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Fished Willard today, and was lucky enough to get this big girl. I got her pulling cranks on boards. Only fish I landed (lost one other shortly after landing her). Both my largest Walleye have come out of Willard Bay. The last one in this size class was over 20 years ago though. This one was 28" long, girth was 17". I am guessing but she was probably pushing 10lbs. Given the chance walleye can still grow big in the bay, you just need to put enough of them back to let them get big! She is still swimming... Water temp was 47-49 degrees. I was trolling at about 1.5 to 1.8 mph.
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She sure is gorgeous! I'm jealous, nice catch! [  ]
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Respect. Great great job
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Very Nice!!! Glad to see a catch and release on a trophy fish,
Good for you.
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Dude, you are killing me, seriously nice eye, thanks for sharing your detailed report and pics. That eye looks to be in great shape for the coming spawn. With all the cars I'm seeing parking by the walk in area of the inlet, there must be some spawning that has already started.
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"March Madness" at Willard turns out to be a snagfest of happy harvesters out to maximize their take of "poached walleye" fillets, eh?
Congrats on your impressive catch, sir. And double kudos for releasing her.
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Wow beautiful fish!! Nicely done, sir!
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Yeah, there probably quite a few walleye up in the channel, they go up there early. I used to fish it in February before I got a boat, I don't fish from the bank much anymore though. It doesn't bug me that they open the channel during the spawn, just wished the regulations were stricter. I really love fishing the bay and appreciate the walleye fishery there. Very excited to see if the walleye stocking management plan increases and stabilizes the walleye population.
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Yes, good job. Thanks for posting.
I caught one a couple months post spawn a couple years ago that was 26 1/2" and if I remember right it weighed 6 1/2lbs. It is nice to see one even bigger.
It would be interesting if the DWR or someone associated with the walleye spawning program at willard will post some documentation of the sizes of the spawners they collect for the program. Many of us here would be interested in the numbers of fish over say, 22-23".
Congrats,,
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That is a very nice fish, way to go. Thanks for sharing your pics.
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You must have missed it but Tubedude did post info that the DWR gave him about the gill netting they did last year. This is info of what they caught in their gill nets but it does not reflect what is actually in Willard. If you read it all, it talks about how the eyes can tell there are fish caught in the gill net and stay away from the net.
http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gfo..._id=118761
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Hello Greg, you are the man. I'll to get up there soon. Let me know when you want to go.
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Great job! Thanks for letting her go back so someone else can enjoy the experience.
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[quote wiperhunter2]You must have missed it but Tubedude did post info that the DWR gave him about the gill netting they did last year. This is info of what they caught in their gill nets but it does not reflect what is actually in Willard. If you read it all, it talks about how the eyes can tell there are fish caught in the gill net and stay away from the net.
http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gfo..._id=118761[/quote]
Yes, read the gill net info with interest. I replied twice in that thread.
What is found in the nets is interesting, but the size (maximum) of what is in the nets is also of interest to many.
Also, I believe it was just speculation that the eyes avoid the nets. Based on the low numbers shown in the nets. Probably too much turbidity to lower cameras and make sure that is what is going on.
FWIW
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great fish , i love seeing pics of big fish[  ]
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Congrats very nice Eye and we too are going to enjoy that fishery...have done very well in the past can't wait for our madien journey with lessons learned...again congrats on an awesome Utah Willard Bay Eye!!!
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Aha, I have been looking for that. Thank you!
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Thanks bud, hey I was thinking after we got off the phone. If we get a decent weather day this week we could go after I get off work.
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I'm a firm believer in keeping the "eaters" and releasing the "breeders", the smaller fish always taste better than the big ones and the big ones can go back to breed. A quick measurement and a picture are all you need for a replica mount anyway, then back in the water it goes.
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Congrats on a beautiful eye and for turning her loose to do her thing. It's been a few years since I have seen an eye come out of Willard that size. Sure do miss the old days before the wipers were introduced. Good luck to you and thanks for posting the pictures. [fishon]
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