**Attaching a couple of maps to help. Take the first Willard Bay turnoff…by Smith and Edwards. Then get on the road going west from their location. Follow the arrows on the map.
The inlet area is just inside the entrance to the South Marina. Free parking. You can also park on the main road, out in front of the water users building, and hike out onto the north dike. Again…free parking. You have to pay a day use fee only if you go beyond the toll gate.
Best lures are 3" white or chartreuse plastics or marabous…or rattling cranks like RatLTraps. Good colors are white and blue or silver and blue. Fire tiger is sometimes a good color too. Once you get there you can watch what others are using and how they are fishing. Then, if you can find a spot, go for it.
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**To the best of my knowledge, the channel…from the baffles to the buoy in the middle of the channel just north of the launch area…is closed to motorized boats.
Howsomever, myself and other tubers have finned up into the channel clear to the inlet for years without being stopped by rangers. I have actually talked to a ranger who was driving along the dike and stopped to ask me how I was doing.
I will say that now that I have an electric motor on my float tube I have not gone up into the channel, just on the outside chance that it might not be acceptable.
There can be some good fishing from the banks all along that channel, but there is so much brush in close to shore that you risk losing many of the fish you catch to snags.
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Looks like TubeDude gave you the best advice, all I can add is the best catching is from the baffles down to the first little point about 30 to 40 yds. I never saw anyone catch a fish past that point. You can also fish the West dike but the area has some big rocks that are slipery when wet.
TubeDude- You make the best maps thanks for sharing them.
That is what I heard and also sterile eyes in waters that do not have them now, maybe Pineview[:/]? No locations were given but one can only guess. It will be interesting to find out what lakes will get these fish.
i just went up there for grins and man did i laugh. cars up and down the road. only saw one feller fishing the baffles and he was legitimitly fishing. saw a bunch of folks down towards the lakes. the highlight was the genius that posted this, job well done whoever you are!
My two boys and I went up for a few hours today. None of us caught anything. The guy next to us caught one on a lip-less crank bait. Went over to see him bring it in and it was fairly hooked in the mouth. There was one other guy there that was catching them, had a stringer of about four or five and he was using night crawlers.
Talked to about twenty different anglers. No one had seen any illegal harvesting or snagging of fish, although most had heard about it online. Most people were pretty respectable of others fishing around them, not crowding each other out, although all the groups were pretty close to each other, 30-40’. That is to be expected with the amount of people there.
I was very impressed with the behavior of the anglers that I witnessed after reading the reports online.
sounds like all the cry babys who were talking about bulling people around were wrong about the anglers down there if they would have stopped crying and went to see for them selves they might have a little more respect for the anglers that are in this state and how most abide by the rules! glad to see kochanut didnt have to backup fishjon from pushing people in the water
Well sounds like they are on top of it, and that is good to see and hear.
I think some of the outcry probably helped push the DWR and other officials to make sure they were enforcing the laws and doing their jobs.
It sounded like from first reports that there was a lot of illegal activity going on and maybe there was only a few and the perception got distorted… either way, glad to hear things are sorted out a little better.
I think the complaining that has been going on in the last few week has not gone on deaf ears. Hopefully the snaggers got the message and we won’t see it again, to this extent. As far as the channel being open, it will not hurt any more that fishing the West dike for eyes. I guess the squeaky wheel does get the grease[;)].
Thanks DWR/ DNR we do appreciate your hard work and the effort all you guys put out on this snagging problem.
I would assume law enforcement put that sign up. That was one of the suggestions I gave drew was to put up signs. It wasn’t bad on Saturday when I walked down there. Word must have spread quickly through the network of law breakers. I didn’t witness the same type of behavior that I did earlier in the week. Maybe with the enforcement efforts we can continue to keep it open. Let’s start shining a good light on the issue.
I am now ready for the whipping I’m gonna get from other walleye guys for saying that… [fishon]
If more people have a chance to go down there and catch some fish (fairly easily) this time of year… and get hooked on walleyes… that is good for everyone.
We need more fisherman and advocates for our sport. Catch and release is becoming more and more popular. Maybe some of the people doing so well down there will turn some lose and practice selective harvest.
Either way, those fish won’t be stacked in there for long. Willard seems to have a good crop of eyes right now too, I doubt angler harvest will impact things much.
hooray, hopefully this that just don’t know that unintentional snagged fish must be released, and discourage the ones that knowingly keep snagged fish.
I think alot had to do with all the complaints on the site about the snagging going on. Hopefully the local CO’s will keep an eye on the situation, that’s what they get paid for.
Yes I think our emails and complaints, were heard. this was the reply I got from the email I had sent.:
Mr. Mayo,
Ben Nadolski forwarded your message to me. We are aware of the problem and are working hard to address it. We have had uniformed and plain clothes patrols in the area every day since we became aware of the problem, and are continuing such patrols. Hopefully you’ve noticed the signs we put up advising it is illegal to keep foul hooked fish. We are trying to educate anglers when necessary and issuing citations when appropriate. If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Mitch Lane
Sergeant
How long do the walleye typically stay in the channel to spawn? I have a decent understanding of how long they run in the area that I am in, but not sure about that part of the state.
The other night I made suggestions to CO’s that they make the inlet a 2 fish limit under 20" with NO fishing after dark from say March 1st to May 1st. What do you guys think of this?
It would keep people form over harvesting(legally and illegally) and reduce the chance of snagging when no one can see them due to darkness. Watchful eyes in visible light will help keep people honest. It would also save the big females.
I say it’s this type of regulation or shut it down entirely.
**Attaching a couple of maps to help. Take the first Willard Bay turnoff…by Smith and Edwards. Then get on the road going west from their location. Follow the arrows on the map.
