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| An average wiper that I landed with Gary last summer. |
I am incredibly fortunate to be going on a guided wiper
fishing trip tomorrow on Truman Lake with my friend Gary Price of Gary’s
Fishing Guide Service. I don’t get to
fish with a guide very often so this is a big deal for me, but I can honestly
say through my limited experiences, Gary is the best fishing guide I have ever
hit the water with. Gary is a great guy
that I fished with last summer and knows Truman Lake like the back of his
hand. He works hard to get you on fish,
is willing to change tactics to try and trigger a bite if things get slow, and
always has an upbeat and positive attitude.
He is also unique in the sense that he offers fly fishing for wipers as
well. He has fly rods set up for
trolling and has helped clients catch wipers by casting to schools that are
chasing shad and busting them at the surface.
If you get the chance and have the desire to catch a fish as strong and
beautiful as a wiper, I highly recommend getting in contact with him at (816)
520-5358. His Facebook page address is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Garys-Fishing-Guide-Service/786920361388180?fref=ts
or you can search Gary’s Fishing Guide Service on Facebook. He has a lot photos available and nothing but
5 star reviews.
I would be remiss if I didn’t take a little bit of time to
mention what a wiper is (for those that don’t know) and how we will be fishing
for them. A wiper is a cross between a
white bass (which is small) and a striped bass (which get large). An average wiper is between 4 and 8 pounds
with fish in the 10-12 pound range being very respectable an on the heavy
side. Since they are hybrids, they are
not able to reproduce in the wild and are stocked in some bodies of water by
the Missouri Department of Conservation.
They are used mainly to manage populations of shad in lakes and they
serve that purpose nicely. Actually,
nicely is not the appropriate term because there is nothing nice about the
voracious predators. They hunt like wolf
packs, have speed and aggression to spare, and leave a trail of shad scales in
their wake. We will be marking bait and
wipers, trolling for them , and using
down riggers to get lures to the right depth.
They basically hook themselves and when they hit and are pound for pound
one of the hardest fighting fish I have ever hooked. They will make the drag on your reel sing,
have violent head shakes, and don’t give up when they see the boat…they just
get angrier. I have had the fortune of landing
a few wipers since I started fishing for them last summer and I would fish for
them more if I had the boat and equipment, but since I don’t, I use Gary and
I’m glad I do. I am going to take tomorrow
off from posting but will be back with a fishing report on Monday. Good luck to everyone else that is hitting
the water and be safe.
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| A "small" wiper that Gary helped hook me up with. |
If you're shorebound, consider Blue Springs Lake. In the fall, windswept shores and points are great for wipers. I fish from a boat, but I see quite a few folks taking nice wipers from the shore as well. I've taken wipers to 8 lbs, and I'm sure there have to be some real bruisers in there, because wipers grow fast and Blue Springs Lake has TONS of shad.
ReplyDeleteAs for other seasons, well, I've really just started with wipers. They were easy to pattern during the fall. Just find out which shores and points the wind was blowing into, and you'd catch fish. This spring and summer I haven't been able to pattern them. They seem very dispersed, and the few I've caught have been on the small side.