I wasn't going to put the biggest fish I'd caught all year on a stringer. If I did it again I wouldn't use his net. At first I thought he was doing it to be nice. It took me a few times to realize he wanted payment. It was a lesson learned and in the future if this happens I will just say no thanks.

I think you could also make the opposite argument that because they don't spawn you should release them. There's no way to replenish them once you take them out unless someone stocks them. I release all the rare trophy fish I catch. If I'm catching 2-3 lbers that are common then maybe I will give some up but never the rare ones.

I agree, I got the tail end of a local lake that switched to saugeye to control crappie. I just assumed you were somewhere like Sooner Lake where they consistently re-stock. Tight lines bro.

​​@@BackroadsAngling They are a stocked fish, with no limit.

@@hammerhed4140 I'm not too worried about whether they are stocked or native. The big wipers are rare in this river. I always release rare fish and keep the ones that are plentiful.

He had 20lbs of fish on his stringer so I knew he would be OK.

no he’s destroying our fishery’s

That poor illegal was hungry.... must have used up his EBT card early. 😂😂😂

It definitely felt like a dream. I'm glad I captured it on camera or I wouldn't believe it happened! Thanks for watching!

Thanks! I hope the hot bite continues!

It would have been nice to have someone to share in the action! These fish are usually zeroed in on shad but usually they will eat artificial imitations almost as good as the real thing. This time however it seems they were so dialed in that they only wanted the real thing.

I've seen some of your hybrid videos. You guys catch some tanks down there! We usually catch a lot of 5-6 lbers in this area but occasionally you hit a nice DD. However this year has been different. I think I have caught as many 10+ as I have below 10lbers. I'm not sure why the size has increased so much but I'm OK with it. Thanks!

Yeah that's what's up man! That's how it was here about 3 years ago, but they haven't been able to stock any more for us since 2016 so we are almost out of the big hybrids unfortunately. But oh well, we should get more soon. Keep up the great content brother!@@BackroadsAngling

Ya I guess the stocking program plays a huge role in how good a wiper fishery is going to be. I hope you they start re-stocking your rivers and spillways soon! Good luck!

The percentage of success was unbelievable.

I agree. It's a gem and a lot of fun to fish. When it's on the fishing is unreal. Thank you!

I bet. u earned a new subscriber. keep up the good work

Thanks it was fun!

Ya I use 20 lb. I like anything in the 10-20lb range. Al is a bait fisherman so he isn’t constantly casting. In that case heavy line is OK. Casting and reeling 50 lb line all day isn’t fun. If you are getting snagged you need a lighter jig head faster retrieve or both.

My favorite too! I've noticed a huge increase in the population of 2-3 lb wipers this fall. I think the DNR stocked a whole bunch of them in the past year or so. The next few years should be good!

Thanks, I was seeing a bunch of shad spilling over on this day. I think the bigger predators took notice.

@@BackroadsAngling Yw.

Were you listening in on my phone calls?

@@BackroadsAngling No just thinking of what I would say in that situation, but mine would possibly include an f-bomb, depending on the day...

@@SluSharkND Ya I hear ya!

Thanks it was a blast! I did go back the next day and got a 12 lber but it was clear the bite was slowing down. I think I caught lightning in a bottle for 1 hr and just like that it was gone.

@@BackroadsAngling I hit a honey hole of nice smallies the other night and was a blast !! I wanna go back so bad soon

Nice!

Thanks! I've heard of Lockport through Jay Siemens and Uncut Angling. Seems like it's the best channel cat fishing in the world. Good luck!

@@BackroadsAngling sure is and thanks

Thanks!

Thanks, it was crazy bite window!

My favorite fish too. It was taking about 5-7 min to get these fish in so I did end up getting quite a workout! Thank you!

Thanks!

I was actually late for work that day but no one noticed so I was good. A bite like that was worth getting in the dog house for. Even the smaller wipers fight like crazy! Thanks!

If just starting out the first thing I would do would be to find stocking/fishing reports to find lakes and rivers where a lot of wipers are found. If you find a river that has a lot of wipers then throw a jig head with a 3" swimbait or fluke (white and/or chartreuse is best) below spillways or fast moving riffles. Wipers like fast moving or turbulent water so they will be hanging out there waiting for bait fish. If you find a good lake try fishing early mornings or late in the evenings when you are most likely to find them blowing up on the surface. Once you find them throw the same swimbait or fluke I mentioned above or cast a topwater like whopper plopper or popper. Once you spend enough time on a good body of water you will start to learn their habits and find areas where the fish like to concentrate. good luck!

Ohhh that’s makes a lot of sense what about the gear set up 😅

@@selaher8670 medium action rod paired with a reel that has good drag. 20lb braid with a 20lb flour leader for the last 3ft above the jig head.

If I want to eat fish I can keep as many white bass or other species as I want. These trophy wipers are rare and I don't have any reason to keep them. Thanks, it was definitely one of my favorite trips of the year.

I don't think so. I think a decent number of them will make it through. The 13 lb wipers in this video are a good argument for that. This place is so heavily fished I have to assume that many of those giants have been caught at least once in their life but got another chance and ended up making it to trophy status. A tagging program would be interesting to see if I'm right or not. Thanks for watching!

​​@@BackroadsAngling There life span is about the same as that of a White Bass, so they don't live a long time. Those fish are getting up there in age. And yes, they will not live any longer once they hit the ice! Good to see you release the big fish! Been some talk amoung biologist that they can reproduce and successfully spawn in the right rivers! I C&R them too. But to be honest the just legal fish eat better. Here in Texas the minimum length is 18". My PB is is a 26.5" that weight 9.0lbs. I also caugth a TP&W "Water Body Record" Striped Bass on my to that spot. Seems river run Hybrids are bigger than their lake raised brothers and sisters! I've been crushing the Hybrids the last three weeks in the lake. They are a blast!

@@charlesfoster8814 Some people give me a hard time for releasing the big wipers saying they are about to die anyway. However, our state record is 20lbs so if one of these 12-13 lbers has similar potential then it actually still has a lot of living and growing to do. There's no way to tell how much life they have left just by looking at them and weighing them. Sounds like you are on the wipers. Good luck!

Yes, the flows are better on the opposite side during the summer so I moved over there.

I agree, it was one of my favorite mornings from this summer.

Ya, that happens here too. I came back the next day and it was pretty crowded. It's hard to keep a good wiper bite secret and they are so vulnerable when they are in a frenzy like this. Unfortunately we don't have any limits on wipers so if someone gets into a hot bite and wants to keep 20 big ones they can.

I actually think there is a good chance that someone could catch one near the state record in the next 3-4 yrs. The average size is so big right now and it only takes 1 fish having a crazy growth spurt and it could get there. The fish in this spillway are built thicker and denser than other spillways in the state. I’m actually surprised the state record hasn’t been caught from here yet.

@@BackroadsAngling the kid from The Avid fisherman is my friend and he has showed me a picture of his PB wiper which was 17 pounds which is the biggest wiper I've ever seen caught out of there. When wiper get that big they get so dense that they can't even grow from the top anymore they can only grow in length. Eventually when they get past the 20 pound mark they look like stripers but with broken lines!

@@AGdaRiverRat That's a big one. I've never seen one around here that big. I would have to see a picture to believe it.

I'm thinking about starting to do them again. Last year I felt like it kind of hurt my channel because I attracted a lot of viewers that liked watching shorts but weren't into the longer videos. My CTR and watch time for the long videos went down and KZfaq stopped recommending my videos as much. That being said, I have a lot of ideas for some shorts so you might see some new ones coming soon. Thanks.

alr awesome!@@BackroadsAngling

Thanks, these fish really like to chase shad into the fast water. The bait fish get disoriented and then it's an easy meal for the wipers. Thanks for watching....twice!

Big wipers like this are rare so letting one of them go on the stringer wasn't an option. Because of over harvesting they are becoming hard to find. I thought maybe I would catch a smaller white bass for him which are abundant in the river but I only ended up catching bigger ones. He had 2 big wipers on his stringer and I knew that was more than enough to feed his family for several days. In hindsight I should have landed the fish myself so that he didn't expect payment but at the time I thought he was doing it to be nice. It was a lesson learned and next time I will just land the fish myself.

@@BackroadsAngling I agree totally with you on release I do. I have had this happen to me I just tell them from the start sorry I release all fish. They usually don't bother me anymore. I just think he took it the wrong way I don't think you could of won he didn't understand you! Lol

@@julielefler9747 Yes it is true that we weren't understanding each other. We actually had a pretty vibe going for the most part. In the video it doesn't really come off that way but the interaction was mostly positive.

I agree. A lot of these places are heavily pressured and without catch and release there won't be any fish left to catch. Thanks!

They are hybrids made to take. They Do Not spawn.

A good reason to release them. Once they're gone they aren't coming back unless someone restocks them. If they spawned then they could bounce back after they get over harvested. Also, re-stocking a bunch of 8 inch fish isn't going to replace 13 lb fish. It takes a lot of luck to get one to survive to that size.

Thank you!

That guy did end up with two 10+ lb fish so he had plenty to eat. That's one reason I didn't feel too bad about not giving up my catches. This spillway is very pressured and the bigger wipers are getting harder to find. That's why I try to always release the big ones. Thanks for watching!

The Asian guys around me in cali keep everything. Guys going home with 30+ bluegill, tiny catfish, and stripers no matter how small. Kinda gets irritating that they always try and "help me" land my fish and unhook it and try to keep it. A couple weeks ago a guy took home 8 stripers ranging from 8"-26". Sometimes wish the warden would catch them.

@@Isaiah-gg6pd I also meet a lot of people that keep everything big or small. We don't have any regulations when it comes to wipers (stripers). You can keep any size and there is no limit. It's really frustrating because sometimes you get on a hot bite and you'll see someone literally keep 20 big ones and it's perfectly legal. I'm not sure if they actually eat it or leave it in the freezer to get freezer burned.

@@BackroadsAngling the guys around me eat them, which is one pro. But in California where I am the limit is 2 and they must be 18” or bigger.

@@BackroadsAnglingthey sell them

I like catching big wipers. Why would I want to take them out of the river? I'll do what I want with the fish I catch. You can do the same with yours.

That neighbor told his entire community about this hole and now it's probably fished out completely.

I did offer him some shad to use as bait. He caught 2 big ones so he was eating good. Thanks for watching!

Until you see the same guy later on after he's collected more fish than he can carry. Then I think it makes perfect sense - to most people anyway. I think most people like to catch trophy fish. It makes no sense to me why they want to take them all out of the river.

I like catching big wipers so I keep them in the river. The smaller wipers, white bass and walleye are more numerous and taste better.

I call them wipers because they aren't pure stripers. I think most guys around here call them hybrids. Some guys I talk to from the south call them sand bass. It seems there are a quite a few names for these things.

We call them Hybrids or Wipers here in Texas

There just hybrids guys.

@EngineeringHooksets He didn't eat it yet he freezed it for thanksgiving

Thanks, it was a pretty crazy 60 minutes or so. I'm so glad I got it on video because I had so much adrenaline flowing it was just a blur. If I didn't have the footage I seriously don't think I would have a very good memory of anything that happened. The dude caught another one that I didn't get on camera that was the same size so ya unfortunately some giants got harvested that day.