The vast waste land of Willard in the Winter

[wiperhunter2]

Willard has a vast area to fish in the Winter but most of it is not productive, unless to know what lays below the ice. Without a GPS, you can spend a lot of time drilling holes searching for fish but little time catching them. Even with GPS cord there is no promise that fish will bite at any location but it gives you a starting point.
Fished Willard yesterday(Sat) with Mike4cobra and Reelfast. No big wiper on this trip but we caught some toad perch and a decent crappie. There were hordes of people there[], 15 to 20 but they stayed close to shore. Some were catching fish as shallow as 2 to 3 ft but we were looking for our spot in 7 to 8 ft of water, where the big wiper was caught on Monday. Compared to Monday we were there early, 8:30am but I guess that was too early for that spot, so we moved to another location and found some willing fish. Enjoyed fishing the hard deck with you Mike and Dan, hope we can do it again soon. Here are a few pics.
WH2
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[Crimson]

Really nice Perch you got there! A lot easier to fillet than the Pineview Perch.
How thick is the ice at Willard?
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[zack801]

Those perch look like mini footballs! Nice job
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[wiperhunter2]

It was 11" a few weeks ago when I first started to fish it but yesterday in was down to 9 and 10" depending on where you fished. Cracks are starting to open up as well but it is still solid. If you go you better bring your ice cleats because it is slick.
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[wyoguy]

Nice perch for sure, and a bonus crappie, good outing.
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[wiperhunter2]

Nothing like it is up there in Idaho and no where near the numbers but still fun to see some of those big hogs come through the ice here in Ut. It's too bad Starvation was so poor this year but I guess it is what it is.[frown]
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[albinotrout]

[quote wiperhunter2]It was 11" a few weeks ago when I first started to fish it but yesterday in was down to 9 and 10" depending on where you fished. Cracks are starting to open up as well but it is still solid. If you go you better bring your ice cleats because it is slick.[/quote]


With all this warm weather I got to wonder how long the ice will last.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Am I missing something weather wise. Seems like it hardly makes it up to 30 here in Cache Valley and ice depth is getting thicker each week. I almost need an auger extension. But I'd like to see things warm up. I still like open water the best. Later J
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[wiperhunter2]

Yea, this warm weather isn't good for any lake that has ice on it. There is a storm coming in for later on this week but it could be all over by this time next month if this warming thread continues.[frown]
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[albinotrout]

It's been in the mid 40's all week
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[reelfast]

If you go exploring on Willard, pay attention to where your walking. Not too far out of the boat channel that has open water and unsafe ice there is a bunch of spots with open water from some kind of spring or bubble action. A real bad deal for kids left to run or a night fishing excursion. That said, the sun was warm and the wind calm. It was comfortable and great to be outside fishing and best of all not skunked.
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[BagABigOne]

Great fish guys. I might have to rethink the ice fishing thing, it's just that I trust my boat more than the ice.
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[zman2]

is that the n marina?
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[reelfast]

Yes it is the N Marina.
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