The 2018 Hatch

[Lucky Duck]

Should we expect to see a lot of shorts in this seasons catch this year with the large 2018 Western Basin hatch?

Thanks,
Bruce

[itsbob]

There should be plenty of short walleye being caught this year.Those fish should be between 11-13" this spring.Be careful handling and releasing those fish.From what I have been reading,there are not many shorts being caught during this early crankbait part of the season.Seams they will explode onto scene when water hits 50degrees and the fishing shifts from the crankbsit/jig to the harness/spoon bites.Going from memory,in 2017 pooh bear was catching and releasing over 300 shorts to keep his 36 fish limit.Seamed you needed to move away from active groups of short fish to find bigger fish elsewhere.These 2018 shorts will not be reaching legal 15" length until September.That is when those 2015 fish reached legal length in 2017.

[Lucky Duck]

Thank you Bob!

[itsbob]

The thing I don't understand is why you don't catch many junk fish like white bass/perch,sheephead,catfish and small walleye when water below 50 degrees.And even the big walleye.Why they change their preference to spoons and harnesses when the water hits 50 degrees.Must be something to do with their metabolism.Anybody have an explanation why?