Newcastle Reservoir » It only took five or so years of "accidentally" catching the funny looking silver fish with black stripes and sharp spikes on top before anglers finally realized the wipers in Newcastle were not there by accident.

"There for a few years, people didn't know wipers were in Newcastle. People did catch them and didn't know what they had," Utah Division of Wildlife Resources aquatic biologist Michael Hadley said. "But more anglers are getting into them now and actually targeting wipers."

Once locals figured out the wipers -- a hybrid cross between a white bass and a striped bass -- get big and put up a solid fight, they decided to check them out, especially after learning anglers were traveling from Salt Lake City to fish for them.

Cedar City's Roy Poole fishes at Newcastle six to eight times a year, catching and releasing wipers, he said while loading his boat on a recent windy morning.

"I like the diversity," he said. "This was our first time out this year and I suspect the wipers will be bigger this year."

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) biologists introduced wipers to the remote desert mountain reservoir in 2005 for several reasons. In addition to providing a new species for anglers to target, the wipers were used as a management tool.

Anglers, likely visiting from nearby Nevada where it is legal, brought live golden shiners to use as bait at Newcastle sometime in the mid-1990s. The already delicate rainbow trout fishery at Newcastle didn't adapt well to the shiners and efforts to control the illegally stocked baitfish with Bear Lake cutthroat didn't work as well as hoped.

The warm water typical of a mid-elevation reservoir in southern Utah in the summer can also make Newcastle a cool-weather-only trout fishery. Smallmouth bass were stocked in the mid-1980s and have proven a success for summer fishing, but they did little to help control the shiners.

"They are very aggressive predators and have been putting a dent in the shiner numbers," Hadley said. "The fact that they are a hybrid and sterile means we can control their numbers by stocking and don't have to worry about the population taking off. Anglers haven't been too familiar with them, but they are picking up on them now."

Fishers in northern Utah have had more time to develop a passion for wipers. The fish -- known as bass hybrids in most other states -- were planted in Willard Bay in 1994 after 1 million fry were obtained from South Carolina. Wipers became an instant favorite for anglers for their size, their fight and the dramatic feeding pattern they share with striped bass. With the new warmwater hatchery coming online at the Lee Kay Hunter Education Center, biologists should be able to produce more wipers. They have proposed adding the hybrid bass to Joes Valley Reservoir and Huntington North Reservoir in the southeastern region. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Division of Wildlife are currently reviewing the proposals.

Most fishing for wipers is done trolling crankbaits, which starts working in the late spring when the water warms. But it is middle to late summer when the thrill of watching a wiper boil emerges. This technique also sometimes will turn up smallmouth bass.

A school of wipers chases groups of golden shiners until there is nowhere for the forage fish to go. Usually it happens at the reservoir surface. The shiners start bursting from the water creating a boiling effect. Anglers who don't freeze up from watching the frenzy can enjoy a-fish-every-cast experience as long as the boil lasts by casting crankbaits on the edge of action.

"Most of the fish in the spring netting ran 2 to 3 pounds and 17 to 19 inches," Hadley said. " We had a few over 4 pounds and we have heard reports of some close to 5 pounds. We keep seeing bigger and bigger fish every year."

Wipers can be tasty if prepared correctly, but because there is already a consumption advisory on the trout at Newcastle, testing is likely to conclude wipers have high levels of mercury as well.

brettp@sltrib.com