07-16-2009, 12:08 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Nice picture. Those wipers are fun no matter what size they are. I have caught them here in all sizes from 6" to 6#. When one hits you don't ever have to wonder what species it is. The zinging drag quickly eliminates walleye and catfish from the list. And, the bigger they are the longer it is before you can coax them to join you at tubeside.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have had the enviable pleasure of fishing all over the country and in the salt water east, west and south of our country...and down into Mexico. I think I am qualified to make the claim that there are few fish of any species...freshwater or salt...that fight harder pound for pound. If they got to be over a hundred pounds we would have to hunt them with harpoons. Couldn't handle them even on marlin gear.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Our wipers in Willard Bay, here in Utah, probably average between 3 and 4 pounds. I fish them with what most folks would consider light gear and 6# line. I enjoy casting, rather than trolling, and I really light up when they pound my lure, put the line over their shoulders and try to empty my reel spool. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I just can't get excited about the way most folks here fish for them...trolling with heavy rods, braided line and hammered down drags on their reels. Heck, some of them don't even slow the boat when they hook a wiper. They just winch it in on their heavy gear. Big whoop.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are several regulars who fish for wipers exclusively with flyrods and white streamers. They catch plenty...probably more per trip than a lot of the guys who burn gas and "wash lures" all over the lake. When the wipers start chasing young shad and boiling on them, like they are doing right now, it can be pandemonium if you are in the right place at the right time.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have had the enviable pleasure of fishing all over the country and in the salt water east, west and south of our country...and down into Mexico. I think I am qualified to make the claim that there are few fish of any species...freshwater or salt...that fight harder pound for pound. If they got to be over a hundred pounds we would have to hunt them with harpoons. Couldn't handle them even on marlin gear.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Our wipers in Willard Bay, here in Utah, probably average between 3 and 4 pounds. I fish them with what most folks would consider light gear and 6# line. I enjoy casting, rather than trolling, and I really light up when they pound my lure, put the line over their shoulders and try to empty my reel spool. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I just can't get excited about the way most folks here fish for them...trolling with heavy rods, braided line and hammered down drags on their reels. Heck, some of them don't even slow the boat when they hook a wiper. They just winch it in on their heavy gear. Big whoop.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are several regulars who fish for wipers exclusively with flyrods and white streamers. They catch plenty...probably more per trip than a lot of the guys who burn gas and "wash lures" all over the lake. When the wipers start chasing young shad and boiling on them, like they are doing right now, it can be pandemonium if you are in the right place at the right time.[/#0000ff]
[signature]