Finally made it to Willard Bay last week to see what all the buzz was about with these Wipers, and it was well worth the trip from Utah County. It was slow for the first hour, and then things really started to pick up and that's when I landed this awesome 7 lb 23 inch Wiper - not bad at all for my first Wiper!
I was trolling about 2.7 mph with an original black/silver Rapalla down the middle of the bay, in about 11 ft of water (FYI if you haven't fished Willard Bay it's really shallow, especially when you launch at the south marina. It was only a couple feet deep, max depth I found was about 13 feet.
If you're thinking about going, I highly recommend it. These Wipers are a blast to catch.
If interested, I have more photos here -
http://www.mytrophyroom.com/trophy/505/7...d-bay-utah
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WHAT A HOG!!!!!!!! Nice catch
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What a fattie (the fish, not you). Looks like he's been eating well. Welcome to the site, and hope to hear about more of your adventures!
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Very nice! That is awesome for a first timer. Keep it up.[cool]
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What a toad... nice 1st wiper catch.
Enjoy!
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That is awesome! I have never fished Willard or caught a Wiper, may need to go throws some flies up there!
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Great catch! Now it be just more, hard to get bigger. Congrats!
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Nice Wiper.
Was it full of eggs?
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Great catch, I bet the fight was amazing. Hooked into my first recently as well and like they say I think I'm already becoming addicted...
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WOW great catch congratulations [cool]
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Thanks everyone - I'll definitely be heading back to Willard Bay!
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Awesome fish!!! I bet that sucker put up a fight. With luck like that you better head straight to Vegas [
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[quote DKStroutfitter]Nice Wiper.
Was it full of eggs?[/quote]
I hope you didn't catch it right before the spawn. That would be tragic. [
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Wiper are sterile hybrids, so I wouldn't be concerned with spawners. Over-harvest on the other hand...
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Just as CarlF said, wipers are sterile, there is always a chance but not likely they would ever spawn successfully but this time of the year the females are full of eggs and very fat.
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[#0000FF]Plus...wipers really don't live very long. That big fat mama is probably about at the end of her life. No reason to release it for others to catch in the future, if there is not likely to be a future.
C & R and selective harvest are good things. But I think some folks kinda overdo it. Even worse are the fanatics that beat others down and try to inflict their own personal standards on them.
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Nice wiper for one of your first, A fish like that one is a treat and you will have many trips without another one that big if you ever catch another one that big. I have caught fish that big in the past and one truly big wiper to me that is in my avatar. Haven't been able to catch anything even that big in years it's good to see there are still a few left.
Congrats!!!! Fishing for anything else will never be the same.
See you on the water.
fnf[cool]
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yep, your hooked. Nice fish!... seems that the bigger ones tend to bite when the other arent... I put back 4 over 20 now, feel free to catch and keep em. Dont have time or energy by the time i get home and fish sometimes get wasted so i throw them back so others can enjoy and eat them..
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