DWR Update on White Bass Dieoff

[TubeDude]

Thanks Pat.  I can confirm it has been slow and the few white bass I have caught tend to be more in the 6-8" range than in the 10-12" range.  Any thoughts on how the spawn was affected and how that might affect white bass populations in the next 1-2 years?  For instance, will the white bass fry be hit harder resulting in less adult recruitment?  I have seen an increase in bullhead cats this year and don't know if it is related.  Lots of moving parts in a multispecies shallow water body.  We may never fully know the causes, but hope the effects aren't long term or widespread.

I suspect that largely due to the adult whitie die off that the spawn was poor this year.  At least I have not seen nor heard of any 2" white bass fry showing up to chow down on the morning midge hatch anywhere around the lake.  Most years by this time the inshore waters are boiling with whitettes and a few big splashes from predators feeding on the little tykes.  Not this year.   If no 3-4 inchers show up in the next few weeks we (and the predators) are due for some lean times.

If, in fact, the food chain has been thus disrupted I expect to see a repeat of the winter of 2004 -2005.  During the late fall and early winter the walleyes were much easier to catch because they were hungry...from a lack of baby white bass.  But many large walleye starved and died under the ice that winter.  And any walleyes that made it through the winter were mere "hammer handles" in the spring...skinny with big heads.   


Might be good to see an increase in bullhead numbers.  Walleyes turn to them as a calorie source when there is nothing else on the menu.  During lean times I have filleted a lot of walleyes with bullheads in their innards.