the walleyes this time of year...before the newly hatched shad get big enough to munch.  And all the other species seem to like them too.  Messy but sometimes the best way to put some fish in the cooler.

We all have our own preferred styles of fishing...as witnessed by the dry fly purist.  In the final analysis, that is what fishing is really about...fishing the way you want...especially if it works.  But what if it doesn't?  That's where many of us fit in.  We actually enjoy the challenge of figuring out exactly what it's going to take to fool/tempt the fish...and then to be able to catch something...even when nobody else is scoring.  Kinda like a big video game on the water.  You don't always win but it's always fun to play.

Focusing exclusively on only only water, one species or one style of fishing is okay...for some.  But to me it is kinda like the guy looking for a lost contact lens.  A friend stops to help him, and after a long time of not finding it he asked "Are you sure this is where you lost it?"  To which the first guy replies "No.  I lost it over there, but the light is better here."

I admit it, I'm a confirmed no-bait troller at heart.  Except for kokanee, for which I use grocery store peg corn or Berkely maggots.  Although they're at opposite ends of the fight per pound scale, I fish for walleye the same way I fish for albacore.  Artificial lures only.  And I fish for kokanee the same as I do for ocean salmon, downriggers pulling flashers/dodgers ahead of squids or spoons.  

As I get older, and I'm getting up there, how I hunt or fish is more important than how much I kill or catch.  I'm happy just being out on the water or in the marsh.

The water temp went from 66.5F to over 72F yesterday, warm enough to troll 2.5+ MPH.  It's just a matter of locating fish and putting the right lure, (action, size and color) at the right depth at the right time of day in front of their noses.  Simple, right? 

What scratches my itch these days is putting people on fish, so I chase the “easy” ones. I don’t need to reel in any fish. I have a seasonal log in my brain that moves me from one bite to the next, I live in northern Utah now and it’s Willard Walleye time I’m about to transition into Strawberry Kokanee then I’ll come back to catfish air fall trout fishing. When I lived in North Idaho I chased Salmon and steelhead then in between runs caught bass or even carp. I love catching fish and putting other people on them.