01-16-2014, 12:44 AM
[#0000FF]Both wipers and walleyes HAVE been taken through the ice at Willard. But more by accident than design. I know of guys who have put in many hours chasing those elusive species with ZIP to show for it. Maybe a couple of accommodating cats.
It's the same old story. Ya cain't ketch 'em where they ain't...and there is a whole lotta water where they ain't. They tend to stay near their primary food supply...shad...and the shad stay in the deepest holes...mainly on the far west side of the lake where most ice anglers do not drill. The flip side of that is finding them is no guarantee you can catch them. If the shad are schooled up and slow in the cold water, the predators simply set up camp under them or nearby and "yawn" when they get hungry. They don't need to bite on the silly stuff that anglers dangle in front of them...especially if'n it ain't a live shad.
The reality is that both wipers and walleye WILL bite on a variety of jigging lures and dead minnows. But unless you present same to the fish at the exact five minute window in a two day period that they may be feeding during winter months of reduced metabolism, you are not likely to get a vote of approval.
In the days before shad (and wipers) were a part of the Willard ecology I remember many early mornings and late evening sessions catching multiple walleyes jigging both inside and outside the harbors. That was when crappies were the main forage source and the walleyes tended to follow the crappies...which preferred habitat more easily reached by anglers.
There's a lot to be said for the use of live bait when targeting walleyes...but not in Utah.
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It's the same old story. Ya cain't ketch 'em where they ain't...and there is a whole lotta water where they ain't. They tend to stay near their primary food supply...shad...and the shad stay in the deepest holes...mainly on the far west side of the lake where most ice anglers do not drill. The flip side of that is finding them is no guarantee you can catch them. If the shad are schooled up and slow in the cold water, the predators simply set up camp under them or nearby and "yawn" when they get hungry. They don't need to bite on the silly stuff that anglers dangle in front of them...especially if'n it ain't a live shad.
The reality is that both wipers and walleye WILL bite on a variety of jigging lures and dead minnows. But unless you present same to the fish at the exact five minute window in a two day period that they may be feeding during winter months of reduced metabolism, you are not likely to get a vote of approval.
In the days before shad (and wipers) were a part of the Willard ecology I remember many early mornings and late evening sessions catching multiple walleyes jigging both inside and outside the harbors. That was when crappies were the main forage source and the walleyes tended to follow the crappies...which preferred habitat more easily reached by anglers.
There's a lot to be said for the use of live bait when targeting walleyes...but not in Utah.
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