Panfish,

Bait shops are notoriously poor places to collect scientific information; this particular one maybe more so than most. It is surprising how often certain names come up in association with stories about future management plans for the West Boggs fishery, with absolutely no reason to think the people involved have any information, let alone good information. It is more surprising how many people want to believe those stories, instead of checking them out like you just did.

There is no current “plan” to stock wipers at West Boggs. That idea has been discussed among anglers for a few years now, and is something that might eventually be done as we move toward a fisheries renovation sometime in the future. But you can rest assumed that if that decision is ever made, it will not be some top secret, covert thing that we won’t let anyone know about. Rather it would be done to provide some additional angling opportunities once the Gizzard Shad problem causes the eventual decline in the Largemouth fishery. That has not happened yet, as the adult Largemouth are growing rapidly with shad forage. But there is an ongoing decline in the numbers of small bass; which means someday there will be fewer bass overall. Then it is possible that Wipers or some other predator could be introduced to allow the public some angling opportunity. There is no plausible reason that such an event would not be highly publicized. We always want anglers to get involved, as their money helps make it all work.

Thanks for asking and giving me an opportunity to once again set the record straight. The West Boggs fishery is managed by the Avoca office of the Division of Fish and Wildlife; which is a team of very knowledgeable and dedicated biologists. They are always considering every factor, and always come down on the side of creating the most opportunity for the most anglers.