I am heading to Willard first thing in the morning. If anyone fished it today and could provide info, I would appreciate it. In addition, which marina would the BFT clan suggest North or South?
Anyone wanting to join me, I’ll be in a maroon F-150 and arriving at sunrise.
Also, does anyone know the status of ice on Yuba?
I’ve only been to the south marina but I would suggest checking out the north one. It looks like the north marina is bigger and probably deeper which would naturally let it hold more fish. The south marina is basically the size of a small pond and as you’ve read in some recent posts has had some pressure already. If you do any good be sure to let us know!
I was planning on going to willard early in the morning as well, planned on being at the south marina at about 7:30. I will be in a black bug.
Does anyone know how much it costs to access the north marina in the winter (would suppose that it’s less) and are there any places to gain access in the northern part without entering the state park?
I’m no expert (dang that Willard skunk is STILL in some towels somewhere) but I think the S Marina channel is going to be deeper than most of what you find at the N. end. Seemed like the N. Marina hovered around 8-10 ft, shallower towards the beaches - but not quite the deeper dredged channel you find in the S. - out from the channel buoy it’s more like 15 ft as you go out, then drops off to 20+ past the wake markers.
I sure would love to get underwater topo maps of all the waters! I know some GPS units have some. Heard of maps of Willard before it was filled with water. Would show all kinds of structure you don’t realize is there just zipping around! Did pick up a couple from FishnMapCo.
TD had a real nice writeup on fishing the marinas and iceup. Check the recent Willard posts. Good stuff
The fee to get in the north or south marina does not change in the winter, the fee is $10 but there is a little road that goes out toward the north dike. The fee to park there is only $4 but I’m not sure they plow the road.
This is what the Utah State Parks website sais, updated 01-05-11.Yuba is now completely iced over. People have been fishing on the east side at Painted Rocks with limited success. Ice thicknesses range from 2-3 inches on the west side off of Interstate 15 to 4-5 inches at Painted Rocks. Make sure to drill test holes on your way out to verify ice thicknesses.
Thanks for the info, $4 is ok but only if the fish are there. I’ll be interested to hear how people fair on the north side of the lake.
Fished the south marina from 8 to 11 this morning. I was the one in the red jeep getting there just before you mattpeace.
I fished in 13 ft of water and caught 3 10" perch one dink that I cut up for bait and, hold the phone… a 15" Channel cat!! My first cat through the ice.
I hadn’t fished Willard Ice since I was really young, probably 15 years ago, and never remembered catching anything so I didn’t have too high of hopes. I was the lucky one though, out of 5 or 6 of the guys I saw in the marina there was only one other guy who had caught anything. I think I was just in the lucky spot and even then it wasn’t too lucky, 5 fish iced, one break off at hookup, and about 10 hit and run bites where I was caught not paying close enough attention.
Super slow for being the luckiest guy in the marina. The ice was about 6" of crystal clear stuff and it looked like you could probably head out into the main lake and find safe ice, I didn’t try it though so be careful if any of you try it.
I had to go due to frozen toes relatively early(left the good insulated boots in my wifes car), I didn’t get so much as a nibble but didn’t expect much, wasn’t really trying to hard. Was happy to see the eagle back in it’s tree always makes me feel better about a bad fishing trip if there is some interesting nature around.
[fishon]
Hey chickendude, thanks for the strike indicator today. About an hour after you left I got into a couple of perch and probably wouldn’t have got the second one without the indicator.
Here is my report for the day. Yes, chickendude did have the lucky spot on the lake. I got there about 8:00 and stayed until 4:30. I moved all over and couldn’t find anything on the finder until chicken left and I drilled a couple holes 10’ away from where he had been. Caught 2 pretty quickly and then it died. Since it was the only area producing and I took the day off work I stayed put. At about 3:45p it got crazy for 15- 20 minutes and I landed 6 more but I couldn’t work quickly enough to land anymore. Getting fish off and trying to get a pole back in fast enough, or trying to work 2 poles at the same time with fish on them was kind of tricky. Then as quickly as it came it ended. Having enough fish on the ice to feed my girls tonight, I called it a shift.
Yes, I know that I am insane for sitting on the frozen tundra for 8 and 1/2 hrs for a few perch, but the couple of minutes of fast action were worth it, and I wasn’t going home to watch Oprah.
Attached is a pic of the perch, and they were tasty 
.
Nice! Glad that indicator helped. I know how light the bite can be, I wouldn’t fish without one. Glade you got into em too. To be honest though you’re not crazy, or maybe I’m just as crazy, but I would have sat my butt there in the chair next to ya the whole day if my fiance hadn’t lured me away with the promise of lunch.
I bet you two fished right where I did. Boy they sure bite light for the most part.
Thanks again, and I hope lunch was good. I’ll keep my eyes open for you on the ice in the future, especially since it seems you know where to drill….
Decided to take my 8 year old daughter back to Willard this afternoon to try and cacth that feeding frenzy that occured yesterday. Didn’t happen… a few fish would show up on the flasher every so often but no takers. Had a good time anyway, hopefully next time she will see some fish hit the daylight.