Fishing Willard

[uttarheel]

Help? I am new to fishing Willard and never fished a shallow lake with little or no structure. I have been three times in past three weeks and got skunked each time.
Can someone give me come pointers on how to fish Willard and what to use. I trolled nightcrawlers on a lindey rig, 4 inch rebels, sinking thinfins, and several other artificals. Fished along north off rocks, and in open water. I am really flustrated. Fished 10am t0 3PM, and 5PM till dark.
Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks
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[PACKFAN]

I have been fishing Willard Bay since 1976 and when I think I have the walleye figured out they prove me wrong. I know alot of good fisherman that have been pounding it pretty hard this past month and no one I know of has been doing worth a darn. By the reports MGB has been logging he seems to have been doing the best out there. The tactics you mentioned should work fine just keep experimenting. I do like windy days best, but the days I've been able to fish have been pretty calm. Don't get discouraged we do have some nice walleye in the lake and the few I have caught this spring have been chunky fish, I haven't seen them in this good of shape for the past several years. If You see a big Crestliner Black over almond with an American Flag on each side that would be me. Swing by and I'll be glad to point some of the better places to try6 on the lake. []
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[chefwhofishes]

From my experience this year, smaller is better. Small shad rapalas, and even trolling small plastics has worked for me this year. If the weather stays warm, Willard will really turn on this month. For me, it has always kind of been hit and miss until middle of May.
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[AFDan52]

[font "Arial Black"][red][size 3] I think that it is still a little too cold , but as the water gets warmer , around 65 and up the bite will turn on.[/size][/red][/font]
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[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3]AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Last year, we were knocking the heck out of the fish at the end of March and throughout the spring. It's been a little different this year. All the best reports have been working shoreline and not trolling. I would work shorelines with side planers on the troll and I would work shoreline casting plastics. I wouldn't screw around either. You want to cover some ground at a fairly aggressive clip, searching for fish. Once you find one along the shoreline, you should find more. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]As different species start spawning, I believe this draws all species in close to the rocky shorelines. A lot of fish will take advantage of the eggs and fry. Predators will take advantage of smaller fish trying to get a free meal. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]If you decide to troll, don't do what everyone else does. Throwing a lure out and just trolling for the sake of trolling is not as productive as finding large groups of fish and then making several trolling runs through them using different presentations until, hopefully you can get bit. Try and find the fish, then troll through them. No use dragging a lure through areas that show no fish. You only have so much time on the water. Make it count.[/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Unlike others, I don't think it's too cold. 58 degrees and warming is plenty warm to get fish active. It has been tougher this year for sure but there are plenty of fish out there and as everyone has said, it will only get better.[/size][/black][/font]
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