04-26-2011, 11:01 PM
Short answer.... catch em and find out. That particular school i knew were wipers because two of em made it in the live well[
]. The wipers I have found tend to be more loosely schooled than say, a pod of carp. You can see from the pic how far apart each fish is, rather than almost touching each other. Not to say I havent found em schooled up tight, but they tend not to. The pod of walleye in the ridgess pic on the right I knew were walleye when I pulled 5 of em out of it. I cant tell you how many time Ive marked a bunch of fish right on the bottom and thought, oh goody walleees! Only to find out Im over a bunch of catfish[crazy]. Thats not to say though I dont frequently find walleye and catfish hanging out together. I think the cats in willard eat so many live fish that they tend to be where the food is, right along side the walleye.
It does tend to get a little more complicated later in the year when the cats, walleye, and wiper are all suspended chasing shad schools around. Thats why alot of people catch the walleye in the summer, drag cranks around enough and they will eventually eat em. Watch your sonar and see what its telling you. Suspending walleye will usually hold a specific depth, say 11 feet, to where the wipers will be schooled between 8-13 feet on the same day (not saying that were they are at, just an example). If your targeting wiper, drag right through the middle of the school. If your targeting walleye, Try and hold right above em. If theyre at 11ft run your crank at 9-10ft. The catfish.... You'll have to get with tubedude on that, all of mine I catch on accident[cool]. Hope this helps ya. [fishin]
[signature]
]. The wipers I have found tend to be more loosely schooled than say, a pod of carp. You can see from the pic how far apart each fish is, rather than almost touching each other. Not to say I havent found em schooled up tight, but they tend not to. The pod of walleye in the ridgess pic on the right I knew were walleye when I pulled 5 of em out of it. I cant tell you how many time Ive marked a bunch of fish right on the bottom and thought, oh goody walleees! Only to find out Im over a bunch of catfish[crazy]. Thats not to say though I dont frequently find walleye and catfish hanging out together. I think the cats in willard eat so many live fish that they tend to be where the food is, right along side the walleye. It does tend to get a little more complicated later in the year when the cats, walleye, and wiper are all suspended chasing shad schools around. Thats why alot of people catch the walleye in the summer, drag cranks around enough and they will eventually eat em. Watch your sonar and see what its telling you. Suspending walleye will usually hold a specific depth, say 11 feet, to where the wipers will be schooled between 8-13 feet on the same day (not saying that were they are at, just an example). If your targeting wiper, drag right through the middle of the school. If your targeting walleye, Try and hold right above em. If theyre at 11ft run your crank at 9-10ft. The catfish.... You'll have to get with tubedude on that, all of mine I catch on accident[cool]. Hope this helps ya. [fishin]
[signature]