Windless Willard Morning 5-16-08

Utah Fishing Forum Utah Fishing General
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:sunglasses:This was a day of “NO W’S” on Willard. No wind, no wipers, no walleyes. Nothing but cookie cutter kitties. But, enough of them to keep us busy and provide another fish fry or two.

TubeBabe and I launched at the north marina about 6:30 AM. Water is just about exactly where it was a week ago…depthwise. However it was a bit cooler…57 at launch and warming to 64 when we got out at noon. A couple more warm days and the lows will be 65 or over. Then watch out.

**The recent high winds left the water a bit “stained” but it was clearing up nicely by late morning. As usual, we dragged minnows while firing hardbaits and plastics all around as we moved towards the NE corner. **

I scored the first fish…a nice “over-cookie” 19 inch kitty…just before 7 AM. Put it on my stringer since “SOMEONE” forgot to load the fish baskets this morning. First time we have had to use stringers for a long time.

No bites for either of us on wipers, wallies or crappies. Actually, no bites for TubeBabe until I had about 5 kitties swimming on the string and had released a few more. But, once she decided to tie on a hook and put bait on it she began to catch up. We both ended up catching about a dozen “cookie cutters”…13" to 15"…with a couple over that. We each kept 7 or 8…for the plate.

I actually put up my bait draggin gear by 10 and for the last two hours I flung all kinds of small plastics, trying to find some of the crappies we got last week. Nada, zip, zilch, zero crappies. I did have a gizzard shad hooked briefly on a crappie jig. About 12 inches and fiesty. Leaped clear of the water a couple of times and bent my stick pretty good. I didn’t wanna handle the stinkin’ thing so I arranged a long line disconnect. Oh yeah, I also caught one sub-cookie kitty on a small chartreuse tube jig.

Saw a few boats coming and going. Nobody we spoke with had scored much. One guy reported catching a smallmouth while dragging a worm harness for walleyes. But, I am betting that the wipers light up with the warming water.

I am also betting that the lake is going to be buzzing with PWC this weekend. They were already getting busy when we left just after noon on a Friday. Skeeter repellent didn’t work on either them or the midges that are getting thicker too. Did see a couple of bloodsuckers (mosquitos) this morning early. About that time.

Air temp over 70 when we got out of the water. But, the fish cleaning station is still closed. WHAZZUP WIDDAT???

Felt good to change into shorts and sandals for the warm ride home.

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Thanks for sharing, looks like a good time.

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I was one of those boats you saw coming and going. We left the marina around 8:30 or so and headed out to the middle of the North dike. I saw a little color over by the corner and figured that would have been you. Anyway we trolled all the way to the light pole doing the giant “S” pattern. Marked a few fish but didn’t get any hits. As we made the trun to the south I netted a 19" walleye, so we stayed there for a little bit before we decided to move off. We then headed to the freeway bay and caught one more small walleye and a small wiper. 3 guys, 5 hours, 3 fish…not the best catch rate.[:/]

Water temp ranged from 59* to 62* depending on how deep the water was.

It was still better than being at work!!

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Nice work Pat. Wish I could have been out with ya…next spring for sure.

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I thought you were going to “cart-it” to the south marina?

Like always, sounds like you had fun and caught some good eats.

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What is the limit for catfish on willard?

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:sunglasses:TubeBabe had a rough week and only got a couple of hours sleep last night, so we changed plans. Maybe next week.

Definitely fun to play with the kitties and they do make fine dinner guests.

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The limit is 8. Well with the Ogden Marathon going on tomorrow, and Willard not producing much I am wondering if Kevin and I should go to Yuba or Scofield. It has been a while since i have fished for slime rockets.

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:sunglasses:Thanks for answering the question. I overlooked it.

The fishing was not fast at Willard. And with nothing besides a few kitties biting it could be a circus with the power squadron this weekend. They like to use float tubers for pylons and marker buoys for their speed runs.

I’m guessing that the big cats at Utah Lake might be getting frisky. I have heard of a few walleyes and white bass coming in last week.

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Man them bunch of cats will make a fine meal fried or cooked over a propane grill. And the pelicans looked full and happy!:slight_smile:

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:slight_smile:Wellll … dinner last night was courtesy of a few of those little guys. Many people just don’t know how good catfish can be when cooked properly. Dude cooked some of the smaller fillets in a shallow pan with olive oil, butter and garlic … they were delicious served with some freshly baked bread!

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It seems that Willard kitties are getting bigger. I could be wrong. But it does seem like it.

Or it could be TubeDude using his camera to make them look bigger.[;)]

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:sunglasses:**Busted. Those pics are all photoshopped. No way we would ever catch any larger fish. **

Yes, the cats are somewhat larger than they were in 2004, the last year of the last drought. But, they are still smaller than the average size of former days. Here are some pics from the past…of Willard cats.

[inline “WILLARD CATS 1.jpg”]