08-27-2021, 06:10 PM
(08-27-2021, 05:35 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Glad you were able to get out and get some fish even if it was NBC. Now I don't feel so bad after our recent slow outing. Hopefully all those hungry fish at Willard will thin out those shad in the next two months so they will be willing to take out offers. It could take even less time, if the shad keep dying off.
Gonna be intermesting to see what develops on Willard over the next couple of months. I have fished Willard for a long time and this year has been kinda different. First of all, the up and down weather patterns during the shad spawn months spread out the spawn over a longer period. Consequently, there are more tiny shad in the system this late in the year than normal...and that seems to be the age class that is dying off. During "normal" years, all the shad are getting to be at least 3" long by now and they are developed enough to be able to live on foods other than zooplankton...which also start to decline about now.
There are still a lot of shad in the system. Saw bait balls all over the place yesterday...at all depths and in most areas. What I couldn't tell on my sonar was how large the shad were in any of the bait balls. Bottom line is that right now there is an abundance of food in the ecosystem. And with a shortage of wipers to help clean the shad out it will probably be slow for walleyes for the rest of the year...if they stay well fed.
Remains to be seen how the fall perch congregations will fare. With lower water levels they may still come in close to the marinas, but will likely not show up inside the marinas. I was hoping to maybe find a couple of early perch yesterday but I think the water temps still have to drop a bit before they move in. However, I have started catching them by mid September some years.
Also going to be watching for the crappies. Like the perch, crappies are not likely to be moving into the shallower marinas in the fall. But who knows? I have caught them right around the docks in Utah Lake in water depths less than 2 feet. Fish are sometimes more adaptable than fishermen. In years past...during low water times...there have been some good crappies caught out over the humps and bumps off Eagle Beach both during the spring fling and again during late fall. Crappie numbers have been down the past couple of years but there have been some larger fish caught...up to 15". Maybe this year.....