10-30-2002, 10:24 PM
The wiper stocking can be found on the dwr web page, when they stock them. I believe they raise them at the powell hatchery, and this year the dilema was to either continue to raise them in the hatchery which was expensive, or sell them off, or put them in willard. They were supposed to put a ton of the fry in there, but I dont know if they actually did. The survivors will take a few years to grow anyways. The small ones shouldnt have too much effect on the shad because they arent big enough to eat them yet. But if we have another bad shad year, like I think we will, we could be in trouble. Tom pettingil would be the one to talk to, hes a wiper lover and the state fisheries guy. I am thinking the ice is going to be on willard too long this year, the shad wont do well, and with the raised limit and pressure on the lake the fish will get fewer and skinnier. The shad are too sensitive to the cold for anyone to accuratley know if they will rebound or crash. But with the wipers and walleye counting on the shad for survival its got to be a tough fishery to manage. I wish the shad would explode and they would drop the limit back down to two fish so we could start to regrow the big ones of the past.