Good day for stripers on Cumberland

Started out behind the island on the right side of Beaver Creek, 6 down lines and one cork. 5 pull downs but no hookups. Fished there from 6am till 8:40, then decided to try some points and cuts on the north side of the lake around Roweena(sp). Set out 4 planer boards, one cork, and 4 down lines. First planer went down pretty quick, 22" fish, released and rebaited, as soon as the board got back in formation it took off again. Then 2 downrods took off, then the other 3 planers and the other 2 downrods. Somewhere in there the cork went down too. 9 fish hooked up and 2 people in the boat. Kaos!! We boated our limit(4) and released the rest at the side of the boat. 17 minutes from the first fish till all lines were cleared. No monsters-36"-33" 29" 25" kept. Water temps-78-79 depending on where you were at. All fish caught on 3"-4" shiners at 25' to 35' deep.

Yes, it sounds like a good day...Congrats. Fished the same Beaver Creek area for the last couple of weeks, but it has slow....ed...way....down. Looks like the summer pattern is on, i.e., trolling main lake.

Man, 9 hookups and only 2 people in the boat. What a PROBLEM to have.

I was in the bumper boat mess with you over the weekend fishing out of a black Lund on your first stop. I did the same as you and moved to a little less crowd further down from you and had about the same results - multiple rods down in a hurry. Caught all my fish at the same depths.

Just trying to visualize the pattern. When you left Beaver, you moved to the North side near Rowena, which is closer to the dam, right? Were you working the points, or rolling up in the coves/slews?

[QUOTE=HURRICANEBOB;374170]Just trying to visualize the pattern. When you left Beaver, you moved to the North side near Rowena, which is closer to the dam, right? Were you working the points, or rolling up in the coves/slews?[/QUOTE]

Bob, It may depend on what time of day they are holding over. I moved from 60ft. to 100ft water in the same general area and "bingo". this was at dusk today. Early morning may have them in closer to the bank.

I'm just glad to see someone say that you can practice catch and release with stripers this time of year. I caught two stripers a couple of weeks ago on a jigging spoon. The big one (18lbs) I fought for over 5 minutes. And I was able to release it after forcing water through it's gills. I hear a lot of people say that you can't release them in the lake this time of year, but they seemed fine when they left my boat.

They will swim away fine. They wont float up right away. On Cherokee lake in TN, the state blocked off an area that has an aeration system where the stripers stack up in the summer. Fish were being caught and released and thousands of stripers were either floating or laying on the bottom. I will choose not to fish for stripers in the summer.

[QUOTE=voeller101;374210]I'm just glad to see someone say that you can practice catch and release with stripers this time of year. I caught two stripers a couple of weeks ago on a jigging spoon. The big one (18lbs) I fought for over 5 minutes. And I was able to release it after forcing water through it's gills. I hear a lot of people say that you can't release them in the lake this time of year, but they seemed fine when they left my boat.[/QUOTE]

Please do not try and release Stripers, catch two and quit. They will die even if they swim away at first.

[QUOTE=PRO V LE;374178]Bob, It may depend on what time of day they are holding over. I moved from 60ft. to 100ft water in the same general area and "bingo". this was at dusk today. Early morning may have them in closer to the bank.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Pro V! Got it, should of knowed that.......brain clutch slipped.

[QUOTE=voeller101;374210]I'm just glad to see someone say that you can practice catch and release with stripers this time of year. I caught two stripers a couple of weeks ago on a jigging spoon. The big one (18lbs) I fought for over 5 minutes. And I was able to release it after forcing water through it's gills. I hear a lot of people say that you can't release them in the lake this time of year, but they seemed fine when they left my boat.[/QUOTE]

They most likely died later. I've had discussions with both TN and KY fish and wildlife on this and they both say the same thing: mortality rates for stripers during the summer months are so high that you are better off just catching your two and stopping.

Mature stripers (24 inches and over) cannot withstand water temps much higher than the low 70's for any length of time. Add to that a period of duress (extended fight), and the depth that they are caught this time of year (over 40 feet), and they are done. Even in cold water I try to get them to the boat in under 3 minutes to increase their chance of survival.

Don't mean to pick on you. Just some info so that others will learn too.

Andrew

You shouldn't. The only reason they did is because they caught more than their limit at one time. Luckily I've only had to do that once.. People should NOT continue to fish for them after a limit.

I don’t believe as many stripers are dying as every one thinks. Don’t get me wrong I know they die but not as many as every one talks about in the summer months. I think the majority of live fish that die float when they die versus sinking to the bottom.
Saturday the second fish I caught was undersize so I let him off while still in the water. But as soon as I let him off he went belly up and never recovered so I circled back and picked him up. I would have gotten a ticket for having an undersize fish I am sure but I could not see leaving it lay floating in the water. I just kept it and counted it as one of my limits. Legal or not that is what I did because it died.
I agree totally that they mortality rate is higher during the summer but at the same time I think most of the ones dieing will float versus going to the bottom and I don’t see stripers floating every where. I am no condoning to catch in release during the summer either just my 2 cents on how many are so called dieing. Same goes with bass dead ones float whether in live well or in the lake.