Wiper Boils

[goose_716]

I have a question i heard the wipers boil early in the year like in may and then in the fall again. I thought they only boiled later in the year.
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[FishHunterSmoot]

I have heard both. we talked to acouple of people that said boil season is already over and do't waste your time at willard. But then we went And we got into some boil action. all the people at the lake however said it is just starting. and for the next few weeks it will be going nuts. I am thinking I am going to agree that it is just starting. but there is a serious debate on the matter.
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[toadly]

Wiper boil when they are driving bait to the surface. In the spring the bait is already there at the surface spawning. They spawn when the water temp is around 75 deg or so. Then continue spawning thru the summer. Boils can happen then but randomly.
Then when the water is at its warmest and the new shad are close to 2 inches long the Wiper turn on to full on boils. Morning and evenings. They eat eat eat till the bait are too few to find or the water temps drop which ever comes first.
If you want to fish for Wiper now is a good time to start!
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[goose_716]

I have been out there often over the last 2-3 weeks (going again tonight and tommorrow LOL) I was just excited to hear that they boil in the spring like they do know in the fall i had never heard that.
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[WIPERFLY]

[quote goose_716]I have been out there often over the last 2-3 weeks (going again tonight and tommorrow LOL) I was just excited to hear that they boil in the spring like they do know in the fall i had never heard that.[/quote]

I've never ever seen them boil in the spring. If they do, I am not sure what they'd be feasting on. The newborn shadlettes don't grow to eating size until late summer.
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[Old_Coot]

There may have been some "boils" in the spring but I suspect that what most folks see as boils are probably either carp rolls or shad spawning activity. True reliable productive wiper boils occure in the fall when the shad minos are of an editable chaseworthy size.
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[BigBuck3333]

i seen more boils before the shad got bigger when they was one forth inch they didntlast long but the were wipers whatched em swim past my boat in groups of 2 or 3 caught one. and that was it im having a hell of a time finding any boils trolled the other day for 4 hours was pretty rough but ne boils or hook ups. think i might try it again in the morning.this full moon might have alot todo with the crappy fishing.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Could it be their 'false spawn' in the spring? I understand they don't KNOW they are sterile, and thus - go through the motions. Slashing around in the shallows of the rocks. Fun to "practice" anyway I'm sure.

Or - as you say - could be carp (whenever I see fish jump, I always proclaim "probably just carp").
[center]but truth be told- I hope sometimes it's bass!
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Moon be damned - I wonder about this front and wind that just came through. I was as psyched up on hitting it tomorrow night, but last time I went after a front moved in - saw NOTHING, nights after others had monumental boil-athons. But then - I could just be bad luck.

Maybe I should just go minnow hunting!

[wiperhunter2]

Several years back there was indeed wipers boiling in the spring. If I remember correct it was LH2 that made the report and it was in the April/May time frame. If it wasn't so late I would look it up but it was the only time I have ever heard of it happening in the spring. I know it was around the time when they were doing the dike repair and the water level was low.
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[TubeDude]

[quote goose_716]I have a question i heard the wipers boil early in the year like in may and then in the fall again. I thought they only boiled later in the year.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]You can't make any rash generalizations about wipers. They do what they want...when they want...and for their own reasons. It ain't possible to put a mark on your fishing calendar and then go catch them doing anything in particular. Every year is different. Heck, every day is different.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The boiling is mostly a food chain thing. If what they are eating is on the surface they will gather up and chow down...boiling. Since about the only thing they boil on is baby shad...or other fry...they boil mainly after the shad or carp spawn. Those fish spawn from May into June...most years...and the fry appear in large schools by July. That is about the earliest that true "boils" start appearing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But...it is all about the shad...not the wipers. When it is warm enough to suit the shad they will come to the surface to feed. If the water is calm enough to allow the little fry to swim around and feed without getting dispersed by wave action they will be all over the lake. But when the winds blow them into the shore they will be found more along the dikes where the wind pushes them. And the wipers will be wherever the shad are.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]So, if you want to find wipers you need to look for shad. If they are near the top the wipers will boil on them when they are hungry. If the wipers are full, or in an inactive mode, they will suspend at mid depth or just cruise around in the open lake. But when the wipers hear the dinner bell they will move quickly in schools, looking for shad. When they find them they will glut.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Studies by DWR biologists show that wipers do not even feed on shad until after the spawn. Previous year's shad are several inches long by early spring of the following year...and too big for the average wiper in Willard to comfortably eat. So they have to rely on stored fat and whatever crawdads or other food they can find until the annual shad feed. I have found lots of crawdads and several species of smaller fish inside wipers during the early months of the year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Boils in the spring? Likely not wipers. I have never seen one nor heard of any from "reliable" sources. More likely carp splashes. Another possibility is large shad feeding on surface insects...like a midge hatch. I HAVE seen that. Gizzard shad get over 18" long and they are silvery in color. From a distance their splashy rises might look like a wiper boil...especially if that is what you WANT to see.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Right now the boils are predicated on the weather. The water temps are still hovering around the 70 degree mark. A little over 70 and the baby shad will come back to the surface...and the wipers will follow. But as the water temp drops to 65 and lower the boils almost disappear. The shad go deeper in colder water and there is no reason for the wipers to come to the top to make splashes for the silly fishermen.[/#0000ff]
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[skeeterfishn1]

I believe what I saw in the spring are false spawners. The 'boils' are more like a rolling action. Saw alot of these. We were tolling for them when I notice these 'boils' so started casting to them but no mater what I cast or how close I got no hits. So I started trolling right toward them and I got up on the bow of the boat and would see 8 maybe 10 wiper all balled up rolling and quivering in this very tight ball maybe 14 to 20'' across. Never caught a wiper that day. False spawm? I saw a ton of them maybe 300 yards from shore at feeway bay.
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