Just wondering about others obseravtions/ fishing results concerning Lake Wilhelm in 2011. I have never seen any comments about how Wilhelm fishing has gone down the tubes, My report is 2011 not good, 2010 good but not what it was. 2009 was the last real good year for me at wilhelm for bass and walleyes. Torunament results for 2011 where poor compared to years past, the water clarity is 6 to 8 inches at best the weeds are virtully gone as compared to a few years back where they grew down to 5 to 7 feet now they can only grow along the shore in 1 ft of water or less, 6ft deep weed lines are gone. Bass catch rates are lousy compared to years past when it was typical to catch 10 to 20 bass in a mourning's outing. The most I caught this year in a morning was 8 bass typical was 2 to 4 bass in june, & july when you would normally had your 10 plus fish mournings. Evening Fishing for bass was even worse. The number of boats fishing twindled through the year. The pa Fish commission elecrto shocking numbers where down comparing 2004 vs 2010. The walleys catch rates from this lake are way down in 2011 based on the guys I know who fish it all the time and have for years.
The fishing was so bad for bass and walleyes That I stopped going there and hit the other nearby lakes.
I called AL Woomer biologist for NW PA he said that the shad are the problem and cause the water clarity being 6 inches, the lack of weeds, the catch rate etc. He did not say what the solution may be. Also he noted that the shad will out compete the desired young gamefish and panfish for food based on sheer numbers of shad in the system.
I also asked him about the Pa fish commission killing weeds in the lake as popular rumor has it Al said it is not true the lack of sunlight penetration has done that because of the great number shad eating the stuff that eats the stuff that clouds the water. ( that is my oversimlified explaniation of What Al told me over the phone)

post your wilhelm results and comments here also call the PA Fish commission ask if they would be able to do something like other states have done to rid lakes of gizzard shad. I personally love fishing this lake and hate to see it develop into a brown colored shad and carp hole and no offense to carp fisherman as I also fish for them.

i dont hear much about wilhelm. no one i know fishes it much tho.  do you know what they are doing different with the lake then say pymy or shenango? i know there full of shad.

the water is dirty. 

girl at fergies said they been really slow this yr.

any more information?

Wilhelm used to be the number one lake I would hit for crappie, gills, and walleye. 10 years ago you couldn't beat it for numbers of nice crappie. The last 3-4 years it took a nose dive. The last few times I fished it I didn't catch any crappie over 8" and most were smaller than that. I fished it a few times in 2009, maybe once last year, and none this year. I really liked the lake and I hope they can get this reversed.

Slab, first off, glad to see another "seeker" on here. Second, I have to agree with Solitario. Keeping them was my first thought too. I know someone who makes the 2 hour drive to Wholly Fish Market in Pittsburgh just to buy Shad. They're very boney, but good eating. This might be a good thing.

I agree too, Wilhelm has potential. It used to be good. I don't fish for Muskies, but people have told me the Musky fishing is on the rise on Wilhelm. Believe it or not, they said the weed growth contribute to it.

Keep working on finding a solution to the weed growth and Shad problems. You did good by talking to that guy. If there is a way others can help, put the word out. Nobody wants to see that lake go to pots.

Sounds like they need to stock some wipers.

+1

Some of the shad in there that die off in the early spring are bigger than the wipers!

You can't catch them on hook and line and you aren't "allowed" to cast net them in Wilhelm, as far as I know. Maybe they should open up Wilhelm to cast nets w/o the need to buy a permit. In the summer, you can see the clouds of shad and could fill up 5 gallon buckets with just a couple throws. Would be worth it for the locals just for the free fertilizer.

I only fished it once this year (grew up fishing here with my pap and its where I learned to fish) and I don't even make any special trips up there anymore; just a weekend or two throughout the summer to take the kids to my parent's camp.

Yep, the gizzard shad have basically ruined a great panfish lake.
Still some NICE 'eyes & 'skis...panfish, not so much.

Here's the 2011 biologist report with the gizzard shad info near the end.

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/reports/2011bio/2x05_03wilhelm.htm

"Gizzard shad consisted of 48% of the total fish captured in our trapnets. In 2004 only 4 gizzard shad were caught compared to 1,945 in 2010."

yea i fished it as a kid for pike, but have given up on it over the years

They are Gizzard Shad and are filter feeders so catching them on hook and line is very difficult at best but once in a while and i mean rarely one gets caught by a crappie fisherman that I know.

You could use a cast net when they are spawning and catch them I would think as you can get pretty close to them without them fleeing they are right up on shore and some of them are nice size maybe a foot or so.

Also there was a petition at fergies bait shop this summer that was asking for the fish commission to try stocking those hybrid striped bass in the lake