? What kind of minnows

[perchound]

Willard walleye today, checked it stomach contents and it was full of minnows. Can anyone tell what kind of minnows they are?
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[TopH2O]

How long were the "minnows"? They are long and slender and I wonder if they might be last year's naturally produced or stocked walleye. I would think one year old walleye might be around 3 to 4 inches long.

This year's stocking consisted of .28 inch walleye.

If they aren't young walleye, my best guess would be red side shiners.

Mike
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[perchound]

They were all approximately 2-2 1/4 inches, I was wondering if it was this years walleye stocking. The shad minnows have a spot behind the gill plate right?
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[TopH2O]

Shad would have a spot but they might have been digested to the point the spot disappeared. Shad are a wider body though and these look too slender to be shad.
The walleye stocked this April at .28" wouldn't be as large as these in the belly of your walleye.

I'm not sure how much the walleye grow during their first year in Willard. Maybe TD or someone else could ask one of the Northern Region DWR aquatics biologists, I'm sure they know.

Mike
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Judging by the size and shape I would guess walleye. Walleye began spawning in May and the eggs hatch quickly...and they young grow quickly too. There are no redside shiners in Willard. There are a few residual "log perch" from a long ago DWR planting but never enough to provide a glut for predators. (See attached pic)[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]These young of the year walleyes are also showing up in large schools around the edges of Utah Lake right now. That is one of the reasons all the white bass and catfish are hanging out close to shoreline vegetation.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]There will not be any edible size carplets or shad in the Willard food chain for at least another month. So all the hungry mouths slurp up the only food available...that includes crawdads and the young of all species...including their own. With the newly hatched walleyes being at the top of the food list for several weeks/months, is it any wonder that there is seemingly such a low rate for spawning success and recruitment?...or so few walleyes left for anglers throughout the rest of the year?
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[catchinon]

Never heard of a logperch before so I looked it up and thought I'd share what I learned. They are a species (actually several) of darters indigenous to the eastern U.S. They are in the same family as walleyes and yellow perch. They max out at 5-7 inches and seldom live beyond three years. It appears that they were introduced sometime in the past into DC and WB as forage, but weren't real successful. TD can you fill us in on that?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Inquiring minds...and all that.
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[#0000FF]Before Chris Penne assumed his position with DWR, Craig Schaugaard was the project leader for Willard Bay. He was also happy to share information and published reports with me. Attached is a very interesting one covering the period from 1994 to 1999. On page 2 it lists some of the potential forage species tried by DWR to increase the food supply for the lake...before shad (BS)...including logperch.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Chris Penne has told me that there remains a small residual population of the logperch in Willard...in only a couple of defined areas where conditions are to their liking. They do show up in the stomach contents of predators from time to time and usually get the angler all twitterpated about "invasive species"...or whatever.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Haven't heard of any being found in Deer Creek so I guess the smallies and wallies ate them all...or they just didn't like the neighborhood.
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[Bassin_Blitz]

The lower Weber used to be loaded with red sided shiners, would not be a surprise to find them in Willard.
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[BSF]

My grandson snagged one of those minnows on Saturday while jigging. He was pretty excited, and put it in the livewell with the Wipers and Walleye we had caught, to see if they would eat it, they didn't.
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[TopH2O]

I can't tell what it is from your photo. If there was a close up of the sides or head we might be able to determine what it is. Could you tell what species it was?

Mike
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[perchound]

Wow, that is definitely the same type of minnow that was in the walleye. Could you tell what it was or didn't get a good look?
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[catchinon]

Haven't heard of any [logperch] being found in Deer Creek so I guess the smallies and wallies ate them all...or they just didn't like the neighborhood.

I believe I misspoke myself about the logperch in DC. Anyway, would hate to have a mistake fester into a fact. Forget what I said.
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[BSF]

TopH20,
I’ve attached a picture that might be better of the head and side.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]That picture looks like a redside shiner.
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[#0000ff]I have forwarded a copy of your picture...along with the one from the OP...to Chris Penne of DWR. Hopefully he can help with a more positive ID.
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[TopH2O]

I think it could be an Emerald Shiner although I wasn't aware there were any in Williard. It looks more like a species of shiner than anything else I can think of. It's definitely not a small walleye or other game fish normally found in Williard.

Chris Penne or one of his co-workers will know.

Here's a link to some photos of various species of shiners.

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-natur...mon-shiner

Mike
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Got a response back from Chris. His guess is spottail shiner. They were one of the experimental species planted way back when.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][/#0000FF]Picture ID is always difficult, but I'm thinking that picture of the foul hooked fish is of a spottail shiner. I can just barely make out the spot near the tail. It's hard to judge size of fish from the stomach picture, but I think it also looks like more spottails in the wiper stomach. I suppose some could also be bass fingerlings. The size of fish appears to be a bit too big for walleye stocked as fry this year and too small for walleye stocked last year as those fish are already about 10-12". [#0000FF][/#0000FF]
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[UThunting]

spotail shiners!!

first photo is spotail shiner second photo is a walleye. Walleye have a green tint to them.
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[perchound]

Thanks for the pictures of both minnows, it was the spotail for sure. I didn't realize there were so many different species of minnows in Willard, so are these spotails self populating or are they put in there on a regular basis by the DNR?
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