Quote Originally Posted by Tim_T View Post
So taking a stocked fish that doesn't reproduce and putting it in the live well has reduced the population? Well of course, those are probably fish that were going to spawn in Lake Cumberland!!!

The "I am more sportsmen than you are" attitude by some blows me away. The fish are put in there to catch and if they meet the requirements, keep if you like. Jeez, comparing native smallmouth and largemouth to stocked stripers that wouldn't exist there otherwise is like comparing apples to footballs!
Actually, the post you refer to noted the size of the fish, not the total population. I agree, if you release stripers during the cooler months, then you should expect to see some larger fish in the lake. If you keep every one that you are allowed to keep, then they will not have the chance to grow to larger sizes. Also note that there is some natural reproduction of stripers in the lake. I wonder what affect the lower water levels have on that? From what I have heard, prior to the dam issues, it varied from year to year. Some years there was no reproduction, other years something like 20%.

How different was the river fishery of the Cumberland before it was dammed to now? Like would you have had smallies and largemouth in good numbers in the lake? Just asking cause I'm sure the dam has changed a lot of things for a number of species (river walleye, for example).

Andrew