# Where have all the hybrids gone?



## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Wow! No posts in the last 8 months? Must be everyone quit fishing O’Shay, scioto and Buckeye.
Too bad…


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

I've been fishing for them the past month in the scioto but have only caught smallmouth and drum. I had a pretty good hit last time out while fishing a swimbait but missed it. It could have been a gar too considering the place I fish has a ton of them in that area. I'm going out tomorrow morning to see if I can get one. Missed the spring run cuz I was fooling around with crappie but I'm not going to make that mistake again. I agree that things have gotten awfully quiet with respect to wipers and scioto the past year.

Honestly, I have been getting the feeling that central Ohio fishing part of the forum in general has not been as productive as it's been in the past. A lot of the major players have left. Some of them got kicked out. Others left cuz they felt like they were burning their own spots whenever they posted a fishing report. "Poachers" have gotten really good at using this forum to find new areas to exploit. I find myself checking over my shoulder a lot of the time to see if somebody has followed me to one of my honey holes.


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Went out fishing this morning. Only caught one largemouth. Couldn't find any active fish. Talked to a guy who said that he's been having better success catching them below dams when the water is up.


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

If you don't have very fast running water, the best bet is sundown and sunup. I hate it when someone walks up to me and says my user name and asks if I'm doing any good. I'll ask their forum name and they say they just look around at the site. The only way they get info then is just by watching. Is anyone checking to see if more have been stocked?


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Hybrid striped bass fingerlings have been stocked in both O'Shay and Griggs the past few years according to the ODNR website. The guy I mentioned before caught some smaller wipers while we were fishing one of the dams. Which were probably last year's fish. I also got hit while throwing a silver rebel minnow F10 but missed. 

I was sort of kicking myself cuz I wasted most of my time fishing a pool farther downstream where I saw mostly gar and buffalo suckers (looked to me that the dissolved oxygen was pretty low too). I only managed to catch one fat but lethargic largemouth. I probably would have at least been catching smaller wipers this morning if I stayed up at the dam.

I am planning on fishing for them again later this week. I did notice smaller shad while fishing today. I plan to use a technique that I learned from fishing for steelhead which is drifting a silver crappie tube on a 1/16 gamakatsu jig under a weighted float. If I don't have any luck I'll take off the float. I also plan on throwing some smaller x-raps,


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## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

I have been running into a few here and there when trolling for Saugeye or casting into schools of white bass on O'Shay, size wise though they are nothing like the monsters I have caught in Griggs or below Griggs in years past


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

They've been stocking them recently up here in NE Ohio, and dudes are going gaga for them, which is completely understandable!


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## wolfenstein (Jan 6, 2014)

Yup what he said. 8.9#


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

July and early August are always tough, the fish are usually focused on shiners until the young of year shad and skipjack get large enough to interest them. 
Despite that I have been lucky enough to do very well on larger fish lately with a handful in the 10-11lb range which is crazy for this time of year, but they are work to find.

The reason nobody is posting though if because every spot that ends up on the internet dies a quick death. The crowds on the water have been high even when the locations are not well known and the culture of harvest in Ohio is archaic. Basically until people change I would encourage everyone to keep your mouth shut about your hybrids or they will go home on a rope.


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Ya I rarely share spots that are off the beaten path. But there are still spots that everybody knows about that still produce well even though they see lots of pressure. You just have to know when to hit those spots. It might be a little tough a few years from now. Unfortunately, no hybrids were stocked any where in the state this year.


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## joel_fishes (Apr 26, 2004)

Snookhunter52 said:


> Unfortunately, no hybrids were stocked any where in the state this year.


Do you know why?


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

I'm pretty sure covid had something to do with it. I'm think we rely on another state for hybrid striped bass fry and we either trade them for steelhead or saugeye (I honestly forget). I imagine connection between DNRs was severed because of the pandemic. I guess we also had a lot of guys from DNR retire last year too. I trust that ODNR will make up for it next year. Blue cats were also not stocked this year. I'm not sure if there is a correlation with hybrids being stocked or not. I would be curious to see the response if somebody could email them and ask what happened.


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

Big topwater lures work good morning and evening, pencil poppers, zara spooks. Another little trick is if you see them busting the surface and they don't bite, tie a heavier spoon. Sometimes the big slobs stay down and get the leftovers. I'm really lucky to have the Greenup dam to fish for all these years and live across the street from the Scioto river. Some times they can be caught up to Christmas. I bet a lot of folks up there catch a lot of wipers and think they are whites. The whites will have a little dirtier color, hybrids are brighter colored. Good luck guys!!🎣 Can't wait for some cooler weather!!


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Daveo76 said:


> Big topwater lures work good morning and evening, pencil poppers, zara spooks. Another little trick is if you see them busting the surface and they don't bite, tie a heavier spoon. Sometimes the big slobs stay down and get the leftovers. I'm really lucky to have the Greenup dam to fish for all these years and live across the street from the Scioto river. Some times they can be caught up to Christmas. I bet a lot of folks up there catch a lot of wipers and think they are whites. The whites will have a little dirtier color, hybrids are brighter colored. Good luck guys!!🎣 Can't wait for some cooler weather!!
> View attachment 475020


Nice!!! I've got some smaller striped bass poppers that I'm tempted to try. I'm also thinking about buying some white bucktails and using a white berkley gulp grub as a trailer. 

I've been getting a lot of these ideas from watching John Skinners videos on YouTube of him chasing striped bass on the East Coast while I'm waiting for me broken ankle to heal. I'm taking tactics from those videos and trying to down size since hybrids have smaller mouths than striped bass. He's using 7 to 9 inch poppers while I'm planning on using 4 to 5 inchers. I'm also planning on throwing 1/8 to 1/2 bucktails instead of the 1 to 3 ouncers. The water below the dams up here are much shallower (4 to 10' deep) so I have to use lighter jigs to avoid getting hung up.


I also try to match the hatch. I also have some white crappie tubes that I pair with gamakatsu salmon jigs (a lot like crappie jigs but have thicker gage hooks) that I use to match the shad fry.

I'm excited and preparing now. My ankle is expected to be healed up in mid October which is right when the fishing start to be at it's best.


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

Don't give up on the big pencil poppers. Down here we use 1 1/2- 2 oz bucktails . You'll be amazed at the size you can catch on marabou crapple jigs and other small lures! Crappie jig and 7" pencil popper


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

I've caught them on 5 inch jerkbaits but I never thought they would try to eat something that large. I'll definitely see if some of my larger striper lures will work. Worst case I'll end up catching a muskie instead haha


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

Look at the mouth of the top one. That's a 1/8 crappie jig. Some days it's "go small or don't go at all".


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Yes I hope I can catch some wipers on some of my steelhead gear. It will definitely help me get prepared for steelhead fishing this winter. I also always enjoy throwing jig and float rigs whether it's steelhead, crappie or even wipers haha


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## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

I know people do it, but I have never caught a wiper , any size, on a lure bigger than 4.5 inches long, and the grand majority have come on 1/8 oz jigs and either a 2-3 inch swimbait or twister tail. This year I started really targeting them on my boat, I started by trolling big plugs and spoons , got nothing but the occasional catfish. It wasn't until I started trolling small jigs high in water column that I started getting fish with any consistency. I still haven't zeroed in on a pattern for the deeper fish, I have tried drifting and dead rigging live shad and chicken liver with no success. Have caught a few over the years bottom bouncing worm harnesses though , so I am thinking I need the combo of live bait and flash plus thump to get the deep fish interested. Next trip out I am going to try heavy jigging spoons tipped with night crawlers or liver.


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Govbarney said:


> I know people do it, but I have never caught a wiper , any size, on a lure bigger than 4.5 inches long, and the grand majority have come on 1/8 oz jigs and either a 2-3 inch swimbait or twister tail. This year I started really targeting them on my boat, I started by trolling big plugs and spoons , got nothing but the occasional catfish. It wasn't until I started trolling small jigs high in water column that I started getting fish with any consistency. I still haven't zeroed in on a pattern for the deeper fish, I have tried drifting and dead rigging live shad and chicken liver with no success. Have caught a few over the years bottom bouncing worm harnesses though , so I am thinking I need the combo of live bait and flash plus thump to get the deep fish interested. Next trip out I am going to try heavy jigging spoons tipped with night crawlers or liver.


You've definitely chosen a much harder path. I have heard that wipers are much more difficult to pattern in lakes than rivers just because there's so much open water. It shows how dedicated you are for you to able to find them on a regular basis.


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## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

Snookhunter52 said:


> You've definitely chosen a much harder path. I have heard that wipers are much more difficult to pattern in lakes than rivers just because there's so much open water. It shows how dedicated you are for you to able to find them on a regular basis.


I don't necessarily think it's harder , just like in rivers they tend to congregate in certain areas throughout the day depending on pray and feeding habits. In a boat you can troll around and cover a lot more water to locate, and where there is one Wiper there is often a school. On a river your more limited on w
ater you can cover unless you are in a Canoe or Kayak. And just like in River if they aren't feeding , they aren't feeding, but at least in a boat I can locate them with my fish finder and try to coax them into feeding (something I have read is possible but haven't quite figured out yet)


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Govbarney said:


> I don't necessarily think it's harder , just like in rivers they tend to congregate in certain areas throughout the day depending on pray and feeding habits. In a boat you can troll around and cover a lot more water to locate, and where there is one Wiper there is often a school. On a river your more limited on w
> ater you can cover unless you are in a Canoe or Kayak. And just like in River if they aren't feeding , they aren't feeding, but at least in a boat I can locate them with my fish finder and try to coax them into feeding (something I have read is possible but haven't quite figured out yet)


You still chasing wipers up there?


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## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

Saugeyefisher said:


> You still chasing wipers up there?


My last outing where I got into Wipers on O'Shay was in late September. My pattern (and I'm hesitant to even call it that) for picking up Wipers trolling , goes to s*** when the water gets muddy and cold. 
From past experience your best bet Late October into November is to find busting shad and throw a jerk bait or paddle tail.


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