Thanks Shorty, that info is very helpful. SO it seems that your walleye grew a few inches in the past 6-7 months, but now they should really have plenty to eat. I wonder why such a huge success for the shiners? High water? Cold spring?
There are several reasons for the huge shiner hatch this year. Last year I had too many small 2-3" GSH and a very poor shiner hatch following a fish kill that killed 98% of the fish over 6" in my pond. Last year's drift related fish kill wiped out most of my smallies, mature RES, and almost all of the large shiners in my pond.
What's left of last year's small 2-3" shiners are now 5-6" long and sexually mature. We also had a dry spring with low water levels that allowed water pepper and other vegetation to flourish around the pond, all of this is now sitting in 15" of water providing spawning structure and cover for the shiner fry.
