Far North Wiper

[not-a-purist]

Are there wiper in Cutler Reservoir?

Have they been stocked, or bucket biologists been dumping them in there?
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[gmwahl]

I haven't heard of any wipers or white bass in there at all, nor have I ever heard of one being caught. There ARE black crappie that can get pretty big in there and I suspect that whenever somebody reports catching wipers or white bass, then it's just a crappie.

Mike
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[Bassin_Blitz]

These pics were taken early this spring at Benson, I shared them with Chris Penne our northern region biologist. Are you catching white bass in Cutler? I am sure Chris Penne would like to know if you are.
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[not-a-purist]

We were fishing 10/18 and my boy caught a 19" WIPER. No questions.

Do you have Chris' contact info? I would gladly send a picture and GPS location where it was caught.

I have heard of one other one caught many miles away this spring. Around 7" long. I was suspecting white bass at first, but when we caught a 19", there is no way that is a white bass.

Im curious if this is an experiment to get rid of some of the carp, but they would certainly do a number on the sunfish and crappie population too.
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[gmwahl]

Were those fish all in one spot, or were they spread out?

They definitely LOOK like white bass. They don't have irregular and broken stripes like a hybrid from what I can see in the pictures. I'm wondering if somebody dumped a load of white bass after catching them at Utah lake or the Jordan river. I fish the heck out of cutler and have never seen one there. I fish for bass, crappie and catfish, so I would definitely have used the right lures from time to time. If these were found around Memorial Day, then it is possible that someone caught some during the spawn down south and dumped them in there. To have that many adult sized white bass in one spot then it would seem to make sense that there is a breeding population and we should be catching small white bass all the time while fishing for other panfish. Not doubting what you saw, but just wondering out loud about how they got there.

Bucket biologists really tick me off when they screw with a body of water. The channel catfish are Awsome in cutler and it would suck to have another predator thrown in the mix to start gobbling up the catfish fry. It IS possible that if they are in there they will assimilate into the system and provide forage for the other, larger predators, but this should be studies and planned by biologists and NOT pea brained bucket biologists.

Sorry about the rant, I love catching white bass on Utah lake and I wish there were other good fisheries for them, but I'm just hoping if they are in there that they don't screw up a good fishery. Once a guy learns how to fish cutler it is an extremely productive water for big fish.


Mike
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