I want to know what the feelings are of the group in reguards to introducing wipers to Sherman Reservoir?
I for one would love to see a wiper population introduced. I believe that the lake would have no problem with the introduction of the species and believe that with the cover, structure and foreage availible, wipers would survive and most likely thrive in the lake without hurting other species in the lake.
What are your thoughts 
Everything I have seen with Wipers is they are good for lakes that have .High populations of bait that are getting to large for the existing species to consume.They also are good if the lake does not have a white bass population that reproduces naturally because of low water levels.The down side of them is that they are nearly always put into old lakes that have declining cover and other issues and everyone is just sure that the wipers cause the dcline of other species.”which is incorrect.”I have never been on Sherman so I don’t know if this is the issue on it .But I have always fished lakes that have wipers and this is what I have seen with them.I am for putting them wherever they fit because they are the only thing in fresh water that can fight like a salt water fish…….
What’s a Wiper? Is that like a white bass?
I guess my feelings would be for a no. I fish Sherman 95% of the time, and therefore it is a treat to get to fish for wipers. I don’t think I would enjoy The Rockies or Canada if I was there all the time, but I have one hell of a great time when I’m there. Sherm
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What’s a Wiper? Is that like a white bass?
A “Wiper” is a hybrid cross between a white bass and a striped bass.
Eyehunter
They are the best fighting fish that I have found in fresh water. They are also a hybrid so there is a lot of money that is dropped into them to keep them stocked due to their inablity to reproduce but on the other hand, if it is decided that they are not the best thing for a lake, you can stop stalking them and in a few years they are gone. They are not a great eating fish but if you fillet them up right there are worse fish out there. Sharkbait is right in that they can help to control an out of control baitfish population. 
I don’t believe they would be a good fit for Sherman. In most fisheries we use wipers as an additional predator to utilize an open-water prey, usually gizzard shad, and provide anglers with a relatively large, hard-fighting, quality sport fish. I enjoy catching them too but I don’t feel there is a problem with bait fish in Sherman at this time. Every species in Sherman except for yellow perch seem to be getting along fine. You can catch nice walleye, crappie, northerns, white bass, and cats. I’d hate to risk any damage to any of those species because another preditor fish is introduced. Besides they are an expensive fish to stock and 99% of anglers can not tell the difference between a wiper and a white bass, therefore a lot of them will be taken home and it can get expensive to get a good population established. Maybe Davis Creek would be a better fit for wipers in fact they have even been stocked there or a guy could just head up to Calamus. I hear there are some nice ones up there. 
Ben, you are the frst person that I have heard say that there is not an over abundance of baitfish in Sherman in a couple of years. The balls of bait on that body of water are second to none on this area, with maybe the exception of alewifes at Elwood.
Can somebody give me some hard evidence of Wipers hurting a lake? I hear people say that they worry about wipers hurting a lake but I have never had anybody explain what damage the fish has done to a particular body. Thanks
There’s plenty of shad in Sherman but if you want to see what it really looks like when there are too many shad come to Branched Oak sometime. I have seen 3/4 the lake boiling with shad at times and you can go weeks without catching a walleye because they are so fat and happy. The balls of shad at sherman are what I would consider normal shad balls. You can spend half the day at BO with a Lowrance thinking the bottom is only a few feet down because the shad are so thick. I’m sure with all of the research the Game and Parks has done they would have stocked wipers in there by now if they thought it would benefit the lake. I’ll give Daryl a shout and see what he has to say.
I’ve heard more than one story, from more than several sources unfortunately, that people (not implying that they are residents by any means) in the Calamus area catch wipers, then kill them and throw them back in the lake. Apparently, there is the “anti-wolf” mentality in fishing as well. I have caught them up to about two pounds, but would die to catch one of those big ones. Those things are really, really cool. Just like the wolves. They serve a purpose.
I agree with Ben in that Davis Creek has a much larger problem with shad overpopulation than Sherman. We had a hard time finding large schools of shad this fall at Sherman and the white bass were thus harder to find. I think at this point it would be good to leave Sherman alone.
Well, there are already wipers in Davis Creek…just not a whole lot of them. I think Sherman already has a solid base for baitfish, meaning there isn’t an overpopulation, so I think adding another predator could harm the existing prey base. I’ve caught some nice wipers out of calamus, up to 5 or 6 pounds but no real monsters. I’ve tried at Branched Oak over and over to catch one the monsters that resides in there, but no luck. I will say that calamus may have some of the worst people who fish that lake. Some real as&*$(#….
brillzz- Welcome to IDA! Glad to have you here. You’ll find a ton of great info here.
So what is your feelings on all the ‘snakes’ that are in the lake now.
Hey Zach this summer if you want to catch wipers you need to come visit me a Mac in late july or August or drop down to
Norton in Ks.I always catch alot of good wipers in the late summer on both these lakes.It seems like live bait works best on Norton but I catch a lot of good 5-8# wipers on mac with lures.
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So what is your feelings on all the ‘snakes’ that are in the lake now.
They have been there since the lake was built and they must be helping to keep things in check. I don’t think they are causing any problems other than stinking up my boat. I must commend the G&P on their management of Sherman. 
It is one of the best fisheries in the state and I hope the erosion control projects will help keep it that way. 
It would be great to make a good thing better but I think this fishery is better left alone.
I’d like to know why Nebraska invests so much time and money introducing and restocking fish that can’t make it on their own in that body of water anyway?
Just seems to make better sense to improve the habitat of those that can while bolstering that population. To focus on a population of fish that should improve every year, with a little help, rather than one guaranteed to dwindle. Wipers, Stripers, Trout, Walleye,,,, etc. can’t maintain themselves in much of the water Nebraska stocks them yet they spend the money to keep restocking. If pike, crappie, catfish, bass and bluegill thrive here with the right conditions doesn’t it make more sense to give them what they need rather than stock a fish doomed to fail while it competes for food with those who could survive? 
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Just seems to make better sense to improve the habitat of those that can while bolstering that population. To focus on a population of fish that should improve every year, with a little help, rather than one guaranteed to dwindle. Wipers, Stripers, Trout, Walleye,,,, etc. can’t maintain themselves in much of the water Nebraska stocks them yet they spend the money to keep restocking. If pike, crappie, catfish, bass and bluegill thrive here with the right conditions doesn’t it make more sense to give them what they need rather than stock a fish doomed to fail while it competes for food with those who could survive?
Improving habitat would be the best way to go in my opinion too, however, in irrigation reservoirs that are subject to extreme draw downs I think the money is better spent on stocking. They stock the fish that fishermen want to catch as long as they will fit into the management plans. The work that is being done at Sherman now is for erosion control but it will also provide some great habitat that could improve the fishing even more.
Check Nebraska stocking reports here
Sherman’s reports go back to 1985.
Like these from Mac and I can’t find my pics form Sebelius. I am not sold on the idea of wipers in Sherman but I am also open to the possibility. I am just wanting to spark some conversation on the topic. Thanks Everybody
No Zach they are supposed to grow up like the ones in my post above.That was a double my mom and I caught a couple years ago on topwater in Norton.The larger 1 is about 12 1/2 the smaller one was just over 6.I need to get all the disposable camaras in the boat developed to show off the kids fish fromm last summer.
So more like this one… And I only have film of the 16.75lber that we caught down at Webster.
I like sherman just the way it is. If someone wants to catch wipers, go to any reservoir other than sherman. Wipers are fun to catch, but sherman is a great fishery, and there is no need to jeopordize it with a massive predator like a wiper. I know of no research that shows wipers doing damage to a lake, but if its not broke dont fix it.
Yup, I think I’m with Team Fold ‘Em on this one.
Hey guys! I was asked to come over here and make a comment.
I love wipers! They are an apex predator. Currently at Sherman I don’t think they are really required right now. You can have to many predotors in a lake as we call it a triple threat! Sherman has a great walleye base, some Northerns, white bass, Flatheads, and is one of the best crappie fisheries for the State. The shad forage base is strong-but not out of control like other bodies of water. Now once the predator base at Sherman starts to fade, most likely the Northern Pike first and “if” the shad start gain over the hump of the predators-then I’d be all for stocking wipers! But currently “If it’s not broke-don’t fix it” 
Later Folks!
Andrew S.
Thanks Andrew That is exactly the kind of info that I was looking for when I started this tread Stick around, this is a really cool sight with a bunch of information and by your first post, you seem to have some of that that you can pass around. Welcome
Hey Andrew thanks for stopping in. It was good meeting you last night. I wish Layne and I would have had some time to stick around and go for a 
or two. Maybe next time. I’ll give you a shout when the lakes open up and we’ll go chase a few wipers at BO or something.
Be sure to stop by here often. There is always a lot of good info here.
Great to see you over here Andrew!! Welcome! Hope to see you on here more…..your opinions always have good insight.
Andrew it was good to meet you last night. I too wish I could have joined you at the local watering hole for a few , but work and spouse situations dictated otherwise. Hope to see you around here more often.
I also agree with the if it aint broke dont fix it theory.
Too good of a lake to mess with right now, and with the recent shoreline reconstruction should only help it to get better
Chris
nice post andrew, good to see ya again
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