Willard Bay Fishing Report – June 5

June 5, 2014 - posted by Chris Jacobson

May was a great month if you are an angler. Willard Bay has been on fire for any type of fish in the reservoir. Wiper and Walleye fishing has been and continues to be off the charts. Not to mention the Crappie fishing this year has been stellar, some anglers telling us that they caught the biggest crappie ever this year!

A coworker and I went out on his boat on June 2 and limited out on Walleye and Wiper. It was my best day ever on Willard Bay and my best trip so far this year for any lake.

Wiper – Willard Bay

Walleye – Willard Bay

We were trolling using shad Rapalas. We used some planer boards at first and did really well trolling about 2-3 mph for Walleye. The wind started to pick up so we pulled off the planer boards and started trolling a little faster at 3-5 mph and that’s when we started really getting into the wiper. We were using the same black and white/silver shad rap for both fish. The cool thing about it was that the total time on the water was a little over 3 hours and we had limited out. You can’t beat a day like that.

Now you might be saying “Enough about May, what does the fishing in June look like?” Here is what we are looking at for the next month. It should be just as good as the last!

Willard Bay

Willard should remain great fishing well into June. The Walleye and Wiper are hungry and will be looking for food. Shad colored Rapalas, including the shad rap or Rattling Rapala will work great.

As the weather gets warmer, look for the fish to mover lower in the water column. This means a bottom bouncer will be an awesome choice to get you down where the fish are. You can put a worm harness or even a floating Rapala on behind the bottom bouncer. For Walleye and Wiper, try varying the speed you are trolling. If you are catching Walleye but not Wiper, try speeding up. This could trigger a strike from a hungry Wiper that a slower speed might not.

Crappie fishing has started to taper off in the marinas, although you should still be able to catch some using a bobber and small jig throughout the summer.

One last bit of advice for fishing Willard: Make sure to pack the bug spray! The bugs can get bad no matter if you are fishing from the shore or in a boat.

Other Reservoirs

Pineview is starting to warm up and because of that, the fishing has picked up. Small mouth bass have been caught in Anderson Cove. Look for Crappie fishing to pick up early in June as the water gets warmer as well as the Tiger Muskie and Bullhead fishing.

Mantua will also be a good alternative reservoir to get some good fishing in. Trout fishing has picked up as the planters get bigger and as the water gets warmer the Bass fishing is always good there. You need to get on this reservoir early because the moss will soon become too thick to fish in most places.

The DWR predicted a great summer of fishing and so far it hasn’t disappointed! June is shaping up to be just as good as May! As always we are here to help you in the Fishing department here at Smith and Edwards.

We also love to hear your fishing stories and see your pics. Email them into us at info@smithandedwards.com and we will put them on our bragging board! Also email us or call us at 801-731-1120 if you have any questions or want the latest fishing reports!

One more tip for you…

Fish Secrets: Furry Flies

Check out Mike Vause’s fishing tip for Curtis Ray when Curtis was here in May.

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Willard Bay Fishing Report – May 1

May 1, 2014 - posted by Chris Jacobson

Willard Bay:
As the temperatures rise and we have a string of warm days in a row, Willard Bay will be a great place to fish. As the weather gets warmer, you will see the wiper and the walleye become very active.

The wiper will be doing a “false spawn” early this month and the crappie will be spawning as well. During their spawns, you will see both of these fish come close to shore, which will make shore fishing excellent.

Using small jigs about 3ft underneath a clear bobber is a popular choice from shore. You will reel your rig in very slow, letting the waves do the jigging for you. Trolling will be an excellent choice as well. Lately, fishermen have been targeting walleye and wiper with a Rapala shad imitation lure hooked to a weight or a bottom bouncer.

Other places to fish:
For some great fishing other than Willard, look for Pineview Reservoir to be very good fishing as the weather warms and the reservoir fills. The crappie will be spawning here as well and will be a great place to take kids to catch fish. Mantua is also really good this time of year generally. You want to get on this reservoir before it warms up and the moss gets too thick. Hitting this reservoir at just the right time will produce some great bass fishing as well as pan fish and trout fishing.

We are excited for May. It should be a great month to get out and do some fishing. Also, we love to see our customers successful using the gear they got at Smith and Edwards. Email us your pictures to info@smithandedwards.com and your pictures might end up on our Bragging Board!

As far as us, we never did catch anything picture worthy, but here are some great views of Willard Bay and Holmes Creek Reservoir this last week.

Willard Bay

Holmes Creek Reservoir

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Willard Bay Fishing Report – April 2

April 2, 2014 - posted by Chris Jacobson

WILLARD: Fish at Willard has been spotty at best lately. A few weeks ago, we had a warm spell where there were reports of some walleye becoming active but that ended when the weather turned off cold again. Walleye and Wiper are warm water fish, and generally are more active when the water gets warmer. The current water temp that the Willard Bay state parks website gives is 43 degrees but reports from anglers have it somewhere between 37-39 degrees.Catfish activity has been picking up and anglers are catching some nice ones using worms or carp meat right on the bottom.

Looking at the weather report, it should be getting a little warmer and in a week or two the Walleye and Wiper should be getting more active. As their activity increases, green or white grub jigs with the curly tails will be the ticket. If rapallas are more your speed, white or silver with black shad are going to be what you need. Trolling with a bottom bouncer and a worm harness also works well when the fish become more active.

A few other local spots that are hot right now are Hyrum and East Canyon Reservoir. Both of these reservoirs are great right now for Rainbow Trout. Marabou Jigs or Rainbow powerbait seem to be the best right now. As always with trout, gold and silver lures like a Jake are never a bad option. As the ice starts to come off of these higher reservoirs, look for the fishing to become really good!

New in the store:

It’s the reel everyone loved – and now it’s back.

A legendary reel reintroduced with new features, the Mitchell 300 and 308 Spinning Reels are $44.99 in the Smith & Edwards Fishing Department.

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