11-28-2011, 07:37 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. Glad you liked it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Any good excuse is better than none.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It has been a wierd year on Willard...and some other waters as well. As we have discussed on this forum before, a big part of the difficulty experienced by anglers on Willard is likely caused by the super abundance of food. With wiper numbers down the shad have exploded. The predators don't need to go after fast swimming artificials when they can simply slurp up a passing shadlet from the huge schools all over the lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The current big dieoff of baby shad is also having an effect. The one catfish I managed to hook was the only one that held onto the bait long enough to stick it. All the other bites picked up the bait and as soon as they felt a bit of drag on the line they dropped the bait. They are used to finding dead baby shad all over the place and anything that acts or smells differently does not cut it. By the way, the kitty I kept was stuffed with shadlets.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]During the early part of the year...when all of the winter killed shad are long since gone...the wipers, walleyes and catfish are a lot more hungry and aggressive. In fact, they have to resort to eating crawdads, small bluegills, midge larvae, leeches and anything else that will keep them alive until the late spring shad spawn produces more baby shad.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hopefully the DWR's wiper program will be more successful and will get some more predators into the lake and the predator and prey ratios will get back into a range where anglers still have a shot at finding some hungry fish.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Any good excuse is better than none.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It has been a wierd year on Willard...and some other waters as well. As we have discussed on this forum before, a big part of the difficulty experienced by anglers on Willard is likely caused by the super abundance of food. With wiper numbers down the shad have exploded. The predators don't need to go after fast swimming artificials when they can simply slurp up a passing shadlet from the huge schools all over the lake.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The current big dieoff of baby shad is also having an effect. The one catfish I managed to hook was the only one that held onto the bait long enough to stick it. All the other bites picked up the bait and as soon as they felt a bit of drag on the line they dropped the bait. They are used to finding dead baby shad all over the place and anything that acts or smells differently does not cut it. By the way, the kitty I kept was stuffed with shadlets.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]During the early part of the year...when all of the winter killed shad are long since gone...the wipers, walleyes and catfish are a lot more hungry and aggressive. In fact, they have to resort to eating crawdads, small bluegills, midge larvae, leeches and anything else that will keep them alive until the late spring shad spawn produces more baby shad.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Hopefully the DWR's wiper program will be more successful and will get some more predators into the lake and the predator and prey ratios will get back into a range where anglers still have a shot at finding some hungry fish.[/#0000ff]
[signature]