I'm hoping to get to a lake to try to catch some wiper. I have never been to this lake or fished for wiper before. How do I go about finding them this time of year? Are they following shad in open water? What do I use when I find them?

The lake I plan on fishing is very small and we should be able to cover it in few hours.

Last few weeks I've been catching them in 8-10 feet of water following the shad. I've been getting them on crank baits and jerk baits while fishing for largemouth. If these are your target fish jig n minnow with a bright jig head under a bobber should be the ticket. If live bait isn't your thing, match the hatch.  Jointed shallow Shad Raps, Berkley Flicker Shads, and Strike King Bonsai Shad in shad patterns should do you well

Don't forget to try a Rattletrap. I've caught Wipers on Traps when nothing else would work.

Love catching wipers , but I am not very consistent at finding them.

pound for pound one of the hardest fighting fish I have caught.

When I have found them this time of year, they were cruising along old river beds chasing schools of shad.

Usually use jigging spoons for vertical presentation, or blade baits for casting past the school and burning it back.

 

 

If you have side imaging, use it to find shad in less than 10 feet of water and the wiper will a lot of times appear as singles or paired up when not in schools. Don't burn your lures, and I use almkst all lipless, and prefer either an Xcalibur one knocker or Red Eye 2 Tap, both in chrome black. This method works when they're not actually on the surface.

 

If they're on the surface, you could throw a cat turd in them and catch one, but I prefer big lipless baits. My favorite is an Xcalibur XRK100 in chrome and black, but any lipless in 1/2oz and up works really good, and I only recommend chrome. Also, make sure your line stays good, and you have beefy hooks. 

Easiest way on a local lake I fish is wait for dark and the feeding frenzy usually starts around 11pm(they make a lot of noise), once the show starts we throw topwater stuff mostly.  Jitterbugs, torpedos, spooks, anything with a hook, etc. Bucktails, jig+fluke, and the same topwater lures is what I use the most on the rivers. I've caught a lot on whopper plopper 110 and 130s the last 2 years(the 110 only this year) but I only throw them in daylight usually, they cost too much to be chucking in the dark towards land. A good way to learn what kind of lures work is watch the striper guys on youtube and just adjust to freshwater conditions. (for ex, you will only need 1/2 or 3/4 oz bucktails usually not 1-2oz). I like John Skinner. You can also just use the same stuff you use to catch white bass, just bigger. In spring and fall when temps are below 60, spoons, bladebaits, and heddon sonars/silver buddy work great. No idea why but they dont work in summer as well.

 

They are voracious eaters, find a big school of shad or alewife, you probably found the wipers. Here they are stocked in lakes  to deal with over-growing shad populations.

 

Good Luck, my favorite fish to go after, nothing like fighting a 25-28 inch wiper in current, I've had a couple ultralight reels completely ruined by accidentally hooking a wiper while fishing for crappie.