Beautiful Morning on Red Fleet

[fish_fanatic]

I finally heard a forecast for a windless morning , so I set my alarm for 5 am and got to bed fairly early. Little fish fanatic was a bear to wake up but he finally rolled out of the sack around 5:15 am. We stopped by Maverick for a well balanced healthy brakfast, or so my 14 year old tells me.

We arrived to Red Fleet around 6 am and were on the water 15 minutes later ready to catch some Wipers. To our surprise a few minutes later a sheriff boat came along side and told us the Park was closed till noon due to a triathlon but because we were all ready there we were fine. The way the fish were biting he would have had to pit me in cuffs to get me off the water.

We in all caught around a dozen Wipers keeping only two and about a dozen of the smallest Walleye that I have ever caught with a couple that resemble the anchovies from Sportsmans. We also kept around 30 perch for Sunday dinner and I was real surprised by the increase in size from just 3 weeks ago. I talked with a gentlemen from the DNR and he said all species were growing well except for the Walleye don't figure. That's why they are asking fisherman to keep a limit of perch so it should help the Walleye. Ya know they had a clean slate in Red Fleet so if they were worried about the perch competing with the Walleye than why did they stock them.

Well the best news is the Wipers are on the gain I caught a 16 incher which is by far my biggest so far in Red Fleet. I was also told that a 6 lb Wiper had been caught but I have my doubts about that because I have caught and released around 60 this year and have caught nothing close to that but who knows.
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[wiperhunter2]

Thanks for the report and pics, looks like your Son had a fun time, after him being so slow to get up in the morning. How does he like fighting those frisky wipers? Sounds like just about all the fish there are doing pretty good but the claim of a 6 lb wiper seems unlikely, although a lot of people overestimate the weight of wipers.
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[fish_fanatic]

Yeah I think I fish Red Fleet as much as anyone and with the sample size that I have encountered a 6 lb Wiper is a real tall tale but thinking about next year gets me excited. You being a BFT Wiper guru what can I expect to see for size next year. The largest that I have caught is 15 inches with the average being 12 inches.
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[fish_fanatic]

By the way he is now a Wiper fanatic!!!
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[wiperhunter2]

I don't remember how big the wipers were when they were stocked there but as a general rules wipers can grow about 6 inches per year, for the first three years, after that the length growth slows. Different factors will affect that growth, mainly how much food is available but IMO it could take 5 or 6 year for them to get up to 6 lbs. Not to say it could not happen in 4 year, if the food is plentiful but I can't imagine a wiper could weigh 6 lbs in less than 4 years. A 6 lb wiper would be around 24", if it was super fat maybe 23" but it would have to be very fat. So unless the DWR slipped in some 18 to 20" wipers in with the smaller fish they stocked, a 6 lber just would not be possible this quick, IMO.
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[Anglinarcher]

And perch never ever compete with Walleye, they feed Walleye. That part seems strange to me as well.

[Cessna150]

Good to hear there are actually fish in Red Fleet. My son and I were skunked there last winter.

Do the fish bite throughout the day there or is it like kokanee at the Gorge where it is mainly an early morning phenomenon? I dont think I would be able to make it there very early but would like to fish it. I don't want to be skunked again though. It is a bit of a long drive for not catching a load of delicious fish.
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[WET1]

Actually they compete with walleye until the walleye get big enough to start eating them. Until the walleye get to be a foot long or better a lake overrun with perch makes it pretty difficult for them.
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[Cessna150]

Also, how do you catch wipers? I tried weekend before last at Willard but didn't have any success with them.
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[catchinon]

Aren't the perch supposed to be feeding the walleye and wipers? I'm not one to criticize the DWR, but shouldn't they have waited a year to introduce the perch so the other species could grow up a bit?
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[WET1]

I'm not sure of the dynamics at Red Fleet. The perch may have jumped out faster than expected. Those were some pretty healthy looking specimens in the baskets they had but I imagine the problem perch are the 'perchlets' that are a little too big for the majority of the smaller walleye to eat. It'll probably take 2 or 3 years to see how it all shakes out.
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[LOAH]

Nice! I've been holding my breath for a report like this from Red Fleet. Looks like next year will be great.

My wife keeps begging to go back, but I'm making her wait for the fishery to recover. She likes the views more than anything.
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[fish_fanatic]

I have found the perch bite best whenever bait hits the water, when there is cloud cover the Walleye pick up and the Wiper bite best when all the parish disappear from my hummingbirds screen. They go down in the cover when the Wipers are around and it has seemed that I can call the time that we will catch a Wiper. I have had the most successful with a rip n rap but have caught several vertical jigging for perch. But if I was wanting to get good info on Wipers I probably wouldn't count on me to much for I am pretty new to Wiper fishing. Wiperhunter would probably be a good source of info. I have also have also done the best between 12-20 feet of water.
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[Cessna150]

Thanks.
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[fish_fanatic]

I don't blame your wife Red Fleet is beautiful and I am lucky to live just 20 minutes from there.
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