Willard Wipers

Letter by: Jerry Mason, Brigham City, UT 

Dear Editor:

The wiper fishing at Willard Bay has been good the last few weeks as evidenced by the enclosed picture. Grandma Miriam and I caught several wipers while waiting for the grandsons to arrive one evening. We caught them (the wipers) trolling bottom bouncers with a worm harness and also by trolling shad and crawfish crankbaits. The fishing was best when the water was choppy. We took the granddaughter out a few days later and she caught her's when a squall came through.

The photo shows a wiper that has been entered in the catch and release records. It measured 20 1/2 inches and exceeds the old record of 18 1/2 inches. Evan Day caught this one in late May. We had been talking about the two record programs since the weight record had been five pounds three ounces till this spring when a five pound 15 ounce fish was entered. We noticed that the heavier fish was 22 inches and the earlier weight record was 21 and 1/4 inches. The question arises as to whether a 20 and 1/2 inch fish could weigh more than a 22 inch fish. We asked ourselves the same question as Evan's wiper swam away. We had been so concerned about getting the length recorded and putting him back in the water, we completely forgot about getting a weight. We decided that having the catch and release record was more desirable than the weight record anyway. We also picked up a couple walleyes over five pounds that day.

Speaking of records, I would like to suggest that my grandchildren all have wiper records for their ages of seven, eight and ten. More importantly, my granddaughter determined that her fish be "set free."