ClearLake shad die off

[tommypV2]

Kopper invited me out to Clearlake for some fun fishing last sunday (Thanks Again Joe!). We noticed that there was a significant shad die off happening in some areas. I mean hundreds of thousands of threadfin dead, near dead, and generally not doing well. I even saw a small bass come up, mouth a shad and go back under, like it was kinda interested, but full. This was happening in the South (did not venture beyond Buckingham). Of course, we could not get bit anywhere the shad were dying.
I've seen shad die offs but not like this. Is this a regular happening that I missed previously? Any ideas on the cause? Is this a post shad spawn thing?
Any local knowledge is appreciated.

[Phil]

I BELIEVE IT IS A STANDARD OF CLEARLAKE ECO SYSTEM....I LIVED THERE FOR 20 YEARS, I REMEMBER IN THE 80'S SEEING IT, LARGE SHAD 3 TO 4" MAYBE BIGGER ALSO TONS OF CARP DIEING EVERY YEAR. IT SEEMS TO HELP CLEARLAKE SOMEHOW STAY AS IT IS FOREVER ???

JIGS

[NaCl]

The average life span of Threadfin Shad is 2 years. They spawn at the same time as bass. So, right now, there are a lot of "old" shad in the lake. Shad are very fragile creatures. They die is water temperatures get much below 40 and they die whenever they experience rapid temperature changes.

Right now, you have a large population of weak, old shad that are going to die at the end of their natural lives. Add to that, the rapid and frequent temperature changes in spring...you have a perfect recipe for large scale die offs.

Several important points:

1. Its mostly the second year shad that are dead or dying. The younger 1 year old shad are thriving in schools in deeper water.

2. The huge quantities of dead or dying shad on Clearlake provide a month of unlimited food supply. I believe this is one of the more important reasons for the high average weights on Clearlake. Big bass can gorge themselves on these larger shad while expending almost NO energy to catch them. That leads to weight gain.

3. Even if the entire shad population is almost wiped out by a severely cold winter (like in the early 90's), the lake is still loaded with food sources for bigger bass....small carp, baby catfish, hitch and numerous of other more exotic food sources (ducklings, frogs, turtles, beer cans, etc. )

The big problem during the shad die-off is that bass are completely full. They have almost no biological demand to eat. So, reaction baits are your best bet to get them to bite. While a bass may be metabolically unwilling to eat, it will still react to millions of years of evolutionary programming to snap at a fast moving food source. It's Rattletrap time!

.....NaCl

[Phil]

I GUESS I STAND CORRECTED, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ECO SYSTEM OF CLEARLAKE. I RETRACT MY STATEMENT SORRY !!

[tommypV2]

Hey Dean - thanks for the info!
Your explanations make a lot of sense. In addition to the reasons, I was also trying to get a gauge on how big the die off is this year as compared to previous years (i'm hoping it's not the early 90s again). I've seen it before in Clearlake, but not like this.
I was also metering some of the biggest schools of shad I'd ever seen. I threw the rattletrap for a bit - in three casts, i snagged three shad. They were all in the 2.5 - 3 in range. Also, you can feel the r'trap going through the school and I was bumping shad the whole time... jerkbaits seem to do better

[sTony]

Hey Jigs,

Don't get your undies in a bunch, hahaha. NaCl was merely going into detail on what you had already said was a part of the Clear Lake eco system. His post didn't offset yours at all.

sTony

[NaCl]

The freeze in the early nineties affected the entire shad population as opposed to just the "old" generation. That big freeze plunged water temperatures below those that even the younger shad could endure. Consequently, you had a crash in the entire shad population lake wide.

In a typical year, 50% of the existing shad population is close to the end of their natural life cycle each spring. Add a few cold fronts and big die-offs result. Like JIGS said, it's just a natural cycle for Clearlake. And, the big die-off is not an issue in spring. It's only an issue if it comes in mid winter due to a deep freeze that drops deep water below 40 degrees.

As far as the traps and jerkbaits, if you're hitting shad with them then you are NOT fishing where the bigger bass are! Remember, a bass is an energy machine. It will always opt for the easy meal rather than chasing a small, actively fleeing prey. As bass size increases, they are more likely to be holding under the shad schools waiting the the dying shad to flutter down to them. Think of it as raining food all over them. Why chase healthy meals when you can stuff your belly by sucking up twitching, half-dead shad off the bottom?

So, if you want your trap to "trigger" reaction strikes, you need to fish it close to those big bass UNDER the shad balls. That means let the trap sink to the bottom and let your line sink so you can keep the bait close to the bottom. Then, slow roll it back, banging into bottom structure as you go. That puts your reaction bait in close vicinity to the bigger bass and it triggers strikes by banging into structure. But, if you run a trap or jerkbiat through the shad fields above, you're likely to catch smaller bass that have a better energy in/energy out ratio for each small shad ingested.

Another thing that works is a jig or Senko fished on the bottom in an erratic jerking pattern. In essence, you're working these baits to create a reaction strike instead of looking for a feeding response.

Fun discussion!

.....NaCl

[Phil]

NOT OFFENDED OK. BUSY WATCHING THE THUNDER OUT HERE AT DON PEDRO WOW !!!!!!!! HERE WE GO AGAIN......

JIGS

[Auggie Dog]

Hey Jigs,

Grab an 8 foot graphite frog rod and run out there holding it high.....you could sing "You light up my life"!!!!!!!!

Auggie Dog

[Fish Chris]

I had learned from a fisheries biologist, that the "light switch" temperature, at which Shad will basically just all dye at once, is 42 degrees. He made it sound like 43 will not kill too many, and by the time it gets to 41, there would be exceedingly few left to kill.

Of course you have different temperatures, at different depths, and speaking of Clear Lk. specifically, their are also several warm water volcanic springs which might help pockets of Shad here and there to survive.

He did mention the possibility of sudden temp drops causing lesser kills, but this probably has a more severe effect on the older (close to dying anyway) Shad that you mentioned.

Anyway, I agree with your post.... just wanted to throw this little bit of info in their along with it.

Peace,
Fish

[Phil]

I AGREE WITH YOU TOTALLY. WE LIVED CLOSE TO THERE UNTIL 1992, AND I BELIEVE MY SON AND I SAW THE LAST SHAD FIGHTING FOR THEIR LAST LIFE AROUND BRUNNERS POINT AND WATCHED THEM HUNDREDS OF THEM WIND BLOWN DOWN THEW SHORE. IT WAS QUIT A SIGHT............I THINK 1990 OR 91 SOMEWHERE IN THERE ABOUTS. QUESTION FROM ME IS WHY ARE THE SHAD IN CLEARLAKE BIGGER THAN ANYWHERE ELSE ? SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THEY WERE FLORIDA STRAIN ???? IS THAT TRUE........WHEN WE MOVED TO COTTONWOOD IN 1992. SHASTA LAKE HAD MILLINOS OF SHAD BUT ONLY SEEMED TO BE MAYBE 1" LONG ??

JIGS

[mark poulson]

*NM*

[NaCl]

To use your term from an earlier post, Clearlake is a distinct "eco-system" with it's own balance between all the levels of its food chain. Clearlake is a shallow, warm lake that is absolutely loaded with food for shad.

Shasta is a cold, clear lake with far less zooplankton which shad feed on. The size of the shad at 1 year old are about 1" in places like Shasta. And, they may only grow another 1/2 to 1" during the second half of their life span.

At Clearlake, shad feed heavily for most of each year, reaching lengths of 3-4 inches by the end of their lives. I've also snagged big shad in another nutrient rich fishery...the Delta. The huge size of shad in these two fisheries helps to explain the large average size of bass in both fisheries. Sure, other fisheries produce big bass too; places like Clearlake, Folsom, Pardee, Camanche, Don Pedro, and Castaic...these lakes ALL have on thing in common. TROUT! But, the average size of bass cannot rival Clearlake and the Delta because only a few bass reach a big enough size to take advantage of the trout feast. At Clearlake and the Delta, virtually ALL the 2 pound bass have access to unlimited amounts of big shad....hence, big average weights.

It all comes down to the zooplankton...make a boy run a mile to eat a hamburger, he'll grow up. Sit a boy down and a table every night and feed him a Big Mac, he'll get huge! Bass are the same.

.....NaCl

ps I believe the big freeze hit in 1990. Bass became scarce when one of their primary food supplies vanished.

[tommypV2]

ok, now I'm a teensy weensy bit worried.
wasn't the last time it snowed significantly at lake level also 1989 or 1992? I guess it's time to get there while the going is good, just in case. As I recall, it took about 5 years for the Bass to make a strong comeback. I guess when the shad disappear, they start chewing on each other..

[NaCl]

Hitch are thriving and there are tons of baby carp and babay catfish in that pond. Big fish will probably be alright. But, if there is a big shad die-off, there might be trouble in the 2-3 pound bass range that rely most heavily on shad for food. Can't you just see the weight's if that happened....top 3 teams weigh in 35 #, 32# and 31# but it only takes 7# to get a check! HaHa!

.....NaCl

[Riplip]

As I recall, that is exactly what happened in the early 90's. The aveage weights went down, but that is also when several fish in the teens were caught including the current lake record (I think). I believe when the eco-system is upset, those 2-3lbrs struggle and their numbers fall, but the big fish don't eat shad anyway. With less competition for other food scources such as hitch, craws and sunfish, the big girls thrive. Just focus on imitating something other than shad during these times. JMO Rip...