Fish Kill on Lake Cumberland

[HURRICANEBOB]

My guess is that any floaters were released fish as everyone I caught (live bait) was hooked way down in the gut. Those little ones sure do make a mess of the other down lines.

I noticed something when I was down last week, First one we caught on a downpole just barely legal was gut hooked, and I had on a small Gamakatsu hook and a shiner. a #2. Since I had to cut that line and keep the fish, I tied on a bigger #4 Octupus. Next couple we caught were hooked thru the top of the front lip or thru the sides of the mouth.

I know big hooks make the bait weird, and scares some fish off, but just thought the bigger hook was part of why the next couple avoided gut hooking.

Course, might just have been the first guy was really hungry, and the last two were just mouthing the biat when they got hooked up.

[mhall]

Not to start something, but a lot of those schoolies that you are catching on light tackle, this time of year, end up dying after you release them.

Andrew

Yep......................I avoided them three times at the mouth of Beaver Tuesday afternoon for this very reason. I tried one jump and let it fall to get away from the dinks and one grabbed it anyway. When the second one did it, I just left them alone and went back to bass fishing.

[RICHYD4U]

Not to start something, but a lot of those schoolies that you are catching on light tackle, this time of year, end up dying after you release them.

Andrew

Figure the survival rate on the smaller fish is pretty darn good, especially when they are caught on the surface and released in under a minute. I would understand bigger fish being brought up from below dying...not the schoolies on top.

Guess that is why us sportsman pay to have them stocked....to fish for them.

-Rich

[Duayne]

Figure the survival rate on the smaller fish is pretty darn good, especially when they are caught on the surface and released in under a minute. I would understand bigger fish being brought up from below dying...not the schoolies on top.

Guess that is why us sportsman pay to have them stocked....to fish for them.

-Rich

Water quality ***** pretty bad right now. I'm with Andrew on this at this time. Normally it wouldn't be a bad thing to remove a few of the small ones. But with the larger classes taking major hits the last few years, every small one matters for the future. I wish to heck they used the smaller size limit when the water quality six as it does right now, instead of waiting for a major die off.

[RICHYD4U]

Not sure why you say the water quality is terrible right now...water temps in the low 80s isnt what i would call terrible...especially for the end of summer?

-Rich

Water quality ***** pretty bad right now. I'm with Andrew on this at this time. Normally it wouldn't be a bad thing to remove a few of the small ones. But with the larger classes taking major hits the last few years, every small one matters for the future. I wish to heck they used the smaller size limit when the water quality six as it does right now, instead of waiting for a major die off.

[stripernut]

not to take sides or anything because i truly do believe "to each his own" ......BUT (there it is lol) i wouldnt drive to kentucky lake to catch 8 inch largemouths, if thats what was hitting i would drastically change my approach.
same thing with the schoolies on c-land, we know theyre NOT keepers and there is a chance they will not survive (and a chance they will). ok, ok theyre fun to catch.....so catch a couple, get it out of your system and move on. not a hundred today and a hundred tommorrow ans so on and so on, then the potential for mortality is through the roof, we're not talking catch/ mortality ratios here, we're talking bottom line. if you catch 5 shorties and quit if the % of mortality is 20% then one fish dies.....if you catch 50 ....well 10 future 18 pounders just died. do you drive up the ramp with a sigh of relief and high five saying we only killed 20% of what we caught today WOOOHOO!
and by golly im not saying anyone is wrong for partaking in whats perfectly legal and within the rights allowed by your purchased fishing license.....

but we are "allowed" to do alot of things......some of those things arent good for us in the long run either.

just my opinion, and mine after all is more important than yours !lol

[RICHYD4U]

Ive read a million posts over the years debating this issue among you striper fisherman...which am not by any means. I generally fish CL once a year for stripers....always in the early winter, so we generally only catch keepers and call it quits. This is the first time ive fished CL this early, and I find it entertaining that guys are having issues with my dozen fish that didnt keep, and were immediately released...haha. Hope the population can survive such a large loss...

20" stripers fight a little different than 8" lms....haha. I can go catch 8" lms at NRL all day.....but I would much prefer a 20" striper!

-Rich

not to take sides or anything because i truly do believe "to each his own" ......BUT (there it is lol) i wouldnt drive to kentucky lake to catch 8 inch largemouths, if thats what was hitting i would drastically change my approach.
same thing with the schoolies on c-land, we know theyre NOT keepers and there is a chance they will not survive (and a chance they will). ok, ok theyre fun to catch.....so catch a couple, get it out of your system and move on. not a hundred today and a hundred tommorrow ans so on and so on, then the potential for mortality is through the roof, we're not talking catch/ mortality ratios here, we're talking bottom line. if you catch 5 shorties and quit if the % of mortality is 20% then one fish dies.....if you catch 50 ....well 10 future 18 pounders just died. do you drive up the ramp with a sigh of relief and high five saying we only killed 20% of what we caught today WOOOHOO!
and by golly im not saying anyone is wrong for partaking in whats perfectly legal and within the rights allowed by your purchased fishing license.....

but we are "allowed" to do alot of things......some of those things arent good for us in the long run either.

just my opinion, and mine after all is more important than yours !lol

[stripernut]

rich as i said in my post ; "to each his own", personally a 20 inch striper doesnt do a thing for me....even on a bad day i would rather not even hook the thing.
but as you have your opinion.....i have mine.
and your right , if the population cant sustain a guy going out and catching a few fish then we are in trouble anyway.....but isnt that what i said ??
catch a few and move on ??
i thought thats what i said anyway

[RICHYD4U]

rich as i said in my post ; "to each his own", personally a 20 inch striper doesnt do a thing for me....even on a bad day i would rather not even hook the thing.
but as you have your opinion.....i have mine.
and your right , if the population cant sustain a guy going out and catching a few fish then we are in trouble anyway.....but isnt that what i said ??
catch a few and move on ??
i thought thats what i said anyway

I wasn't directing my response soley upon you bud...just venting a little. I'm glad a 20" fish doesn't do anything for you...guess that is what happens when you routinely catch 30+" fish. As for me, I just flat out enjoy fishing...and if I go somewhere far away from home, once a year, and 20" fish is all that is biting my line...you better believe I will continue to throw out there in hopes of either catching the same, or bigger!

Not sure why grown men have to voice their opinions when their opinions are not asked for...do people honestly think (like you said Stripernut) that their opinion is going to trump the opinion of the person they are trying to force their opinion upon? We are all men...we make our own choices...as long as they are legal...mind your own business. Like you said, the only opinion that matters is your own.

No more reports from me.....other than NRL of course! Shoot, I'm out of here anyways in three weeks. Adios!

-Rich

[Duayne]

Some people are uninformed. They process information that is provided and act accordingly. Some don't. As for the water quality, it's probably improved with the rains but the slight drought caused a drop in quality. You can back that with the undersized floaters that have been caught and released. As SN said, to each his own. You are quite legal to catch and release those short fish. But to do it and get bent out of shape because some suggest it might not be the best thing to do?

[stripernut]

well as a matter of fact .....i do routinely catch 30 inch and well over.....14 of em in the last few days. sent a few picture text to hurricane bob and peter.....so yes it DID happen.
the reason i catch these fish isnt because im better than anybody else.....its because i dont target small fish. im not saying i dont catch small fish, i do, and they are a pain in the rump.....but i dont go after them, they are friendly fire casualties.
and i dont ever expect my opinion to change anybodys mind about anything.
and of all things im sure not saying youre wrong for being excited about catching any size striper.....just not my thing.
if you made 10 trips to cumberland wouldnt you expect to progress to larger than 20 inch fish sooner or later?
all im saying is i make my 10th trip each year usually by january 10th.
and this would be a boring world if all conversations were simple exchanges of data (maybe a little less aggravating lol) without color commentary from the peanut gallery
tight lines fishing brother and safe journey to utah.

[HURRICANEBOB]

1st: Stripernut catches are confirmed, I got the pictures.

2nd: Stripernut, thanks for always sending me pictures when I can't go fishing. I use them to show the boss what I could be doing if he really can't come up with something important since I have leave on the balance sheet ready to take.

3rd: I claim responsibility for people catching fish as a result of my advice on time, tactics, and places. The only reason Rich caught short fish was cause the advice I gave a guy not familiar with the waters, caused that to happen. So blame me, its my fault.

4th: On my trip, I didn't do any better or worse. I wish the down poles had netted keepers. But ya know what? A shiner at 60 feet has no authority to decide what the F@#$%%$## eats him! And ya know what, A Zora Spook has never been made with a flashing light that says to fish: "Stay away if you're too little....size matters." Besides, fish can't read.

So to keep us all from blaming a guy who has done so much for sharing info with us, BLAME ME.

B-O-B: Is an acronym for "Bucket-of Blame". Fill me up with it, it's good exercise that makes me stronger for taking on the wife.

Now excuse me, I have to take out the garbage and cook supper before the wife gets home.