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[quote perchound]Been getting the boat ready for this spring fishing season and excited to get out on Willard. I went for a drive out to the north marina today to check things out knowing that I would probably regret not taking my boat with me. To my surprise it looked like every fishing boat in the state was there, wow.
Can this fishery handle this much pressure, and it's only April. I'm not a selfish person by any means and I love seeing people enjoying the sport I love so dearly but it looks to me like to many people are doing way to much bragging and giving out way to much information on this site.
I know this will probably upset a few of you that I said anything, but it's true and pretty soon were all going to be playing bumper boats out there. Hope all of you take this comment with an open mind and think real hard about what is happening on this site. Way to much info is being posted and that may just be my opinion but I'm betting I'm not alone.[/quote]
No offense, but you sound like an old guy  I can't help but disagree with your entire attitude. There is always someone who can't stand it when a lake gets popular and they have to go off on a rant like yours (Above).
I wouldn't worry about it too much... or try not to anyways. The lake will be fine in terms of fish.... There are and will be - plenty of fish for everyone. Try not to sour over the recent surge in fishing at Willard... fishing will probably slow down sooner or later and it will quiet down a bit.
I enjoy all of the Willard reports and appreciate everyone for sharing... I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard, either!
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[quote kentofnsl]Thanks for the laugh. Willard will be fine. The fish are planted to be caught and also it will be a short season this year (when the marinas are closed because of lack of water). Frankly, I was surprised that there weren't more boat trailers in the parking lot on Saturday than there were.[/quote]
+1
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[quote remo_5_0]Ya, I know that BFT isn't the only source of info, but it adds a lot I would bet...just the way it goes.[/quote]
Just the way it goes....
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You edited out your whole rant towards me?[laugh] you know me, I am not whining, in fact I have never fished Willard so I would not know if it was crowded or not, I have no problems posting about well known places, who cares, I just don't post about places that are still semi-secret...if I post on the net I expect the repercussions..you gave me crap a few years ago about some guy posting in Wyoming... Like I said, if it goes on the net, reap what you sew.
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[quote remo_5_0]You edited out your whole rant towards me?[laugh] you know me, I am not whining, in fact I have never fished Willard so I would not know if it was crowded or not, I have no problems posting about well known places, who cares, I just don't post about places that are still semi-secret...if I post on the net I expect the repercussions..you gave me crap a few years ago about some guy posting in Wyoming... Like I said, if it goes on the net, reap what you sew.[/quote]
A) Wasn't a rant directed at you soley... .
B) It was a rant. So I canned it.
C) My whole point was this: whining about the internet / public fishing forums is silly. Especially when you are a member of said forum, participating.... Smart people will be tight lipped about certain locations, and in certain situations / circumstances ... that makes logical sense to me.
I did give you crap, deservedly so. Big difference between sharing information / reports and trolling someone over a location they don't want revealed.
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Again, I never said where the location was, now BFT has a no hotspotting rule, others guessed, I am just under the impression that if it goes on the World Wide Web, privacy is out the door!
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i was there all day Saturday you are exaggerating the number of boats there, there were a lot of people fishing the mouth of the north marina , and today my friend told me there were a lot of boats in the same area today. they were mussel fishing for wipers that were trying to spawn. this pressure will only last for a short time. that being said the other 99 percent of the lake was virtually deserted. and the north parking lot was about 1/4 capacity . and that was only because boaters aren't using the south marina. so don't panic, as far as hot spotting and people getting to clued in on techniques ,you could give out gps cordinances depth speed yada yada yada and most fishermen still wouldn't have good success . so I don't believe you have to be concerned about over harvest.
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Most of the people were not catching anything in that cluster. Its funny because we moved into that idiocy for about 30 minutes and left after people kept bouncing off my boat with lures and bobbers and tangling our gear. We went to a deserted spot and caught plenty of fish for the 30 minutes we had left. Mob mentality at willard is a plague and you just have to leave that shit and go elsewhere. Maybe 15 boats around the rest of the lake. All of the rest of them were in a 600 yard circle at the bouy line at the mouth of the north marina clogging the right of way to get back to the dock. Idiots!!!. Stay the hell out of the thoroughfare!
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I agree plenty of good water to fish with no crowds, and with the low water access is definitely a concern
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My personal opinion is that anytime you say anything about Willard expect the masses. I have done a ton of work out there this year and I won't share what I know because of trollers and BFT trollers. I find it funny that people post about all these fish they catch and how they catch them but low and behold not one picture. Not saying a pic is needed but hey...You what to brag about your great day then lets see them. If you post locations and lures you are only feeding the bucket BDE as well as anyone else that comes across the BFT internet site. By the way there are eyes all over that lake.
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i looked real close to the pile of crappie i brought home and cant seem to find any names on them.. the fish are there for everyone (with a valid license). So everyone can enjoy the fish they spent a lot of hard earned money to catch and take their legal limit. Yeah, the pressure is a little crazy and there has been a lot of "first wiper" pics. thats the point. Thats why they are there. thats why this site exist... Imagine how much money is being spent just on people fishing willard alone. you can catch wiper on almost anything when they are biting, so what secret info has been leaked? Who doesnt brag or show off a fish they have never caught before?
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[quote FishSlayerJT]i looked real close to the pile of crappie i brought home and cant seem to find any names on them.. the fish are there for everyone (with a valid license). So everyone can enjoy the fish they spent a lot of hard earned money to catch and take their legal limit. Yeah, the pressure is a little crazy and there has been a lot of "first wiper" pics. thats the point. Thats why they are there. thats why this site exist... Imagine how much money is being spent just on people fishing willard alone. you can catch wiper on almost anything when they are biting, so what secret info has been leaked? Who doesnt brag or show off a fish they have never caught before?[/quote]
+1
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+2!
The reason there are so many wiper in Willard is because so many people pay the entrance fee and pay license fees to go catch them. Yeah, I put in a lot of hard work to be as successful as I am, but that's what keeps me coming back. People that don't love our sport or think it's "easy" wont be out there as much as the rest of us.
By the way, did anyone happen to check any other lakes this weekend? Word is they were all packed regardless of the fishing reports. We love our water in this state, hopefully we get some more for EVERYONE to enjoy!
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Totally agree about staying out of the thoroughfare for the marina. I had to go wakeless 300 yards from the buoy and zigzag my way in to recover my boat Sunday. And people were pissed at me for being in there way sheesh.
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I wasn't going to say anything about this, but it was so ridiculous I feel compelled to speak. When I was coming back into the marina on Friday afternoon there was a guy in a boat anchored up right in the middle of the mouth of the North marina. I had no other option but to 'squeeze' between his boat and the 2 gentlemen fly fishing on the North shore. I apologized to the fellas fishing on the shore and did my best to get out of their way as quickly as I could. Aside from common courtesy, is there anything that keeps somebody from tossing out an anchor and acting as a 'road block' in and out of a marina?
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I believe there is such a law about blocking a water way but let me call the park manger at Willard and find out the facts.
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[quote kenneth.cotner]I find it funny that people post about all these fish they catch and how they catch them but low and behold not one picture. Not saying a pic is needed but hey...[/quote]
I'm new to BFT, but I'm an avid waterfowl hunter and spend a lot of time on a local waterfowl forum similar to BFT and the general feeling on that site is "without pictures, it didn't happen." I tend to agree with that statement.
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So I was going through the fish stocking reports, sorting by different values and making judgments about where to fish this year based on previous years stocking. This thread didn't come to mind until I saw Willard at the top of the quantity sort every year since 2012. 200,000 wiper fry and 30,000-60,000 fingerlings every year is a LOT of fish. Last year it was 370,000 wiper minnows, not to mention almost a million walleye fry.
2012
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 200000 .22 04/23/2012
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 64679 1.93 07/12/2012
2013
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 200000 .23 05/29/2013
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 34453 2.13 07/10/2013
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER BULLHEAD CH. CAT 41501 3.88 09/09/2013
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER BULLHEAD CH. CAT 41496 3.88 09/09/2013
2014
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WALLEYE 962515 .2 04/18/2014
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 49945 1.51 06/19/2014
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 207500 1.24 07/01/2014
WILLARD BAY RES BOX ELDER WIPER 114523 1.3 07/07/2014
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