Riddle me this? Willard

[Uintaman]

I was able to catch 3 Wipers on Thursday at Willard, very healthy, deep set bellys, thick, healthy fish.

But nothing in their stomachs? and I was able to see a small fish, on the surface, probably shad, and the turns were getting small fish?

Why empty stomachs?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]It's a food chain thing. Been doing a lot of research and interacting with some DWR biologists to put together a series of writeups on Willard. Shad are the problem and the solution.

Shad actually start spawning as early as late April and have several "waves". That results in several different size classes of baby shad. The first wave grew quickly to 1.5 inches...edible. Predators had shad to eat for the first time in several months. And new waves kept on coming.

Gizzard shad grow fast...up to 5 inches in their first summer...too big for all but the largest walleyes. So by now a lot of the shad upon which the wipers were glutting are starting to get too big. The others are scarcer and spread out more. Less food in the mix now...after a few months of fine dining.

The little shad on the surface? Those are some of the last wave. As new hatchlings they have teeth and eat zooplankton almost exclusively. Once they get big enough, their mouth parts change and they grow the gizzard that allows them to eat bottom detritus and other things. But if they were hatched too late and the cooling waters produce less algae and less food for the zooplankton...there are not enough zooplankton to feed the baby shad that still rely on them for food. The combination of cooling water and reduced food results in big dieoffs of the baby shad.

I have seen this every fall. Sometimes later than this year. The terns go crazy at daybreak diving on all the dead and dying shadlets. But no wiper boils.

Here is a pic of the skinny dead shadlets.
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[Uintaman]

So why would they not eat dying or near dead shad, just to few and far between. I did only see one in 6 hours.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Okay. I know most of the questions but I don't know all the answers.

A lot has to do with "patterning". When the lake is full of clouds of prime eating size 2" shad the wipers pattern on them...glutting until they are gorged. But they also slurp up slightly different sizes if they are mixed in. Two weeks ago I saw a fish at the cleaning station that had 15 to 20 shad in its gut...from just under two inches to about 2.5 inches. That fish was more hungry than selective.

But that does not explain an empty stomach supposedly in the face of plenty to eat. And we know that wipers are not all that selective...eating gobs of pre-cooked garlic flavored mussels, etc. The only thing I can suggest is that the winds and currents moved the available shad out of immediate proximity of the wipers and the wipers had not found them again to resume feeding. Shad move around a lot to find their food and the wipers have to keep moving to stay with the shad. Doesn't always match up. But as long as the wipers have some fat reserves they don't get too desperate. Well...desperate enough to eat something else.

The best you can do is be properly grateful if you find some fish that are open-minded to whatever you are serving.

On the small shad thing though. A lot of them die and sink to the bottom. And the catfish are having a feast. It gets really tough to catch them on chub minnows when they are swimming around in fresh dead shadlet soup. I have had days when the best I could get on one of my minnows was a quick pop and drop. As soon as they detected a difference in size or flavor it was Ptooie. And the few fish I did bring in were so stuffed with shadlets it was a miracle they held on to my minnow long enough for a hookset. Maybe trying to use my line to floss?
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[Old_Coot]

Thanks pat for the interesting info.
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[RockyRaab]

The present near-zero visibility might also be a factor.
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[TubeDude]

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[TubeDude]

[quote RockyRaab]The present near-zero visibility might also be a factor.[/quote]

[#0000ff]I was on Willard last Monday. While the water was a bit murky it was better than it was after the last big blow...a couple of weeks ago.

Here is a pic from last Monday...shooting down into the water. It is actually cleaner now than at other times this year when the fishing has been better. If you click on the pic to enlarge it you will be able to see my fins...over two feet deep down in the water. That's plenty of visibility for wipers to feed.

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There are still some anglers finding wiper action by trolling lures at "wiper speeds".

Wipers are efficient feeding machines when there is food available. They have sensitive lateral lines and can feed in the dark...when among the food. But if they are in the wrong part of the lake to find the dwindling supply of food they can go hungry until they relocate the shad schools.

I would be willing to bet that wipers caught from more "fertile" parts of the lake will still have lots of shadlets in their innards.
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[RockyRaab]

The water in that pic is a LOT clearer than the last time I did a drive-by recce run there. Encouraging, for sure. Now that the irrigation season is over, maybe the levels will come up, too.
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[ekimjack]

Thanks for sharing, I have been trying to figure out what is going on out there myself. Nice to have a little insight.
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[TubeDude]

[quote RockyRaab]The water in that pic is a LOT clearer than the last time I did a drive-by recce run there. Encouraging, for sure. Now that the irrigation season is over, maybe the levels will come up, too.[/quote]

[#0000FF]That pic was taken near "Rocky's Reef"...just outside the north marina. But, as those among the boating contingent will verify, the water can have varying degrees of clarity around the lake. Wind strength and direction...and the exposed mud banks...can turn one area of the lake to chocolate while it remains much more fishable in others.

Yeah, once there is no longer the agricultural draw down the lake might have a chance to come up a little. But a heaping helping of fall rains...turning to winter snow...would help a lot more.

Shall we organize a Willard Wain Dance?
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[albinotrout]

[#0000FF]

Shall we organize a Willard Wain Dance?
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How about a rain/snow dance for the whole state?
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