More Punishment at Willard Bay

Fishing Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Weather: sunny and hot with temps over 90 degrees. Calm wind from the south.

Moon Phase: 35% Waxing

Water Temp: 75 degrees

Location: Willard Bay

Best Baits: Whopper Plopper (shad color)

Who Went: Casey Davies, Dunc

I keep reading reports of catching limits of walleye at Willard Bay.  I honestly hate this lake and for whatever reason these success stories just keep reeling me in to try again.  You would think I would learn my lesson (sigh).

Casey said he was down to go get skunked, so we hit the road late afternoon to catch the supposed evening walleye bite.  We launched from the north end and headed towards the light pole.  We started seeing fish on the finder and stopped to give it a try.  We ran two bottom bouncing rigs and two cranks.  We continued to see fish all over, but as usual nothing would commit.  I tried all different speeds, different lures, and multiple areas with zero success.  Casey did have one good hit on his crankbait, but it didn’t stick. 

As the sun fell behind the horizon, I cursed Willard again and made a game plan to fish the marina before we left.  I put on a Whopper Plopper and Casey chose a lipless crankbait.  First cast for Casey produced a smallmouth bass that flipped off right at the boat.  Once inside the harbor I had a good explosion on my topwater and finally broke the skunk with a chunky little largemouth bass. 

We continued working our way around the bay until it was too dark to see.  Right as we were calling it quits, I had another good topwater explosion and put a decent smallmouth in the boat. 

I can’t tell you how frustrating Willard Bay is to me.  I see fish everywhere but can’t get them to bite.  Then to add insult to injury, we watched a boat troll right by us and hook up with a walleye.  I hate that place, but I’m sure I will get sucked into going there again when I read more success stories!