04-09-2023, 05:12 PM
(04-09-2023, 04:49 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Nice haul for early season Willard fishing, glad you did so well, especially with that big one. What kind of lure were you using?
Pat, I remember when you made that post about walking in from the gate, looks like the kitties were smaller then.
When I moved back to Utah from Arizona...in 2004...the cats were even smaller. Tough to get any much over 14 inches. But then the water levels (after the drought of the early 2000s) stayed higher, the cats started getting bigger. For quite a few years, though, the "cookie cutter" size was about 18 inches...as in that picture. However, as we have observed, with a decline in the number of wipers the cats have been getting bigger. During the shadless times the wipers eat a lot of the same foods cats rely on...like crawdads. So, the more hungry wipers there are the less the cats have to eat. When the water level stays up above the rocks there are more crawdads for all the fish. Looks like this might be a good year.