Willard ... 4-3-15

[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]I and a co-worker (Dan) and his two sons (Jackson and Austin) decided to go against the odds and try to scratch up a few Willard Bay wipers today. We launched at the North Marina at around 8:00 am. It was pretty cold but we all came dressed for it.

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At about 2.9 mph, we first trolled in Freeway Bay and did pretty good right off the bat. Each boy caught their first wipers with Jackson landing the first.

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Then Austin landed a larger one.

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Then Dan felt the tug of his first ever wiper.

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Rapala Fire Tiger Shad Raps were the hot lure today (AGAIN!).

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Jackson showed us how it's done one more time.

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The boys got walleye doubles:

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All those were caught up in Freeway Bay. Going against my better judgment, we decided to "leave fish to find fish". Yea we found them all right ... after enormous efforts and many struggles, we boated two of these monsters on silver tail dancers.

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It was a good day for these two teenagers. But like all teenagers, they have to have their naps.

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The water temps was at 52° when we left at 1:00 and the wind and waves were starting to pick up.

We actually did slightly better than I thought we would with the low barometric pressure and full moon. So I am happy. And from what Dan and his boys said, they too had a good time. [/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]The two walleyes went home for dinner while the six wipers are still out there.

FishnFool and Wiperhunter were both out there today too. Hope to hear a report from them too.

--- Coot ---
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[Kent]

Ralph, you beat the odds with the weather pattern we have been having.
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[kyLURE]

Looks like a good time, thanks for sharing!
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[albinotrout]

Dang you had a good day...
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[kenneth.cotner]

Well fishnfool and I didn't fair as well as you guys did even though we hit some of the same areas. Our tackle got a much needed workout with only landing one walleye. We had two more fish on the planner boards in the afternoon but lost them both right after hook up. I suspect just short hits with a bad hook set. The water temp was right around 52 when we left at the South Marina. Didn't expect much with the conditions but all in all not a bad day to be on the water, unless you are running 50mph across the water in a bass boat. Ouch that was mind numbing. Maybe going out tomorrow so see what we can do.
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[WaveWolf]

[#000000]Way to go ...... You went against the whole nine yards, and still caught fish ..... Nice.[/#000000]
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[mallardmann]

Nice report, glad to hear they are biting. I'm heading there tomorrow but won't get there until noon or so. Hopefully it won't get too windy. Looking forward to seeing your episode of KSL Outdoors tomorrow. Maybe I will learn some of your tricks!
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[mtncat1]

great report I think I saw you deep in freeway bay. you definitely had to cover water to get on the fish today I'm bummed I got no walleyes but did good on wipers. Willard is gonna be special this year[]
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[FishSlayerJT]

awesome! You ended up doing really well. Thanks for the report.
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[UintaIce]

We didn't fare so well, either. My son-in-law caught one nice smallmouth; about a 2 pounder in shallow water. And that's all the action we had. Went through the tackle box and tried a little bit of everything, covering a lot of water.
Congrats to those who did much better.
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[Old_Coot]

UintaIce, that was me who talked to you in the parking lot. I like that BFT patch you have stitched on your coveralls.
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[wiperhunter2]

Ralph, Dog_Lover and I never caught any eyes but we did end up with 7 in the boat and two more lost right at the net. This all in the span of an hour or so just before we got off the water around 4:30pm. When the wind came up it got pretty cold but glad the wind never got too bad[cool]. After we saw you, we ran over the Freeway bay but never caught a fish there, not one of our fish came on a firetiger lure[crazy].
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[UintaIce]

Right! Glad you did so well!
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[Old_Coot]

[quote wiperhunter2]we ran over the Freeway bay but never caught a fish there, not one of our fish came on a firetiger lure[crazy].[/quote]

Man, what a strange year. Some guys catch none or very few, some catch loads (30+). Some catch them on one type lure and others don't.

I've fished Willard for 15 years now and never seen such highs and lows, difference in lures, and difference in numbers.

I got a text today from a BFT member who ended the day with 45 fish!!!! I would think that is an all time record.

Weird year for Willard ...
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[albinotrout]

It has been a weird year indeed and it is not over yet.
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