As always,Perhaps next time you run into that young man ,You’ll be suprised to see he’s added a fly rod to his arsonal… Pretty dern kewl of you to offer him a shot at using the little sage!!!
Good to know there are good ppl out there who will share solid info when it’s needed…Sounded like a fantastic trip!
I don’t think we have any bodies of water here that have wipers…well not close anyway.
grrrr…
Dang it all! Here I am not an hour and a half away from where Joe was fishing and a very similor lake not half an hour from me, the White Bass have run, the Wipers are biting, the Crappies will soon be done spawning and heading for the bottom of the lake, and I can’t get away for even half a day.
(Boo Hoo - this is where we need a crying smilie)
Thank goodness for Joe, at least I can steal a few minutes and read his story, close my eyes and pretend I’m him.
By the way Joe, how were them Wipers? How did you cook them? I’ve got a couple of recepees I am just itchen to try (hint, hint). 
thanks joe, really an excelent article and a great incentive for me to clear my schedule so hopefully I can get out Friday before the bass and the crappies are out of my casting range.
Ed
Sounds like to me that guy already is a ff, at least in attitude, he just hasn’t bought the outfit YET!.
Great job Joe 
Joe, good job, good reading, and very informative. I learn a lot from you and Rick. Thanks for the article!
Thanks and regards,
Gandolf
Hey, thanks fellas, and I apologize for not responding sooner. (I wasn’t scrolling down far enough in the recent posts; thought I’d looked at all, but hadn’t.)
Jeff Frye of Lawrence, who’s in the Free State Flyfishers Club, emailed me saying that during the last two weeks the club’s members have caught and released nearly one thousand – repeat, one thousand – wipers at Clinton Lake.
Jeff told me that after a wiper reaches 18-inches in length that for each additional inch of length you can assume a corresponding weight gain of 1 lb. A 20-inch wiper will run around 4-lbs, if I recall his information correctly.
No, I haven’t eaten those two fish yet. But the fillets are bagged in the freezer, frozen in lemon juice.
I went back to Clinton Dam just a couple of days after the “story trip”. Second time there I used my 9-ft. 3-wt. St. Croix rod, as those first two 18-inch wipers made me fear for the continued health of my 00-wt. Sage. On this second trip I was deliberately fishing for wipers and I never got a sniff – not one hit. (Murphy’s Law hard at work.)
Jeff Frye told me that he and the FSFF fellas never play wipers cheap; they go after 'em with heavier weight rods always. He was surprised those three wipers my double ought whipped didn’t bust up my little ultralight rod. Well, when they grabbed Old Reliable and took off like rocket ships I just went into survival mode and let 'em smoke line off the reel in hopes they’d eventually – I don’t know – get bored and stop? What else could I do? My “standing there helplessly” technique proved easier on the rod, I’m sure.
But all else being equal, with a stronger rod you would be able to land the fish quicker. And a shorter fight will improve a fish’s survival odds in a catch & release situation. Fighting against a 00-wt. rod is arguably harder on the fish than fighting against a 3+ rod.
The Free State Fly Fishers are intent on enjoying the outstanding fighting qualities of this hybrid, as opposed to catching them for food. Possible I’ll be the same way after eating the two I caught. In the time since I killed and cleaned them I’ve heard a mix of opinions on how good wipers are as table fare. Some say great, some say good, some say so-so, some say awful. Will have to find out for myself. It’ll be hard for anything to beat the taste of bluegills and crappie.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”
Joe,
I haven’t tried eating wipers… yet… but I read just this week that wipers like many of the “true” bass have a BLOODLINE in each filet that should be removed before cooking. Thanks again for the great story, I hope to have some stories soon about Kanopolis.
Ed
I filet 'em slice the blood line off and…well …it’s hard to explane just how good they are. Fried, Baked or Smoked they are good eatin. At least I think they are!!
Mark
Remove the blood line, you say? Oops. I never thought about that!
Well, I’ll look for a bloodline and remove it after the fillets thaw, and before dredging them in Louisiana New Orleans style fish mix and committing them to the hot sunflower oil.
Exposure to that lemon juice I froze them in (and that they’ll sit in while thawing) should moderate any negative flavors – if such actually exist.
Clinton Lake just yesterday jumped TWELVE FEET above multi-purpose pool, compliments of the monsoon-like rains we got last week.
The good news is, the drought in Kansas has been broken.
The bad news is…Greensburg.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”
Hi Joe,
What did the Free State guys use, mostly, streamers? Any particular pattern?
Thanks and regards,
Gandolf
I don’t know what fly those guys use. I didn’t think to ask. You wouldn’t think they’re all using the same thing, though.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”