11-06-2018, 04:19 PM
[quote TubeDude][#0000FF]The flip side is that Willard does have an overabundance of food...shad...but only for a few months of the year. Gizzard shad grow fast and by late fall most are growing too large for all but the largest of the predators to catch and consume. That leaves several months before the next shad spawn reaches edible size
Wiper stocking? There is still annual stocking of both sac fry and fingerlings. But the survival rate for both has been low the past couple of years and wiper numbers are down too. However, there were representatives of both of the last two years in the nettings so there is hope for bigger numbers soon. I doubt that reduced survival rate of wiper young is solely attributable to hungry walleyes. More likely cannibalism by the huge wipers from the large year class of 2014. They do eat their own young...as do all members of the striper and white bass clan.
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That was kind of my question...with an adequate food supply for some of the year--shad--is something else filling the void during the remainder of the year? What has changed or has something changed?
I wonder if the stocking of lots and lots of sacfry wipers is helping fill the void and keeping walleye on the tough-to-catch list despite decent numbers. I am not blaming low wiper recruitment solely on walleye--I am sure catfish, smallmouth bass, other wipers, bluegill, sunfish, crappie and whatever else contribute as well. But, I do think the increased wiper stocking could give the walleye more potential food and make them harder to catch.
I am not going to argue the inlet now...I will wait until spring when this topic comes up again for its annual run!
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Wiper stocking? There is still annual stocking of both sac fry and fingerlings. But the survival rate for both has been low the past couple of years and wiper numbers are down too. However, there were representatives of both of the last two years in the nettings so there is hope for bigger numbers soon. I doubt that reduced survival rate of wiper young is solely attributable to hungry walleyes. More likely cannibalism by the huge wipers from the large year class of 2014. They do eat their own young...as do all members of the striper and white bass clan.
[/#0000FF][/quote]
That was kind of my question...with an adequate food supply for some of the year--shad--is something else filling the void during the remainder of the year? What has changed or has something changed?
I wonder if the stocking of lots and lots of sacfry wipers is helping fill the void and keeping walleye on the tough-to-catch list despite decent numbers. I am not blaming low wiper recruitment solely on walleye--I am sure catfish, smallmouth bass, other wipers, bluegill, sunfish, crappie and whatever else contribute as well. But, I do think the increased wiper stocking could give the walleye more potential food and make them harder to catch.
I am not going to argue the inlet now...I will wait until spring when this topic comes up again for its annual run!
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