08-16-2017, 08:26 PM
[#0000FF]I sent a picture of the small fish reported by FatBiker in his report...to Chris Penne of DWR. I guessed it was a logperch. He confirmed that and provided some other info that may be of interest to fellow Willardites. So I started a separate thread rather than poach on Larry's report post.[/#0000FF]
Great to hear from you. You're correct - that's a logperch for sure. I was actually just out seining Willard Bay today to check up on the shad numbers and saw quite a few logperch during the survey. They certainly aren't a fish anglers often see or catch, but we definitely see quite a few of them in our shad surveys each year. No new official reports on Willard just yet, but here are a few notes and observations for the year:
[ul][li]The shad had a very good spawn this year, so there is plenty of forage out there right now for the wipers, walleye, crappie and catfish. This is good for the fish, but obviously not so good for the anglers as catch rates tend to go down when the fish have such an easy time finding food. [/li][li]When comparing the survey from today to the one I conducted in July, shad numbers are starting to come down, so the predators are starting to thin the shad out a bit and that is a good thing. Couple this with the higher water levels and we might see some quality boils this year. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we some great boil action.[/li][li]I have seem some small boils taking place here and there around the reservoir. Seems like I've seen one or two each time I've been out doing surveys this year. I did run into some anglers at the N. Marina today that caught some fish out of those boils this morning.[/li][li]As of today, many of the shad are getting close to about 4" long, so the larger shad imitating lures are probably a good choice for those that want to troll cranks. [/li][li]We stocked 250,000 wiper fry in May and just stocked 75,000 fingerlings late last week. [/li][/ul]
Take care,
Chris
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[signature]
Great to hear from you. You're correct - that's a logperch for sure. I was actually just out seining Willard Bay today to check up on the shad numbers and saw quite a few logperch during the survey. They certainly aren't a fish anglers often see or catch, but we definitely see quite a few of them in our shad surveys each year. No new official reports on Willard just yet, but here are a few notes and observations for the year:
[ul][li]The shad had a very good spawn this year, so there is plenty of forage out there right now for the wipers, walleye, crappie and catfish. This is good for the fish, but obviously not so good for the anglers as catch rates tend to go down when the fish have such an easy time finding food. [/li][li]When comparing the survey from today to the one I conducted in July, shad numbers are starting to come down, so the predators are starting to thin the shad out a bit and that is a good thing. Couple this with the higher water levels and we might see some quality boils this year. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we some great boil action.[/li][li]I have seem some small boils taking place here and there around the reservoir. Seems like I've seen one or two each time I've been out doing surveys this year. I did run into some anglers at the N. Marina today that caught some fish out of those boils this morning.[/li][li]As of today, many of the shad are getting close to about 4" long, so the larger shad imitating lures are probably a good choice for those that want to troll cranks. [/li][li]We stocked 250,000 wiper fry in May and just stocked 75,000 fingerlings late last week. [/li][/ul]
Take care,
Chris
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[signature]
