Better Late Than Never – Discovering Willard Bay
Willard Bay is a 15.5 square mile diked impoundment that most people notice as they travel along I-15 either coming or going from Idaho to maybe Brigham City or Tremonton. It boasts a state park, great marinas, camping facilities, and other amenities, and I have wanted to explore the fishing opportunities there for a very long time.
Though I have written about the various fish species in Willard Bay, which include large and smallmouth bass, wipers (a cross between white bass and stripers), walleyes, catfish, crappies, blue gills, and as a forage species, gizzard shad, all my knowledge came from research and conversations with a few angling friends and officials from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR).
One of my granddaughters, Madisson Dawn Allphin, asked if I would come to Willard and have my boat available for members of a youth group camping for a night at the State Park, to go fishing as part of their “water activities”. The following is a snippet of my first day on Willard Bay.
First Impressions
I left Provo at 4:00 a.m. and arrived at the reservoir at 5:45 a.m., having made the trip through Salt Lake City and Ogden in record time (for pulling a boat and obeying the speed limit). A constant 20 mph wind welcomed me and I wondered how I was going to explore the lake in three-foot waves. Then, I launched in a beautiful, protected marina and found myself in calm water, behind a series of dikes and large, mature trees that absorbed the brunt of the wind and left me in a relatively large area in which to begin my search for fish.
Large and smallmouth bass were first on my species list so I tied on a white spinnerbait and moved around the marina area targeting brush, rocks, current, and drop offs looking for that first illusive bite. Within 20 minutes, and after casting against a windblown portion of rocky bank near mouth of the marina, a two-pound smallmouth bass “hammered” my spinnerbait. Internal light bulbs began blinking and I realized all the fish activity would be on that windblown bank so I returned over and over again, catching bass each time I passed through the 200-yard bank.
Later, a three-pound catfish inhaled my spinnerbait and put up the best fight of the day. Also, largemouth bass, and blue gills began nipping at my spinnerbait so I downsized my presentation to a 1/8-ounce ball head jig with a white curly-tailed grub and caught small bass and blue gills.
Fishing with Teenagers
When the youth group arrived and the wind settled down, the teenagers chose between going fishing and playing on water toys so I patiently waited for some of them to finish with their water toys and be ready to catch fish. A father-daughter team of Ric and Brynley Johnson of Provo, were my first victims. We chose to fish for blue gills with a bobber and night crawler technique that produced a ton of bites but only a couple of blue gills actually making it all the way into the boat. Setting the hook on tiny blue gills prove difficult for all of us.
Finally, three other girls “demanded” to catch bigger fish so I took them to that windblown bank from earlier and Danielle Slagowski, threw out her bobber and worm and caught another beautiful three-pound catfish on her first cast. The photo accompanying this column shows two of my three companions, Victoria Amistad and Danielle Slagowski (neither of them daring to touch the catfish) posing for the shot.
Willard Bay was a great place to fish. We caught upwards of 20 fish and never really left the marina. I can’t wait to get back to Willard for the famed wiper boils set to begin this month. If you want a fine place to camp, play, or fish, put Willard Bay on your bucket list. For me it a trip made “better late than never.”
About The Author
