Bass species offer change from more popular catches

Two of the strongest fish that swim in local waters are for the most part ignored by a majority of the anglers who regularly fish the reservoirs around Youngstown.
White bass and hybrid striped bass are powerful fighters and excellent table fare, but few fishers dedicate much time to learning how to catch them, compared with the more popular species like walleyes, crappies, largemouth bass and catfish. The result is white bass and their hybrid kin -- also known as wipers -- thrive in the shad-rich waters in our region.
Both fish prefer the open water where they cruise with little regard to depth and cover as long as they are within striking distance of their favorite food. Their behavior makes them relatively unpredictable among fishermen who are more attuned to following schools of walleye or stalking the shallows for largemouths and panfish.
Summer is an excellent time to encounter the open-water predators. To find them really requires only some working knowledge about the location of shad schools. Those who find the shad will often find whites and wipers nearby.
White bass are natives to the Mahoning River. Populations boomed when dams were built on the river and its tributaries to create Milton, Berlin, Mosquito and West Branch reservoirs. They also are numerous in Lake Erie, the Ohio River and Shenango Reservoir.
Most mature white bass will measure 12 to 15 inches and weigh a pound or two. Bigger specimens are fairly common.
Wipers are a cross between white bass and striped bass. They have been stocked in the Ohio River, Shenango and West Branch as well as other Ohio waters and across the U.S.
Because half of their DNA comes from big striped bass, wipers grow far bigger than white bass. Fish weighing 10 pounds are fairly common at Shenango and the Ohio River, and hooking a wiper up to 14 pounds is not out of the question in local waters.
Finding and catching them
Both fish are eating machines. They prowl the open water and when they find shad, they herd them toward the surface and gorge themselves on the trapped bait. Anglers who spot the feeding frenzies cast lures to the melee and catch fish after fish until the shad escape and the whites and wipers disappear.
White bass make a spawning run into the same rivers where walleye nest. During most years, the white bass run typically peaks a week or two after the walleyes' major spawn. Spring-run anglers capitalize by working the pools with white or chartreuse jigs -- dressed with marabou, bucktail or plastic twisters.
White bass catches often are incidental to those who are targeting walleyes, crappies or even largemouth bass. Anglers trolling for walleyes at Berlin, Mosquito and Milton often are surprised when they reel in a white bass. Bass anglers casting crankbaits and spinnerbaits can expect a white bass or two, particularly if they are working points and wind-blown shorelines.
The same holds true for hybrids. They are suckers for crankbaits that resemble shad scooting across a point or a hump. They'll smash a topwater lure with such ferocity that it leaves no doubt they mean to kill and devour.
Finding white bass and hybrids sometimes is pretty easy. Keep your ears tuned and eyes sharp for the next time the water over your shoulder erupts into a boiling froth. When the schools are down, anglers skilled with their sonar units will locate whites and wipers as big hooks around the perimeter of baitfish clouds on their screens.
A 10-pound wiper will pull an angler around for the best fight of the summer. And a school of hungry white bass will wear out your casting arm.
What more could a fisherman want when the walleyes are scattered and the bass have lockjaw?
jwwollitz@aol.com