Below are some questions that Tim Larsen was kind enough to take the time to answer. It’s getting posted here because there is bound to be plenty of others who fish on Lake Wisconsin and are sure to find this information useful.
1) When and where do gizzard shad in Lake Wisconsin spawn?
Gizzard shad spawn during June. They spawn along shorelines. The eggs need to adhear to rocks, woody material or anything they can stick to.
2) Why do so many gizzard shad go into the bays in mid to late fall?
Possibly warmer water in the bays. They are very sensitive to cold temps and they temp shock when water temps get down in 30’s. They typically die then and stay froze in ice during winter, thus many think they die at ice out but they actually had died in the late fall
3) Is there a specific temperature range that triggers the shad to spawn?
The text book says 50-70F, doesn’t tell you much. I”d say typically early June around here, but like this year, cold weather has everything about 2 weeks behind. Day length is also a factor in fish spawning.
4) Since we don’t mark very many schools of shad during late spring or early summer, I can only assume that they are either very loosely schooled or they are in shallow water. Do you know if they spend time in the shallows prior to the spawn or do they just make a run into the shallows and get it over with?
I really can’t accurately answer this question. They are basically an open water fish, feeding on plankton. I assume they are only near shore when spawning, eggs stick to like rocks, debris.
5) What is the maximum size that saugers can grow to in Lake Wisconsin? (generally speaking)
With the slot rule, we are seeing a lot of 20-22″ fish in the shocking data and in angler diary. I get reports of sauger 24-25″, they say are state records. The sauger record was recently broken in L Pepin but prior to that it was from L Wi 25″, 5 lbs 13 oz.
25″, maybe 26″ would be the answer. I’ve tried to get the sauger slot dropped to 20-24″, but no luck so far. I’m sure it wont’ be allowed until 2014, which is the sunset date for the 20-28″ rule. I’m doing what I can to show it’s working with our shocking and the diary data, but my bureau won’t budge until 2014 and who knows what will happen then?
6) How long do crappies generally live in Lake Wisconsin?
Generally figure age 1 – 3″, age 2 – 5-6″, age 3- 8″, age 4 – in lake without minnow forage they stagnate at 9″ , but in water with good forage, age 4- 9-10″, and then at best an inch per year thereafter.
Rule of thumb is 1/2 of the fishery dies annually (natural and fishing mortality) and in many cases with high harvest of larger size fish it can be 80% mortality annually. A rare crappie would be 8 years old. I once caught a 17″ crappie in Crystal Lake, weighed 3lbs 14oz, it was 6 years old. Just like people, some are genetically programmed to grow bigger, faster.
Here’s growth for L Wi Black Crappie in 1984 age 2- 5.9, age 3 – 8.1, age 4 – 9.7, age 5 – 11.4, age 6 – 13.3, age 7 – 13.7.