04-07-2018, 11:51 PM
I sold my boat last winter and don’t have another yet. I have never fished the inlet and with all the discussion about it, I decided to give it a go a few days ago (Thursday, 4 April).
I fished the inlet from 2:00pm to near sunset. I had a prime location next to spillway. I threw hundreds of casts with jigs. Every color and shape. I even sweetened them with worms and smell jells on occasion. The whole time I also ran mussel meat on a sinking line with slip bobber. There were probably 15 people there on average but many coming and going throughout the day. Nobody (including myself) got a single bite. I can assure you “no walleye were hurt” during this experience. In fact no fish of any kind were hurt during this experience. There had been two warm days since the Monday cold spell so I thought I would give it a go. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. No jacket needed in the afternoon. The water was flowing nicely through the spillway. Surface water temp in the channel was 49 degrees. DWR was netting Walley earlier in the day at the south Marina.
Now let me tell you about the other aspects of this experience for me. I was wondering about the people and their attitudes. I was so impressed about how nice everyone of them were! I could tell they were all law biding anglers. The first person I met was a Hispanic man with crooked teeth and a car that would barely run. The DWR have all the roads marked no parking and the only real place to park is their designated lot that cost $5 per day. We separated, and I watched him deposit his $5 cash into the envelope. I met up with him at the spillway where he had the prime location. He kindly offered to share his location with me so I could jig over top of his bait lines which were on the bottom. Wow! I hated to see him go empty handed after paying his $5.
I met a single mom with tattoos an two young boys. They were all sinking bait for wipers in the same large opening between the channel and spillway. She was from Ogden. I talked with her later and she was so friendly. I told her it my first time. She had been there often and freely gave me much advice on when to come and what to use.
I next met a supper nice Hispanic fellow, who was a disabled Vietnam Vet. It was his first time there as well. I listened to him tell me many interesting stories. His heart was amazingly kind and good.
I spoke with three advanced angles out in waders who were casting every jig known to man. They were nice as well. They only live 8 minutes away and come there often. They also gave me advice on how to fish the inlet. They said they had only seen 5 walleye taken in the last 5 days, but when it is hot it is hot.
Here is another interesting thing about my adventure. I watched about a thousand casts from everyone including myself. I saw a about a 20% snag rate and many lost jigs and lures (mine too). There are a lot of obstacles and debris under that water. If you are trying run Jig low off the bottom the whole time rather than keeping them a little off the bottom your snag rate may go up the 50-60%. I can’t imagine running treble hooks along the bottom. By the way the professionals I saw were snagging even more than me an sometimes getting my line. There is a lot of brush around the edges and there aren’t many openings good for casting into the head waters. From what I have heard, it was a slow day at the water hole. I can’t imagine the bank tangling that would normally be going on. Honestly there are only a hand full of prime locations to cast which are around the spillway.
In summary, all the anglers I saw seemed to be honorable law-abiding citizens. These bank tanglers were working hard for a fish. They were not even littering. I had spent the morning at freeway bay rock hopping. The entire area is covered in litter. The spillway area is fairly litter free compared to the rock dikes.
This is my report. I have no problems with this spillway being closed down at dark durring the Walleye run, but why not let the bipeds have access during the day .
[signature]
I fished the inlet from 2:00pm to near sunset. I had a prime location next to spillway. I threw hundreds of casts with jigs. Every color and shape. I even sweetened them with worms and smell jells on occasion. The whole time I also ran mussel meat on a sinking line with slip bobber. There were probably 15 people there on average but many coming and going throughout the day. Nobody (including myself) got a single bite. I can assure you “no walleye were hurt” during this experience. In fact no fish of any kind were hurt during this experience. There had been two warm days since the Monday cold spell so I thought I would give it a go. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. No jacket needed in the afternoon. The water was flowing nicely through the spillway. Surface water temp in the channel was 49 degrees. DWR was netting Walley earlier in the day at the south Marina.
Now let me tell you about the other aspects of this experience for me. I was wondering about the people and their attitudes. I was so impressed about how nice everyone of them were! I could tell they were all law biding anglers. The first person I met was a Hispanic man with crooked teeth and a car that would barely run. The DWR have all the roads marked no parking and the only real place to park is their designated lot that cost $5 per day. We separated, and I watched him deposit his $5 cash into the envelope. I met up with him at the spillway where he had the prime location. He kindly offered to share his location with me so I could jig over top of his bait lines which were on the bottom. Wow! I hated to see him go empty handed after paying his $5.
I met a single mom with tattoos an two young boys. They were all sinking bait for wipers in the same large opening between the channel and spillway. She was from Ogden. I talked with her later and she was so friendly. I told her it my first time. She had been there often and freely gave me much advice on when to come and what to use.
I next met a supper nice Hispanic fellow, who was a disabled Vietnam Vet. It was his first time there as well. I listened to him tell me many interesting stories. His heart was amazingly kind and good.
I spoke with three advanced angles out in waders who were casting every jig known to man. They were nice as well. They only live 8 minutes away and come there often. They also gave me advice on how to fish the inlet. They said they had only seen 5 walleye taken in the last 5 days, but when it is hot it is hot.
Here is another interesting thing about my adventure. I watched about a thousand casts from everyone including myself. I saw a about a 20% snag rate and many lost jigs and lures (mine too). There are a lot of obstacles and debris under that water. If you are trying run Jig low off the bottom the whole time rather than keeping them a little off the bottom your snag rate may go up the 50-60%. I can’t imagine running treble hooks along the bottom. By the way the professionals I saw were snagging even more than me an sometimes getting my line. There is a lot of brush around the edges and there aren’t many openings good for casting into the head waters. From what I have heard, it was a slow day at the water hole. I can’t imagine the bank tangling that would normally be going on. Honestly there are only a hand full of prime locations to cast which are around the spillway.
In summary, all the anglers I saw seemed to be honorable law-abiding citizens. These bank tanglers were working hard for a fish. They were not even littering. I had spent the morning at freeway bay rock hopping. The entire area is covered in litter. The spillway area is fairly litter free compared to the rock dikes.
This is my report. I have no problems with this spillway being closed down at dark durring the Walleye run, but why not let the bipeds have access during the day .
[signature]