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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Went to Willard today and launched out of south marina. I believe I've fished my last trip to Willard until more water comes in. The south marina has less than 12" in places. I pulled the boat out to the dredged channel by hand. Slogging through 12"-18" of mud with 12" of water on it was a pain in the rear. The bottom of the boat was dragging bottom in a place or two. Not good.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Once we got out on the lake everything went smoothly. You can see the island poking out of the water by a foot or more. It would be a great place to set up a sun shade to hag out and water ski from. Your very own island![/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]We caught plenty of fish. We found the fish along the north dike. One of my friends was out there and they had two limits and were heading back to the marina. We picked up right where they left off and caught fish til 8:30pm. We decided to go in while we still had a little day light.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]The wind kicked up a few times from the storm clouds which would shut down the bite but once it passed and thing calmed down again the bite would pick up and we'd start catching fish again.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]We got back through the mud. I used the trolling motor to get back in and dug a nice trench through the mud. Luckily, there were no rocks that ate my skeg or prop though I was told that plenty of people had ruined both right there in the marina.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]We used the cleaning station to clean a mess of fish so my friend could try a few wipers out for dinner. It's a pretty nice set up but as with all public facilities, people could clean up after themselves a heck of a lot better. I know the guy who came in behind us was a happy camper. I got the groat sponges out of my boat and we scrubbed down the station pretty good before leaving.[/size][/font]
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[#ff0000]Just wondered what you were catching, all Wipers or some variety? [/#ff0000]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Just wipers. That's what we were targeting.[/size][/font]
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Thanks for cleaning the cleaning station. That thing can get messy. Wiper24
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Thx for the update Mac. Sounds like my camping trip ought to be an adventure. Sounds like I might have to use the electric to get out of the marina[unsure]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]If your electric has enough power to drag your boat thru the mud... You can drag it out fairly easy right now. Launch at the eastern most ramp and you won't have to drag it too far. Also your tri-hull doesn't required as deep of water as my boat does. The draft on my boat in the stern is about 18". Good luck. You might want a marsh pole with a big wide foot on it to push you out.[/size][/font]
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Thanks for the update BLM,
Sounds like you got into them good,did you troll the hole time or did you see some biols,I checked the water line on my boat about 16"was that water depth taken from your fish finder or your leg,as you where pulling your boat out?
Why can they hold so much water back,that canal has been full of water ever time I have been out,but no water coming in?Is there anyone we can b!$#h too about the poor conditions,They just spent all that money on the marina's and they are high and dry.That really pisses me off!
can you give me better direction to the fish,the north dike is quite long,HEHEHE.
TIGHT LINES,NOT DRY LINES!
Tony[cool]
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[size 1]Did you troll the hole time or did you see some biols?
[/size][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]No boils that we saw. Too much wind. Very little surface activity and no egrets on the dikes. We trolled exclusively. All fish were caught on Producers on the side planers. None of the inside rods caught fish.[/size][/font]
[size 1]Was that water depth taken from your fish finder or your leg,as you where pulling your boat out? [/size]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]This is water depth is according to my leg; 18" of mud with 12" of water on it. I could be off an inch or two but I doubt that makes much difference. You'll either be plowing mud with your prop or dragging your boat by hand through a portion of mud just before you get to the channel that was earlier dredged out.[/size][/font]
[size 1]Can you give me better direction to the fish,the north dike is quite long,HEHEHE. [/size]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Now, Tony! You know as well as I do that by next weekend those fish will have moved to some other area of the pond. I must admit though that the depth on the north end is a few feet deeper than the southern portion. We were from 50 to 400 yards off the dikes, trolling the center portion. The feed lot was pretty well south of us most of the time. We never got to close to the North marina or the light pole. [/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I used the GPS to stay on them. If we caught one, we circled and came right back on them until we didn't get bit then we'd move on. I love my GPS plotter just for that kind of stuff.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I agree, they spend loads of taxpayers' cash to improve the south marina and the facility becomes useless because the marina and channels are high and dry. There is still plenty of water in the bay for recreation activities. I think we have to remember who owns the water. I don't think the state has much say how low it can go BUT they can dredge the channels and marinas deeper. It probably could have been considered as part of the upgrade.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]One thing is for sure. If you can get your boat out there, you have the bay pretty much to yourself. The number of boats on it is dramatically reduced from the limited access.[/size][/font]
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Sure dont understand why they didn't start with the marina,they could have dredged a channel from the boat ramps right to the channel.maybe if we got together and talked to the dredging boat driver to do that for use,he,he,he[  ].Are they still dredging the channel?
Thats what I also had to do,when we caught a fish I would start to troll around in circles,strange year for me out there,finally caught some nice walleye,but had to really work for the wipers this year.
Thanks for the info.
If anyone goes out with a smaller boat,and finds the water comes up at all please let me know,wishful thinking never hurt anybody[  ]
TIGHT LINES
Tony[cool]
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Great report BLM, as we were coming back from our trip we noticed there were a few people still launching from the north marina, do you know of anyone that has launched from the north marina latly? Did you get into any large wipers? WH2
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Tony:[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]The dredging on the canal was done by the water company not the state. They could careless about the marina and recreational use.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]WH2:[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I know of no one launching from the north. I did talk to some folks and they said that the north marina is a lot more rock than mud. Worse on props but better for dragging your boat out? Worth checking out. I don't know what the depths are but I know I would launch and not go to the other dock to pick someone up; too many rocks. Let them wade out at the ramp and help you drag.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]We did not catch any big wipers. some were medium size, 18"-19" and others were smaller in the 12" range.[/size][/font]
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Tony, BLM is right the water company could care less about us but at least that state could take a little bit of that money we pay them for enterance fees and dredge the marina. As far as the channel being full goes, it is always like that when they are pumping water to the farmers, they have to have it full for the water to travel south.
BLM, thanks for the info, even though we did not go into the marina it looked like people were not having any problem getting out, if I make it up to the north marina this week I'll let everone know how it looks. Those 18 and 19 inch wipers are the big ones lately, I haven't heard of anyone catching any bigger for a while. WH2
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Well, I'm not going to say that I blame the water company. They are only doing what they have to to keep the farmers from losing thousands of $$$$ in crops in this massive drought that Utah has slipped in to. But, I do think that is bull$hit that the state parks will still charge you 9 dollars to get in![mad]
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Amen to that! It doesnt make any sense to charge someone full price under those conditions.
GOOD FISHIN TO YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Don't get me wrong Teroy, I realize it is all about money as far as the water company is concerned, just business but I think the state parks people could get with the water people and dredge a little on the side channel going into the marina. Even if all they did was 10 or 20 feet into the marina from the channel it would help. The barge was already there and I do not think it would have taken long, oh well thats life. I'll make one more attempt in my big boat before the 12 footer comes out. WH2
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