04-13-2018, 09:37 PM
I am with TubeDude (and others) arguing for the wholesale slaughter theory. Let's throw the whole success of the inlet spawners debate aside for a minute and look at the sheer numbers of keeper sized walleyes (and wipers, but since they weren't ever protected there, I'll just stick to walleyes for the purpose of this post) that get removed from the reservoir during a very short time. I can't imagine what fishing would be like during the rest of the year if all those fish were still in there. They really haul bucketloads out of there all day long every day. It's like a conveyor belt of dead fish coming out of Willard Bay. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Do the math people.
The vast vast majority of my time spent at Willard is trolling and casting out of my boat. Nevertheless, I have made several trips to fish the inlet. Last year I fished it twice, and caught 2 inside the mouth, that actually bit my lure. This year, I fished it three times (afternoons on March 24, 29, and 30) and caught 1 in the mouth that actually bit my lure. I hooked 2 others that were snagged, and caught enough scales to make a nice pair of boots. One of the 2 that were foul hooked appeared to be hooked underneath the lower jaw (on the outside of its mouth), but I do not believe that it bit my lure.
I consider myself to be an above average walleye fisherman, and I was in constant astonishment that there could be that many walleyes in that thing, and that I wasn't just catching them left and right. But for the most part, walleyes were getting caught left and right by everyone else. In my observation, it was an absolute rarity that I witnessed a fish landed that was hooked in the mouth. I witnessed foul hooked fish that were landed and reduced to possession. And most fish landed away from the direct observation of the crowd were also reduced to posession. In all fairness though, I did witness many foul hooked fish that were released. I can't imagine what goes on there at night though, and that's when the crowd shows up! I don't know about you, but I have a hard enough time getting a good enough presentation to trick a walleye into biting in good enough light that I can see my line, where it's going into the water, and how much slack is in it, let alone complete darkness!! Apparently those walleyes can see a heck of a lot better than I take them for!
Anyway, I had my license checked 2 out of 3 trips this year. During the second check at the parking lot, I mentioned to the Officer that there was a tremendous amount of fish being harvested illegally over there if he was interested in that, and he didn't even bat an eye. In fact, there wasn't any indication whatsoever that he even heard one word of my statement. Weird.
I have fished for spawning walleyes plenty and I rarely snag fish or bring scales in on my hook. They ususally eat my lures. Bite them. Strike them. Whatever you want to call it, but they take them in their mouth. But they sure don't seem to bite very much at that inlet, I'll tell you that.
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The vast vast majority of my time spent at Willard is trolling and casting out of my boat. Nevertheless, I have made several trips to fish the inlet. Last year I fished it twice, and caught 2 inside the mouth, that actually bit my lure. This year, I fished it three times (afternoons on March 24, 29, and 30) and caught 1 in the mouth that actually bit my lure. I hooked 2 others that were snagged, and caught enough scales to make a nice pair of boots. One of the 2 that were foul hooked appeared to be hooked underneath the lower jaw (on the outside of its mouth), but I do not believe that it bit my lure.
I consider myself to be an above average walleye fisherman, and I was in constant astonishment that there could be that many walleyes in that thing, and that I wasn't just catching them left and right. But for the most part, walleyes were getting caught left and right by everyone else. In my observation, it was an absolute rarity that I witnessed a fish landed that was hooked in the mouth. I witnessed foul hooked fish that were landed and reduced to possession. And most fish landed away from the direct observation of the crowd were also reduced to posession. In all fairness though, I did witness many foul hooked fish that were released. I can't imagine what goes on there at night though, and that's when the crowd shows up! I don't know about you, but I have a hard enough time getting a good enough presentation to trick a walleye into biting in good enough light that I can see my line, where it's going into the water, and how much slack is in it, let alone complete darkness!! Apparently those walleyes can see a heck of a lot better than I take them for!
Anyway, I had my license checked 2 out of 3 trips this year. During the second check at the parking lot, I mentioned to the Officer that there was a tremendous amount of fish being harvested illegally over there if he was interested in that, and he didn't even bat an eye. In fact, there wasn't any indication whatsoever that he even heard one word of my statement. Weird.
I have fished for spawning walleyes plenty and I rarely snag fish or bring scales in on my hook. They ususally eat my lures. Bite them. Strike them. Whatever you want to call it, but they take them in their mouth. But they sure don't seem to bite very much at that inlet, I'll tell you that.
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