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[#0000FF]Shoulda stood in bed. But din't...and glad of it.
Pa and myself planned a general assault on the fishies of Willard...at the north marina. His truck drove up to my driveway right on the dot of the agreed upon time. Gear loaded and got ready to hit the road. Oopsie! Lee had locked his keys in the truck. His spare was at his house. Too early to call the wife...and live.
So we climbed in my vehicle, narrowly escaped between his truck and the fence and drove over to his house to get the extra key. On the road only a half hour later than planned.
Then we yakked right past our turnoff to get a breakfast sandwich at Maverik in Ogden. Got off at the next exit and went back. A few more minutes lost from our lives forever.
Got to the ramp and found several boats all trying to launch at the same time. No probbie. We got to use the low water float tubers' ramp. But when we went to mount our electric motors we found that the blue "smurf pipe" extension handles had been broken off...probably by some low life while we were in Maveriks. One was gone but were able to salvage one. Lee gave his up and let me use his. Nice guy...after all the other.
As we cruised out the channel the forecast "light" SE breezes were actually pretty strong NW "zephyrs". We got to bounce around and exercise our leg muscles for a while. But it laid down before too long and it was pretty nice the rest of the day.
Thanks to our neighbor states we got to enjoy the (cough cough) lovely smoky haze of their forest fires. Nice of them to share. Made for a spooky "smoke rise" as the sun peeked up over the mountains. If we had wanted to smoke some fish all we had to do is hold them in the air for a while.
Saw lots of fish on sonar...a lot more than on the ends of our lines. Everything from small clouds of shadlets to plenty of mid and large size targets. But they were not what you would call overly active. I suppose the predators have been dining well and didn't have much incentive to hit the silly stuff we were offering them.
Water temp stayed right around 75. And the water was somewhat murky but not overly. And once the breeze bumps flattened out on the lake there were lots of bitty shad dimpling the surface...sucking up midges or whatever. And there were a few terns dropping down to pick up the shaddies. But no big splashes to indicate feeding on them from below.
Tough fishing. But we did coax a few everlovin' Willard cookies (catfish) to come out and play. Some hit worms. Some slurped prepared carp cutlets. Others hit plastic jigs. Some were underfooters. Others were standard cookies...from 16 - 19 inches. Good eatin' size. And tugs is tugs.
The highlight of my day was a 21 inch wiper. It slurped up a little blue and clear sparkle tube jig and tried to take all the line from my light rod and reel outfit. But eventually he got an insane urge to join me in my tube and I invited him home for dinner. Actually, he ended up with my next door neighbor who has been sharing his bounteous crop of tomatoes and other garden goodies.
All's well that ends.
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Sounds fun Pat, and nice wiper... I'll bet that was fun on light tackle... thanks for the report... J
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[#0000FF]Thanks.
Yeah, much fun. If the gummint knew how much fun they were we would have to have a medical permit to use them...or smoke them. And they do get bigger in Colorado.
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Dayumm! I've never seen the WEST side of the ramp high and dry like that. The east half, yes. Then again, I don't launch there in late summer so maybe it's common.
How the floop do boaters launch there?
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Nice going on the Wiper Pat. I was out there on tues and saw the other end of the sun, at setting. No wipers for me in the 3 hrs I was there but a couple of decent eyes wanted to play. Got a couple pics of the old coffer dam by the Feed lot. Looks like the baby fish will have a place to hide when the water comes back up. Those smoky conditions had me coughing as well[:|]. Glad everything worked out for you and Pa.
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Wow. The salt lake valley looks terrible. My daughter said it was really smoky but I didn't think it was that bad.
That's a pretty nice wiper you got their Pat.
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Thanks for another fun day Pat. The key situation has been taken care of. 2 extras made one on my person and one stashed. Gear all cleaned, battery charged, and ready to go again. Most likely Monday as we discussed.
thanks again pat
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[quote RockyRaab]Dayumm! I've never seen the WEST side of the ramp high and dry like that. The east half, yes. Then again, I don't launch there in late summer so maybe it's common.
How the floop do boaters launch there?[/quote]
[#0000FF]Those of us (diehards) who launch as long as there is open water (and even after) are familiar with the vicissitudes of Willard rampology. The appearance of the ramp last fall was about the same as it is now. It was even worse right after the big drawdown a few years ago when they had to work on the dike.
I am attaching a couple of pics...high water and low water...to show the configuration of the north marina launch ramp. There are three sections. The one in the middle extends well into the deepened channel. The other two are usable only during times of higher water. But if the state park would utilize the exposure time to level out the drop below the end of those exposed ramps...with gravel or other stable material...the ramps could still be used.
No problem launching even some fairly large boats at present. There is at least 4-5 feet of water at the end of the middle ramp. And the channel is still about 7' deep...with a short shallowing to 4' at the mouth of the marina.
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[#0000ff]Nice (ugly) pictures of the sunset Curt. Wouldn't expect you to get up early enough to catch some of the sunrise...so you can use mine if you like.
Looking at the mountains hazed out by smoke is kinda like looking at pictures of Caitlin. Pretty enough, but you still remember what they looked like before.
I talked to one of the boating "regulars" coming in about the same time we did. He caught one walleye and two wipers on the west side. Said one of the wipers had a baseball sized bulge in its tummy. Turned out to be a wad of baby shad...from 1 1/2" to about 2 1/2".
That coincides with some info I got from Chris Penne (DWR) last week. He said that they had completed a seine netting operation off Eagle Beach to check the quantity and condition of the newly hatched shad. They were able to catch plenty and they exhibited evidence of the shad having at least 3 successful spawn phases over the spawning period.
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I've just never been there when it was that low, apparently. You're very correct to suggest they take the opportunity to extend or modify the other two ramp sections. But as we all know, by the time all the bureaucracies involved get around to reviewing, agreeing and funding even a small project, the window of opportunity is long gone.
I admit that it is very nice to have the eastern third of the ramp all to my lonesomeness to launch or reload my kayak. It takes me 20 minutes sometimes, and if I were on a "boatable" ramp, I sometimes get  stares from the power squadron for taking up "their" ramp.
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[#0000FF]Thanks Chuck. That stripy fish made my day.
As a fellow ex-patriate from southern Cal you will no doubt recall all the jokes about the air there. One of the faves was "never trust air you can't see." That definitely describes what we got in Utah right now.
Hope the move went well and that you and lady P. are settling in. Have you had a chance to explore any of the local ponds yet? I had a six month temporary job assignment out of Denver a few years back and got to put my tube on a lot of waters around that area. Also drove over to Jackson Lake...and hit a couple of small lakes up in your area that had smallies and wallies. I'm sure you will sniff them out.
I was thinking about you yesterday as I moved around off Eagle Beach. Saw a buoy on the exposed gravel bar you found while tube-fishing with me on a late fall day a few years ago.
Here's a pic I snapped of you and the rock pile.
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[#0000FF]It was a pleasure fishing with you again too, Lee. That is...when we finally got on the water. Chuckle chuckle.
With the breezy conditions and the slow start to fishing overall I don't think we missed much. But don't let that happen again.
Let's communicate over the weekend on plans for Monday. Watch for my "smoke signals".
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"You're very correct to suggest they take the opportunity to extend or modify the other two ramp sections. But as we all know, by the time all the bureaucracies involved get around to reviewing, agreeing and funding even a small project, the window of opportunity is long gone."
[#0000FF]Yeah, we know that the wheels of righteousness turn slowly. In previous years the sand and gravel below the end of the east and west ramps was high enough and solid enough to continue launching during low water. But evidently there was some washing and erosion a couple of years ago during low water and a lot of the mud filler washed away. Now there is more than a foot of drop between the end of the ramp and the mud beyond.
I was tempted to go hijack one of the endless procession of trucks seen moving out along the north dike to dump their loads out on the west side...on the dike raising program. One load on each side of the launch ramp would probably do it. But since I would like to continue fishing, and don't relish the prospects of fishing in a jail cell, I curtailed my insane hijack urges. [/#0000FF]
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Last year, I suggested to the Park manger there at Willard that they should take this opportunity to extend one if not both of the short ramps there in the North marina. This Spring he told me they finally had funds and the approval to do the work but were planning on waiting until after the regular boating season was over before starting the work. They will likely wait as long as they can, so the water level will likely drop another foot or more before the work begins. I just hope this project is still on track to be done because things change all the time, even after they have been approved. I was also told there were plans in the works to dredge the South marina, if water levels continue to drop. They want to make the South marina as deep as the channel and reset the mooring points for the docks, so they will be able to go out farther, when there are low water conditions. As it is, the docks have been high and dry the last few years and only in the water a few months out of the year[  ].
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[#0000FF]That's good news for us Willardites...especially the boaters. And also especially for those who like to avoid some of the power squadron blues by launching at the south marina.
Now let's hope that plans and promises turn into reality...as soon as possible.
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Can boats like mine still launch?? If so where??
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[#0000FF]Lots of bass boats (and bigger) still launching at the north marina. Just be careful you don't go east of the north-south line of the ramps. There are some shallow gravel berms across the channel going into the boat basin. There is at least 4-5 feet of water at the end of the ramp and about 7 feet in the middle of the channel going out...with a shallow bar about 4' deep right at the mouth. Stay in the middle until you get out past the buoys and don't go right or left until you clear them. There are shallow bars on the south and the gravel humps on the north are getting shallower.
As you can see in picture #1 on my post, there is still useable area on the loading dock for launching.
Here is a pic of what the marina berm looks like under water conditions even lower than now.
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Dang that water is low. Perfect for those of us who like to float.[  ] Nice looking wiper.
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I remember that day, I was skunked, not the first time being skunked at Willard. I'm still living in a motel 3rd week now, kinda sucks. My house hasn't sold yet. Lots of lookers but no buyers yet. My realtor said maybe next week, a couple of very interested people looked this week, so maybe. A lot of places to fish around I just haven't had a chance to get out yet, soon though.
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[#0000FF]Good luck on the house. From what I hear things are moving well in the RE market.
"Fond" memories of my stay in Colorado. Can't remember the name of the little lake but I had it recommended as a good place to try with my float tube. Drove up to the entry gate to pay my fee. The guy in the booth asked what I would be doing. I told him I would be fishing from my float tube. He looked at it...in the back of my vehicle...and said I needed to know about some restrictions. Said that I would have to stay within the floats for the swimming area. Then he said that I also could not use any hooks...to protect the other swimmers. Evidently he knew nothing about float tubes...or fishing. I tried to explain but like all good gummint officials his mind was already made up. He would be glad to take my money but wouldn't allow me to get any enjoys from it. Needless to say, I turned around and went somewhere else.
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