](The best flies and lures for wipers are usually those that match the size and color of the current crop of shad in the lake. This can vary from very small in June up to 4 inches in September. And, because wipers also eat crawdads and dark forage species the dark patterns can sometimes work too. Here is a picture shared by a fly flinger a couple of years ago of some effective patterns.
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I fish Willard a lot with a fly rod. By far my favorite is a white crystal bugger. In a few weeks, the catfish will be moving into the rocks to spawn and the smallies will get more active. Specifically targeting wipers is tough, especially from shore. I do catch wipers, but consider them a very happy accident.
Awesome advice. I’ll update this post after the weekend. And likely with images of hand tied flies lol
ive never had much luck gittin em from the dikes seem to do better and lose less flies throwin into or parallel
got a few yesterday in the ne corner and along the n dike
i like to chuck big white shad lookin articulated junk
sex dungeans, cheech leeches etc
imho theyre overharvested and the fishery suffers from it
Planning on getting up to Willard soon to try for some wiper on the fly rod. I’ll be shore fishing with the fly rod whilst I soak a night crawler on the bottom. I’ve tied up a few large Wooly Buggers for the occasion.
I haven’t tried for wiper with the fly but I got a new 7 wt and I think it will be awesome if I get one on. What color combinations have you found success with as far as lures, jigs, and the fly?