Cumberland white bass

[mhall]

A six pound smallie in a stripers belly, man I would have liked to see that sriper, LOL.

[Richman]

I maintain that the stripers are eating the whites. While they do not eat the 10"-13" fish, they do eat the smaller 1"-3" fish because they are in schools in open water in the same areas before, during, and after the spawn with the linesiders.

Competition for available food when the whites are in their smaller fry stage is critical.

Finally I have no doubt that poor spawns and angler harvest account for great deal of population downturn in the whites.

But having said that..... yeah the fishing was great in the 80's for both species but the stripers were the only ones whose natural reproduction did not depend on their survival as fry....because they were then, and are still stocked in extrodinary numbers by the KDFWR.

Why do you think Lake Cumberland went from being a world class trout lake in the late 70's to no fish today? Go find an old dock advertisment from the 70's, and you'll see that's the fish they were hyping then.

My 2 cents.

Rich

[SSKY]

I really hate to fuel that fire, but how long would that smallmouth be. I have caught a striper below the dam close to the dam with 4 trout in the belly that were not that decomposed and it was still eating around 25 pounds, and if you want to fish for them below the dam in the spring the biggest skipjack that you can get 2 pounds 18 inch plus is the bait of choice if you can get one. (18 inch smallmouth =?) But Stripers did not create the demise of the white bass or they would have dissapeared much sooner in the early 80's. They surely helped and continue to add to to the restoration effort problem.

[mhall]

>I really hate to fuel that
>fire, but how long would
>that smallmouth be. I have
>caught a striper below the
>dam close to the dam
>with 4 trout in the
>belly that were not that
>decomposed and it was still
>eating around 25 pounds, and
>if you want to fish
>for them below the dam
>in the spring the biggest
>skipjack that you can get
>2 pounds 18 inch plus
>is the bait of choice
>if you can get one.
>(18 inch smallmouth =?) But
>Stripers did not create the
>demise of the white bass
>or they would have dissapeared
>much sooner in the early
>80's. They surely helped and
>continue to add to to
>the restoration effort problem.

Scott you've got to be freaking kidding. A 18 inch smallmouth is only about 3lb's and maybe some change on the most part. A six pound smallmouth is usually in the 21 inch plus range, give me a break guys, all of you and ten more like you are'nt gonna convince me a striper ate a six pound smallmouth. Our state record doesn't have mouth big enough to FIT a six pound smallmouth in it's mouth, I've seen the mount at a show, PLEEEEASE.

[PRO V LE]

MHall, I'm still laughing over that one too :)
Next we'll be posting warnings to keep children and pets from swimming in the lake.
Dave.

[SSKY]

I just asked the question, I have seen a striper ##### down a 18inch skipjack below the dam with no problem to the gills on the surface. i have also seen them hit a yellow bird planer board off a shoal on the surface while drifting though a shallow run. From what I have seen I would not consider it funny just what they can do. I believe that fish bigger than the record for cumberland lake have been caught in the river below the dam in the river. That being the case one would assume there may still be bigger fish still in the river fed on trout. I do not know check the ocean records as to see how big the species can get? and what size of things they eat.It would be intresting.