My dad and I went fishing at willard bay north dike.. Caught 16 wipers and 5 of them where caught on flies.. Most of them where in the 3-5 pound rage.. My old man caught 10 as well.. Going tomorrow so will have another report coming..
NICE fish!!! That first one looks like a bruiser what part of the lake were you fishing and what kind of flies were you using? I have got to try one on a fly rod.. Thanks for the report and for joining the sigh. Good luck tomorrow.[fishon]
Man, if I had to nail it for fishing this time of year I would think that the fishing at Willard would be tacticly the same as Utah Lake. I fish jigs right down the shoreline structure because the fish seem to hold there at this time of year and get into ambush mode almost like a large mouth bass. The structure is similar and the habitat is similar. I’ve never fished harder than I have had to at UT Lake to figure out what different species do in a shallow bowl of sediment at different times of the year but I am getting some information and a big learning curve. If you fish the bank this time of year and present your jigs slowly it seems like you can always pick up some fish, even when it’s tough. Wipers are fun and the pics look like really healthy fish, but I got spoiled catching them in Lake Skiatook in Oklahoma where the average size was 7 lbs. I miss catching them though and I am dreaming about Willard in late May. Then again, I’m dreaming of mid-summer cutties in Strawberry after dark on streamers and CJ Strike in Idaho. Let’s face it, fishermen are addicted. Still though, I enjoyed the pics and I I can feel feel the fun by the look on your face. Nice job![;)]
could that be tubedude in the backgorund of your first pic!?
What fish do you target at CJ. that use to be my old stomping grounds as I lived in Grandview for awhile.[fishin]
Nice report, And looking forward to your report for today.It’s going to be a good year off the dike and from a boat if you stop trolling and start casting the bank,it’s a fun way to catch wipers,almost as fun as chasing the boils if you can find the right spot.
fnf 
I mostly go for the perch and crappie there because they are super abundant and if there was a limit it would be something like a thousand per day…LOL. There are some pig perch in there and the crappy aren’t usually big but there are alot of respectable fryer sized fish. You can pick up a couple of five gallon buckets full in a day if you know what you’re doing. I did have several days winter before last when I was staying in Mountain Home that I took home a combination of crappie and perch and had over 200 fish just about every time I went home and that wasn’t including the small ones I threw back. I stocked my freezer and then started stocking everyone else’s. I did some fishing for smallies there too and the action could be really fast during the summer. I also did some fly and lure fishing for rainbows there, both in the river and in the lake, and I didn’t always do great but I never caught a small trout. They were always really fat and 14" all the way to 26". I had the opportunity of being taken in by an all weekend crew of sturgeon heads because I was always catching crappie and they were always looking for me because that was their first choice in bait. My first sturgeon was around 4 ft and the second was close to 7 and he put up one hell of a fight. Man those guys are strong! I would have gotten more into sturgeon fishing but I didn’t have the heavy gear I needed and I was always preoccupied with panfishing anyway. Cool thing is that those guys got a few beers in them and started story telling and I learned alot of their tricks. During the summer I managed a few largemouth, some big bluegill, and alot of great lakes whitefish from the deep water that are super when smoked. If you plan on going let me know and i’ll try to give you some advice because I learned quite a few things there and i’m telling you CJ Strike produces pigs but not skunks. [;)]
Thanks for the info, I know quite alot about the lake as well, I was stationed at the Base twice. What I don’t know, my cousin does as he has lived in MT. Home for the last 37 years and is an avid fisherman, he fishes alot of the bass Tournaments there and other areas of Idaho and Oregon. He has a Smallmouth on the wall that went 5 3/4 lbs. that he caught on the Brueno end and took a tourney at Anderson as well as taking big fish honors with a smallmouth that weighed in at an even 6 lbs.. Those are nice smallies for that part of the country. I really like to fish the perch when she freezes hard enough to get on the lake but that doesn’t happen too often. Crappies were my favorite bait for the sturgeon as well and I use to fish them below the turbines back in the early 70’s alot. Hardly anyone fished them there then, they were a hoot to catch especially when they headed toward the bridge in that current. I’ve had more than one spool me and head for Grandview. The wife and I try to make a run there every summer for a few days and spend a day or two at Anderson for the kokanee and a day on CJ for the perch. Good fishing to you.[fishin]
Went out again today.. Landed 6 more from the dike one off the flyrod.. Seen lunkerhunter2 out in his boat didnt see if he caught any.. The wind pick up and got nasty out there so fun and short this trip
I was fishing both yesterday and today off of the north dike west of the spill way about a 1/4 mile down as far a jigs i was using a curly tail glow colored with a green jig head and as far as flies its just a white wolly bugger about 2 inches long.. Hope this helps..
Ps if you catch one on your fly rod.. HOLD ON!!
What weght is your fly rod ?
Actually you saw lunkerhunter2 on fishinfool’s boat[;)] he caught a few near the dike and a 19"catfish.Then we decided to troll, good move and began to catch alot more fish. Then like you said the wind came up and shut use down for the day.fished from 1:30 to around 5:30 and caught 10-15 wipers. Nothing big though I think 19" was the biggest fish and 12" was the smallest.
They sure are catching them over off the dike though we saw quiet a few caught while we where there.
Next time say hello. I probably would have invited you out on the boat[;)]
I only knew it was him cause he use to work out at my work.. But I did watch you guys come into the shore and pick a guy up and take him out on your boat.. Yea yesterday wasnt the best day but managed to land 6 not to bad for this early in the year.. I use a 9’ 5wt fly rod with sinking line..
How do you get to the north dike? ive only fished the shore by the south marina i think it is.
I see,I thought you just knew him off the website.My dad loves to fish the flyrod would you be willing to give me any info on what you use during the summer to get them.he should be up for a visit some time and I would like to get him into some on the fly rod.
Thanks.
fnf
There are a couple of ways to get to the North dike. The easiest way is to get off the ramp at Willard and turn under the freeway like you are going to the north marina. Instead of turning left to go down the road toward the marina, go straight and slightly to the right, If you get on the wrong road you will end up by the maintenance area and that is straight across the road from where you turn slightly to the right. if you follow this road after a hundred yards or so you will be in a small parking area where you must pay a fee($3) to park. I hope this helps. WH2
I have some minnow flies, that I just tied that I would like to try…Can you backcast ok from those blankety, blank rocks?..WW.
Well im kinda short at 5’5 i use a 9 ft rod just find you a rock thats sticking up a bit and kinda side cast and youll be just fine.. If you cant seem to get it out as far as you would like dont worry you should still hook into some fish.. Good luck let me know how you do![fishin]
ok im kind of lost so do i still get off at the exit by smith and edwards because thats where i get off to go to the north marina..
I was the guy just east of you Wed that couldn’t buy a fish, until I mimicked your presentation as closely as I could! Thanks again for the help. It was really cool watching you put on a fishing clinic…I could’ve swore you caught way more than you reported, seemed you were catching one every time I turned around until the clouds cooled things off a little-even then you would be pulling them in more often than anyone else. I ended up with 1 smallish wiper, a nice crappie and had one broken off and missed a couple hits. That place is sure fun, wish I lived closer!