Does Willard Ice over...

[Fishin_dad]

So I fished Willard for the first time this year and fell in love. Family loved the Wiper and Perch. Fish Tacos are delicious and I want more. So what I am wondering is if it ices over and if you can catch wiper while ice fishing.
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[wiperhunter2]

Yes, it does usually ice over but wipers are tough to catch under the ice but not impossible. Perch and crappie are the normal catch there in the Winter.
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[JJ-fisher]

When does this typically freeze over does anyone have any info if it is froze over with the recent cold snap?
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[wiperhunter2]

It all depends on the weather and the wind, if it stays cold and doesn't get too windy, it could start to freeze any day now but when we drove by on Sat it was pretty much wide open, even the ice that had started to form in the North marina was gone. I doubt you will see any safe ice before the 1st of the year and likely longer than that.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Willard is a tough pond to ice fish, even the masters have a tough time on that pond in the winter. If you want to catch a good batch of fish then try somewhere else, but if one or two larger fish will do then put in some time and see how it goes. Later J
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Willard ices up SOME winters. And there is almost always ice inside the marinas. If water levels are high enough the marinas draw in good numbers of crappies, perch and catfish. But walleyes and wipers are always a possibility.

In the years when the whole lake caps there are several good areas to drill and chill. The area outside the north marina...along the humps and bumps and along the channel edges...can hold fish. But they usually move around so you will do better if you can find a spot along a "fish highway".

When the ice is good it is good to work around the NW corner...the "light pole" area...and over the deeper spots along the west side. That is where a lot of the shad congregate in the winter so that is where the predators go too.

I'm attaching an excerpt from my more complete writeup on Willard Bay that should give you some more info on ice fishing it.

As others have suggested, it is not a prime spot for catching large numbers of any species through the ice. You can have good days but more often you will smell like skunk...or only slightly fishy.
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[Deepwateroff]

Seems to me Willard has a short season based on altitude. Slow to freeze and quick to thaw.
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[Fishin_dad]

Thanks for all the great info.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]You are correct. One of the last to freeze and first to thaw. Some years only the protected harbors freeze hard enough for ice fishing...and if the water levels are too low the fishing is not worth the effort.
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