Stripers..Belly Up

[apb]

I DONT striper fish....never have....just wondering if you could fizz them the same way you do a bass....i know we catch a lot of our fish deep in the summer and as soon as you put them in the livewell its belly up...but as soon as you fizz them and release the swim bladder they turn back over....would be a thought for somebody to try....if you're gonna keep em to eat anyway it would be worth a shot to see if you could get one to turn over in the livewell

Stripers die in warm water due to the lactic acid build up during the fight. Add the deep water affects to that and they are dead. Fizzing them will do nothing but put a hole in them.

A 28-30 in winter and 18-20 in summer (mandatory take) would do wonders for the stripers in Cumberland and, mainly, would help increase the awareness of the hazzards of catch and release in the summer.

I would go as far as one at 36 inch in winter. TN does this on Norris Lake.

Andrew

[HURRICANEBOB]

I agree with the summer thing, and for years now have avoided July, August, and early September.

During these months, I stay away from trying for linesiders, and instead move inside and work the Stripper Night Bite.

Ya know given the cost of shad if you buy them, trolling for Strippers is actually a little cheaper if you "us your own bait". I find downpooling works best, but sometimes have had luck pushing the bait to one side or the other. Offshore Planer boards cost over $20 each,. so I just use free lined $10's.

Funny thing is I used to fish under the lights, but find the Strippers prefer environment that is less well lit. I never keep any Strippers, strickly catch and release. I don't think the state has a size limit, but I never keep any over 150 pounds and always release the ones under 100 pounds.

Its best for their attitude to avoid netting, best to just hand land them, but don't try to lip them as they do have teeth. There's other methods where you can hand land them much safer.