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Went out to the Bay around 3 pm, with 3 guys in the boat, each one of us caught a walleye (total 3) and my friend Jas, caught a wiper that was boated in, then caught another and lost a huge one. I caught 4 wipers, 2 of which was baby wipers (they came from the 500,000 that was stocked last saturday, and caught 2 good averaged sized wipers.
The fishing was spotty and sporadic, I suspect it has to do with the full moon the night before, where the fish probably helped themselves to smorgasboard of baitfish, so they were not too hungry.
But I did noticed each of the three walleyes, they all gave a very strong fight, I wondered if they learned how to fight like that from observing their wiper counterparts... LOL
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Thanks for the report. It's nice to see the eyes put up a fight, they usually just roll over and play dead. The one we boated the other night (18") didn't fight much at all. In fact, we don't even know how long he was on the line for!
How big are those baby Wipers?
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[cool][blue][size 1]Hey i-Paul, there is a good reason for the 'eyes to be more active right now. The first couple of weeks of June have always been high on my list as a good time to target post spawn walleyes on both Willard and Utah Lake. They are aggressively cruising and feeding and will both smack a lure harder and fight harder right now than almost any other time of the year.[/size][/blue]
[#0000ff][size 1]In times of higher water, I used to launch my float tube just before dark and fish right next to the rocks...using a variety of plastics and hardbaits. For the first hour or so after dark, it was not uncommon to hook walleyes fairly regularly...sometimes almost on the surface next to protruding rocks. And some of them fought almost as hard as the big channel cats that were also feeding up close and personal.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]In Utah Lake, the big post spawn females sometimes gang up at the outflow of the Jordan and ambush the mudcats and small white bass that follow the flow out of the lake. A big black marabou jig bounced down the current will get smacked hard and the fight is often pretty aggressive. I have seen that action last past the 4th of July in years of heavy outflow and cooler temps.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Not to cast aspersions on the guys catching all the walleyes trolling on Willard right now, but enjoy it while you can. This is the time of year when even the rankest nimrod can drag a lure behind a boat and score a walleye once in awhile. I once saw a 14 foot outboard almost swamped with six drunken idiots catching big walleye after big walleye, trading the one rod around among them while others kept emtying beer cans and tossing them in the water.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Those active and hungry fish move up and down in the water column and aggressively chase faster lures during this time. Once the summer heat settles in, they will be anchored to the bottom in the deeper pockets and you need to go low and slow with something flavorful to get their attention. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]However, I have taken quite a few in the heat of the summer right at daybreak by tossing 3" white or yellow plastics up on the shore where there are rocks. That works even better if there has been a little onshore blow with some wave action to color the water a little. But, once the sun hits the water you need to switch to deeper water and wiper gear.[/size][/#0000ff]
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HEY PAUL IM STOKED ON NELLE EYES PROGRESS. SOON WE WILL BE CHASING BIG EYES AT NELLE. CROSSINEYE
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[#0000ff][size 1]This is the time of year when even the rankest nimrod can drag a lure behind a boat and score a walleye once in awhile. [/size][/#0000ff] [/reply]
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