03-14-2008, 12:17 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Anytime of year is a good time to FISH for them. But, they are more active in warmer water. You can catch wipers under the ice, just like catfish. However they feed more actively and aggressively once the water gets past about 60 degrees.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Early in the season, you will often do better slow trolling or casting plastics...near the bottom. As the waters warm and shad move up in the water column, wipers can be caught best by trolling lures that resemble shad. There are a lot of crankbaits and lipless crankbaits (RatLTraps) that are effective in various colors. Everybody seems to have their favorites.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The shad spawn in June and after that the wipers can often be seen "boiling" at different places around the lake, as they corner large schools of baby shad near the surface and slurp them up. Watch for the birds. At that time almost anything that resembles a small baitfish can produce action right on top. Fly flingers have a ball with the "boils".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The big change last year was in the low water level maintained during the dike repairs. Besided reducing the depth of the water and changing the lifestyles of the fish...it left miles of muddy shorline exposed to wave action every time the wind blows. That kept the lake muddy and murky, reducing visibility and making it more difficult for the wipers to find food by sight. Trollers found it tougher fishing when the water was murky after a wind.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I fish the wipers a lot from my float tube. I drag a dead chub minnow on one rod and throw rattling crank baits on the other. Sometimes I throw plastics, when they are not moving fast enough for cranks. I usually manage a few wipers. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Finding them is the hard part. That is a big shallow bowl, with no structure to hold bait or predators. You usually have to move around a bit to find the fish. Good sonar is a must. And, you can cover a lot more water with a boat. But, some of the better catches last year came from folks chucking lures or bait from shore, wherever they could find water deep enough to hold fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I will probably have my tube on the water outside the north marina by next week...and will be hitting the South marina as soon as it opens. That is usually after April 1. I expect there will be more than a few boaters checking things out as soon as possible as well. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Early in the season, you will often do better slow trolling or casting plastics...near the bottom. As the waters warm and shad move up in the water column, wipers can be caught best by trolling lures that resemble shad. There are a lot of crankbaits and lipless crankbaits (RatLTraps) that are effective in various colors. Everybody seems to have their favorites.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The shad spawn in June and after that the wipers can often be seen "boiling" at different places around the lake, as they corner large schools of baby shad near the surface and slurp them up. Watch for the birds. At that time almost anything that resembles a small baitfish can produce action right on top. Fly flingers have a ball with the "boils".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The big change last year was in the low water level maintained during the dike repairs. Besided reducing the depth of the water and changing the lifestyles of the fish...it left miles of muddy shorline exposed to wave action every time the wind blows. That kept the lake muddy and murky, reducing visibility and making it more difficult for the wipers to find food by sight. Trollers found it tougher fishing when the water was murky after a wind.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I fish the wipers a lot from my float tube. I drag a dead chub minnow on one rod and throw rattling crank baits on the other. Sometimes I throw plastics, when they are not moving fast enough for cranks. I usually manage a few wipers. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Finding them is the hard part. That is a big shallow bowl, with no structure to hold bait or predators. You usually have to move around a bit to find the fish. Good sonar is a must. And, you can cover a lot more water with a boat. But, some of the better catches last year came from folks chucking lures or bait from shore, wherever they could find water deep enough to hold fish.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I will probably have my tube on the water outside the north marina by next week...and will be hitting the South marina as soon as it opens. That is usually after April 1. I expect there will be more than a few boaters checking things out as soon as possible as well. [/#0000ff]
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