# Hybrids



## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Anyone else excited about the hybrids at Oshay? Talking to ODNR last summer they had big hopes for them. They stated that they expected them to grow fast and do well there. If they fight like the ones in the Ohio it should be big fun soon!.


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## chriscreek (Nov 2, 2009)

I never have fished for stripers but would like to. with Oshay(i cant spell it can you?) so close i will have to. do you think a johnboat with a trolling motor will do all right on on oshay?


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

You should be able to putz around in a johnboat just fine. Just be careful and have proper equip. on board. It's O'Shaughnessy. A bit skeptical of adding a new predator into the river system, but we will see. Gonna be fun catching them down at Greenlawn


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## Welsh Dragon (Jun 18, 2008)

When did they stock them and/or when will we start to see them? I hope they don't effect my smallie fishing. New predator = smaller smallies?


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

I'm a bit concerned about the new addition as well. But for now i'm just gonna think good thoughts.....


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## OHbass-nut (Jun 17, 2009)

I think that the striped bass family are mainly open water predators that feed on schools of shad, but our black bass friends are more structure/cover oriented. Hope for minimal competition between them in the lake. Not so sure about what impact they will have on the river though...


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## "Big" mark the shark (Jan 21, 2010)

boy oh boy looking fourword to that in about 1 year or so. thanks ODNR


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Smallies shouldn't be affected all that much, Saugeye and LM could be a different story. Smallmouth inhabit faster riffles, Saugeye inhabit the lazy tail-outs and Largemouth like slack pools with cover. Lastly Wipers like wide open pools. So in theory all 4 species will find there own niche and play nice..Doesn't always work that way though. Things might get somewhat problematic come fall when basically everything turns into shad-eating machines.


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## fishknife (Apr 13, 2004)

I live near East Fork Lake in Clermont County. Hybrids have been stocked in East Fork for more than 20 years and many escape into the steam below the lake. I have caught several (in the stream, East Fork of the Little Miami River) up to 10.5 pounds. I really don't target them, just catch them while smallmouth fishing. They have not had a negative effect on the smallmouth here. I have hooked some that were so large that they took all the line off my spool ( I use spinning gear with 6# test mono). If you get a large one and it gets into the current, kiss it goodbye. I catch most of them in April and May. Bottom line is, the smallmouth fishing in East Fork (the stream, not the lake) is still excellent, even with the hybrids present.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

the only change the hybrids will bring is somthing over 2lbs that will eat topwaters in the columbus area. oh yeah, and somthing that will pull a smallie backwards. I am not the biggest fan of stocking hybrid fish, but damb wipers are fun, and I have seen little to no evidence(from a science standpoint) that they effect native predators, or even baitfish in most situations.
with the productivity of the local rivers, plus the added nutrient load, I dont think we will ever get close to surpassing the sastainability of the system, atleast not from stocking.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Welsh Dragon said:


> When did they stock them and/or when will we start to see them


They stocked them a year ago this spring. A fair amount of people have already caught them/seen them caught (myself included). Most people probably think they are just white bass...Not for long though . FYI they should be about 14"(?) by this fall. And go DNR! im all for the stockings...The Scioto is a MUCH different system today then it was 150 years ago, I would be inclined to think it could support a more diverse fishery.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

A random thought in regards to the stocking: Was it only a one time deal? Are there any publications online about the stockings?


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

I believe it was a one time only stocking..could be wrong though. Specifics are almost non-existent.


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## striperfreak (Apr 30, 2004)

Plenty of room and shad in the river for them.


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

With the numbers of shad i saw this year it may help out the bass fishing? Did they put them in griggs also? The last couple of years there were a ton of shad in griggs. It should not hurt anything. Guess we will see.


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## norseangler (Jan 8, 2009)

acklac7 said:


> They stocked them 2 years ago this spring. A fair amount of people have already caught them/seen them caught (myself included). Most people probably think they are just white bass...Not for long though . FYI they should be about 14"(?) by this fall (Alex?). And go DNR! im all for the stockings...The Scioto is a MUCH different system today then it was 150 years ago, I would be inclined to think it could support a more diverse fishery.


Actually, I think they stocked them last spring, which would make 14 inches by this fall likely (bigger if they match the growth rate at Dillon. Did a story for OON last ring on the stocking of hybrids at O and G and the plans to try blue cats at Dillon, but I forget exactly when it ran.


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

norseangler said:


> Actually, I think they stocked them last spring, which would make 14 inches by this fall likely (bigger if they match the growth rate at Dillon. Did a story for OON last ring on the stocking of hybrids at O and G and the plans to try blue cats at Dillon, but I forget exactly when it ran.


Yup it was last year...my bad.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

Marshall said:


> With the numbers of shad i saw this year it may help out the bass fishing? Did they put them in griggs also? The last couple of years there were a ton of shad in griggs. It should not hurt anything. Guess we will see.



Totally agree. There are monster shad populations in these two reservoirs and it will only help and not hurt the bass fishing IMO. When I lived in Illinois, some of the best smallie and largemouth lakes had very well-developed hybrid striper populations in them (Heideike, Powerton, LaSalle, Braidwood, Lake of Egypt.) They also might positively impact the size profile of the white bass in these lakes.

Just my own humble anecdotal opinion, but it seems the fish populations are a out of balance right now at O'Shay and griggs....we could use more predators/gamefish and less rough fish/baitfish.

Pretty sure the "wiper" or "hybrid" is sterile so there should be little concern of it hurting the fish populations over the long term. They go thru the motions but I don't think they are successful spawners. Anyone know what they stock here? is it male white bass / female striper? or the reverse? In Illinois, I think it's male white bass / female striper.

I also personally like catching a few of these "surprises" while I'm bass fishing.

Hope they continue with annual stockings. Of note, I did not catch one hybrid at O'Shay or Griggs last year...how many did they put in?


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## buckbassnbeyond (Apr 7, 2008)

I have never focused on hybrid fishing before and am really thinking about making it a goal this spring to get on em. I heard they get quite big..maybe upt to 15 lbs here in Ohio. Is this correct? Also if I wanted to focus on catching some monster hybrids this year, any idea on some good bodies of water to start with?


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

buckbassnbeyond said:


> I have never focused on hybrid fishing before and am really thinking about making it a goal this spring to get on em. I heard they get quite big..maybe upt to 15 lbs here in Ohio. Is this correct? Also if I wanted to focus on catching some monster hybrids this year, any idea on some good bodies of water to start with?


First off, I'll qualify my answer stating I've never caught or fished for hybrids in Ohio. On the other hand, I fished for and caught tons of them in Illinois up to 10ish pounds. Yes; they get big and grow quickly. Pretty sure the Illinois hybrid record is over 10 lbs. 

One "money" technique that has worked well for me on IL lakes was this: find a windblown shallow flat with some shad on it and cast 1/6 oz white roostertails. Watch for diving birds and run and gun to similar spots all day long. You can hit some really fast action at times doing this! Don't think that those little 1/6 oz baits won't catch the bigger hybrids either....they will. Trust me!

Another method that seems to work shockingly well (but I personally have never done) is drift fishing with chicken livers or shrimp. I've seen tons caught in this manner....the chicken liver thing is a little perplexing to me but it works. Good luck-go try Buckeye Lake this spring. They are early biters that get fairly active even in mid-40 water temps per my own personal experience!


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

When fishing a body of water that has them in it always keep a jump lure ready. I keep a Hopkins shorty rigged on a rod. When you see them boiling it will cast a mile. You can retreive it at a blazing pace that keeps it skipping accross the surface. They will blast it. As the action slows a bit you can fish it deeper as well. Works great on the Ohio. 
If you check the posts on the Ohio river they usually have some great suggestions as well.


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## thigpend6 (Mar 18, 2009)

Mushijobah said:


> You should be able to putz around in a johnboat just fine. Just be careful and have proper equip. on board. It's O'Shaughnessy. A bit skeptical of adding a new predator into the river system, but we will see. Gonna be fun catching them down at Greenlawn


Yea mushi I agree that it's gonna be a blast hooking into one of those, i actually seen a guy last year catch a really nice one down at the lawn, but it was the only one i seen caught down there all year, i mite still have the pic on the laptop. yep here it is, not sure of the wieght of the fish, but a good one nonetheless...sorry about the size of the pic, not sure how to resize it


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Very cool!! There have been sporadic catchings in the Scioto throughout the years. I know first hand they are usually at a couple spots between Columbus and Circleville during certain times of the year. I'm guessing that one is one of those random fish...Unless they threw some full sized fish into Griggs/Oshay.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

I recieved a bit more information from ODNR..........6,821 HSB fingerlings were stocked in Griggs on 6/26/2009 and 63,199 HSB fingerlings were stocked in O'Shaughnessy between /6/19/09 and 6/26/09.

I still don't know if they are going to do this on a regular basis yet. I'll provide more information as I get it.

Get your boats ready!


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

I did find out they are planning to continue stocking these regularly.


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## ski (May 13, 2004)

Did anybody see the show In Fisherman last week or this week? They were fishing for wipers. Yes, The hybrid. It was pretty cool.

ski


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## lunchbox (Mar 25, 2009)

buckbassnbeyond said:


> I have never focused on hybrid fishing before and am really thinking about making it a goal this spring to get on em. I heard they get quite big..maybe upt to 15 lbs here in Ohio. Is this correct? Also if I wanted to focus on catching some monster hybrids this year, any idea on some good bodies of water to start with?


i used to fish for these in the ohio river when i lived back there. man are they great to catch. i usually had the best luck getting them in fast moving water. had the best luck using spoons or cranks.


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## bigduck10 (Feb 15, 2009)

Fished for them in North Carolina many years ago. They pull and fight harder than a Striper. They are something to get a hold of.
We use to watch for the gulls when they drove the shad to the surface then go throw anything that looked like a shad. Man they would just hammer the Sassy Shad soft baits with a lead head.
I only fly fish now and that will be very fun hooking into one of those 5-7 pound bad boys.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

Gottagofishn said:


> I recieved a bit more information from ODNR..........6,821 HSB fingerlings were stocked in Griggs on 6/26/2009 and 63,199 HSB fingerlings were stocked in O'Shaughnessy between /6/19/09 and 6/26/09.
> 
> I still don't know if they are going to do this on a regular basis yet. I'll provide more information as I get it.
> 
> Get your boats ready!


OShay got 63,000 of these little dudes? Wow. Here's a funny thing...last year fishing OShay in late summer, I had a spot where for a good month for the first two hours of the morning fish would consistently be busting the surface on teeny-tiny shad. Some were largemouth, but from what I could tell the majority were what at the time I labeled as "very small white bass". I thought to myself, "man, those are some tiny white bass" thinking there were just so many in that body of water that they must be stunted. Now I'm seriously wondering if they were those fingerling hybrids!

I say this is great.. Will really help the overall game fishing and also put a minor dent in to what seems like an insane amount of forage fish in OShay and Griggs. I'm psyched. My guess is those little hybrids will reach 8-10" by the end of this summer. They are like little wolfpacks once they get to be over 12"!

Thanks for the additional follow-up info. Please keep sharing as you get more info!


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## ohiohunter43015 (Feb 23, 2009)

Can you eat them? Never got ahold of a wiper before.


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## bopperattacker (Sep 12, 2008)

ohiohunter43015 said:


> Can you eat them? Never got ahold of a wiper before.


you can eat any fish.. Didn't you see the posted pic of the guy with it on the stringer with some other delicious carp.


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## ohiohunter43015 (Feb 23, 2009)

bopperattacker said:


> you can eat any fish.. Didn't you see the posted pic of the guy with it on the stringer with some other delicious carp.


I just didn't know if they tasted as good as smallmouth? lol


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## JOE B (Nov 3, 2009)

I pick up some hybrids on rattletraps. Chrome-blue, fast-fast retrieve and then hold on. This is one fish you can catch doubles on. We did it over and over again at Racine last year. None were bigger than 2 lbs, but when they school they really try to outdo each other to the bait!


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## bopperattacker (Sep 12, 2008)

ohiohunter43015 said:


> I just didn't know if they tasted as good as smallmouth? lol


if I was guessing, I would say yes..


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## FatRap007 (Jul 23, 2009)

Is that guy in the picture a member here i have ran into him in a few of my fishing holes...I have trown a few fish on his stringer ........ If it is good to see ya catching fish ......


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## jcrdust (May 24, 2004)

There are gonna be alot of guys thinking they caught a state record white bass here in a couple of years. The hybrids don't get as big as true stripers but with as expensive as it is to fish cumberland I can down size. Funny to think of a hybrid as small. I just hope that during the spring white bass run folks don't keep alot of small stocked hybrids, be a shame if the fish cant get a foot hold due to misidentification. 
Ohiohunter, you can eat hybrids. I personally don't care for them myself but I know plenty of folks that do.


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## ohiohunter43015 (Feb 23, 2009)

Article I just got in email... No mention of O'shay http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Default.aspx?tabid=22521


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## jcrdust (May 24, 2004)

The gentleman I talked to yesterday from the ODNR fish management said that both Griggs and O'Shaughnessy got a stocking last year. They plan to continue the stockings so long as they can obtain the fish. I dunno maybe hybrids are hard to get ahold of?


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

B-Man, ODNR said they expected them to be around 14" come fall......I cant wait till 2011....
7" plus a year...2012????

Oh yeah


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## smouths (Sep 24, 2009)

..........


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## smouths (Sep 24, 2009)

I caught this one last september near Griggs...all this time I've thought it was a white bass, but now that I look back on it, sure looks like a wiper, and not a fingerling either. If it is a wiper, and the ODNR only released fingerlings in June, these boys grow _fast_...first attempt at postin a pic, bear with me...


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