Crappie, Wiper, and a Walleye
Friday night I met up with some old friends to chase Crappie at Clinton Lake. While we did find Crappie, we ended up finding so much more. Winds upwards of 15mph forced the boat to seek shelter for most of the day near the protection of the dam face, but we graphed and caught lots of fish just off shore in 15-20 ft of water. The day started mostly with Crappie but as the day progressed we started catching loads of small Wiper. Often with these fish we would catch them casting towards shore and we would hook up with them in only a few feet of water. Shad were busting on the shore itself and it was evident that these Wiper were pushing shad hard and in feeding mode. Not only that but they were not boat shy at all, as we caught several within feet of the boat.
This was the average size of Wiper caught that evening. Not huge but still provided plenty of fight.
Tri with a nice White Crappie.
The usual suspects: in situations where I am going to be catching both Crappie and Wiper I stick to a few core approaches--small crank baits, rattletraps, and silver spoons.
Alexander with a hard pulling Wiper.
KDWP gave us a check. Normally I would say its just because I was in the boat and they like to check me often. One year I was checked 7 times, but being as it is Memorial Day weekend I am sure they are out in force. No worries, we had all our papers and passed the boat inspection without issue. And in all honesty I am glad to see these guys, and appreciative of the work they do to protect our fisheries.
As day gave way to night, the winds calmed and finally let us explore other areas of the lake. We headed to a spot known for Walleye and rumored to hold bigger Wiper. We were not disappointed.
6 1/2 lb Wiper. A new personal best for me! I was pretty excited and have to thank Alexander for his help in netting this girl.
And what better way to end a night than to have Alexander catch his very first Walleye! I am not sure who was more excited, me or him but regardless I was very happy to see him catch this guy.
2 Comments:
The Wiper is new to me---is it similar to the white bass or strip bass?
A wiper is a sterile hybrid between a white bass and and striped bass.
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