Willard Bay Reservoir
Today’s report
Willard Bay Reservoir is a fair bet today. The reservoir is 48% full, well below the usual 58% for this time of year, and drawing down over the last month. The DWR last stocked wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) (3,480 fish) on July 7. Today's forecast: sunny, 64°F.
- calm, fishable weather
Fishing Willard Bay Reservoir: what to know
Willard Bay is a 10,000-acre freshwater reservoir diked off from the Great Salt Lake north of Ogden, at 4,200 feet — shallow, warm, and Utah's best warm-water fishery this side of Lake Powell. Wipers (white bass × striped bass hybrids), walleye, crappie, channel catfish, and smallmouth bass, with a state park at both the north and south marinas and dike access all the way around.
Walleye spawn along the rocky dikes in March and April and bite well through May. Wipers turn on as the water passes 60°F and by June and July they're boiling on shad on the surface at dawn and dusk — the most exciting fishing in northern Utah. Catfish fish all summer, best at night. Crappie stack up in the harbors in spring and fall. It ices over most winters but the ice is unreliable this low.
Wipers: watch for boils and throw topwaters or white flukes into them; otherwise troll crankbaits along the dikes and the outlet. Walleye: jigs and minnows or crawler harnesses along the rip-rap at dusk in spring. Catfish: cut bait or shrimp on the bottom near the inlet. Crappie: small jigs around the marina structure. Wipers have a small daily limit with a size rule — see the regulations below.
Current conditions
Stocking
Last stocked Jul 7, 2026 — wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) (3,480 fish).
| Date | Species | Quantity | Avg length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2026 | wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) | 3,480 | 0.33" |
| Jun 18, 2026 | wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) | 2,612 | 9.98" |
| Jun 9, 2026 | wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) | 219,200 | 0.3" |
| May 11, 2026 | wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) | 1,058 | 7.79" |
| May 11, 2026 | wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) | 700 | 7.63" |
| May 11, 2026 | wiper (white × striped bass hybrid) | 1,060 | 7.48" |
| Apr 7, 2026 | walleye | 95,701 | 0.31" |
| Apr 6, 2026 | walleye | 950,405 | 0.31" |
Best time to fish Willard Bay Reservoir
The DWR has stocked Willard Bay Reservoir 83 times over the last 6 seasons, and 81% of those plants landed in April, May, November — the freshest fish and the easiest bite usually follow within a week or two of a stocking.
Species
Location
Nearby waters (within ~25 mi):
Regulations
- Limit 10 crappie.
- Limit 15 yellow perch.
- Limit 6 walleye, only 1 walleye may be over 24 inches.
- Possession and use of commercially sold and preserved gizzard shad is allowed. Otherwise, possession of gizzard shad, dead or alive, is unlawful.
Special rules from the 2026 Utah Fishing Guidebook. Statewide daily limits apply to anything not listed. Rules change — always verify in the current guidebook before you fish.