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Hi all, I just got back from Willard. Here it is; the rookie report...
First off, not being familiar with Willard and the ramp practices I must ask; why did it take me an hour and a half to get my boat on the water today? We arrived at about 5:30 or 6 PM and might I tell you, what a zoo. Jordanelle has never been this crowded. I hope this was a fluke because the people and the lines made it very dificult to stay.[mad]
Alright... So my friend and I thought about hitting Willard today to go after some wipers since so far this year I have had fun and caught at least something at Willard. That was not the case today. I wil say it was because we were complete rooksters and probably had more hits than we thought. Anyway, tonight was terrible for us but we did see a bunch of people reeling in fish. We tried everything and got nothing. At least we did not loose anything and we were out on the water not stuck in the house.
We are planning on going up again on Tuesday to try our luck. Any suggestions? I have a boat and will be taking it, I can troll at speeds from 1mph up. What should we try and where should we try it? We noticed tonight on the fish finder that there were more fish out in open water than near the dike. Also, who wants to meet us there? We could really use a wiper/walleye education![crazy]
At least it was still fun!
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One eyed, I live a couple minutes from the south marina, and was planning on going out tuesday, what time are you going? I would be happy to help ya out any way I can...
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If you launch early in the morning you will be OK but other than that Willard is a joke on the weekend. Most of the time during the week you won't have a problem. Good luck on Tuesday. WH2
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WHICH MARINA WERE YOU LAUNCHING FROM NORTH OF SOUTH ??
a-b
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We launched North. We heard that the South was closed for dredging or something like that.
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I HEARD THAT THE SOUTH MARINA WAS OPEN AGAIN BUT I HAVE'NT BEEN THERE TO CHECK IT OUT YET. I DON'T THINK ITS USUALLY AS BAD AS THE NORTH MARINA.
a-b
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Well, tomorrow we are going to try the south before the north and I will let everyone know what I find. I will also ask the group since I want to be on the water sooner.
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I would like to find out for sure too. We were thinking on headed there sunday. And I'm not one for long lines and games at the ramp.
a-b
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I launched out of the north marina and a buddy of mine launched out of the south marina Saturday afternoon. At the north marina they had a sign out that basically said "Ramps closed. Launch at your own risk". The south marina probably has a similar sign out. They're simply covering their butts as far as liability. There are indeed hazards to watch out for both in the marinas and out on the res'.
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I was at Willard on Friday. We had no problems launching at the south marina. It is less crowded than the north, and there are three ramps to choose from.
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Here is a link to the news article on closure of the south boat ramp for dredgin
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=43057;search_string=search_string;#43057"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=43057;search_string=search_string;#43057[/url]
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south marina is open all the time, stay near the middle going out of the marina, I hit bottom going out on the right side the other day, on a weekday you should be able to pull and and launch right away, it's not bad at all, I am going out tommorrow, if ya see a blue and white Glastron w/ BFT stickers on the side windows be sure and say Hi....
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We are planing on being out on the water by 3:30-4:00 tomorrow afternoon. We will be in a 19' tan and white Bayliner Trophy boat launching from the south. I will also have my marine VHF on ch68 so holler at me. Also my boats name in "SPLIT SHOT".
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[#ff0000]We launched at the South on Saturday - free fishing day - and didn't have any trouble at all and zero wait time. It was busy, but heck, there are basically 9 launch ramps if every one watches what they are doing or spaces for six sloppy folk. The channel was open and clear and plenty of water for some pretty big boats 25-26 footers. Had a blast. [/#ff0000]
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The south marina was closed for a few weeks but it has been open since the last week in May and yes it has a lot more ramps. Because of the low water at the North marina they have closed two thirds of the ramp, the only part that is open is the center, the most that can launch at once is three. You will not have a problem during the week but on the weekend it will be a joke. Because the North marina is limited on launching, the south marina will be packed if you get there too late.
The water level is really starting to drop, it was 9 ft going out the south marina a couple of weeks ago and now it is down to 6 ft and no water is coming into the lake. At this rate it will start getting scary in another month, so get out there while you can. WH2
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Thank you for the great input everyone!
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