Willard today with The Slayer

[wiperhunter2]

Ira and I got up to Willard this morning, launching around 7:30 am. We were greeted at the ramp by none other than TubeDude, it was good sharing the water with you today Pat. It started off pretty slow but at 8:30 the switch turned on and we boated 5 cats up to 23" in the next 40 minutes. The pink tiger flig, with chub meat for bait was the hot flig for the day but we also caught a few on the blue/silver flig. Not long after we launched 3 DWR trucks pulled up, they launched a boat and headed over to the West dike area. We did not talked to them but we are guessing they are starting their annual gill netting for walleye, seems a little early, with the water temp being only 42 degrees but that's our best guess. After the catching slowed down we moved over to Freeway bay but over the next hour or two we only picked up 1 more cat, so we moved back over to the area where we started out. We ended up catching two more cats and one jumbo perch before we headed in around 1:30. Pretty nice day out there today and we were happy with the results on our first boat fishing trip in 2022.

[Cowboypirate]

Thats a great start to the Willard season

[Jmorfish]

Dang nice perch Curtis...any rumblings yet about wipers quality/quantity here in the pond?

[Jig-fisher]

Very nice!  What a toad of a perch!

[TubeDude]

Good to see you guys again too.  Glad you got some tugs...even if the kitties were pretty sluggish in that 40 degree water.  Still, tugs is tugs.  And I managed to avoid my one and only skunk of the year as is traditional for my first March trip to Willard.  I caught 3 cats.  Yahoo. 

I probably could have caught more cats if I had fished fligs and meat more.  But I was hoping for ABC...anything but cats.  So I spent a lot of time dragging a crawler rig and pitching plastics.  I got a few light whacks on the crawler rig but no hookups.  Maybe perch?  Not even a sniff on a range of colors and sizes of plastics.  Got my cats on a fire tiger flig.  Missed a couple of others. 

No video on this trip.  My GoPro was balky in the cold.  Several of the fish battles I tried to record either did not record at all...or only got a few seconds.  That included the whole sequence I thought I shot of you guys fighting and landing a nice kitty when you were close by.  However, I did get a shot earlier with my other camera of you guys netting one of the first cats you caught earlier.

I talked to Chris Penne (DWR) for a couple of minutes before they launched their netting boat.  He said this was their first shot at the walleyes this year.  Hope they do as well this year as they have been doing in the past.  Their netting and stocking efforts have really helped the anglers' walleye catches.

     

[wiperhunter2]

We likely had three others on but this was the only perch we got in. As far as wipers this year it will be more of the same as the last four years. Since the DWR went in another direction and are now putting all their efforts in making Willard a walleye fishery, wipers will take a back seat to the eyes as far as numbers being cauht there. From planting a millon wipers a year in it's hayday, to now only planting a few hundred thousand, that tells the tail. So while there are and will continue to be wipers in Willard, their numbers are 1/4 of what they once were. Don't get me wrong, while I love the fight of a wiper, walleye are much better eating IMO. The  thing is, unless we start getting a lot of water pouing into Willard this will likely be a short season this year. In an average year 6 to 7 ft of water is taken out of Willard during the season and just from that if we lose 6 ft of water we will not be able to launch a boat by the middle of Summer, so you better get out there early this year before things get ugly.

[Mbjones12]

Thanks for the updates on Willard. A couple of questions, and sorry, I'm inexperienced, but what exactly is a flig? I've never heard that term before. Also what was the water depth? Wanting to take out my boat soon, but am worried about the depth. Let me know please.

Thanks,

MJ

[TubeDude]

Thanks for the updates on Willard.  A couple of questions, and sorry, I'm inexperienced, but what exactly is a flig?  I've never heard that term before.  Also what was the water depth?  Wanting to take out my boat soon, but am worried about the depth.  Let me know please.

Thanks,

MJ

Water depths that produced best for both of us was from 11-12 feet.  I made big S turns and sonared a whole lotta lake...from about 5' out to over 14'...and didn't see much anywhere.  I did mark quite  few fish in just over 10' of water in one area but couldn't get any munches. 

Sorry.  Fligs are the cutesy name I gave to floating jigs.  I have been making and using them for a long time and they have really proven effective for a lot of Utah fishies...especially in Willard.  I am attaching a pictorial writeup.  Also a couple of pictures.  One is of one of the fish I caught yesterday...with a fire tiger flig.  The other is of a perch caught last fall on the pink tiger...the color that worked best for the Deadly Duo yesterday.  We were both "sweetening" our fligs with chub meat.

 

[doitall5000]

We likely had three others on but this was the only perch we got in. As far as wipers this year it will be more of the same as the last four years. Since the DWR went in another direction and are now putting all their efforts in making Willard a walleye fishery, wipers will take a back seat to the eyes as far as numbers being cauht there. From planting a millon wipers a year in it's hayday, to now only planting a few hundred thousand, that tells the tail. So while there are and will continue to be wipers in Willard, their numbers are 1/4 of what they once were. Don't get me wrong, while I love the fight of a wiper, walleye are much better eating IMO. The  thing is, unless we start getting a lot of water pouing into Willard this will likely be a short season this year. In an average year 6 to 7 ft of water is taken out of Willard during the season and just from that if we lose 6 ft of water we will not be able to launch a boat by the middle of Summer, so you better get out there early this year before things get ugly.

Thanks for your update on willard,  it's going to be a difficult year. I'm wondering if the midlake island is exposed? Hope they have some bouys on it.  Did you get an open water temperature? 
I'm looking for a trip next week.

[Mbjones12]

Thanks for the updates on Willard.  A couple of questions, and sorry, I'm inexperienced, but what exactly is a flig?  I've never heard that term before.  Also what was the water depth?  Wanting to take out my boat soon, but am worried about the depth.  Let me know please.

Thanks,

MJ

Water depths that produced best for both of us was from 11-12 feet.  I made big S turns and sonared a whole lotta lake...from about 5' out to over 14'...and didn't see much anywhere.  I did mark quite  few fish in just over 10' of water in one area but couldn't get any munches. 

Sorry.  Fligs are the cutesy name I gave to floating jigs.  I have been making and using them for a long time and they have really proven effective for a lot of Utah fishies...especially in Willard.  I am attaching a pictorial writeup.  Also a couple of pictures.  One is of one of the fish I caught yesterday...with a fire tiger flig.  The other is of a perch caught last fall on the pink tiger...the color that worked best for the Deadly Duo yesterday.  We were both "sweetening" our fligs with chub meat.

 

Thanks TD!  I appreciate the help Sir!  Enjoy the info and the pics.  I've heard that a lot of people catch crappie out there in the spring time over on the North East corner by the willows.  Is that true, can anyone confirm?

[TubeDude]

Thanks TD!  I appreciate the help Sir!  Enjoy the info and the pics.  I've heard that a lot of people catch crappie out there in the spring time over on the North East corner by the willows.  Is that true, can anyone confirm?

There are good years and bad years for crappies...depending on water levels during the spawn.  When water levels are up the spawn is better...and there are more crappie two to three years from then.  The past few years have been poor both for crappie catching and spawning.  Water levels will likely not reach the willows this year.  But there will be crappies caught in both marinas...but especially the north marina. 

The crappies start showing up in numbers sometime after about mid April most years...after water temps climb over about 55 degrees.  You can tell when they are in by looking at the east shoreline of the north marina...elbow to elbow of "happy harvesters"...some of whom take home multiple limits each day. 

If you are afloat you can sometimes find pockets of crappies off Eagle Beach and Pelican Beach...as well as a few places around the dikes where there is still flooded structure.  Here is a PDF file with more info.

[SkunkedAgain]

Curt, I guess I'm weird, but I prefer or at least put on equal grounds a wiper to a walleye on the table and by a thousand times on the end of a line... I think the walleyes are the poorest fighters out there unless you get a big one, then they are okay, but nothing compared to a wiper... So maybe i'm in a minority, but I sure can't for the life of me see why the division would cut down on the wiper, they are the main reason I want to fish Willard. Only thing I can figure is the walleye are cheaper for the division to provide since they can raise them locally... Last few years I've caught very few wiper and the ones we got were small, none of those 20"+ fish we were catching five years ago... I know the dollar dictates what we get, but I'd sure like to see them keep the wiper on as high of level as possible... Just my thoughts...

Nice to see you two back on the fish patrol in the boat. I think you already told me, but just to confirm, you guys using the side planer to get your lines away from the boat and cover more water? How deep are you fishing? Nice to see you catch a big ole perch... and good to hear the cats are awake and feeding already... Thanks for a great report... Later J

[wiperhunter2]

Thanks for the updates on Willard.  A couple of questions, and sorry, I'm inexperienced, but what exactly is a flig?  I've never heard that term before.  Also what was the water depth?  Wanting to take out my boat soon, but am worried about the depth.  Let me know please.

Thanks,

MJ

As indicated, TubeDude is the one you want to talk to when it comes to all things fligs, he sells them and IMO they are money well spent. You will have no problem launching from the North marina, just don't try going to the East because it is very shallow, under 3 ft. Just launch and head out the channel, we did mark several several submerged islands, humps and roads about 4 ft under the boat but you should have no problem going over them. We did not go out toward the West very far, so we never got into water deeper than 12 ft and as Pat said, catching was best in 11 FOW or so. This time of year, at least until the water level starts dropping, around mid June, will be the best time of year to get on Willard.

[wiperhunter2]

We likely had three others on but this was the only perch we got in. As far as wipers this year it will be more of the same as the last four years. Since the DWR went in another direction and are now putting all their efforts in making Willard a walleye fishery, wipers will take a back seat to the eyes as far as numbers being cauht there. From planting a millon wipers a year in it's hayday, to now only planting a few hundred thousand, that tells the tail. So while there are and will continue to be wipers in Willard, their numbers are 1/4 of what they once were. Don't get me wrong, while I love the fight of a wiper, walleye are much better eating IMO. The  thing is, unless we start getting a lot of water pouing into Willard this will likely be a short season this year. In an average year 6 to 7 ft of water is taken out of Willard during the season and just from that if we lose 6 ft of water we will not be able to launch a boat by the middle of Summer, so you better get out there early this year before things get ugly.

Thanks for your update on willard,  it's going to be a difficult year. I'm wondering if the midlake island is exposed? Hope they have some bouys on it.  Did you get an open water temperature? 
I'm looking for a trip next week.

No, The Island is not out of the water, it never came out of the water last Fall and the water level has come up almost 2 ft since then. The lake temps on the East side got up to a little over 42 degrees yesterday. They usually don't put bouys on the island, this early in the year but maybe in the next month, they will put them out. If you don't have The Island marked on your GPS, it's a good idea to get it marked, so you will know exactly where it is, for the early and last season trips out there.

[Mbjones12]

Thanks TD!  I appreciate the help Sir!  Enjoy the info and the pics.  I've heard that a lot of people catch crappie out there in the spring time over on the North East corner by the willows.  Is that true, can anyone confirm?

There are good years and bad years for crappies...depending on water levels during the spawn.  When water levels are up the spawn is better...and there are more crappie two to three years from then.  The past few years have been poor both for crappie catching and spawning.  Water levels will likely not reach the willows this year.  But there will be crappies caught in both marinas...but especially the north marina. 

The crappies start showing up in numbers sometime after about mid April most years...after water temps climb over about 55 degrees.  You can tell when they are in by looking at the east shoreline of the north marina...elbow to elbow of "happy harvesters"...some of whom take home multiple limits each day. 

If you are afloat you can sometimes find pockets of crappies off Eagle Beach and Pelican Beach...as well as a few places around the dikes where there is still flooded structure.  Here is a PDF file with more info.

Thanks so much TD!  How many of these PDF files do you have??  I am printing them off and storing them in a 3 ring binder.  Also, you sell your fligs that you make?

[wiperhunter2]

Curt, I guess I'm weird, but I prefer or at least put on equal grounds a wiper to a walleye on the table and by a thousand times on the end of a line... I think the walleyes are the poorest fighters out there unless you get a big one, then they are okay, but nothing compared to a wiper... So maybe i'm in a minority, but I sure can't for the life of me see why the division would cut down on the wiper, they are the main reason I want to fish Willard.  Only thing I can figure is the walleye are cheaper for the division to provide since they can raise them locally...  Last few years I've caught very few wiper and the ones we got were small, none of those 20"+ fish we were catching five years ago...  I know the dollar dictates what we get, but I'd sure like to see them keep the wiper on as high of level as possible... Just my thoughts...

Nice to see you two back on the fish patrol in the boat.  I think you already told me, but just to confirm, you guys using the side planer to get your lines away from the boat and cover more water?  How deep are you fishing? Nice to see you catch a big ole perch... and good to hear the cats are awake and feeding already... Thanks for a great report... Later J

It's pretty simple as to why they stopped stocking huge numbers of wipers and switched over to walleye, they do not think the lake can sustain high numbers of two major predator fish. When they did that Willard fish survey about 4 or 5 years ago, the majority of those that completed it said they would rather have walleye than wipers in Willard. It really has nothing to do with cost, because as I'm sure you are aware, the DWR started stocking wipers in a lot of different lakes in Utah, now that they are not stocking those high number in Willard, plus I think the state now grows their own wipers.
No, we do not use side planers while slow trolling fligs, we tried it but it did not work well. Once we start trolling cranks then yes, we will for sure use the side planers. The water on most of the East side of the lake is 11 to 12', so that is the depth we had our success, when we got in water less than that, we had no luck.

[TubeDude]

Thanks so much TD!  How many of these PDF files do you have??  I am printing them off and storing them in a 3 ring binder.  Also, you sell your fligs that you make?

Got quite a few things I have put together to help others over the past few years.  Attached is a partial list I put together a couple of years ago.  Have added a few to it since. 

Yes, I do sell some of the fligs I make.  I work cheap and I'm worth it.  You can buy commercially made floating jig heads in a lot of places.  But my stuff includes a lot of sizes, shapes and colors not available elsewhere...and are mostly designed for the type of fishing I do...in Utah.  You would be welcome to visit my "tackletorium" sometime and look over some of the options.

[obifishkenobi]

Curt, I guess I'm weird, but I prefer or at least put on equal grounds a wiper to a walleye on the table and by a thousand times on the end of a line... I think the walleyes are the poorest fighters out there unless you get a big one, then they are okay, but nothing compared to a wiper... So maybe i'm in a minority, but I sure can't for the life of me see why the division would cut down on the wiper, they are the main reason I want to fish Willard.  Only thing I can figure is the walleye are cheaper for the division to provide since they can raise them locally...  Last few years I've caught very few wiper and the ones we got were small, none of those 20"+ fish we were catching five years ago...  I know the dollar dictates what we get, but I'd sure like to see them keep the wiper on as high of level as possible... Just my thoughts...

Nice to see you two back on the fish patrol in the boat.  I think you already told me, but just to confirm, you guys using the side planer to get your lines away from the boat and cover more water?  How deep are you fishing? Nice to see you catch a big ole perch... and good to hear the cats are awake and feeding already... Thanks for a great report... Later J

I'm with you Jeff, I think Wipers are just as good to eat as Walleye, they remind me of eating salt water rock cod, firm white mild fish, and they certainly fight a lot better than the limp noodle walleye. Maybe its time for another survey, I miss the days of regularly catching double digits of Wipers on almost every trip, from March through October. I used to incidentally catch a few Walleye while Wiper fishing, now I catch a few Wipers while Walleye fishing, my experience has been that the Window of time that the Walleye are easy to catch May and June is much shorter than the Wipers, March to October. There has to be a balance where they reduce the number of Walleye stocked and Increase the Wiper somewhere between what they are stocking now and what they used to stock. I know many would disagree with me, but personally I wouldn't care if they quit stocking Walleye all together and focused entirely on Wipers, that pound for pound are the hardest fighting game fish in this state.

[TubeDude]

Curt, I guess I'm weird, but I prefer or at least put on equal grounds a wiper to a walleye on the table and by a thousand times on the end of a line... I think the walleyes are the poorest fighters out there unless you get a big one, then they are okay, but nothing compared to a wiper... So maybe i'm in a minority, but I sure can't for the life of me see why the division would cut down on the wiper, they are the main reason I want to fish Willard.  Only thing I can figure is the walleye are cheaper for the division to provide since they can raise them locally...  Last few years I've caught very few wiper and the ones we got were small, none of those 20"+ fish we were catching five years ago...  I know the dollar dictates what we get, but I'd sure like to see them keep the wiper on as high of level as possible... Just my thoughts...

Nice to see you two back on the fish patrol in the boat.  I think you already told me, but just to confirm, you guys using the side planer to get your lines away from the boat and cover more water?  How deep are you fishing? Nice to see you catch a big ole perch... and good to hear the cats are awake and feeding already... Thanks for a great report... Later J

I'm with you Jeff, I think Wipers are just as good to eat as Walleye, they remind me of eating salt water rock cod, firm white mild fish, and they certainly fight a lot better than the limp noodle walleye. Maybe its time for another survey, I miss the days of regularly catching double digits of Wipers on almost every trip, from March through October. I used to incidentally catch a few Walleye while Wiper fishing, now I catch a few Wipers while Walleye fishing, my experience has been that the Window of time that the Walleye are easy to catch May and June is much shorter than the Wipers, March to October. There has to be a balance where they reduce the number of Walleye stocked and Increase the Wiper somewhere between what they are stocking now and what they used to stock. I know many would disagree with me, but personally I wouldn't care if they quit stocking Walleye all together and focused entirely on Wipers, that pound for pound are the hardest fighting game fish in this state.

Another factor in the move toward fewer wipers and more walleyes is the ease and cost of wiper production.  Efforts to raise our own wipers by crossing Utah Lake white bass with Powell stripers was not greatly successful.  Difficult to get the timing right between spawning species...and the time delay in getting one part of the equation to the other resulted in weaker hatchlings...and a lower survival rate.  That left going back to the old way...buying fertilized eggs or sac fry from another state.  It worked well originally but then DWR stopped buying from out of state in order to try in-state production.  That's when the downhill slide began.  Hmmmm? 

I'm witchoo...and a lot of others.  I fish for enjoys and also like to eat some of what I catch.  No doubt the walleye are superb on the table, but I have never had a problem with wiper flesh.   Good stuff.  No comparison on the hand to fin anglers' battle between a walleye and a wiper.  Tied tail to tail the wiper would turn the walleye inside out.  Can't remember ever hearing of a walleye breaking line...or a rod...on the strike or during the battle.

And you are right about the availability of wipers throughout the year.  I have caught them almost every month of the year...when the lake was not covered with ice.  But there are those who DO catch them under the ice.  They are a lot more angler-friendly than walleyes on the average.  Not many "average" anglers can count on catching even a single walleye on an "average" trip.  But plenty of folks catch numbers of wipers while fishing a wide range of lures and soaking a lot of different baits.  The "happy harvesters" clean up on them every year by bottom fishing with salt water mussels.  Ain't no self respectin' walleye would eat that stuff. 

As with all surveys, the results are often clouded by a disproportionate number of respondees favoring what the true majority of subjects would normally vote against...but don't take the time to register their vote.  So we probably have only ourselves to blame if the vote goes in a different direction than we would like.

[Freakyfisherman]

Curt, I guess I'm weird, but I prefer or at least put on equal grounds a wiper to a walleye on the table and by a thousand times on the end of a line... I think the walleyes are the poorest fighters out there unless you get a big one, then they are okay, but nothing compared to a wiper... So maybe i'm in a minority, but I sure can't for the life of me see why the division would cut down on the wiper, they are the main reason I want to fish Willard.  Only thing I can figure is the walleye are cheaper for the division to provide since they can raise them locally...  Last few years I've caught very few wiper and the ones we got were small, none of those 20"+ fish we were catching five years ago...  I know the dollar dictates what we get, but I'd sure like to see them keep the wiper on as high of level as possible... Just my thoughts...

Nice to see you two back on the fish patrol in the boat.  I think you already told me, but just to confirm, you guys using the side planer to get your lines away from the boat and cover more water?  How deep are you fishing? Nice to see you catch a big ole perch... and good to hear the cats are awake and feeding already... Thanks for a great report... Later J

I'm with you Jeff, I think Wipers are just as good to eat as Walleye, they remind me of eating salt water rock cod, firm white mild fish, and they certainly fight a lot better than the limp noodle walleye. Maybe its time for another survey, I miss the days of regularly catching double digits of Wipers on almost every trip, from March through October. I used to incidentally catch a few Walleye while Wiper fishing, now I catch a few Wipers while Walleye fishing, my experience has been that the Window of time that the Walleye are easy to catch May and June is much shorter than the Wipers, March to October. There has to be a balance where they reduce the number of Walleye stocked and Increase the Wiper somewhere between what they are stocking now and what they used to stock. I know many would disagree with me, but personally I wouldn't care if they quit stocking Walleye all together and focused entirely on Wipers, that pound for pound are the hardest fighting game fish in this state.

Can't remember ever hearing of a walleye breaking line...or a rod...on the strike or during the battle.

Pat,
I have broken off three massive walleyes on Deer Creek while fishing in the float tube. Two on the same outing in the Walsburg arm, the third being close to the buoys on the highway side. I know they were eyes by the head shakes they gave me. The two on the same trip were pre spawn time, the other was post spawn. 
Gabe