09-27-2023, 08:34 PM
(09-27-2023, 07:36 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Well I'm glad it wasn't just us with the poor luck. Ira and I got out there on Mon and had similar success as Pat and jjannie but we only found them in Freeway bay, even though we tried the same locations as you did. We did lose a big wiper right at the boat when it got too close to the prop and cut the line.Yeah, we have been hoping for a drop in water temps. But when there is a sudden cold front and a quick drop it can relocate the fish and put them off their routines for a while. But it usually doesn't take long for them to get busy again once they stabilize and become accustomed to the changing conditions.
The next big number will be 55 degrees. As mentioned in a previous post, that is when the biomass changes...with zooplankton numbers declining and baby shad dying off when they have nothing to eat. The adult shad change then too. They can tolerate the colder water but tend to move toward deeper/warmer water if it is available...like on the west side. And the larger predators (walleye and wipers) will follow them.
Sorry about losing the wiper. Don't get as many shots at them these days. They have become almost non-existent compared to the glory days of a few years ago when they were planted more heavily...and walleye less heavily. There is a hardcore contingent of walleye fans that really live large during the early summer post-spawn walleye session. But after that the walleye get much harder to catch...even for dedicated wallie whackers. Wipers, on the other hand, can be caught all year...even through the ice...when they are plentiful. A lot of us whimper and whine a lot when we harken back to the times of wide open wiper boils...and a fish on every cast. I love walleyes on the table but for good year round tugs I think I vote in favor of wipers. They average larger and they definitely fight a lot better. I doubt I have caught more than a dozen a year the past few years...compared to catching that many or more on many trips when they were more abundant.