Where are the Wipers at Willard Bay

Fishing Time: 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Weather: cloudy, cold morning reaching 60 by afternoon
Moon Phase: 89% Moon
Location: Willard Bay
Water Temp: Morning = 52.8 degrees, Afternoon 55.8 degrees
Bait: Bottom bouncing worm harnesses, trolling crankbaits, casting curly tailed jigs
Who Went: JJ, MeAfter landing a few wipers last year I have been itching to get back up to Willard Bay and catch more. They are without a doubt the hardest fighting freshwater fish I have ever had on the other end of my line, so I decided to give it a try this week with the weather forecast calling for temperatures in the high 70’s, hoping the water would cooperate and warm up a few degrees to get the fish active. JJ and I headed north and arrived at the North Marina of Willard Bay around 7:00 a.m. We began the morning by joining the masses of boats and shoreline fisherman inside the harbor where the crappie are currently spawning. We watched a guy fishing from the shoreline fall in the lake, but besides that, not much more excitement fishing for crappie.

We left the marina and motored back into the northeast corner of the lake where I set up two bottom bouncing rigs with worm harnesses and two separate rods for trolling crankbaits. My thoughts were to bottom bounce two rods for walleye and troll the other two crankbait rods for wipers, killing two birds with one stone. I think we needed a bigger stone! We trolled at all speeds from 0.8 mph to 1.3 mph with no success. We tried deep diving cranks and shallow diving cranks, but no luck. We trolled all the way from the northeast corner southward through freeway bay and all the way to the island! I tried drifting and casting jigs all around the island without getting a single bite or seeing any fish on the finder. Then the bugs came out in full force and tried to make our life miserable.We relocated over to the north dike where we saw quite a few boats trolling and again tried our 4 rod set up, but still couldn’t buy a bite. The most frustrating part along the north dike was there were fish everywhere! I don’t know if they were carp, wiper or walleye, but they were there and wouldn’t touch a thing. I never saw any of the other boats land a fish either. Frustrated, I started hunting down fish with my fish finder and dropping a curly tailed jig right on their heads! Unfortunately, this only scared them away as they would quickly disappear once my jig reached them. Suddenly a wall of wind hit us with no warning and we were forced to get off the lake.We bottom bounced, trolled, casted, and jigged a wide range of depths from 12 to 23 feet with the most effective depth for seeing fish being 20-23 feet. The fish were all over in the water column with some hugging the bottom and others as high up as 5 feet below the surface. It was frustrating to say the least and I am ready for some warm weather to get these fish active. It’s approaching June and the water temps are still holding in the mid 50’s! Unfortunately I think flooding is going to hit us hard this year. We still haven’t reached runoff this year and the mountains continue to gain snowpack reaching record levels in many places. It could be scary!

Utah Lake - Bad Fishing But Good Eating

Fishing Time: 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Weather: Clear, no wind, 80's
Moon Phase: 18% Moon
Location: Utah Lake
Water Temp: Main Lake - 57, Harbor = 60, Bass Hole = 63
Bait: Walleye = jigs, Bass = jig & trailer, drop-shot, Catfish = bobber and worm
Who Went: JJ, Dad, MeMy dad wanted to go fishing this Saturday before he heads back to work after recovering from heart surgery, but unfortunately most his favorite trout waters are still under a thick layer of ice. He said he was willing to go anywhere so I gave him 4 options… Willard Bay, Pineview, Deer Creek, or Utah Lake. It surprised me when he said Utah Lake, but I happily obliged and that’s where we headed.

We got there bright and early around 9:30 (early for my dad) and began the day drifting jigs just north of the dikes at Provo Boat Harbor to see if we could get lucky and pick up a walleye, but it didn’t happen. We headed over to my new secret bass hole and found that it wasn’t a secret at all! There were multiple bass boats in there and they all acted ticked off that everyone else new about the spot. I talked to most of them and they were not having much luck. One guy said he got there early that morning before everyone else and landed 4. I caught one largemouth and that was it. My dad spent his time trying to catch a carp! Don’t have a clue why, but in his mind a big carp has more allure than a largemouth bass, weird! It looks like my honey hole is an early in the year location because it was more than annoying having all those boats in there. I waited in line behind another boat to try the inlet where the fishing is usually best, but didn’t even get a bite. It looked as if it had been hammered all morning. One fisherman said there were 3 boats trying to fish it at one time earlier in the day! No thanks, I’m done with that spot!

With perfect weather and not a ripple on the water we cruised out to Bird Island to see if any kitties wanted to play and were greeted by 8 other boats. Sat there and fished for about 2 hours and didn’t even get a bite. Never saw any other boats land a fish either and they all left before we did. Obviously it’s still too early for the kitty cats.

Best part of the trip was the spread that my dad brought for lunch. When he showed up to my house, it took us 10 minutes to load the grocery bags full of goodies. He had everything from peanuts and snickers to my new favorite candy... sweet and sour twizzlers! We sat out by Bird Island while my dad made us the best sandwich that has ever graced the presence of my boat! Marinated steak and chicken with all the fixins from fresh sliced tomatoes, pickled peppers, horseradish and sprouts. You name it and he had it. The fishing was bad, but the eating was good, just like always when I'm with my old man! I don't know if he would admit it, but I think that's his favorite part of the trip, making and serving good food to me and my buddies. Well done dad, and I wish I could have returned the favor by being a better guide and helping you land a fish!

On our way in from Bird Island we did some scoping around down the shoreline along the airport dike road to see if I could find those clear open holes that Rick and I found last week. Really tough to see from the lake so I gave up quickly. Headed back to the harbor and battled 8 other bass boats to fish along the rocky dikes inside the harbor for bass. Again didn't catch any fish or see any landed. One interesting note was that the dikes are about 1 foot from being covered in water. In one spot the water has already made it over to the other side. The lake is already past full pool and it’s becoming evident that flooding this year is inevitable. We loaded the trailer and went home disappointed in the fishing, but any day on the water with the old man is a good day.

One word for this trip… BUSY! There were boats everywhere. Probably due to the fact it was the first nice day in May for people to get their boat out. It was a warm day pushing 80 degrees. Water temp at the bass hole was 63 and the main lake was 57. Inside the harbor was 60. The lake should go bonkers next week for white bass!

Bass Not Quite Ready For Spawn at Utah Lake

Fishing Time: 3:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Weather: Sunny, no wind, 70’s
Moon Phase: 5% Moon
Location: Utah Lake (Provo Boat Harbor)
Water Temp: Bass spot = 63 degrees, Main lake = 52 degrees
Bait: Bass = jigs, drop-shot, spinnerbaits, tube jigs. Walleye = curly tailed grubs
Who Went: Phil, Rick, MeWith warming temperatures and sun in the sky, bass fishing became too tempting to pass up, and replaced our planned trip to the middle Provo River for walleye. Instead we ran down to Utah Lake to assault the largemouth bass. We arrived at Provo Boat Harbor at 3:00 p.m., unhitched the boat at the marina and drove down the airport dike road to see if we could find any open patches of water that held bass. We found one good pocket with visible bass swimming around and Rick easily plucked a couple dinks out before we moved on down the dike. We didn’t see any more holes that were irresistible so it was back to the boat ramp to launch. My cousin Phil met us there, jumped in the boat, and we were off to our new bass honey hole. When we arrived we were greeted by 3 fly fishermen that were pounding our spot for carp from the bank and completely ruined our spirits. It’s a small area and once it’s been fished it quits producing. Discouraged, but hopeful, we fished the areas around our spot where we have still had fair success for bass, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t meant to be. The weather seemed perfect along with the water temps, but the bass just didn’t seem to be there. Rick and I missed a few hits and Phil caught one chunky 2 pounder that at least made the trip bearable, but it was disappointing to say the least. Just before dark we ran over to the inlet of the Provo River and tried our luck for some post-spawn walleye. The fishing was slow, but I did luck into one small walleye that got me off the snide and Rick had a walleye hit, but didn’t get it in the boat.