In fishermen program

[SSKY]

I saw that today, about fishing for stripers on the cumberland river. There was even a mention about trout fishermen catching their fish and and big striper eating it. Tenn stocks those fish to do that in Cordell Hull Lake. i understand why I have to buy a trout stamp to support a trout fishery below the dam and other places but not to feed stripers. Dale hollow could be a very good striper lake, and we could only stock it from the KY side?

[plowboy]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-06-06 AT 01:16AM (EST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-06-06 AT 00:36*AM (EST)[/font]

Dale Hollow has a great fishery, we don't need to mess it up by stocking another species. Tennessee is doing a great job managing the lake and Kentucky usually goes along with them because they have the largest part of the lake. There seems to be great cooperation between the fish and game departments of both states.
There is no shortage of trout in the Cumberland river so I'm not sure what concerns you about that. I'm sure alot of the stripers come from Lake Cumberland through the turbines (just a guess). Plenty of trout, plenty of stripers, I don't see the problem.
The Cumberland river is one of the easiest places to catch fish in the state. Rarely ever do I go without catching 6-25 trout. What more could you ask for?
I'm not sure that you are right about Tennessee stocking stripers in Cordell Hull or the Cumberland river. So if someone knows the answer to that please advise. But seriously I don't think you have a thing to worry about with the stripers in the river. It is full of trout and several trophy ones as well.
Also the river stripers are bringing in tourist, helping support guides and adding more to the economy (hotels, motels, bait shops, food,etc.) of this area of Kentucky (and Tennessee) than the cost of a few trout in my opinion. No offense, I just call em like I see em.

[elnutsmalljaws]

We don't need Stripers in Dale Hollow. In my non-professional non-educated opinion, Stripers do nothing but swim and gorge themselves on whatever baitfish they find. Trout used to be stocked in Cumberland but no more can be found, due to Stripers eating them???? Who knows. Trout are stocked in Dale Hollow and Smallies love them. This is a big reason that the Smallmouth get as big as they do at Dale for they love Trout as a food source. I saw a picture of a 5lb Smallie was caught that had a 12" Trout in its gullet MINUS THE HEAD. This trout had to be 14-15 inches whent he Smallie chomped down on it. Plus, one thing in common with all those California lakes that are producing the near record Largemouth have Trout stocked in them. Coincidence, I think not. I fished Cumberland and Dale Hollow both for Smallies and there is no comparison to the quality and quantity of fish you will find overall at Dale. I now live 4 hours away from each and made 7 trips this winter to Smallmouth fish and never even considered going to Cumberland. Plus, there are over 100 certified guide services that fish Cumberland for Stripers. Can you imagine that many or just half as many guide services on Dale Hollow with as small as it is compared to Cumberland. Boats would be running into each other left and right. Keep Stripers out of Dale Hollow. Anyone in the area that wants to Striper Fish can head 30 miles north on US127 to fish the Striper hole. Dale Hollow is the Smallmouth honey hole and for good reasons too.

Tight Lines

[TEE]

I agree...I'm sure they would consume the stocked trout in that lake in no time. I also agree that the larger SM are eating the high protien trout at times and getting super fat.
Dale has made a huge turn-around in recent years and it doesn't need to be messed up by Stripers when you can go to the Cumberland River or lake. Just a cent's worth....

[plowboy]

Amen, If it aint broke don't fix it.

[Toadman]

NO STRIPERS IN DALE!!! Thats why we have Cumberland. You would run the risk of ruining one of the best smallmouth waters on the planet. Leave the stripers out.

[opie13]

Dale is the best lake in the state right now in my opinion if you want to catch smallies. Keep the stripers in the big C.

[SSKY]

I agree with every post above, Stripers in Dale hollow would be a big mistake. With that fact established due to the nature of the striper. How good could The river fishery be for trout if there were no stripers there? We,Ky spend a lot of money stocking trout and if there were no stripers I would think the tourism dollars to catch big trout would far outweigh the money that comes in for striper fishing below the dam. I agree what has been posted that Lake cumberland is good for stripers and it should be the source and the tourism engine for that species. The river should be for trout and if managed so it would be better. There are stripers in the river all the way to the face of the dam. That situation has killed trout fisheries out west in tailwater situations and makes ours only marginal. If stripers in the tailwaters is a good thing shouldn't Ky also stock them in the river? And if tenn thinks they are good for our trout river then would they be good for the lake in their state where they stock trout. We have already answered that question, No.

[plowboy]

I don't know that the stripers are a good thing but they are there and I guess we just have to learn to live with them. I have read up on it abit and it seems that they do stock Cordell Hull and Old Hickory with stripers. So I guess I was wrong on that part. The trout fishery still seems to be good in my opinion. I think most of the large stripers are near or in the Tennessee section of the river or at least thats where the guides concentrate. I don't have a good answer for you. Tennessee wants the stripers and Kentucky wants the trout. The Cumberland river is still a great trout fishery and the stripers may hurt it some but most people from out west (Montana, Colorado, Etc.) that fish the Cumberland river say it beats anything they have out there. This according to guides I heard. I did hear there are more 20" trout in the river than ever before according to recent surveys so I don't think I would loose any sleep.

[SSKY]

Thanks for the post, I will not lose any sleep for sure but I think the river could be much better. Does anyone complain about the musky in dale hollow?

[plowboy]

I've never heard anyone complain, seems like the population stays low enough on them not to present much of a problem. Guides are reporting the worst year for catching muskie in a long time. If fished there for years and have never caught one while bass fishing but I do catch them at Green River Lake while fishing for bass. They do get big at Dale though.

[TEE]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-09-06 AT 07:09AM (EST)[/font][p]From what reaseach I've read and a program here in Ohio that just started three years ago by stocking Musky in Caeser's Creek Lake here in Ohio, that there are indicators that say that they may even improve fisheries by keeping rogue populations of smaller fish down:)
Two different animals....
Also the Musky catch at Dale corrilates with harder winters...that's why it's not been a real good winter for smallies either IMHO.