Wimpy Willard 6-11-21

[TubeDude]

I joined a bunch of other overly optimistic folks this morning on Willard.  I normally like to wait for about 3 days after a front or wind event before launching.  But this year I would never get to go fishing if I stuck with those standards.  All the wind and temperature changes the past few days dropped the water temp and put some murk in the water.  Walleyes didn't seem happy about it but I found a few playful kitties to provide some tugs.

Met up with Fatbiker in his yak and we launched a bit before 7 am.  Air temp a chilly 39 and water down to 64...warming to 68 by noon departure.  Lots of boats going out of the south marina but not many putting their nets in the water that I could see.  And when I hit the cleaning station I was the only one there...with no evidence of anyone else before me.  Talked to several incoming boaters and they all pretty much confirmed it was a slow day for walleye-kind.

I started off with dragging some crawler-adorned whirly fligs in several formerly productive areas.  Not much on sonar and even less on my line.  Had been working out in 14.5 to 15 feet of water.  Decided to try a little shallower in case the fish were responding to the lower visibility in shallower water.  Game on...but not with walleyes.  Just some more everlovin' Willard kitties.  Got somewhere between about 13 - 15 and went through a lot of crawlers meant for walleyes.  But, hey, I got the boat juju off my rods and got some tugs.  Kept 4 to fry.

Back at the ramp Larry indicated he had found some kitty love too.  We usually don't keep accurate counts when the catchin' is good.  "Time enough for countin' when the dealin's done"  (Sorry, Kenny)

Thanks to Curt for making an on-the-water handoff of my hat I left in his truck last week.  Hope you guys did better than most others.
   
   
   
   
   

[FatBiker]

Always good to see you Pat. Nothing but kitties for me which is ok in my book. I like them kitty tuga. Six or seven caught, kissed on the lips and returned to play another day. 12 to 13 FOW seemed to be the sweet spot for me. Thanks again for BELH minnows.

Larry

[wiperhunter2]

Glad we were able to get your hat back to you Pat, wasn't sure we were going to hit that net but thankfully Ira was a good shot. We were having boat battery issues and Dan was afraid to shut his trolling motor off, for fear of not getting it started again. It was slow for us as well, only got three eyes to the boat. Nice going on the big kitty and the other cats.

[Farmboat]

My wife and I also got on the water about 7am today and headed for the west dyke. Very slow start for us also but after about an hour draging cranks we caught our first walleye. After trying many colors, speeds, and lengths of line out we pulled of the water at 2:30 with a total bag of 5 walleye, 3 catfish. 1 perch and one very small crappie. Blue # 5 flicker shad at 2 mph gave us our best results. Cooler temps and less bugs made for a great day on the water.

[doitall5000]

I too was there, helped to stur up the muddy water. Tried worms and not a bite. Switched to crank baits, both fast and slow. Long line with lipless, and flicker shad.
Lots of trolleys with planner boards,
Water was 66 degrees, very calm. Saw lots of fish at all depts. I think those that used lindy style rigs that went slow were getting cats. Don't know how the eye's can find wipperhunters lures. They must smell different.
Nice day, I'll be back..

[Wasatch801]

I joined a bunch of other overly optimistic folks this morning on Willard.  I normally like to wait for about 3 days after a front or wind event before launching.  But this year I would never get to go fishing if I stuck with those standards.  All the wind and temperature changes the past few days dropped the water temp and put some murk in the water.  Walleyes didn't seem happy about it but I found a few playful kitties to provide some tugs.

Met up with Fatbiker in his yak and we launched a bit before 7 am.  Air temp a chilly 39 and water down to 64...warming to 68 by noon departure.  Lots of boats going out of the south marina but not many putting their nets in the water that I could see.  And when I hit the cleaning station I was the only one there...with no evidence of anyone else before me.  Talked to several incoming boaters and they all pretty much confirmed it was a slow day for walleye-kind.

I started off with dragging some crawler-adorned whirly fligs in several formerly productive areas.  Not much on sonar and even less on my line.  Had been working out in 14.5 to 15 feet of water.  Decided to try a little shallower in case the fish were responding to the lower visibility in shallower water.  Game on...but not with walleyes.  Just some more everlovin' Willard kitties.  Got somewhere between about 13 - 15 and went through a lot of crawlers meant for walleyes.  But, hey, I got the boat juju off my rods and got some tugs.  Kept 4 to fry.

Back at the ramp Larry indicated he had found some kitty love too.  We usually don't keep accurate counts when the catchin' is good.  "Time enough for countin' when the dealin's done"  (Sorry, Kenny)

Thanks to Curt for making an on-the-water handoff of my hat I left in his truck last week.  Hope you guys did better than most others.



Three of us fished from about 8am to 3pm today.  We fished the north and west dikes, focusing on 15-17 feet.  Pulled cranks and bottom bounced for 7 cats and one tiny smb.  The single eye came in 17 fow on a crawler harness about 2pm.  The wind never did arrive with the walleye chop.  If it's finally going now, I imagine the late bird might get the walleye worm! 

[wiperhunter2]

I too was there, helped to stur up the muddy water.  Tried worms and not a bite. Switched to crank baits, both fast and slow. Long line with lipless, and flicker shad.
Lots of trolleys with planner boards,
Water was 66 degrees, very calm. Saw lots of fish at all depts.  I think those that used lindy style rigs that went slow were getting cats. Don't know how the eye's can find wipperhunters lures. They must smell different. 
Nice day, I'll be back..

You got to move around to find those active eyes, we trolled for hours it seemed before we got that first one, then we stayed in that area for the next two eyes. We found a spot where the water was clearer but all those days of constant wind did not help any. Water temp got up to 70 before we left. Brown was the color we did the best on today, using snap weights to get the lures closer to the bottom. Last week we caught most of our fish shallow, this week they were deeper.

[wiperhunter2]

My wife and I also got on the water about 7am today and headed for the west dyke. Very slow start for us also but after about an hour dragging cranks we caught our first walleye. After trying many colors, speeds, and lengths of line out we pulled of the water at 2:30 with a total bag of 5 walleye, 3 catfish. 1 perch and one very small crappie. Blue # 5 flicker shad at 2 mph gave us our best results. Cooler temps and less bugs made for a great day on the water.

Great report, good to hear someone did so good on an off day for most of us. Were you using planer boards? How far were you letting out behind the boat or boards? By the way, welcome to the site.

[Farmboat]

We got all but one on the planer boards. 80 feet of 20 pound braid and 10 feet of 10 pound flouocabon leader. Trolling S turns with the boards 40 feet off the sides of the boat at 1.8 to 2 mph.

[wiperhunter2]

We got all but one on the planer boards. 80 feet of 20 pound braid and 10 feet of 10 pound flouocabon leader. Trolling S turns with the boards 40 feet off the sides of the boat at 1.8 to 2 mph.

Nice detailed reply, we were doing a similar setup but we never found that one spot where the fish were biting really good, unless we left too soon, you stayed an hour and half longer than we did but we were in that same area when we caught our three eyes. What boat were you in? This is one were in from a little different angle that what TubeDude posted above.



picture hosting

[Farmboat]

I do remember seeing your boat and feeling a bit jealous. We were in an older 86 red and white crestliner with 115 black mercury and 8 horse Yamaha kicker. I would like to post pictures but I am old school and can't figure out how to start a post on the sight. Have figured out how to respond but not smart enough to start my own. We will be on Willard again in the morning and hopefully can post some pictures then.

[wiperhunter2]

I do remember seeing your boat and feeling a bit jealous. We were in an older  86 red and white crestliner with 115 black mercury and 8 horse Yamaha kicker. I would like to post pictures but I am old school and can't figure out how to start a post on the sight. Have figured out how to respond but not smart enough to start my own. We will be on Willard again in the morning and hopefully can post some pictures then.

I wish that was my boat but that boat belongs to my friend Dan. I remember seeing that boat you were in, you were pretty close to us several times. Here is how you start your own post, go to the main, Utah fishing general board, here is a link to it:
https://bigfishtackle.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=58
On the left side near the top of the page you see Utah Fishing General, on the right side you will see Post Thread, it is in black, just click on that and a new post opens, you just need to put in a title then add your report in the section below that. Let me know if you need any help.

[Farmboat]

Thanks for your help. I was able to post this morning's results.7

[Funchy]

Good to see you still slaying em Pat

[TubeDude]

Good to see you still slaying em Pat

Well, look who wandered in from down under.  Cheers mate.  Hope you are doing well.  

[Funchy]

Good to see you still slaying em Pat

Well, look who wandered in from down under.  Cheers mate.  Hope you are doing well.  

Yes sir. Have sold our home and downsized as most of the kids have now flown the coup. We are about to begin our new home build on our four acres in paradise