Facts about wiper fishing in Utah

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Facts About Wipers

Wipers are called the "linebackers" of freshwater sport fish because they are bulky and strong. Pound for pound, wipers are one of our hardest-fighting fish. They are a hybrid cross between striped bass and white bass, with an appearance intermediate between the parents: they have 6-8 dark horizontal stripes over a silver-white background and a dark back. They tend to be heavier-bodied than striped bass.

Wipers are hyperactive, eating often, moving often and growing rapidly. They often slam lures and they are hard to stop when they find a little running room.

Wipers are carnivorous, feeding voraciously on gizzard shad, other small fish, insects and crustaceans.

Willard Bay is the only Utah reservoir offering wiper fishing — and action there is often very good. The Utah record came from Willard, a 26-inch fish that weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and had a girth of 14 3/8 inches. Bret Felter caught it in 2002.

The catch-and-release record wiper measured 23 1/4 inches and was caught by Chad Chamberlain in 2001.

Wipers do not reproduce and so the population can be controlled directly by regulating stocking and harvest. They were put into Willard because of their outstanding sporting qualities and because they can be used as a management tool to control forage fish in the reservoir.

At this writing, the limit on wipers is 6 fish. The limit may vary from year to year; be sure to check the current proclamation.

Wipers are an open-water fish and they range freely throughout the reservoir. They fill a different niche than walleye, smallmouth and other sport fish that usually hold against structure.

They can be caught trolling or casting shad-imitating jigs and lures. Occasionally, they are caught on bait.

Good wiper fishing usually begins in March and continues into October. It the later summer wipers herd shad schools into confined areas and decimate them. The water appears to boil as shad leap into the air trying to escape the predators. Drag a jig or lure through these boils and fishing can be extremely fast.

Because of their size and attitude, wipers have become a very popular sport fish across the U.S. Stories of 30- 35-inch fish are becoming common. Willard will soon have fish in that category and that means the state record will be set and broken several times over the next few years. If you want to own a state record, at least temporarily, the wiper is your fish.