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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#000080][size 4]Thursday morning, my daughter Lisa and son-in-law Rami wanted to go fishing. We decided to hit Willard. After an early morning alarm clock, prep, drive, launch and buzz out to the middle, we finally started fishing around 7:30. Since we had lots to do at home that day, we called it a morning after just three hours. We caught 4 wipers and 4 walleye. We kept three for lunch. Rami had been fishing several times in his life but had never caught a fish. So, Rami didn't have his hopes to high to catch anything. As it turned out, Rami's first fish was the largest ... a very nice wiper. He had just landed his first fish ever and the biggest fish of the day with several more to come. Lisa caught the most though..
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But we had to remind Lisa that "size matters". LOL. It was a wonderful morning on Willard before the bugs and the heat. Walleye and wiper for lunch was pretty darn tasty too.
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Then yesterday, I and my friend from work, Dave Brocket, decided to do another short morning trip. We boated 12 in four hours and kept a mess for cooking.
[inline Daves-stringer-444.gif]
Here is what worked best for us: Found a hot spot out about a mile N-W of the island. We just kept going back and forth through it and caught fish every pass. Any lure that resembled a Rapala Shad Rap in the color “silver” seemed to work. Basically any lure with a gray or black back with a white or silver belly did well. Oh, and lures WITH lips (as opposed to lipless) was the ticket. Trolling 2.9 to 3.1 seemed the best speed.
[inline Lures-444.gif]
We seen immense amounts of bait fish in the water … more than I have seen in years past. Yea, I know they were thick the last two years but this year has them beat. The egrets were dive bombing all over the place picking up the little shadlets. I was amazed that our plastic fake lures would catch anything at all with all that other real food out there, but they did.
--- Coot ---
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Nice report thanks! Makes me want to take the old boat up there heat or no heat.
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[quote albinotrout]Makes me want to take the old boat up there heat or no heat.[/quote]
Do it. But be on the water around 6:30 or earlier. My experience is that once the season brings on the heat, those fish slow the bite real fast. I remember times trolling that lake for 13 hours without a single bite! The temps were in the hundreds and fishing was miserable. So again, my suggestion is early in the morning and later in the evening ... especially as the season gets the water even hotter.
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Thanks for the tip.[  ]
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Hows the power squad up there ? Was thinking about taking my toon and floating it but dont want to get run over by a wave runner
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[#0000FF]The good news is that most of the "recreational" craft do not really get going until late morning. The bad news is that with only the south marina being available it doubles up that kind of traffic in one place. When the north marina is open a lot of the jet skiers and beach bunnies launch and play up there. But when there is only one ramp in town it gets all the action.
As has been suggested, the best fishing is in the early morning anyways...usually. But sometimes it gets good around midday along the dikes.
Another thing, for tubers and tooners, is that it is usually calmest during the morning and often starts getting "airy" by late morning.
This year, with the low water situation, it may require going further offshore to find water deep enough to hold fish. It has been productive off the "island" but that is a long haul for small inflated craft...even with oars or a trolling motor. Best leave it to the boats with high beams and big motors if there is any chance of weather.
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The "island" cant be more than a mile from the marina mouth, correct? I was looking at a map floating around here some where.
Seems like a very easy paddle in the kayak. What is the worst Willard can get? Some newbie questions would be like: What should I expect to see out there with 15 knot winds, 20, 30? Its a shame that the ramp is not a 24 hour ramp. Opens at 6 right?
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Sounds like you have found my new secret spot for the year Ralph. I've been calling it, "The Openess" because of the location. The area you found, is just the West side, it extends almost to the East side of the lake, it is in the middle of the lake, out in the open. There are fish everywhere in the Bay but that location has been good to me this year. I've been watching the terns diving out there, even a little wiper surface activity but I can't say I have ever seen the egret dive for the shad, they usually hang out at the shore line waiting for the shad to come by. Thanks for the report and pics, looks like it was some fun trips.
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Yea, I've heard you refer to it as the "Openess" before. The "Openess" sounds more like a biblical reference than a fishing hole. [angelic] Me and Bait_Caster ran accross it about 6 years ago during a wiper tournament and been reffering to it as "Tournament Alley" ever since. I like that area so well, I NEVER fish Willard without making a few runs through it. Never had to leave that area at all the last two trips.
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Biblical reference? LOL, not likely but it is way out in the open, in most locations around the Bay there is some reference to what is nearby, like the Feedlot, Freeway bay, Light pole, what is in that location, Openess, hence the name. Those of us that fish the Bay often, have known of the location for years but this is the first year I have done good there on a regular bases. I think that will change soon because of all the shad we are now seeing but one thing that I was not aware of, until this year, is how far the Openess extends to the East.
I hate to see what is coming, I fear we are in for the low water years again. With the Bay not filling this year because of the Chevron fuel line break and not much water being held in Echo, because of the Dam repair, they will likely suck Willard very low this year and these hot temps sure do not help matters. If we have another poor winter, because of lack of snow, it is likey that launching will be tough by next year at this time. I hope I'm wrong but it seems these things go in a 10 year cycle and I think we are starting early[frown].
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Went out this morning and managed a few walleye and wiper myself. Good times!
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[#0000FF]Someone with GPS on their boat could give you an exact distance. I can't. But I have been told it is a bit over 1 mile. Much faster and easier in a yak than a tube.
If you pay close attention to the weather forecasts...and if they are right (not always)...you should be able to fish and survive. But Willard is infamous for the sudden blows that come out of nowhere and turn the lake into a giant blender with 4 and 5 foot high straight sided swells. If the west wind is blowing it will let you surf back to the marina. But strong south winds will have you wishing you had stood in bed. Your rescuers will have to scrape you off the rocks along the north dike.
In short, it is very doable to go for the island out the south marina in your kayak. Just pay attention to the weather and be safe.
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