Hard work at Willard

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Haven't been on the water for a couple of weeks. Hadda do it. Figgered the south marina at Willard might be seeing some crappies and wallies movin' inside. Good times in years past.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Plan A....BUSTED. Locked gates across the road at the south marina. Closed again this year after leaving it open last year. Another victim of the State Parks austerity program. Along with closing the restrooms at the north marina too. But you still gotta pay the full day fee. Lucky I got a yearround senior pass.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched my tube at the north marina just after 7 am. Purty little sunrise. Flat calm but air temp 22 and water temp 38. Gettin' nigh onto winter. Between the ice right at the edge of the ramp and the slick algae from there out I had a real skating session getting launched. Fortunately I didn't do a triple klutz. Nobody around to score it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked out through the channel to the outside. Had to keep tapping my sonar and turning it on and off. Thought it was broken. Probably just forgot how to display fish marks. Not much on the screen and even less on my line. Nary a nudge on either a dragged minnow or a tandem jig rig. Hit several spots near the marina entrance that usually produce this time of year. Nada, zip, zilch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked back inside the marina. Covered a lot of water before seeing a few fish...suspended at about mid depth in 13 feet of water. Switched the tandem tube jigs for a tandem tiny jig crappie rig. Worked the bitty bites from bottom to top and back again. Finally had a solid whack and set the hook into something with shoulders. It took some line off the drag on my light rod. Wiper? Bigger than a crappie and harder fighting than a kitty. Walleye? Nope all around. Carpinski. Or, as I have labeled the picture with the crappie jig in its mouth..."buglemouth crappie".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thought the smell of carp was going to be the only thing to dilute the smell of skunk. But then I started to get some tentative pickups on the minnow. Whiffed a couple of them before finally getting the hook into a cookie cutter kitty...the onliest one of the day. Got several more tug and drop inquiries but nothing else got to visit my tube.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I worked around the whole marina...open water and around the docks. Saw some "promising" schools of fish near the docks but they were the lockjaw and raised middle fin type. I did get one poke under a dock and brought up a seegar wallie. But it flipped off the small hook before I could get it to for the camera.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That was about as empty as I have ever seen the north marina. Water level is still within a couple of feet of high water and there should be some fish moving in soon. Sometimes they wait until there has been at least some skim ice...or more. But, with the high water I am hopeful for some ice action.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The terns were abundant and active again today, as they were on my last trip a couple of weeks ago. And, as on my last trip, they were gorging on dying baby shad. Hundreds of gulls and terns were dropping to the water all over the lake and slurping up the TINY shadlets. I scooped one off the top of the water and was surprised to see how small it was...only about 1" still. They should all be over 2 to 3 inches long by now. I suspect the prolonged and late spawn is the cause...and I suspect that the dieoff of the babies is due to a combination of cold water and lack of food for their size range. Based upon the constant bird activity during the last month it is easy to project that there have been millions of the little shad leave the lake. Hopefully that will help the fishing by reducing the abundant food supply.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Off the water by about 11 am. Water temp 39 and air temp 39. What a deal.[/#0000ff]
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[Catcherman.]

Thanks for the great reports! I still have never been up to willard. Do people catch alot if wipers threw the ice?
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[Droolz]

A triple klutz. Hahaha that made me literally LOL. I love your reports. Informative and entertaining. If you had a hard time getting them to open up and play with you, must be hard for just about anyone right now. Hopefully they will be moving in and feed bagging it up soon. I still need to come by sometime and pick up a book from you. I will PM you when I have the money/time for it. Keep on fishing and reporting, I'll keep on reading.
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[TubeDude]

[quote Catcherman.]Thanks for the great reports! I still have never been up to willard. Do people catch alot if wipers threw the ice?[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Short answer: NOPE[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Longer answer: They can be caught through the ice and a few guys do catch them. But most that are hooked are never pulled through the hole. They go round and round when hooked and either tangle you up with other anglers or saw your line off on the edge of the hole. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like most fish, wipers will bite when you locate them...if they are active. The big problem in Willard is finding them. It is hard enough in open water, when you have a boat and sonar to hunt them down. Ice fishing you have to be lucky to set up in a spot where they might come through. They move around a lot. And then you also have to watch the sonar to know what depth they are suspending. Fishing on the bottom will pick up a few that are scrounging on the bottom for dead shad. But otherwise they cruise through somewhere between the top and the bottom. They will sometimes rise up to take a bait or lure but will seldom drop down in the water column to take something you are fishing below them.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. I appreciate your appreciation.[/#0000ff]
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[TyeDyeTwins]

[quote Droolz] If you had a hard time getting them to open up and play with you, must be hard for just about anyone right now[url "http://[/quote]"][/quote][/url]
Oh come on now he would have done better at the south marina. His 1st instinct and all.

Well a carp 1st off should have been your sign Tube Dude. I love that a walleye was lurking under the docks. I will hammer that area next time in hopes for one. Personally I can't wait to try (and probably get skunked) ice fishng (not catching) at the bay. Tips up so to say (not a good thing while fishing but it is a good thing while skiing).

Do you ever hit rivers in Utah? I am sure you have but I wonder about this year specifically. How about community ponds? Will we be able to look foreward to your ice fishing reports?
Hope that is not Blastphamey!
Where will the Tube Dude strike next?[fishin]
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[fishing4thehog]

[quote TubeDude]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff] [#0000ff]Plan A....BUSTED. Locked gates across the road at the south marina. Closed again this year after leaving it open last year. Another victim of the State Parks austerity program. Along with closing the restrooms at the north marina too. But you still gotta pay the full day fee. Lucky I got a yearround senior pass[/#0000ff][#0000ff].[/#0000ff][/quote]
So are they going to open the gates on the south marina ?? Closed for the season ?? Whats up with full price ?? I set my sights on willard this yr. for some new ice fishing.. Thanks
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[icejunkie]

Thanks T.D. I was thinking of trying it Wensday I really feel its a pile of bullship that they use the campground as a christmas village and you have to pay even with a season pass.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I MAY have done better at the south marina. In the olden days it was much better for late fall fishing than the north marina. Also used to be pretty good for ice fishing. It was open last year and I hit it in late December just before iceup. I got one nice walleye. Never did get back for the ice fishing but nobody else seemed to do much. Things have changed. Doesn't everything?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used to fish the rivers a lot. Especially the Provo below Deer Creek. Hit it almost every night through the summer and most trips were at least 20 to 30 fish...mixed browns, rainbows and whitefish. And few were under 15"...with lots of 20" plus. But when I came back to Utah in 2004 I found that all my favorite spots were full of "Orvis dorks"...an insufferable lot...and that the new regulations had changed the ecology. Lots of skinny "footlongs" with very few fish over 16". But I still have fond memories of the Provo that used to was.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About the only community ponds I hit are Willow Park. It is close to home and is a good spot to check the action or effectiveness of new fly or jig patterns. But I HATE the crowd there too. Pains me to see a family of 10...each with a line in the water...and every fish that comes in being plopped on the barbecue or hidden in a remote cooler.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]While working on some new chatterbaits last year I was running them shallow so I could watch them. The silly brood stock planters were assaulting them but could not find the hooks. However, my newfound friends around the pond swooped in and started casting over the fish and trying to snag them while they followed my lures. Kicking one of those "sportsmen" into the water just about started a riot. Ain't been back since.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got Deer Creek in my crosshairs again this week. Then I might try a couple of spots on Utah Lake. I would normally be hitting Pineview before iceup but with the extremely high water the "normal" pattern is all wacko. Also been communicating with BLFG about coming up and hitting the whitefish. Mama Nature has wrecked our plans the last two years.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If this year is "typical" we are due for a series of snowstorms and cold weather in the next couple of weeks. That is what usually shuts down my tubing and gets me to trade my soft water setup for the ice sled and auger. But in most years I can still find a puddle to launch in through most of December. [/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

"So are they going to open the gates on the south marina ?? Closed for the season ?? Whats up with full price ?? I set my sights on willard this yr. for some new ice fishing.. Thanks"

[cool][#0000ff]In the "olden days" the south marina was never closed. Open year round. In recent years they have closed it to the public about the first part of October. In response to angler petitions they did leave it open through the winter last year...to see how much it would get used. Evidently it was not utilized enough to justify opening it again this year. [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]There have been several articles this year on the big budget cuts in the State Parks program. Several more are due to be closed...if not all of them. They are doing anything and everything they can to keep the parks open and within budget. But I have a real problem with their policy of continuing to raise fees while reducing amenities. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The restrooms are only one area that bugs me. They have been horribly maintained at some of the state parks I visited this past year...worse than restrooms in remote gas stations. In days of old you could count on being able to change into waders or ice fishing gear inside warm restrooms. The last couple of trips I made to Willard Bay found the restrooms all locked up. Fortunately, I had "taken care of business" at the Maverik store where I got my breakfast burrito. But what about a family of youngsters...and they all "gotta go"?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also peeved about the fish cleaning stations. Part of what I pay my annual fees for. But each year they open them later and later...and close them earlier and earlier. This year they remained closed through some of the best early season fishing...and were closed well before good fishing ended.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Kinda like some of the things DWR is doing. They change regulations (like the deer hunting thing) and then wonder why license sales are down. If the State Parks reduce services and raise rates much more they will collapse under their own mismanagement. In fairness, it is not the folks in charge of the State Parks to blame. They get their money from the state funds...and those are subject to a lot of politics and other "more important" projects.[/#0000ff]
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[fish_fear_me2]

Glad you found a fish that didnt have lock jaw. The issue of restrooms closed and still expecting people to pay the same fee bothers me also. I think I mentioned it last year. No fish cleaning stations, no restrooms and no discounts. [laugh] I thought last year was going to be the start of the south end staying open during ice up. Guess not. Hoping I get out this week sometime. Not sure if Deer Creek or if I try to find a white bass
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[SkunkedAgain]

TD enjoyed your story once again. Seems like the fish have really slowed down this time of year and I guess you have to drag the lure across their nose to get a strike. At least that's my excuse I'm trying to use. Later J
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. Glad you liked it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Any good excuse is better than none.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It has been a wierd year on Willard...and some other waters as well. As we have discussed on this forum before, a big part of the difficulty experienced by anglers on Willard is likely caused by the super abundance of food. With wiper numbers down the shad have exploded. The predators don't need to go after fast swimming artificials when they can simply slurp up a passing shadlet from the huge schools all over the lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The current big dieoff of baby shad is also having an effect. The one catfish I managed to hook was the only one that held onto the bait long enough to stick it. All the other bites picked up the bait and as soon as they felt a bit of drag on the line they dropped the bait. They are used to finding dead baby shad all over the place and anything that acts or smells differently does not cut it. By the way, the kitty I kept was stuffed with shadlets.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]During the early part of the year...when all of the winter killed shad are long since gone...the wipers, walleyes and catfish are a lot more hungry and aggressive. In fact, they have to resort to eating crawdads, small bluegills, midge larvae, leeches and anything else that will keep them alive until the late spring shad spawn produces more baby shad.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hopefully the DWR's wiper program will be more successful and will get some more predators into the lake and the predator and prey ratios will get back into a range where anglers still have a shot at finding some hungry fish.[/#0000ff]
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[dubob]

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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Hey Pat,[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Being one to stir the pot on occasion, I sent the Parks HQ apointed letter asking about the winter fee structure, bathrooms being closed,and South Marina being closed. I’llreport the response back here if and when I get one from them. [][/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Oh, nice report, as usual. When duck season gets frozen down, let’s meet on a hard deck. I’m dying to try those wire leaderthing-a-majigs you made for me last spring.[/size][/#800000][/font]

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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks Bob. I will be interested in the response.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was thinking of doing the same thing to Jeff Rasmussen. He used to be the manager at the Yuba Lake park but was moved (up?) to the Salt Lake HQ...I guess so they could keep an eye on him.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also plan to implement some of the quick-clip rigs on my "Holy jigs" this year. Makes it possible to interchange the sizes and colors of the "business end" of the rig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also gotta sample you on the new "wired wonders" I have been making...like the "no names". Adding that little wobbling spinner blade has really been a big hit with perch, walleyes and trout in the open water. Made some up with glow to try out under the ice. [/#0000ff]
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[skeeterfishn1]

Hey TubeDude, dito on the State Parks poor management particularly the restroom! Pathetic!

Have not been able to get out fish'n but reading your posts helps with the pain. Been hanker'n to get out to Utah Lake. Another storm coming to make things difficult.
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[Addicted2eyes]

not sure if you all are aware of the entire south side of north marina being locked up now, a gate is in place where the cree runs in on the north side.
NO ACCESS UNLESS YOU WALK IN!!
wow my pass does not say limited access only summer hours.
i want a refund as do a few people who now can not access the area, even bird watchers now will have no access to what we all paid for.
WE NEED TO JOIN UP ON THIS AND ASK SOME QUESTIONS!!
i e-mail wayne the park super and he will not respond also sent one to the slc office no response.
they did it right after they had the holloween spook house.
how can they have x-mas village and spook house on state park property that we pay for by by passes and day fees but yet we are restricted in our use?
anyone with a direction or ideas on this lets get together pm me or call we need some top notch guys on this Tube dude and dubob hope you will join in.
thanks for your sportsman and sports woman help.
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]I emailed the Parks Main address yesterday and had a response this AM. I started another thread to pass that information along to folks using this forum. You can see the thread by clicking[/#800000][/font] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=702884;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread"]HERE[/url].
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[SkunkedAgain]

TD do you think the high numbers of shad will make for bigger fish down the road? With the reduced wiper limit next year and good feed it would be fun to see some big fish show up more often. Although I did have some nice walleye there this spring I always like to catch something bigger. The crappie in Willard were some of the largest I have ever caught and I really enjoyed catching them, I hope Willard improves from this high bait fish year, I have enjoyed fishing it and will most likely be back next year. Kind of hard for a trout guy to admit but it was really fun. Later J
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]The predators...wipers, walleyes, crappies and cats...have never suffered from a lack of shad. They are almost always well fed when there are shad small enough to feed on. But for several months during the early part of the year they have slim pickings. Feast or famine.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There always have been some "decent sized" fish in Willard...wipers to 7#, with an occasional bigger one...crappies to 17"...cats to over 15#...walleyes over 25"...etc. The bigger fish we enjoyed last year are more the result of a good spawn and year class following the big drawdown to fix the dikes. Since the water levels have remained high there should continue to be good spawns and plenty of fish. And the more fish there are...with adequate feed...the more larger fish we will ultimately see.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think next year will be good for all but the wipers.[/#0000ff]
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