02-21-2017, 05:12 PM
[#0000FF]I got an email from Chris Penne (DWR) along with a copy of the recently completed annual report on Willard Bay. I am attaching the report. Here is the rest of the email. Some interested stuff.
His comments on the walleye are in response to a couple of pics I sent of skinny and/or deformed fish I had caught later last year.
[/#0000FF]
Just finished the Willard Bay report a few weeks ago. See attached. As always, we're managing fisheries in Utah for the anglers, so this is public information that you can feel free to distribute. You'll note in the report, that we are reducing stocking again this year in order to bring down the number of predators. We've had three great years in a row now with fishing at Willard, and while I think fishing should be pretty good next year, I'm thinking of 2017 may not be able to match what we've seen in 2013-2016. Kind of like in sports where teams often have to rebuild there roster after creating a championship team, Willard is going to need to rebuild a few new year classes of wipers, crappie and shad this year. We've had a particularly dominant year class of wipers born in 2014 that has been suppressing recruitment of new year classes of wipers for a couple years now. I'm thinking the 2014 year class of wipers may now be in low enough numbers now that we can get good recruitment of a new year class of wipers this year. In addition, I'm thinking our dominant year class of black crappie should have the habitat now to pull off a good spawn and produce another good year class of crappie that will successfully recruit. Finally, we need to put a little more fat back on our predators this year, as last year the young shad got thin in numbers come August due to all competition for food among the wipers, walleye, crappie, and even catfish. So in summary, I would say expect fewer but bigger fish when it comes to the wipers. Walleye fishing should be about the same as last year. The black crappie spawn may be down in terms of number of fish caught, but should produce result in a good new year class of fish that will show up in a couple years . Channel catfish are looking great and are getting bigger. With the higher water levels and ample habitat, we're hoping this is a good season to get new year classes of wipers, crappie, and maybe walleye that will keep Willard going strong into the future.
Regarding the skinny walleye, that definitely has to do with the lower densities of young shad we saw by late summer last year. This left less food for the young walleye, wiper, etc. and also meant the remaining young shad grew pretty fast and quickly got too big for the young walleye and wipers to eat. Not quite sure what's going on with walleye with the spinal deformity. We see those from time to time in our fish populations and simply lump them into a category of fish we call D.E.L.T.s which refers to fish which have Deformities Lesions and Tumors, which are seen in a small portion of the population.
Also, we'll be collecting eggs during the walleye spawn again this year at Willard Bay. If mother nature cooperates, we're scheduled to collect eggs from March 12 - April 7. If you or anyone you know want to help, the signup sheet can be found at [url "http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fabac23a7f58-walleye1"]this link[/url].
Chris
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His comments on the walleye are in response to a couple of pics I sent of skinny and/or deformed fish I had caught later last year.
[/#0000FF]
Just finished the Willard Bay report a few weeks ago. See attached. As always, we're managing fisheries in Utah for the anglers, so this is public information that you can feel free to distribute. You'll note in the report, that we are reducing stocking again this year in order to bring down the number of predators. We've had three great years in a row now with fishing at Willard, and while I think fishing should be pretty good next year, I'm thinking of 2017 may not be able to match what we've seen in 2013-2016. Kind of like in sports where teams often have to rebuild there roster after creating a championship team, Willard is going to need to rebuild a few new year classes of wipers, crappie and shad this year. We've had a particularly dominant year class of wipers born in 2014 that has been suppressing recruitment of new year classes of wipers for a couple years now. I'm thinking the 2014 year class of wipers may now be in low enough numbers now that we can get good recruitment of a new year class of wipers this year. In addition, I'm thinking our dominant year class of black crappie should have the habitat now to pull off a good spawn and produce another good year class of crappie that will successfully recruit. Finally, we need to put a little more fat back on our predators this year, as last year the young shad got thin in numbers come August due to all competition for food among the wipers, walleye, crappie, and even catfish. So in summary, I would say expect fewer but bigger fish when it comes to the wipers. Walleye fishing should be about the same as last year. The black crappie spawn may be down in terms of number of fish caught, but should produce result in a good new year class of fish that will show up in a couple years . Channel catfish are looking great and are getting bigger. With the higher water levels and ample habitat, we're hoping this is a good season to get new year classes of wipers, crappie, and maybe walleye that will keep Willard going strong into the future.
Regarding the skinny walleye, that definitely has to do with the lower densities of young shad we saw by late summer last year. This left less food for the young walleye, wiper, etc. and also meant the remaining young shad grew pretty fast and quickly got too big for the young walleye and wipers to eat. Not quite sure what's going on with walleye with the spinal deformity. We see those from time to time in our fish populations and simply lump them into a category of fish we call D.E.L.T.s which refers to fish which have Deformities Lesions and Tumors, which are seen in a small portion of the population.
Also, we'll be collecting eggs during the walleye spawn again this year at Willard Bay. If mother nature cooperates, we're scheduled to collect eggs from March 12 - April 7. If you or anyone you know want to help, the signup sheet can be found at [url "http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0b4fabac23a7f58-walleye1"]this link[/url].
Chris
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