Good day for stripers on Cumberland

[HURRICANEBOB]

Okay, I'll ask the question. You all know I mess around alot, but am not heartless. So here's the question to ponder.

If I catch a Striper in warm water and keep him, the mortality rate is 100%. Caught = dead. Eaten yes, but dead none the less.

If caught and released, and mortality is 80 %, then 20% still live. 20% more fish to be caught by someone who may want to eat, or 20% less to stock next year. Caught and released if mortality rate tops at 80% is still less than 100% caught and eaten.

Now another way to look at it. All organic things that die will benefit some other living organism. Be it a bottom feeding predator, a crustacean, or an ameba. Organic things decay to organic matter that feeds eco systems.

So if I catch and release and 80% die, that 80% to some means will benefit something in the eco system. The 20% that live will reduce stocking costs and benefot the next fisherman. If I keep what I catch, 100% benefits me and me alone.

Glad to hear other thoughts, but rememeber, this is a sport, and sport is recreation, and recreation by its very essence is wasteful to some degree. If for no other reason than productive time is spent in a recreational effort that could have been spemt being productive.

Okay.......how many of you now know I used to be a logistics analyst, and how many of you just think I had too much Tequilla again?

I just want to share one thing with everyone on this board. I really enjoy all I read here, it broadens my horizons, I've learned alot, and I admit to trying to return the favor when ever I can.

Gotta go, laptop battery is dying, and I need to set my cot up in the van.

[apb]

I look at it this way. Legally, you can kill two stripers/day. If you catch 4 out of warm water, and the mortality rate is 80% (closer to 100% by August), you've killed at least 3 stripers. One more than the legal limit. You are not helping the fishery by killing more than your daily limit. If you were to catch your 2, release them, and stop fishing, then you are still in your legal limit. In that case you have not negatively impacted the fishery. Just seems like a waste to release a fish that is going to die anyway. Might as well fill your belly with them, they are tasty!

Personal choice, I very rarely fish for them during warm water season any more. I release almost all the stripers I catch from cold water. Its a "put and take" fishery, but the sizes can be increased by releasing stripers in cold water times.

My 2 cents.

Andrew

[tglass]

I agree 100% with Andrew!!!

[vmky]

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?

I put the boat in about 65' of water in the mainlake cut, set my lines out and headed towards the point. All fish were caught as we were rounding the point onto the mainlake side. Kept the boat in 60' to 65' of water.

[vmky]

How many of those stripers have you tracked after releasing to insure that they survived? As far as stripers feeding on top in warm water, yes, if that is where their food is, they'll come up shallow for brief times to feed and then go back deep. Difference between them feeding and you fighting them is the additional stress from the fight and the build up of lactic acid. That is what kills them. They don't have that additional stress while feeding and can go back deep at any point if they need too. Hard to do that if someone is pulling them to the surface.

Like I and others have said, EVERY study (both saltwater and freshwater) has come to the same conclusion: catch and release of stripers from warm water has a very high mortality rate. The mortality rate increases as the temps increase and fish size increases. Same for catching out of water 40 feet deep or more. Check some of the fisheries journals for yourself if you don't believe me. Fish and wildlife folks that I've talked to have said the same thing: catch your limit and then quit fishing for stripers.

Andrew

I never keep more than my limit. As the original post stated we kept 4 (2 people in the boat). We didn't keep fishing after that. I don't catch and release for striper any time of the year unless we catch a fish over 30lbs. or have a sublegal fish. Fish over 30lbs caught in the winter are photographed and released. I have a nice fiberglass replica of a 30lb.8oz. on the wall. Looking for a 40lb. out of the lake next. ALL sublegal fish are released. No fish is worth a ticket. And as my second post stated, I agree that deep fish caught have a higher mortality rate. More of a good reason to not catch and release. I utilize the fishery in the way it was intended to be used. Quite a few people that I have introduced to striper fishing are avid striper fisherman now. Investing LOTS of money into the local economy year round and introducing kids and young adults to the sport. The gentleman that was with me that day is an avid tournament bass fisherman and first time striper fisherman. Since that day, he has invested in several outfits to striper fish with and has threatened to be in my truck everytime I go fishing. I have had lots of discussions with other striper fisherman that agree that a reduced size limit in the summer months would be the best change for the sport. Or catch 2 per person and done because of the higher mortality rate.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Last thought then I'll shut up.......well for a little while anyway.

So you got 4 planer boards out and 2 downpoles, and you are fishing alone. Dumb luck beats science, and you turn a point, hit a school that turns on and they all go down and hook up. Read that 6 boated. Limit is 2 so
I keep the biggies and release the rest. But warm water mortaility we all accept as a given.

You will hate me for breathing this, especially the guides. But here. Given you can only catch 2, and to avoid the scenarior below where the fishery is depleted above the 2 limit per day, then shouldn't the regs say "no more than 2 rods per person actively fishing for Striped Bass maybe in the water at one time in the summer months? 3 people = 6 rods, equal maybe 6 hookups and with in limits for all.

What do you do when you hook up more than limit? Just keep all and hope you don't get caught, or release the excess knowing the mortality thing depletes the fishery?

[PRO V LE]

Bob, as a long time forum friend may I suggest that you check into the witness protection program or dig a big hole and find a big rock to hide behind. That change in rules would cause another civil war around here. The multiable hookup's do happen but not often enough to be a concern.
One reason that Alewive's were hard to catch this year was all the young Stripers chasing them all night in the lights.
The 2 fish 24" limit was put in place to make Cumberland a trophy lake, compare it to some of the other lakes that have bigger limits and you will see that it works. It would probaly surprise everyone if they knew the figure on how many Stripers are caught on a daily basis by the guides and general public.
"I only want one, 58#+"

[apb]

...What do you do when you hook up more than limit? Just keep all and hope you don't get caught, or release the excess knowing the mortality thing depletes the fishery?

Boat the first two and put them in the box. You could always give the others some slack line in hopes that they would come unbuttoned. If they don't come off, try to keep them in the water while you remove the hook and get them back in as quick as possible.

As far as only 2 lines per angler, most guide trips are 2-4 clients. With 2 clients and the guide, that is still 6 rods.

Like Dave said, those over the limit hook ups are not all that common.

Andrew

[HURRICANEBOB]

check into the witness protection program or dig a big hole and find a big rock to hide behind. That change in rules would cause another civil war around here. +"

RE: civil war? Was there one here? If so why did my mother in law never mention it?

RE: W.P.Program. They let me out at night.

RE: Hole/Rock. I resemble that, my house ain't all that nice, but it ain't a hole or rock. It's nicer than that......hole? Naw, more like a small depression. Rock?.......Sheet rock.......okay, ya got me there.

[HURRICANEBOB]

I put the boat in about 65' of water in the mainlake cut, set my lines out and headed towards the point. All fish were caught as we were rounding the point onto the mainlake side. Kept the boat in 60' to 65' of water.

10-Q, sir!

[cumberlandguy1]

Multiple hook ups are very common for us so we only fish with 2 rods on the boat now. We usually troll u-rigs and it is fairly common to catch 2 on the same rod at the same time. We used 4 rods for awhile, but with only 2 people in the boat, the fish had the advantage. LOL. What a mess! 2 15lb stripers on the same u rig at the same time just about destroys a u rig. After hooking up 4 rods twice, we cut back to 2.

[Duayne]

Was talking with Pro V le over the weekend and need to clarify something. I do understand that stripers are temp sensitive. They will seek waters within their range, sometimes to the point of suffocating to death. But what we are talking about here is the effects of capture. lactic acidosis is a result when the muscles can not properly burn glucose due to a lack of oxygen in the blood. This is a condition that can exist in some humans, but is more common and more lethal in reptiles and, in this case, striped bass. Crocodiles, for instance, can have the exact same symptoms and outcome during attempted capture as with striped bass. And as with striped bass, the larger the croc, the more likely and fatal outcome.