help!? Willard Bay

[bigbow81]

Never fished for wipers before. Does anyone know where the best bank fishing is and what the best bait to throw would be. any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance
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[HFT]

The willard archive will tell you anything you want to know about willard. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?forum=86"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?forum=86[/url];
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000bf]It is still early for any kind of good fishing for wipers. But, you can pick them up once in awhile on bait (minnows or crawlers) or by throwing plastics or lipless crankbaits and working them slow.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]There are not many good places to fish from shore with the lake being so low. When the water is up around the rocks, you can fish almost anywhere off the dike and expect that wipers will come by at some time. Right now you will have a tough time finding any place that you can cast into water deep enough to hold wipers.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Later in the year, after the water warms to over 70 degrees, the wipers often chase shad right up onto the banks during their "boils". When they come in close like that you can often catch them easily from shore...with a wide range of lures or even flies.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Read the archives to get familiar with basic wiperology and then keep watching our reports to get an idea of when the wipers are active and which parts of the lake are best. You might also consider getting a float tube or pontoon to get you out into deeper water.[/#0000bf]
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[utwalleye]

like TD said, the wipers are under ground, but you might find one or two here or there. but they will be far and few between this time of year. to get wipers from shore you will need to be able to cast long distant. a long rod with 6lb. line and a big silver kastmaster should work just fine. later chuck
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[bigbow81]

would it be possible to wade out into deep enough water? How deep of water would they be in this time of year?

Thank you
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]A bit later in the year those wipers chase the shad right up onto the shoreline. You could catch them with a cane pole. But, right now there are several conditions that add up to make it tough for shore fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]First, the wipers are still "slow" in the cold water. They do not move as much or as far for dinner as they do when they are warmer and their metabolism forces them to eat often. And, as a general rule, they stay near the bottom in the deepest areas of the lake they can find. On Willard, that would be about 15 feet deep and is over off the west side. Those deep spots are quite a ways from shore...too far to be reached even by wading and casting.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you can be patient for a couple of months, and shift your focus, the walleyes WILL be coming into water shallow enough to cast from shore or to fish by wading. The only problem is that the water is down below where they like it. They usually cruise next to the rocks and spawn there too. With the water being below the rocks, they will be acting differently this year and we don't know how that will be yet.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is almost a certainty that by late July there will be lots of wiper activity. Once we get a handle on what parts of the lake the shad are using, we will know where to look for wipers too. Then, it just a matter of luck and timing...to be in the right spot at the right time...when the fish come through.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When the wipers are really "on", almost anybody can catch them. They hit a lot of things. There is no great mystery about them. it is a lot tougher to find them and catch them during this time of year or when they are in a funky mode.[/#0000ff]
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[bigbow81]

Thanks for the info TubeDude. We will see what a couple of months bring.

Casey
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[Paddler]

Will Willard come up this year enough to allow easy boat launching? I remember a few years back it got real low, and a lot of people ended up with prop damage.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]As we were told by one of the rangers at the north marina last week, there will be a limit of another 3 feet of water for the remainder of the year. Then, in 2008, they will drop the level way down to tear out over 4 miles of dike to rebuild it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can launch most boats up to 18' or so right now. Another 3 feet of water would make it possible for almost any boat to launch safely. The big issue is the shallow sand bars and the rock piles that come close to the surface to the north of the channel outside. I hope they buoy mark the potential hazards, but otherwise we should be able to get boats in and out without concern for pricey props.[/#0000ff]
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