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Just drove by Willard yesterday for work and noticed the ice was all gone.
I have fished it twice before from shore and float tube, but never had any luck. Would anyone have any tips of where I should go, either on shore or with my float tube?
I would be fine with any species of fish - have heard the west dike is good, the lightower, and sometimes that marinas. Does anyone have any insight as to if those would be good areas for this time of year or do I need to wait a little longer for Willard?
With the warm weather, I had hoped it would make the Walleye active a little early this year.
Any help is appreciated
Thanks
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I'm sure Tubedude will chime in and he's fished the place for decades so he knows it better than I do...but...
It's a big shallow bowl of a lake with shad as the major food source. That means the fish follow the food and vast expanses of the lake can be dead and certain pockets hold larger numbers of feeding fish. But it largely depends on time of year too. Because it is so structureless I've always done best near the shorelines / marinas.
Move around and work the entire water column. If you don't find fish keep moving either in your tube / boat / or from shore. You can soak baits for catfish on one rod... (wipers too) while you throw a lure / jig of some kind that is your best bet.
The eyes should get going early this year but still a month away I'd guess. That does not mean you can't catch them now. If you want eyes try fishing 3-4" swimbaits at night. Good luck.
A few summers ago I whacked some nice wipers throwing the biggest sizes of the clackin' rap series (minnow and lipless worked).
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[#0000FF]Welcome aboard. I sent you some info in a PM but can't attach large files there. So maybe these will help.
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Has the water come up at all since fall.
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The water is still really low. I only quickly stopped by but didn't see anyone else out on the lake. As I was leaving, there was 1 guy getting ready to launch his boat in the north marina.
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[#0000FF]The latest intel I got was that the water is still very low and there is none coming in from the canal yet. As low as Rockport and Echo are upstream it is questionable how much they will send down to Willard for a while. Hopefully the snowpack in the watersheds for the Ogden and Weber Rivers will be enough to make all the lakes healthy this year.
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