**TubeBabe and I planned to hit Pineview for some crappies. But, the fronts moved them from the easy pickin’s spots and everybody was sayin’ “Think outside the box”. So, we thought WAAAAAAY outside the box…all the way to Willard. **
Still got some crappies…and cats…and carp…and smallies. A “grand slime”. No wipers or walleyes though.
Water was clean and green…and 62 at dawn launch and 68 at 3 o’clock bye bye. Saw gazillions of shad moving in all along the NE shore area. Also saw megazillions of carpkind getting frisky along the gravel bars.
**We did our usual dragging a minnow or carp meat while slinging all kinds of plastic and metal. Got a grundle of cookie cutter kitties on bait, but nothing on lures all morning. After we both had kept our limits of kitties and were moving back toward the marina, I started pitching some small tube jigs near the gravel bars. **
That was about noon, and somebody rang the dinner bell for smallies and crappies. Finesse fishing a small tube jig is one of my favorite ways to fish and the fish liked it too. I got several smallies and then started popping the occasional crappie. Had several before TubeBabe caught her first and only slab. It was probably the biggest of the day. I think I probably caught about a dozen and kept 8. Best crappie catchin’ I’ve had on Willard for a long time.
Silly old buglemouths liked those little jigs too. Had several hooked. Landed two and invited them home to become future bait.
**Lake was like glass all day…even in the afternoon when we are usually surfin’ back in. **
Nice fish Tube Dude and Babe. I hit that area a few years a ago and pulled out some crappie. Was there any flooded brush or were they just on the gravel and rocks? Did you get a water temp at all? Always enjoy your posts and info!!
The NE corner has traditionally been a crappie gathering spot. Most years the water is high enough to provide flooded stickups, where crappies prefer to spawn. However, with the low water they have to settle for some gravel and weed beds…and not much of that. Likely to be a poor spawn with low recruitment this year.
The water temp at the time we started catching them was about 66 degrees. The fish were in 3 to 5 feet of water, just off the gravel. We did pick up a few out in slightly deeper water, where they were suspending at about 4 feet in six to seven feet of water.
Ah yes, the “good old days”. I have fished Willard for over 30 years and fondly remember the days before smallies and wipers. Crappies were so thick they were a nuisance. The limit was 50 and they were easy to catch anywhere in the lake.
In the attached picture is a triple limit…50 crappies, 8 channel cats and 2 walleye over 20". All caught on small tube jigs during one morning of fishing that same area. Probably caught over 100 crappies and 20 -30 cats. And, it was tough to find walleyes UNDER 20 inches. I often caught 15 to 20 walleyes per trip…all over 20 inches.
I hate “dead fish” pictures these days, and hate to see people kill a limit just because they can. But, we had a large family that loved fish and I occasionally “loaded up” and none of the fish were ever wasted.
Nice trip. " Yes the good old days." I have only fished Willard a few times. The first was about 40 years ago with my dad and his friends. We got our limit of Walleye, which I think was 8 at the time. We went to one of the guys house to fillet them. I remember them cussing me for making them stay an extra hour to catch that last fish. It must have taken 2 of them a long time to clean 32 fish. Those are always good memories fishing with dad.
I think those were the best tasting fish I’ve had. Humpy
I fished it as a kid but only for cats. Caught 1 crappie there once. I do not mind the dead fish pics if they are being used … it is just when it is wasted that bothers me.
You are right. It is rare to catch even one crappie at Willard these days. Since moving back to Utah four years ago, I can’t remember catching more than a half dozen…total. Those were usually taken accidentally while throwing plastic for wipers.
**I was surprised to catch the first one, on Tuesday. Then, when I caught another fishing the same way, in the same area, I decided that maybe there were more and that I had found a “pattern”. Over the next couple of hours we covered quite a bit of water, fishing the same way…under tha same conditions…and found more. **
We never caught more than one here and one there. There were no huge schools, as in days of yore. But it was kinda neat to at least catch a few from Willard again.
TubeBabe is not much of a crappie fan, and has not had the experience catching them that I have. So, she was a bit slower in getting the hang of it, but she did catch the biggest. It gave her a good battle so she was happy.
Last year the South Marina was open by the first week of April. But, it took them two more weeks to open the fish cleaning station. The fish cleaning station at the north marina opened by the second week of April last year.
This year, when the fish cleaning station at the north marina was not open by the third week of April, I asked a ranger WHY, and was told it was because there were still freezing temperatures at night. And, he was right. They had some frozen taps at the campground when they opened it early.
Don’t know how they justify it now. Pick your favorite excuse:
1. Global freezing. 2. No good reason fer it…just park policy. 3. UFO sightings (Unidentified Fishing Objects). 4. It’s a “gummint” thang. 5. Terminal inertia.
In this day and age we should all be accustomed to paying more and getting less. We don’t have to like it but we (seemingly) have to live with it. Kinda like marriage. (OUCH, OUCH)
**TubeBabe and I planned to hit Pineview for some crappies. But, the fronts moved them from the easy pickin’s spots and everybody was sayin’ “Think outside the box”. So, we thought WAAAAAAY outside the box…all the way to Willard. **