05-18-2022, 03:16 PM
(05-18-2022, 01:33 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Glad to see the cats are still making presence known for you Pat, I think it won't be long that the W fish make their appearance on the South end of the lake. All the ones we are catching have empty stomachs and little to any fat reserves. Are you seeing any signs of the shad spawning yet or do you think they have already compleated round 1?
The shad can start spawning as early as some time in April and the spawn lasts about 6 weeks. So they should be finished or almost finished. But, as we have observed, there are a series of hatches and different sized shad over the course of the summer. As I was hitting the ramp coming back in on Monday, I observed a whole lotta "sac fry" about 1/2" long in the shallows. Too small to properly ID but I'm betting they were shadlets. In another month or so we should start seeing the clouds of them on sonar and by the end of July some of them will be big enough to start feeding the hungry mouths.
I'm attaching a writeup I put together with a lot of input from DWR.