Lake Lanier striper kills?

[Liquid nails]

How many liters per minute are you running in a bait tank and are you running it instead of or along side a traditional aerator?

I’m not sure the liters per min. The regulator I have I use setting #1 along with a weighted air stone. I use my creek bank bait tank the way it’s set up and drop in the o2 stone as well. The dannco Venturi drawing in air helps degas the co2 buildup that comes along with pumping in pure o2.
I keep a 275 gallon tank at home and keep the water 70* with my chiller. I can keep bait alive for a long time. I can drag a big gizzard for 4hrs and if he’s still healthy, bring him home and toss him back in for next trip.
I love live bait. I feel like I can entice a fish sometimes that’s not hungry to eat.
When I go fishing I’m looking for 2-4 hits if I’m lucky. Looking back through my photos from this year I stated we’ve caught 8 fish over 20lbs this year. I counted 9 last night. Biggest was 42.5 we caught in June and I made a thread. I’ve hung bigger this year. I’ve had 4 break 60lb leader or straighten out hooks. Good luck guys. Love those stripes!

 

[across the river]

There wasn’t a second one, but I’m glad you do. I just can’t get into it personally. I wish I could cause it usually produces more and better fish. I always just end up bored. My ADHD I guess.

It is still the first regardless of whether there were one, two, or ten questions. On a serious note though, I used to be like that when I was younger. I wanted to do everything the hard way. I didn't fish live bait, didn't want to fish ponds, tied my own flies to fish with, and had rather catch one big one than a bunch of little ones. I wanted to kill ducks over decoys I made myself with a call I turned myself. Had to chase every deer with a bow and arrow. I thought it made it more meaningful. Twenty years later, after marriage, a kid, and just life in general, I just enjoy going, and I appreciate the opportunity to do so a heck of a lot more. Now I had rather drift for catfish or catch stripers on bluebacks than ride around chasing greenish and fishing tournaments. I have no problem putting a cricket on the end of a fly rod to catch bream eating mayflies and grasshoppers or shooting a deer with a rifle. I have bags full of plastic decoys and an array of duck calls, most all of which I purchased. And I will absolutely fish a private pond without hesitation and enjoy every minute of it. Some people change with age, some people don't, but I did without question. I will see you other old live bait guys at the bait store in the morning.

 

[littlejon]

There wasn’t a second one, but I’m glad you do. I just can’t get into it personally. I wish I could cause it usually produces more and better fish. I always just end up bored. My ADHD I guess.

I'm with you. Dragging live bait is like watching paint dry for me. I did a lot of it when I was younger in salt water though. I wouldn't say it catches more fish but agree it can catch bigger fish. At least with my experience.

 

[Rabun]

I would think the use of descending devices for hot weather releases would help with survival rate? What y’all think?

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

I would think the use of descending devices for hot weather releases would help with survival rate? What y’all think?

I think the level of benefit depends on other details.

I'm less optimistic on fish that are reeled in from 200+ feet away or played to exhaustion on light tackle than I am on fish that are reeled in from 50 feet or so quickly.

I'm less optimistic on fish that are out of water for more than 15 seconds.

I'm less optimistic on fish with other health challenges - too thin, lice, other sickness.

I'm more optimistic if O2 is used and the angler takes all due care to get the details right for the conditions - rate of descent, depth of release, etc. From the published curves of O2 vs depth, the optimal depth changes both with the specific date and with the location on the lake.

I'm less optimistic if the use of descending devices is a government requirement rather than the initiative of each angler doing it.

The use of various devices to decrease release mortality is an ongoing requirement in various red snapper fisheries. I think those populations would be better served if each fish of a given species were required to be kept and counted against the daily limit.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

I would think the use of descending devices for hot weather releases would help with survival rate? What y’all think?

Researching and considering this a bit more raises more concerns:

1. Some devices may not have the accuracy needed to increase survival for striped bass in Lanier. The graph below shows results of depth accuracy testing of the SeaQualizer descending device. The data point for a target depth of 30 feet has a huge standard deviation - stretching from 15 to 30 feet. I doubt that much spread in release depths will save as many Lanier striped bass as an accurate device.
See: p. 42 https://www.sportfishcenter.org/sites/default/files/2018-07/Tompkins_Thesis_1.pdf

2. I don't think the descending devices are going to help survival rates in most trolling applications. Boats trolling 2-3 miles an hour will probably have to stop or slow significantly (or use something like a downrigger) to use these devices effectively. For most Lanier trollers, that means taking a couple minutes to reel in all the lines so they don't fall into the timber or to the bottom and snag or making a significantly larger equipment investment than the descending device itself. I like the odds of fish survival much better if done in less than 15 seconds without the device than if I wait long enough to reel in all the lines and sufficiently slow the boat.

 

[JJJSDAD]

Simply solution would tick everyone off. Limit 1 rod per person when trolling.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

Simply solution would tick everyone off. Limit 1 rod per person when trolling.

Why are you a fan of criminalizing certain popular fishing behaviors unnecessarily? And what problem are you purportedly offering a solution for? Where is the actual evidence that release mortality is hurting the striper fishery in Lanier?

All the evidence I've seen suggests the striped bass in Lanier are relatively underfed and slow growing compared with established norms for land locked striped bass in N America. It's like a pasture with too many cattle. Some cattle need to be removed so those remaining can grow faster. Of course, I prefer catch and keep to catch and release with high mortality rates.

Finally, your proposed solution doesn't even solve the challenge of releasing striper when trolling. Suppose I'm trolling with three other anglers - four lines out. When one angler catches a fish - most of the time there would still be three lines out that need to be reeled in before the boat can be stopped.

Whatever marginal benefit there may be with the descent devices, there is no real evidence that these marginal benefits are worth the expenses of the additional equipment and questionable changes to the regulations. But increased government regulation is likely to reduce fishing license sales.

 

[Rabun]

There was no mention of government regulation...simply if anyone thought the devices might work to save some fish. Many fish are caught stationary jigging and live baiting. If they were proven to be effective under certain circumstances many anglers would utilize them since they’re inexpensive and easy to use. Some industrious angler could use it with a go pro attached and see how the fish responds at depth. Very few people will install an O2 system on their boats to revive a fish although I applaud those that do.

 

[King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah]

Something else to keep in mind is people need to learn proper fish care to safely release stripers. They require high O2 levels and space to swim which is why they thrive in large lakes and rivers where they have running water. They also require cool water temps. Put a Striper in the livewell full of surface temp water or even a small pond and it's a dead fish. On top of that if you're bringing a fish up from 40 feet of water to the surface without venting them, they'll die then too. I think mortality rates of released fish among fishermen are high. Especially during the summer months. Winter is probably better as far as the survival rate goes. Regulations could stay the way they are without limiting everyone's ability to catch fish. Guide trips would suffer with a one rod limit. Having a boat full of eager clients and trolling around with just one rod on the back wouldn't be too fun for anyone and even with recreational fishermen, it's twice as hard to locate fish when you can only work one depth in the water column

 

[lampern]

In South Carolina on Lake Murray, another large lake stocked with stripers, they removed the minimum size limits for the summer months when the water warms up.

 

[Nicodemus]

Down here on the Flint the season is closed on stripers from May through October. When the water temps rise they have to get in the blue holes and are literally trapped there. It`s something to see when you can watch a 50+ pound striper swimming in a crystal clear spring and it can`t leave.

 

[King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah]

I think the stripers aren't getting to huge sizes also because of the forage base like others have mentioned. They're eating a lot of herring which aren't as big or high in fats and protein as skipjack herring or gizzard shad. Mouth full of 4 inch bluebacks isn't very filling. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, a 2 pound skipjack herring or a 16 inch gizzard shad is the BAIT to catch 60-70lb freshwater striper

 

[klerchkatcher]

In South Carolina on Lake Murray, another large lake stocked with stripers, they removed the minimum size limits for the summer months when the water warms up.

They removed the minimum size limit, but the state says you have to keep the stripers you catch and the limit is only 5 fish. After you reach the striper limit, by state law you cannot fish for anymore stripers that day.

 

[Rabun]

I don’t know. Lanier has definitely bred some large Stripers. I’m sure not as big as a lot of environments but it has a pretty good reputation for producing some sizable fish. Summer months puts some strain on them forage wise but the remaining three seasons provide for a smorgasbord of food. Summer is more survival time. They took a pretty good hit several years ago when COE kept releasing water due to a “faulty” gauge...remember that? Sucked the thermocline right Out of the lake. I think we’re still seeing the effects of that. I don’t fish Lanier in the summer because of the boat traffic so really don’t have a dog in the hunt regarding this issue beyond the fact that I hate to see wasted resources. Probably the best thing would be to close the Striper fishery during late summer but totally understand the negative impact that could have on anglers and the economy. stocking the numbers consistently to offset mortality every year is probably the best answer to this dilemma.

 

[lampern]

Its a 'put and take' fishery

So let folks excercise the 'take' part and remove the size restriction for fish above 22 inches

 

[Rabun]

Rather see them eaten than wasted. No prob with that at all?

 

[klerchkatcher]

They use to stock trout into Lake Lanier. The water quality, dissovled oxygen at the right depth and temperature was in a decline. So they stopped stocking the trout into the lake. The first striper stockings had all those trout to feed on and the stripers got big. Some of striper fisherman started using live trout for bait. The striper fisherman started catching the larger stripers in the lake.

 

[klerchkatcher]

A Lanier striper fishing guide might think otherwise. But like lampern said it is a put and take fishery.

 

[LittleDrummerBoy]

Its a 'put and take' fishery

So let folks excercise the 'take' part and remove the size restriction for fish above 22 inches

Always a fan of reduced regulations. Not that I'd make much use of that one, but others might, and I don't think it would harm the fishery.