Indiana Wiper Record Broken for 2nd time this year!

[Fishaholic]

Just in from the Indiana DNR:

Wiper Déjà vu
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Indiana wiper record broken --- again


A second state-record hybrid striped bass has been certified this spring by
the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. David Coffman from Frankfort,
Ind. caught the new record fish May 22 below Lake Freeman's Oakdale Dam.

The white bass/striped bass hybrid, often called a wiper, weighed 22 pounds,
and was 32 inches long. The fish's tail fin spanned a foot rule. The new
biggest-ever Indiana wiper beat the 19.5-pound record wiper caught below the
same dam on April 30.

Coffman's wiper hit a crankbait lure cast in the early morning darkness and
drawn across the Tippecanoe River below the Lake Freeman dam.

"The wipers are a new fish for me," said Coffman. "But I've really focused
on them for the last three weeks. I caught a couple 16 pounders, and then
the big fish, where the current breaks (below the dam)."

"The fish was like something you would see in the ocean," said Coffman.

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View a photo of Coffman's record catch at:
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/stuff/gallery/hybrid.htm
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The tailwaters below Norway and Oakdale dams, the two dams on the Tippecanoe
River that create lakes Shafer and Freeman, have consistently produced the
biggest Hoosier wipers over the last 20 years. Since 1985, 20 of 22 state
record wipers have come from the Tippecanoe River.

The wiper record is Indiana's most often broken sport fish record. The
record has been broken more than 20 times since 1985.

More than half the record hybrids were caught during April and May. The
wiper record was broken six times in 1988.

Wipers will attack a wide variety of cast or trolled lures or baits. These
powerful fish are a genetic cross between white bass and striped bass and
resemble their temperate bass cousins, striped bass, white bass and yellow
bass.

The best lakes in Indiana for adding wiper poundage to your stringer are
Monroe Lake near Bloomington or lakes Freeman and Shafer near Monticello.