Willard 5/15 AM

[chickendude1234]

It only took 10 years but I finally caught another wiper. I was 14 when I caught my first wiper and today I notched number 2.

I arrived at the north dike about 6:30. The wind was blowing from the south and I thought of something Tube_dude had posted in a thread about white bass about how they'll be grouped up on the shore that's getting hit by the waves from wind. I felt confident in my ability to have a chance at catching on of their cousins, the wiper.

I casted my 1" white maribou out 3' under a bobber and started working it in slooooooowly. I had worked it back in to about 10' from the rocks and was about to reel up and cast again when the bobber disappeared! I set the hook and she was off a runnin!

I worked her up into the rocks where I could get a hand on her and I realized I was shaking from excitement. I lifted her up, pulled out my cell and snapped a quick pic to send to my fiance. She had been giving me a lot of crap about how much fishing I had done this week for not catching anything. (I was determined to find a wiper in the warm days at the end of this week)

I gave myself a goal of catching a wiper last spring and in probably 15 trips to Willard since I was still 0 fer on wiper. I had gotten into crappie, cats, smallmouth, perch, and carp since then but no wiper. It feels good to mark off a goal even if it is a year late.

That was also the only bite of the day. The wind picked up to speeds that were making it difficult to cast even a weighted bobber so I headed over to the cover of the north marina and no fish were to be had in the marina either.


Oh well, I left happy and salivating at the thought of the fish tacos to come.
[signature]

[CoyoteSpinner]

That's awesome. And I hear ya! I've landed one wiper, and my kid was SO psyched. Hope I don't have to wait 10 years to find more!
Fished that dike in a wicked wind about a month back. TD was talking about the spawning walleye's liking the frothy waves.
Damn - that fish is almost as big as your dog! And are those crawdads from the fishy tummy? Nice - that's what my took - a crawdad crank.

Thanks for the report. Surprised the N. marina wasn't more happening. Shouldn't the crappie be moving in with the warmer weather?

[fishinfool]

Looks like it. Like any predator fish,crawfish are on the diet early and any time they can catch them. good to see them getting a good foot hold in the lake time to start fishing with them[] or craw imitations next to the rocks.there defintly keying in on them?
[signature]

[chickendude1234]

The fish was as big as Mitch... as long as you don't count his tail. Mitch being in the foreground of the picture makes him look bigger than he is. Thats why I was trying to take a pic of both of them.

And yes those craws were definately from the wipers belly.

My very first Wiper ever was caught on a crawdad. My friends and I used to ride our bikes out to the the inlet channel and fish for Smallies with freshly caught crawdads right in the baffles.
[signature]