Willard Intel?

[bmitchell]

I have given up on ice season and am getting out my tube. Plan to tale tomorrow and spend some time on Willard. Have yet to ever catch anything out there. Don't care what I catch, but crappie or catfish would be great. Anyone have recent reports or willing to help? I would be happy to get the info in a PM and will keep it to myself. Still new here and learning more each time.
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[Wildcat94]

drag a minnow or cut bait or something on the bottom on one rod and flip curly tails or maribous on the other! these methods will catch everything from cats to wipers to walleyes and of course the panfish with the maribous or curly tails
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Wildcat's got some good advice there (long as you have a 2-pole permit [pirate] )

Willard has not been very kind to me, though I have got into about every species there (except Walleye! That changes this spring!!!)
So - I'll share some photos from someone that DOES do well at Willard, and often. Kitties beware!

Bottom bouncers can do well. Lots of rocks to snag up on - so you might want to rig a releasable type of weight. Even seen a piece of coat hanger serve the function.
Lots of folks pitch or drag various rapala type stick baits, or crank baits. Scent and tipping with ?? can always help.
Worm harnesses can get some attention too. Plastic tubes as well as the curly tails can get some action.

I'm about ready to get the boat out from under-cover, and take a float down there this week. Just a glutton for punishment I guess.

[joshomaru]

Your labeled map is incredibly helpful! Thank you!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You're welcome. That was one of my creations. But I have not copyrighted them and have no problem with others passing them along.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here are three more that might help out a bit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is still early on Willard Bay...especially for wipers. But the walleyes are moving and there are plenty of catfish if you can find them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The crappies are far from spawning yet. The month of May is prime time but you can get them from now on as they move in and out on warmer days. They are feeding now but not massing up like they will during the spawn. The old jig under a bobber routine almost always works well. But, sometimes just casting and retrieving small jigs just above the bottom will catch them in water from 8 - 12 feet deep...like in the north marina. But they hit soft so use a light rod, good line and pay attention.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Catfish are also subject to warming. Early in the morning after a cold night they might be out in 16 to 20 feet of water. As the sun rises and the water warms a couple of degrees they might move right in close to the rocks. When I fish for them I move my tube in big S turns...shallow to deep...until I find THE ZONE. If casting from the rocks keep making casts to different depths until you get bit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Walleyes are where you find them...but are not easy to catch. This time of year most of the fish caught are small males. They are usually caught early in the morning or right around dark as they come into the rock dikes looking for a "date" with the egg laden females. You can sometimes catch the bigger females prespawn...and then in May or June after they have finished spawning. But not many females are caught (legally) during March or April.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fishing is always good...even if the catchin' ain't.[/#0000ff]
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[joshomaru]

Thank you so much for the intel. I feel like I'm looking at spy satellite imagery and now posses dangerous knowledge.....
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote joshomaru]Your labeled map is incredibly helpful! Thank you![/quote]

Credit where credit is due! The great Oz has spoken! I'd certainly say - if anyone knows his way around Willard - THAT's your man!

He didn't mention - those were his chubby fingers wrapped around them fat cats. I could have posted my own photos, but I always like the way he holds them up, with their fat bellies and the glam beads hanging out their mouth.

TD has put together a series of labeled maps on various puddles around the state. Some of his Utah Lake maps are awesome - coming in cold to a new lake - gives you an edge up on at least knowing where you are (and the "code names" folks use - like Eagle Beach, or the Feedlot). I've dabbled with a couple I didn't find already published.
Don't recall if we've got a central repository for maps on this site? PM me if you've got others you're interested in. Forgot about the N. end one, and don't know that I'd seen your harbor detailed ones. Thanks Pat! Add to my collection.

I've learned that you can buy cut-bait from various sports stores - Sportsman's Warehouse, Smith and Edwards.
Don't know if he's got any left - but TD had an ad up with Minnows for sale. Still need to drag Lavaman down there one of these days!
Or catch a carp, and make fillet strips of your own. Perch meat's good too.

So when is the S. Inlet closed? Wonder if Walleye behavior in Rivers is similar to their lake wanderings?

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Re: the Willard Bay inlet channel:[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][#211d1e][size 2][#211d1e][size 2][#0000ff][size 3][/size][/#0000ff]
• CLOSED March 1 through 6 a.m. on the last Saturday of April.
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[#0000ff]Walleyes generally prefer spawn in flowing water and run up tributaries whenever possible. In Willard Bay that is the inlet channel. They used to swarm in there by the thousands...and thousands of snaggers were there to greet them. Wholesale slaughter. That's why the closure.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But...walleyes also spawn along rocky shorelines. However they usually do not engage in much spawning activity unless there is some wind and waves to aerate the eggs. Walleyes are "free spawners"...just spewing eggs and getting them fertilized by multiple small males tagging alongside. Big female walleyes are the original "cougars". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Knowledgeable walleye anglers don't cancel a trip when there is the forecast for wind. They just go to the sloppiest stretch of rocks and go for the gusto. I have seen nights both at Utah Lake and Willard when it was almost like a grunion run in California. The lust crazed fish would get washed up on shore or into the rocks by the splashing surf. I have also seen unsportsmanlike anglers scooping them up in nets rather than catching them legally.[/#0000ff]
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[kyLURE]

Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge. I was wondering if you use lures when you are targeting cats at Willard or just cut or non cut baits? I saw that pic with the chub but wondered.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]If I am specifically targeting catfish I start with my "go-to" baits...minnows, carp meat, white bass meat or perch meat...were legal and available. But, over the years I have caught countless cats on just about every size and type of lure you can think of...and even on flies. Actually made a couple of trips along the dikes at Willard with a fairy wand and black buggers fishing just for kitties...to win a bet. I won.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here are some pics of a few of the lures upon which I have caught cats. As a rule they will smack just about whatever you are throwing for the other species. If the water is clear enough, they are efficient sight feeders and will chase down a lure even at middepth or even on top. I have caught them on topwater during a shad boil at Willard.[/#0000ff]
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]Re: the Willard Bay inlet channel:[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][#211d1e][size 2][#211d1e][size 2] • CLOSED March 1 through 6 a.m. on the last Saturday of April.
[/size][/#211d1e][/size][/#211d1e][/#0000ff] [#0000ff]. . . spawning activity unless there is some wind and waves to aerate the eggs. . . [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Knowledgeable walleye anglers don't cancel a trip when there is the forecast for wind. They just go to the sloppiest stretch of rocks and go for the gusto . . . [/#0000ff][/quote]

Thanks for that. Need to DL the new proclamation.
So that counts from the marker buoy on back, but the marina and area in front of the buoy-inlet is fair game?

So that being the case - put on a Worf Voice
" Today is a GOOD day for Walleye"

Don't know about down your way, but it is windy as a Day with Dorothy in Kansas! Been whipping all night. Just not sure if I'm ready to face the cold wet waves in my lil' tug!

Bet I'll bet it's working some wonders on our rotting ice covers. Might just hit some rivers today - less chance of getting blown away. But I could imaging WIllards shores frothing in this weather - from what you describe (cougar... hah).

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]That's a big 10-4 on the closed area...no fishing from the middle channel buoy up to the first set of baffles at the inlet.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Howsomever, there can be some FINE fishing for walleyes and kitties from the far shoreline...by hiking up the north dike of the inlet from the road and chuckin' out into the flowing water. Usually a pretty good current when the runoff is pouring in. I have caught some good fish both right out in front of that buoy and again the last 25 yards before the mouth of the marina.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A good way to fish it is with a 1/4 to 1/2 oz. egg sinker...above a swivel...and then about 18" of leader and a size 2 or 4 bait hook. Pin on a minnow, a whole crawler or a piece of perch meat. Carp cutlets can work well too. Cast slightly upcurrent at varying distances out into the channel and let your offering bounce along the bottom. Important to have the weight adjusted so it drags slowly but does not hang up...except on fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you get an inquiry, open the bail and let the fish move around with the bait for a few seconds. Then close the bail, reel down until you feel weight and set the hook.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can do that even when the wind is blowing. It is tougher when the south wind is blowing in ahead of a front, but once the front passes and the wind comes from the north you will have some protection when you are down on the water with the dike behind you.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's a pic of fishin' the cats off the north dike in a year with low water levels...but with a strong flow in the channel.[/#0000ff]
[inline "PAT - WILLARD CATS.jpg"]
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[#0000ff]Here's another pic of 3 walleyes and a couple of nice crappies taken in that channel around the first of April the same year. They were all caught fishing 3" chartreuse twisters in the current just like I described fishing with bait.[/#0000ff]

[inline "WILLARD WALLEYE - CRAPPIES.jpg"]
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[sterling925]

I heard they are dredgeing the south marina channel right now. That should change things a little as to the depth. I love fishing that channel at night. I've caught alot of wipers and big cats from that channel almost every year except this last one. I hope the digging brings it back to the great fishing this year.
Sterling
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Dredging? During runoff and high water? During the walleye spawn? [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Doesn't make much sense to me. They dredged it during the low water a few years ago and it is over 18 feet deep at high water now. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Somebody must have more money in their budget than good sense.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Maybe they are dredging just the actual boat launching area. That is still quite a bit shallower.[/#0000ff]
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[Ahi1953]

was at so marina two weeks ago and they were putting a barge in at the ramp and took it up the chanle. not sure if she was a dredge or not.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Might be a water users thing then. They have pumps at the top of the inlet and the water depth there is much shallower than the channel further down. They often pump water out of the lake at the end of the summer when there is not enough coming in from the canal to fill the needs of the farmers.[/#0000ff]
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[chickendude1234]

I was there on Friday and they were definitely doing work in the water up there. I don't know what they were doing but the channel, marina, and about 100 yards out into the main lake was chocolate milk.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hope they finish quickly. That can't be good for the walleye spawn. But I have seen them swarm up in muddy water before. Ditto for catfish. It might actually improve the kitty action in the mud zone.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, I probably won't be testing that theory. When I am trying for walleyes I usually like my chocolate milk a bit cleaner and greener.[/#0000ff]
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