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Wiperslayer and I fished the Bay today from 6am to noon. We caught a nice eye in the first hour, then it was a long dry spell for eye number 2 but finally caught it around 10am. Our #3 fish was a cat and finally our 4th and last fish of the day turned out to be a 20" wiper. Sure felt good to catch a wiper again, it has been a while. I thought we saw a lot of shad on the finder last year after they spawned but it looks like there are even more this year. Sure hope the DNR starts stocking more wipers this year because there is no way they will be able to thin out the vast number of shad in Willard this year. Even with walleye, crappie, smallmouth and catfish working on all those shad it will take years for those fish to make a dent in the shad population.[unimpressed]
WH2
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After picking up 9 Wiper & a Walleye from freeway Bay last Monday, I took my son who is visiting this weekend back out expecting similar results but it wasn't to be. We fished about 10:30 till 3:30 and only boated 2 cats.
Finally had a great opportunity to use my sideplaners and I am very pleased with their operation. The planers and the tower aren't fancy but they pull lines neatly and straight. We probably had them spread about 60 feet on each side of the boat.
Next time I guess...
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Petty4life and I were out on Willard on Friday Morning we stayed pretty deep mostly from freeway bay to the South marina entrance and back. Petty hooked something after about an hour or so but was a self releaser never got a look. Finished the day empty handed.
Does anyone have an idea why Willard is so bad this year?
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I have read a couple of ideas on why the wiper catching is so poor for most people. They range from, there being fewer wipers than in years past to, too much food and there for the wipers don't need to chase down your lure to find an easy meal.
I'm sure there are other reasons but
I really think Willard could benefit from an increase in wiper stockings. I also think there are just as many wipers out there as in years past but you have to keep moving to find them and once you catch one you have to stay in that same area, until you find the right pattern that works. I think there are wipers throughout the whole lake but they feed at different times, so you have to keep moving until you find a group that are actively feeding. The problem is, it is a big lake and it takes a lot of time to cover it. Most anglers fish their favorite spots in the limited time they have or want to be on the lake and if those spots don't pay off they conclude there are no wipers there. In reality, if you were able to fish the same area for several days, you would hit one of those days just right and the catching would be great. I base this conclusion on the fact that one of the guys will do great one day but come back a few days later, in the same spot and do poorly and I remember Tom Petingale saying this some years ago that wiper feed every three days or so. Take it for what it is worth and good fishing.
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]. Did you get the design for your sideplaners fron Dubob or somewhere else?