While on my usual spring scouting trip to Owyhee Reservoir to see how the bass and crappie fishing was coming along, I stumbled upon a fish I had only just heard about the evening before. Earlier I attended the Gem State Fly Fishers club meeting where I listened intently to Ray Perkins, a fisheries biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), as he described the introduction of a hybrid striper, called a "wiper," into Wildhorse Reservoir. He said, "there is a chance that they may have made their way into Owyhee Reservoir!" Well, I'm here to tell you they made it! The very next day I was fishing the back of a popular creek channel when I set the hook on what I first thought was another nice largemouth. At least until the fish began to act strangely, pulling hard, and darting off to the right much like the white bass I caught on Elephant Butte Reservoir some years ago. It was a strong fish, and didn't give up easily. As I slowly began to bring the scrappy fish closer to the boat we noticed its stripped sides and huge dorsal fin. Then I realized what I had caught, a wiper! Ray was right, more than he knew, the hybrid striper had found its way to Owyhee!
My fishing partner Don Boeger was freaking out at the prospect of this highly predatory fish being added to the reservoir's food chain. I too was a little concerned, but I told Don that Ray had explained to the club that these fish were hybrids, and that they were sterile. I exclaimed, "that means there wouldn't be thousands of them eating everything in sight!" It didn't seem to convince Don it was a good thing they had found their way into one of our favorite bass and crappie fishing holes. Still being a little concerned myself, I decided to see if I could find a little more information about these fish; here's a little of what I found out.
A hybrid striped bass or a wiper is a cross between the striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and the white bass (M. chrysops). It can be distinguished from the striped bass by broken rather than solid horizontal stripes on the body. Wipers became part of aquaculture in the United States in the late 1980s. Most producers purchase the fish young (as fry or fingerlings) and raise them in freshwater ponds. Currently about 10 million pounds are produced annually and are also used both as a gamefish and a food fish. Wipers were put into Wildhorse Reservoir as part of a Nevada Department of Wildlife's (NDOW) solution to curtail rising populations of suckers, chubs, and perch.
A news release from the NDOW web site described the action as part of a "plan to control undesirable fish in two of northeastern Nevada's favorite reservoirs where the NDOW introduced wipers into South Fork and Wildhorse Reservoirs. According to Mike Green, NDOW fisheries biologist, in 2002, 6,000 wipers went into Wildhorse and 3,000 went into South Fork. In 2003, due to low water conditions in Wildhorse, only 3,000 went there, while 7,500 ended up in South Fork. "Smallmouth and largemouth black bass were introduced into the reservoirs to help control the undesirable fish," says Green, "but there is a large area of the lakes where the black bass aren't as effective as we would like." Wipers are a pelagic species, which means that they school and live in the open water in the center of the lake, the same as the chub and perch that are being targeted. Black bass, on the other hand, prefer structure and tend to stay close to the bottom and edges of the lake. Because wipers are a hybrid, they are sterile, so if the experiment does not pan out, they would eventually be removed from the lakes through natural attrition and fishing. However, Green is optimistic that the introduction will be a success, and has requested that the program be considered for future years once the results are in."
My lasting curiosity led me to interview our own regional fisheries manager, Jeff Dillon, with Idaho Fish and Game's Southwest Region. Jeff reiterated that these fish were in fact sterile, and that he felt they really didn't pose any initial threat to resident fish populations in Owyhee Reservoir. He went on to explain that Nevada had contacted the Idaho department to alert them of their plan to introduce wipers into the Owyhee River system. The Nevada Dept. advised both the Idaho and Oregon departments there was the potential for downstream migration of the fish, and wanted to know whether either department felt their introduction could cause any harm to the downstream resident fish populations. It was decided that given the numbers of wipers introduced; the unlikelihood of them being able to disperse in large numbers downstream, and the fact they were sterile, there would not be any significant consequences. No disagreement or opposition was filed so the plan was authorized. Currently Oregon Regulations posts a "No Limit" on Hybrid Bass for their Southeastern Region which includes the Owyhee Reservoir. For more information check ODFW Regulations (PDF).
Since we really don't have an estimate how many wipers made their way into Owyhee Reservoir, perhaps its not really fair to be alarmed about their presence. However, there is one disconcerting piece of information about wipers that could raise some eyebrows. They can live up to ten years of age, and weigh over twenty pounds. A fish that big could consume a lot of little fish! But on the other hand, what would it be like to catch a twenty plus pound bass? Many anglers in the Midwest and South welcome these hard hitting, hard pulling hybrids, and along with being tasty table fare, it's made them increasingly popular with a growing number of anglers across the country. I guess it's your call. Will wipers wipe out Owyhee? Or, are they just going to be an uncommonly tantalizing tug on the end of your line? White meat, it's what's for dinner!
Other Resources
WIPERS INTRODUCED INTO NORTHEASTERN NEVADA
Wildhorse Reservoir is gearing up for spring, despite earlier loss of fish