Cold weather and wipers?

[PBH]

I know very little about wipers. So, I'm wondering what this cold weather is going to do to the wiper fishing?
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[Warchild]

Well congrats on the election PBH...
Ive never done well with the wipers in cooler weather..
But I dont think it affects the wipers till later in the fall.
maybe this year will be a diffrent because of the water levels.
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[Kent]

My experience has been that a change in the weather, especially a low front will shut them down for a few days. I was once on Willard with several other boats fishing a large wiper boil that spread over several acres. The wind was blowing from the south and suddenly switched to blowing from the north (which wasn't a surprise to me because I knew a front was supposed to move through that afternoon). It was amazing how the boil ended abruptly and I didn't see another wiper caught on any of the boats.
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[toyguy]

Kent -

Fair to assume that a low front will shut down all species for a day or so?

Read a good article this weekend on bassin and weather change. Article said a mere 1 or 2 degree drop in water temp will curb their appetite. Although I buy into the concept, I haven't figured out how a fisherman would incorporate those water temp drops into his approach. Especially since surface water temps change 3 -4 degrees 'tween beginning and end of day (right?).

Still learnin...
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[PBH]

But, aren't wipers much more favorable to colder weather conditions than most other bass?

Also, consider lake depth. Let's pretend that instead of Willard only being about 12' deep that it's more like 35 feet deep.

What happens now? Do you waste your time pursuing them any longer, or is it over until next year?
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[Kent]

Wipers have been caught through the ice at Willard, so they can be caught in cold water. I'm sure that a lot of things will be different at your local wiper pond -- including I bet that they get much larger, than they have gotten in Willard, in your deeper reservoir combined with all of those bait fish to get them fat.
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[PBH]

the wipers I've already caught have both surprised and pleased me. They are bigger than what I imagined they would be after only two years. They hit like a freight train (better have a hold of your rod!), and they dive like a submarine!

I guess I need to jump in the pontoon, and go give it a try a couple more times.


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[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2][#002850]If you've got plenty of time to waste, hit Willard for wipers.

(I'll bet that will set some of you readers into an "I'll show that Old_Coot a thing or two. Let's go catch some wipers and show him how wrong he is".)

According to the seminars I have attended, wiper are a "cool water" fish. But water temps below 65 degrees sure slows things down greatly.[/#002850][/size][/font]
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[wiperhunter2]

I have fished Willard as late as November and have found boils when conditions are right. I'm not sure how the low water conditions will affect the wiper catching later this year but I can tell you they are boiling right now. I'm not sure if this is happening every day or just when the water has cleared enough for the wipers to see the shad but we did see a little surface activity the last time we hit Willard. I know there are a lot of bait fish still in Willard so I will give Willard at least another try before Winter sets in. I wish I lived down in your direction because your wiper lake might just kick butt with all the bait fish it has, if the water is clear then it might be the place to be this week after the weather has cleared for a day or two. Good luck and let us know how it is if you go. It seems you have a hard time posting fishing reports for what ever reason but I would really like to hear how you do if you make it there this fall, even if it is just a PM, thanks. WH2
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[trout_slayer]

This is an off the subject question, but since we are talking about Wipers I thought I would ask. In everyone's opinion how many Wipers are left in Willard. They can not reproduce correct? Did they even bother re-stocking Willard this year with the low water levels? How long do they plan on having the water this low? If they do not stock with the water this low and they plan on having it this low throughout the winter and next summer how will this affect the Wiper population? People are concerned about Utah losing the Tiger Muskie (because of that disease in Minn.), but should they/we be concerned about the Wipers too, at least for a little while until they get the dike fixed? Just a question!!!
TS
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[PBH]

[reply]
People are concerned about Utah losing the Tiger Muskie (because of that disease in Minn.), but should they/we be concerned about the Wipers too...
TS[/reply]

No. Utah has no fear of losing the Wipers. Your question might be more valid if you asked about losing the wipers in Willard.

Wiper production is not a concern right now. Wipers were plentifully stocked in Utah this year, although I don't know how many were stocked (if any) in Willard.

the concern is water, not wipers. Obviously, without water there won't be any fish. Fish like water. Once the water returns it doesn't take long for the fish to return.
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[wiperhunter2]

PBH is correct, there is or won't be a problem with the wipers and I'm sure there a thousands of wipers left in Willard. You are correct, they can't reproduce but the DWR usually stocks them every year or at one point they stocked them every other year. You could check the stocking reports or call the DWR to find out when the wipers were last stocked. From all reports I've read the water could remain low like this for a couple of years. I was sure hoping it would be shorter but since they haven't started working on rebuilding the dike yet, I believe it will take at least that long. How will this affect the wiper population, in my opinion, it won't change anything because the water level was lower than this a few years ago. The third season after those low water years, two or more state records were caught. I think the DWR will continue to stock wipers in Willard but only they know the time frame of those stockings. WH2
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[trout_slayer]

Thanks for the reply's fella's. Like I said I was just asking the question, I am not that big of a Willard guy anyway, so I thought I would maybe ask a question that someone else wanted to ask too!!! I noticed that they have not stocked anything in Willard this year so that is one of the reasons for asking too!!!
TS
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[N.E.T.O.]

I agree with Old Coot 100%. If you have plenty of time to waste, go Wiper fishing at Willard right now.
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