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.
