I am never to old to learn something new. Today I learned about a ‘Wiper’ Bass that was caught on the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair. It broke a record.
A ‘Wiper’ Bass is a hybrid cross between a white bass and a striped bass. Apparently they grow big. Fast! In fact they can grow 20lbs big as Sam Oddo and Craig Jeroue found out this past May. The Macomb Daily shares the story behind their monstrous catch and the records it broke.
When we finally landed it in the boat, we looked at each other and said, ‘What is it?’” said Oddo of Algonac. Oddo, along with Jeroue of New Baltimore, landed a record 20-pound white bass and striper bass hybrid called a Wiper on the Canadian side of the Detroit River.
I wonder if there are any wiper bass in the lake the Triple L Boys will be fishing in next week?!
Here’s hoping!
Bill Anderson
Muskoka Outdoors
Wipers! Yes sir, they get big and grow big fast! The hybrid striper and white bass have been in our neck-of-the-woods now for nearly 20 years (Hoosierland – Middle Wabash River drainage) and we’ve enjoyed plying the waters for them with light spinning tackle and flies. Just this spring more than a few light-tackle rigs succomb to the heavy-bodied beheamoths and swift water (which those around here prefer).
Nothing stirs the blood like the frantic, gutteral shouts of a fellow fisherman’s, “Fish ON!!” Followed by the exclamations of muscle strain and tackle being taken to the edge …. and then the scream of agony … when the tackle fails! Rod breakage is not uncommon – but more common is the break of a poorly tied knot – at terminal points – or distressed line giving way to the pressure. Either way, the frantic occilations between blue-sky-profanity and adrenilen pumped ecstacy, gets the entire area whipped into a frenzy.
Everyone knows – or at least academically preceives – these brusiers exist in the water they have been feeding lures for the past hour. But few have actually experienced such raw, viseral drama as seeing a man broken nearly as quickly as his tackle. It’s a rollercoaster that is a regular experience with Wiper fishing!
So .. OH YES. The Wiper is a full-bodied experience. To be sure. Take your kids fishing for them, too. Anyone can catch a big one. Few have the experience of knowing the feeling of ‘bringing one to hand’.
Oh – and if you take the kids out … be sure to put a strong harness on the kid – BEFORE – you put the rod in their hand. Chumming with children is frowned upon in most fisheries.
Enjoy …
ofieldstream