Willard 6/24... 4 species day!

[Flycasting]

I hit the water about 5:00pm'ish. Started off by throwing a 3 green curly tail with a black jig head, towards the dike. 3rd cast produced a fiesty 12" smally... probably the biggest smally I have caught at Willard. Species #1. Spent the next half hour or so being pushed down the dike by the jet skis and water skiers without a bite. Switched over to a worm and shrimp fishin TubeDude style.... no weight, only a swivel and hook. Landed 10 cats over the next hour and a half or so. Biggest was 17". Species #2. Decided I was sick of hearing the reports of wipers and walleyes being caught, and me getting little action from them. Threw on a rattle trap, and started casting. After 10 minutes or so, I hooked into my first wiper. Nice 19" that made a few runs, and ripped some line. Half hour so so later I hooked into another one. 14", but still put up a good fight. IMO, the hardest fighten fish in utah pound fer pound. Species #3. Spent the next 45 minutes without a bite. Decided to throw on a emerald shiner (the ones you can buy in the jars in the store.) Again started fishin TD style. After about 5 minutes or so I got a good whack and run... I set the hook, and the damn fish about pulled me outta the tube. I thought for sure fer sure new state record wiper [], but it was not to be... about 10 minutes later I pulled up species #4... about a 25 carp... biggest carp I have caught in a long time... if not the biggest. I kindly removed the hook, and didn't even have to rebait... I was now using carp gills.
All in all it was a very fun day. The water recreationist kept a decent distance, and there was little to no W. I talked to several boaters as they trolled by me. Most of them were only catching an occasional cat... one said he caught a dink walleye, and I saw one other catch a dink wiper. [sly]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Great report. Sounds like fun. I'll put up with the all out battle of a carp any day. I have taken several in the 25 pound bracket from Willard. One was on a 5 weight flyrod with 4# tippet, while fishing a small chartreuse fly for crappies. That took a while.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]"TD style"???? Didn't know I had style. I like that.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Too bad you couldn't have added a wallie or two for your species total. I have had 6 or more species in a day up there, when adding in crappies and the occasional yellow perch. There are also bluegills and green sunfish. Also largemouth bass, but those are pretty rare. [/#0000ff][#0000ff]Love that noisy and busy pond.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Hey, you oughtta get some REAL minnows. I know a guy who knows a guy...[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Flycasting]

That would be a major battle on a 5 weight rod, especially with 4# tippet. PRobably took 30 minutes or so, huh? []

I have really had very little luck with the walleye at Willard. For that matter, walleye in general. I don't know what it is. I get the occasional dink when fishing for cats or wipers, but if I target them I might as well be casting a brick at them, to try and drop on their head so it knocks them out.

I have only caught one yellow perch out of there before, and never a largie. My uncle once caught a small northern pike out of there. Probably the work of a bucket biologists. I once hooked into a large gizzard shad. Man do they fight. He was like 3 lbs, and it felt like a 6# wiper easily. And seein him flash under water I thought it was a wiper.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]In the "olden days", before wipers and shad were put in Willard, the walleyes used to act like walleyes. There were bajillions of crappies (of all sizes) in the lake and they were the primary forage species for walleyes. That meant that the walleyes often stayed closer to the rocks where the younger and more edible crappies tried to find shelter.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You could still catch walleyes in the main lake, but usually by dragging a crawler harness during the warmer months, when the walleyes found the deeper holes and hugged the bottom. Most folks just figured on catching walleyes in the spring and early summer...and again for awhile in the fall...and then wrote them off while they chase slimers in the mountains during the summer.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I used to fish walleyes all year around the rocks. Often the best bite was right at dark or just at dawn, but there was sometimes a good bite all night long along the dikes on the good old ThinFin lures. It was not unusual in those days to find big walleye (up to 10 pounds) floating on the surface with a hefty crappie stuck in its throat. In fact, after one big west wind, the dead walleyes with crappie in them were all over in the rocks along the dike to the north of the south marina.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]These days the walleye compete with wipers for their main forage...shad. The walleyes have had to become more like those in the great lakes where their prey (alewives) swim above the bottom and even near the surface. They stratify at middepths and even join in the surface boils. That's why it is so common to catch walleyes in the early summer while trolling shallow running wiper lures. Heck, even the catfish are coming up off the bottom to smack trolled lures.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I did not get to work Willard after dark this year, during the prime post-spawn period (late May to mid June). I used to hit the south marina in my tube an hour or so before dark, as the ski boats were coming in, and I would usually start hitting walleyes right off the north point of the harbor as the sun was dropping in the west. I often caught them as long as I could hold out at night, on both sides of the marina entrance. When it slowed on one side, I would kick over to the other. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The limit then was 2 fish over 20". It was rare to catch a walleye UNDER 20". Most nights I would release anywhere from 10 to 20 fish before finally keeping a couple to take home. The average was about 24" and about 5 pounds. Lots of 26" 7 pounders.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Most of the walleye taken from Willard these days are taken by wiper trollers. There are a few dedicated eye-chasers, but they usually troll too. I have not had the time or put in the effort to relearn tubing for walleye in Willard since I moved back to Utah two years ago. I plan to change that. Wanna get together and conduct some research?[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Flycasting]

That sounds great. We'll need to try and coordinate a day and time.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Have your people call my people.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]My schedule is probably more flexible than yours so PM me a possible and we will work on it.[/#0000ff]
[signature]