Lake Cumberland Stripes Monday Night

Well guys not a lot to report two small stripes one that was 22 inches and and a hybrid that was 16 inches. Fishing was tough with the muddy water and all the debri in the water so if you go out be careful, some big floaters just underneath the water that will sneak up and get you if you ain't careful. Heard several breaks last night and i'm sure the good fishing is just around the corner. Water tep was at 54 in the beaver creek area and we fished from dark till 1:00 a.m. but it was good to just get out. good luck to you all if you go this week, be careful, watch them floaters and have fun.

There are no hybrids in Cumberland. Hope you didn't keep it.. :)

They were talking of reintroducing white bass, but I don't think they have gone too far with that yet. Even if you did catch a pilot white, it wouldn't be 16 inches.

On Cumberland if its 16 inches, its a striper.

no we didn't keep it because i didn't think there were hybrids in cumberland either, but correct me if i'm wrong but the difference in hybrids and stripes is that the their lines are broken patterned and not solid. we caught fish last week and one last night that were definatly broken and not even close to being solid. is there something i'm missing here. last week we just stuck to the 24 inch size limit and 2 fish limit. better safe than sorry you know.

either one can have broken lines. Hybrids have more lines and a different patch of teeth on their tongue. There are definetly no hybrids in cumberland.

Thanks for the report. I'm going tonight, also in the BC area, and will give a report tomorrow.

[QUOTE=dcbasser;322508]no we didn't keep it because i didn't think there were hybrids in cumberland either, but correct me if i'm wrong but the difference in hybrids and stripes is that the their lines are broken patterned and not solid. we caught fish last week and one last night that were definatly broken and not even close to being solid. is there something i'm missing here. last week we just stuck to the 24 inch size limit and 2 fish limit. better safe than sorry you know.[/QUOTE]

Very common for Rockfish to have broken lines. No Hybrids in the big C.

Hybrids and Stripers both have 2 patches of teeth on their tongues: one up front, and one mid tongue. White Bass have just one patch. While it is more common for a Hybrid to have broken lines, a number of Stripers also have broken lines. I've caught them out of the surf with broken lines. I've also caught Hybrids in KY that had no broken lines. Stripers have a definite split in their dorsal fin making it two separate sections. On Hybrids, these are joined. Lastly, the shape of the two are different. Hybrids have a much thicker profile and a smaller mouth. Stripers are more torpedo shaped. Also, as several guys noted, no Hybrids in Cumberland. Don't want to sound like a broken record, but I hear the "caught several Hybrids at Cumberland" each year. Best to let folks know how to tell them apart before the game warden gives them a lesson on why not to keep short stripers at Cumberland!

Glad you got out and got into a few.

Andrew

[QUOTE=apb;322583]Hybrids and Stripers both have 2 patches of teeth on their tongues: one up front, and one mid tongue. White Bass have just one patch. While it is more common for a Hybrid to have broken lines, a number of Stripers also have broken lines. I've caught them out of the surf with broken lines. I've also caught Hybrids in KY that had no broken lines. Stripers have a definite split in their dorsal fin making it two separate sections. On Hybrids, these are joined. Lastly, the shape of the two are different. Hybrids have a much thicker profile and a smaller mouth. Stripers are more torpedo shaped. Also, as several guys noted, no Hybrids in Cumberland. Don't want to sound like a broken record, but I hear the "caught several Hybrids at Cumberland" each year. Best to let folks know how to tell them apart before the game warden gives them a lesson on why not to keep short stripers at Cumberland!

Glad you got out and got into a few.

Andrew[/QUOTE]
thanks for the replies guys. we weren't sure so again we went by the safe route if it wasn't 24 inches we didn't keep them and went by the regular striper guidelines. better safe than sorry and costing money that i could use to pay for gas lol. it is amazing though how many people don't know the difference though. even i wasn't really sure.

Yes it is better to be safe than sorry. I saw a picture of a 30 lb striper on another site that had every line broken. I was interested in this fish and emailed the well known guide that was responsible for catching it. He told me that he contacted the state (TN) and asked about the chance that this was a hybrid. It wasn't considered a hybrid because even though it did have some white bass blood in it, it wasn't enough to qualify it as a true hybrid. I don't know if I buy it. There are no 30 lb hybrids, at least not yet.

I hope Lake Cumberland does not resort to hybrids. Hybrids are getting more common. Stripers are not.

Better safe than sorry is always the best practice! As many have said, broken lines are very common with stripers. It is WHICH lines are broken that matters and as APB said, that is even stretchy. I look at the dorsals and body shape

Whites: dorsals together
Hybrids: dorsals slightly separated
Stripers: dorsals have a distinguishable gap

On many bodies of water they lump stripers, hybrids and even whites all together so anglers will not have to make the call.