Wipers

[scavengerj]

Anyone ever fish for wipers during the hardwater season? Any ideas on locations and tactics to use?

[perchking4ever]

whats a whiper?

[billditrite]

whats a whiper?

i beleive this is a hybrid between a white bass and a striped bass

[scavengerj]

Correct billditrite. Am wondering if anyone specifically targets them during the season?  Given a body of water has them, how would one approach fishing for them and what areas would one most likely look for them? Would they be holding over the basin, roaming mid-depth flats, suspending above/below baitfish? What time would one think they'd be most active? Would the best method be to jig or to use tip-ups? Really curious 

[BojiHawk]

I live near a wiper factory of a res. in NE.  I have caught them on strange methods...2 in one day on a drifting crawler and the other on a fast trolled spoon.  I guess understanding nothing about the hows and whys...this is all a guess.  They don't seem to hang near trees (crappie) and they don't seem to relate to a food source movement or bottom comp. (walleye) and they don't seem to nestle into weeds (pannies)....so....I guess I would go with open water nomadic fish.  Never caught one, never seen one caught...and I do a lot of tip up spreads from 4' to 25' on this body of water.  I'm not saying they can't be caught...But I don't see them even as an incidental fish like catfish or something.  Would be interested to hear how you did it if/when you catch one.

Now I'm kind of wanting to take a wiper challenge and try to get one...;-)

[RLWagner]

Correct billditrite. Am wondering if anyone specifically targets them during the season?  Given a body of water has them, how would one approach fishing for them and what areas would one most likely look for them? Would they be holding over the basin, roaming mid-depth flats, suspending above/below baitfish? What time would one think they'd be most active? Would the best method be to jig or to use tip-ups? Really curious 

 use to target them in Georgia on the Chattahoochie River. Huge run every spring if I recall the season correctly. Mostly white bass and stripers, but the hybrids were huge and had broken lines on the sides.

Use to cast mister twister tail jigs tied tandem about 18"s apart.

[scavengerj]

Most of the ones I've heard of being caught in my area are during the open water season on chicken livers I wouldn't think such a predator would be eating things such as that. Then, in some of the other waters they target them with 7" to 9" trout and catching fish close to 45#+. I've caught them on crawlers before and my "G-unit" has caught them on shiners. I've even seen them busting schools of baitfish on the surface. All during open water times. Have been thinking about trying for them during the ice season but, there doesn't seem to be much info about them during this time of year. Does seem like it would be an interesting challange. Just not sure where to begin.

[Fish_Tko]

seems like most of the places that have wipers or hybrid stripers are large bodies of water(res.) that either don't freeze or are too far south. Could be wrong on that but that is the first thing that comes to mind.

[scavengerj]

Had thought about that too TKO. Here in PA. there are a couple of places that aren't massive in size that have them and do ice over enough that you can go out and fish. Looking at some of the info out there about them, they do seem to go through a slow/no growth period from Nov. - Mar. in places further south. I would imagine that would be the same up here and further north where they may be.  I would think they'd still have to eat  Seems once they get above a certain size they tend to switch over to a fish based diet. So I'd imagine during the ice season they would have to key in one baitfish. Guess it is the old adage, "find the food and you find the fish". I'm thinking they tend to be over the deeper basin regions honing in on suspended baitfish schools??? And since even if they are infertile, they still make spawning runs in the spring time, they have got to be eating during mid to late ice. Maybe I need to catch one in the summer and put a chip in it! 

[Fish_Tko]

yah i would think they would be over the deepest water too. Probably 6' under the ice in 80' of water.

[scavengerj]

And no doubt roaming    Still I guess the key is the forage. Luckily the two lakes by me that have them aren't much over 35' at their deepest with not alot of "deepwater" structure or oxygen levels that are much below 15'-17'. They gotta be hiding somewhere!!! 

[BojiHawk]

I do know that waters holding wipers do freeze...but they are definitely on the cusp of the freeze line.  We have about a 12 week+ ice season here in NE Nebraska.  Somtimes we get 16 weeks.  I'm going to ask around.  To my knowledge (and no one here at work has ever caught one) they are gone in the winter.  Now, where are they gone to?  They don't hibernate.  I would think they have to eat.  My guess is they are roamers....and difficult to target and that's why people don't pursue them.  And they don't eat well.

[scavengerj]

Appreciate any info on how others catch them if they do Boji. If we are lucky, we get maybe 8 wks. of fishable ice here. And that is a BIG maybe.

[Fish_Tko]

bout the same here. great year 11 to 12 weeks. bad year 3-4 weeks. Would be really nice to be in an area that gets ice from Thanksgiving till april

[scavengerj]

LoL One can dream 

[1MOFISH]

Appreciate any info on how others catch them if they do Boji. If we are lucky, we get maybe 8 wks. of fishable ice here. And that is a BIG maybe.

ive been fishin' lake arthur for 25+ years no wipers through the ice id love to get one i hear the are caught incidentally during last ice in the softwater months they are caught regularly my best 7lbs   mo

[scavengerj]

Very nice 1MO!! Raystown has some nice ones too. I would think if they are there during the rest of the year they have got to be doing something during the ice season. Maybe they sleep 

[1MOFISH]

Very nice 1MO!! Raystown has some nice ones too. I would think if they are there during the rest of the year they have got to be doing something during the ice season. Maybe they sleep 

raystown has true stripers the state record came through the ice by sonny and ducky grubb i think over 54 lbs i guess the deeper the lake the more active the fish i been stumped by this  mo

[scavengerj]

I fish some smaller lakes down here in the S.C area that have them but, dang if I can find them during the ice season.  Based on some of the post on this thread and information that I have been able to find, they have got to be just roaming the basins at mid depth. Now I wonder if they bunch up and move very little at this time of year or are in loosely scattered schools roaming?

[1MOFISH]

i hear ya the deep water in arthur ie the basin is a mile offa any access im too old to go on a field trip stanley kk is the guy to ask heed walkm a mile to just get started its the same at pymy mile offa shoreline to get walleye in the channel thats why i fish for bass 10 steps your fishin'  mo

[scavengerj]

I here ya' MO 

[toothfish]

Here is what we are looking for.  This is a 26" my son caught in 06 while trolling with blade baits.




I fish for these all summer here in Iowa. The lake that supports them does freeze over but is considered unsafe ice due to river currents and fluctuating water levels.
I have put considerable time studying and fishing for these hybrids. When the water is warm ,their metabolism runs wide open and they must feed continuously to keep the engine running. When cold comes this slows to a crawl and they are said to hang around schools of sluggish and dieing (winter kill) gizzard shad. This is how it works in our system here in Iowa .  Last year I saw a small (actually 2) Wiper caught through the ice in a small lake just next door to our main reservoir ,so they do feed in the winter. Hibernate is not the word , but they do slow way down in their need for fuel.
Our club "Central Iowa Anglers" are currently teaming with our DNR to maintain rearing ponds for the continued stocking of these fish.
 They hit like a ton of bricks in the heat of the summer and are fantastic table fair when cleaned correctly !!!

[scavengerj]

Very nice fish tooth!! Yep, summer they are running rampant but, come winter they seem to almost disappear. Summertime I just look for a school chasing bait on the surface and throw plugs or large shiners out to them. So you seem to feel that they are around the schools of thier primary forage in the winter? Do you think or believe that they are suspending above or below them? Do they tend to follow the schools of baitfish or do they seem to concentrate in an area and wait for the baitfish to come to them? Yes I know, questions that ya' might not be able to answer but thought I'd ask anyway  :)Thus far I have been able to ascertain that:
1.) They are in the open water column somewhere. Maybe or maybe not relating to some sort of structure
2.) They are going to be very sluggish
3.) They can be caught through the ice
Very tough to figure out to say the least. I think I may have to place a call or two to the regional fisheries biologist and see if they can provide some more information. Although, I am fearing since not many probably target them during the winter on these lakes, there may be very littel info they can provide.

[Fish_Tko]

Sounds like a day best spent using a 1oz. jigging spoon and a case of cold ones over deep water.

[scavengerj]

I'm with you on that one Tko!!

[toothfish]

There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding these Hybrids. Just when I think I have an absolute handle on these fish , they do something else that changes my thinking. All I can do is give some of my thoughts and experiences with these fish.

scavengerj ...I"ll try to answer some of your questions.
*Our reservoir has both White Bass and Wipers.
IMO....... Summer time:
 The small Wipers run with the White Bass and have the same characteristics. The larger ones hang out on the edges of theses boiling schools because the smaller ones are nervous when the large ones come into the area. They feed from under the bait fish , trapping the bait against the surface of the water. When fishing in the summer I look at the depth at which the bait is hanging and try to run my lure at a level just under the balls of bait. Where ever you find the bait fish in the lake , that is where the Wipers will be.
 
Here in Iowa our lake is packed full of Gizzard shad. They are everywhere !! So ..the Wipers can be everywhere. I would say they always feed from under the bait.

Winter time:
 In the winter the gizzard shad begin to die off in huge numbers. It's claimed that 40% - 60% die off every winter from the cold water. I suspect these Wipers just hang below these schools and wait for a dieing shad to drift by and gulp...feed with almost zero effort. Small Wipers are still relating to what the White bass are doing and do roam some.
 Where is the break between large and small Wipers ?? I say it's around the 19" - 20" range.

With all that said , If I was going to try ICE fishing for these mules ...? I would try to locate a wintering area for the forage fish and fish right below them with a dead shad... (or what ever you local forage fish is)
 The small ones I saw caught was on a chrome cast master on a drop off to deep water. But...they were SMALL wipers.
Good Luck !!

[scavengerj]

Great insight tooth!! Will take your experience and suggestions to heart. It has got to be fun dragging one of these fish out from under the ice! From the sounds of it, they don't relate to anything but food at this time of the year, or anytime of the year for that matter. Makes sense to expend as little energy as possibly during this time of the year to feed, and hanging with the food waiting for them to drop dead couldn't get much easier. Almost sounds like they are like big pike sometimes. They will tend to slowly cruise the bottom looking for dead baitfish and I guess thats why we have "dead bait" fishing for them  Thanks again ever so much for the input!

[toothfish]

I would be greatly interested in any findings you come up with in your quest for Wipers through the ice !! Or open water for that matter !  ..............Can I say "open water" on this site ??

[RLWagner]

Sorry, open water is banned terminology from now till spring. 

[scavengerj]

We can only hope RLW