Fishing forecast (December through February): Willow Pond fish catch rates tend to remain fair for trout during the winter. The pond typically starts to see thin ice formation toward the latter part of December, into early January. If it's cold enough, the pond may freeze over completely. An ice safety guide is available here. However, in most years, the northeast portion of the pond (near the inlets) does not freeze, allowing anglers to fish those areas during the winter. High concentrations of waterfowl can make fishing the open water challenging. The DWR stocked rainbow trout and tiger trout in November, and we think these trout will continue to provide anglers fair to good fishing this winter. We recommend using glitter trout dough bait or nightcrawler fished 3 feet below a bobber. Small jigs tipped with nightcrawler are also an effective winter bait for bluegill. We recommend fishing these small jigs 4 feet below a slip bobber rig when targeting bluegill. Cold water temperatures (below 45 F) slow fish metabolism rates and lower energy levels considerably. This means that fish feed infrequently/sporadically and are sluggish, making them less likely to move quickly to eat a lure, fly or bait. However, lures (such as small marabou jigs) and streamers (such as size #12 beadhead woolly buggers) can still be effective. We recommend targeting areas of the pond with deeper water using a slow retrieve. The DWR's spring trout stocking efforts typically recommence late February to early March.