Just curious if there is anyone going tomorrow? I have a couple of hours in the morning. I keep hearing people having good success up there. I never have good success so I was curious if anyone was going?
If you have a boat I can chip in on gas. If not maybe someone could show me from the shore. I just need to get rid of this Willard curse.
What species are you looking to catch?
They all can be caught from shore, even walleyes. (better luck at night or early morning with them though).
People have been catching a few crappies inside the North Marina, as well as smallies and bluegill too.
Catfish are easy to catch from shore - just about anywhere on the lake.
For wipers try fishing the North Marina or the north dike and fish with 3" pearl / white jigs or tubes. Crankbaits work well at times too.
Good luck.
I have Walleye on my list seeing as I have never caught any of them. However I really do not mind catching any of the species.
I will be getting up nice and early so hopefully I can see about getting some eyes. Anything working good with them that you know of?
Trolling cranks that rattle at 2.5 to 3 MPH. Blue and silver, perchscale, or purples are good colors to start with.
From shore… if I were you - and you want eyes. I’d fish dark colored jigs in 3-4". Rig them tandem (2 jigs). Reel them in slow, bounce them off the rocks… tip with a half inch piece of crawler.
You will run into plenty of snags so some heavier line might suit you well. There are so many eyes this year you should have a decent chance of running into a few.
If there is any wind blowing try to position yourself on the dike that the wind is blowing into. The walleye (and many other predator fish) like to hang out on the shoreline and pick off anything that gets knocked off the rocks from the waves pounding on them or that gets disoriented by the waves and perhaps the stained water. Whether using a boat or fishing from shore a prime area is close and parallel to the dikes. If fishing from the shore don’t just cast out into the lake but also make casts parallel to the shoreline. We had great success with crayfish hard baits.
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So if I am going to stay on the dike how far down? I always see people conjugate around where the river comes out. Is that really all that good of a spot?
i would love to head up to willard but i have no car and never fished there willing to chip in for gas if anyone will take me
Sorry, I can not recommend how far down the dike to fish. We did the best over 1/2 of the way across the north dike. It is a long boat ride at trolling speed, it would be a long walk carrying fishing tackle. I do know it is about 5’ shallower in the general area near the outlet than it is a couple blocks to the west. Not sure if that makes much difference in being able to catch fish.
Maes a huge difference to me. Sick of losing 8 dollar lures.