Fun evening at Willard 8/26

[obifishkenobi]

I took one of my neighbors and his two boys out to Willard Friday evening. We got on the water at the south marina about 6:15 and I pulled the two boys on the tube for about an hour, then ran over to the south east corner of freeway bay and anchored up on an old road bed and put out some mussels, we got 7 wipers and capped the evening with one of his boys catching a carp. we called it quits at 8:30, just as the sun was setting and as soon as the sun went below the horizon the mosquitoes came out with a vengeance. I got eaten up at the ramp while the DWR guys decided it was a good time for a boat inspection. I will be out again tomorrow morning with another neighbor and his boy.
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[JiggyJus10]

Thanks! I am going to try this tonight at the same times. Hope I have a similar experience.
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[obifishkenobi]

Went out again this morning with a different neighbor and his 8 year old son. We knocked them dead in the same spot doing the same thing as last night. His boy kept saying this is the best day ever we are catching millions of fish. He started the day with his dad setting him up on a kids pole with a closed faced real, but by the time we left he was using a spinning set up, tying and baiting his own hooks, casting and setting the hook and fighting them into the boat like a pro. We fished from 9:00 am to noon catching 26 wipers, 3 catfish and a carp.
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[r2u2]

Curious; those wipers look like they have been feeding pretty good. The last ones I got were healthy but had nothing in their gut. Did you look to see if yours had been eating? What were the findings?

Thanks,
RI
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Usually the wipers are feeding well this time of year. But I am not seeing the huge shad schools on sonar I usually see. Some, but not as many. And the wipers I have kept are mostly empty too. The one I kept last Thursday had one shad about six inches long in its gut but no small ones.

Since the shad start spawning as early as April and the spawn can spread over about 60 days, it is not unusual to find shad of several sizes in one fish. Here is a picture of several small shad taken from one wiper one September.

[inline "SHAD - SEPT..jpg"]

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[Tin-Can]

Richard, the 2 I filleted yesterday, one was empty far as I could tell, the other had what looked like partially digested worms and mussels..............[sly] ain't that a coincidence, that's what I've been using the past several trips. But seems this year the Wiper are hitting even harder that in the past. Even the junior size hit, strip line and squeal the drag like I hooked a passing Front Runner. Then I get them in the net, and am surprised that they aren't more than 15 inches, or less.
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