An evening at Willard

[Old_Coot]

I feel much better now! After being away TDY to DC for a week and for a week before that I couldn't seem to catch anything, it sure felt good to get back out on the pond tonight and feel the rod tip-chatter of a big wiper! My daughter and I went out at 3:30 and came back in at 6:00. We would still be out there but the line of all three reels ended up being unusabel due to some huge tangles. Anyway, about the fishing; we caught four wipers about a mile out north-west and south-west of the island in about 16 feet of water. We didn't see any boils. Even though we tried several different lures, we caught all four on a modified prism shad by Producer.<br><br>From reading some of the posts, and from my decent couple of hours this evening, I get the feeling that maybe the wiper fishing is picking back up and the slump has passed.<br><br><br> --- Old Coot ---<br>Keepin the net wet

[Kent]

The island is a little over 1/3 of the way across the reservoir from the south marina. If you can see the boat ramp (which is the center boat ramp) through the mouth of the south marina as you go across Willard you are directly in line for the island. The island is marked by a buoy. The east side of the island is shallower than the west side of it. Troll close to it, or cast lures close to it, on all sides; however, be aware that is made of sunken tires and will eat lures (and props when the water is low) if you get too close.<br><br>

[BearLakeMack]

Is that fact or fiction? When Predator and I were out the other night we discussed that very issue. Is the island indeed an artifical reef made from tires or is it the remains of a test dike built when the impoundment was being built or just a big pile of dirt left over? As big as the island is, one can only imagine the number of tires need for that pile. I do know that on numerous passes the other evening, we bounced our lures off the bottom of the island and hooked up on a few fish. We didn't snag up once on the bottom. Does anyone have facts to support the construction of the island?<br><br>

[PREDATOR]

The island is a subject of many rumors. I have heard them all over the years, but never heard any evidence to support any of them. The make up of the island picture wise, starting on the east side, is a slow taper up to a very shallow depth, then a sudden drop off on the west side. From the south side, it is a slow taper that is not a straight line, its curves. The north end, is very strange, I think it is kind of a delta looking thing. high at the center with a fan out. Now if that description is accurate, it would take an awful lot of tires and some serious effort to construct, definitley not a "pile" of tires, they would have to have been very arranged. If it infact was a test dike, the only explanation would be that the dike washed out to the east. Thus the drop on the west and the taper on the east. With the remaining wash out on the north and south. Personally I tend to believe that it is simply one dirt mound that existed before the bay was built. They didnt bulldoze it over and so it is there. Now that is just as much speculation as any of the others, but it is eaiser for me to swallow than that some one carefully arranged all those tires into a big island with drops and tapers before the bay was filled with water.<br><br>UNICORN CATCHER F.L.P.

[BearLakeMack]

Hey, Kent, it's not that big a deal. I was not in anyway trying to prove someone's claim or statement wrong or trying to pin anyone down. I've heard the tire theory too. It would be interesting though to know how it did come about. <br><br>

[wiperhunter2]

Hey Old-Coot, what is a modified prism shad? I use a blue back prism Producer, is yours the same color?<br> Kent, I remember a Doug Miller show years ago where they talked about putting tires and Christmas trees at Willard but that was on the West dike maybe that was what you were remembering. Just a thought, WH2<br><br>

[PREDATOR]

Hey anonymous, do you have any info on the size of these islands? I am aware of lots of structure that some may call islands. But the majority of what I know of is small enough that it never reaches anywhere near the surface. That is why I tend to call it structure rather than an island. In all reality willard only has one island, an island being land above the water surrounded by water, and it is very small over by the north marina. There is one temporary island that occasionally gets covered by water south of the north marina, but that is also very small and shallow. I am just curious if you know about some other things I am unaware of. Tell your buddy to log on and register a user name, I would love to talk with him. While you are at it, go ahead and register yourself, we would love to have you here.<br><br>UNICORN CATCHER F.L.P.

[Kent]

As promised I did some research about the island -- and it is definitely not made of tires; however, there are several sunken tires in Willard. Below is a response that I just received from Tom Pettengill: "I don't have any good information on what it actually is. Some one with the Bureau of Reclamation in SLC may be able to check their files and see for sure. It isn't made of tires. I can remember one year when the top was out of water and we did some electrofishing around it in the spring to see if the walleyes were using it for spawning but we didn't find any. The south side was quite jagged rock and it drops off more rapidly on the south side. I have heard that some of the humps and ridges in Willard were built as test dike sections to see how they would hold up and/or settle into the ground in the area but I don't know for sure if that is the case with the island. It did appear to have some pretty big rocks on that south shore (if my old memory is still accurate). We have put in some artificial reefs made of tires, cable and Christmas trees. About all that is left of the old ones is the tires and cable. One of those is in the area called "Mud Bay" south of the North Marina in some deep water behind that submerged island.. Another is down near the SE corner off Nerva Lane. Another that I have gotten snagged on in close to shore in the SW dogleg corner between the South Marina and the West Dike. Also out off the light pole is a bunch of tires and cables that you can lose lots of tackle on. I hope this helps. I'd be interested in the real history of the island if you find out about it. I did just check the file on Willard to see if we had any old documents and I found a small copy of an old map showing they did some ground penetration studies out near where the island is but it didn't show any test sites for dike sections or rock piles, etc. I couldn't see any obvious natural humps in the area either."

Thomas D. Pettengill
Sport Fisheries and Aquatic Education Coordinator
State of Utah
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife Resources
1594 W. North Temple, Suite 2110
P.O. Box 146301
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-6301
801-538-4814
801-538-4745 (Fax)
[url "mailto:tompettengill@utah.gov"][#014ea2]tompettengill@utah.gov[/#014ea2][/url]
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[Scooter]

[sly] There is a small sand bar type island over toward the S/W corner that holds a few wiper an wallies. I keep forgetting to mark it on the GPS but can usually find it after floating around for a while.
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