Fish of the Week-Topic 3: Striped Bass

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Beve
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Fish of the Week-Topic 3: Striped Bass

Post by Beve »

This is a fish I don't know much about...so I'll let others chime in with their knowledge.
Seems like the Brazos and Red River fellas (and Okies :wink: ) do most of the striper fishing on the board.


I am interested in their habits for one. Of course let's talk tackle, techniques, etc too.

The Highland lakes and Colorado is full of them, so I know some Centex guys have to had caught from a yak??? :?:

Also does anybody like to catch these guys in SW?
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Post by Danny Williams »

Striper habits at this time of the year are to find the coolest water available.
Where I live, the striper fishing gets tough. The Arkansas River system gets hot.
Striper will eat very little if the water temp is over 80 degrees and they can't find cooler water.
Striper will congregate below the dams, hugging areas where cooler, oxygenated water leaks through the gates when generation is off. Another good lcation to find striper is the Illinois River which is much colder water and fishermen hit it hard at this time of year. A lot of nice fish are caught there in the summer months. Bait really outproduces lures, especially for bigger fish. And up here, trout that have been caught on tackle, is legal bait for striper and the best producer for bigger striper by far.

In lakes, the striper will hug the thermocline and it's really not the ideal fishing for yakkers as you need locators and live bait on downlines to catch these fish. Unless, of course, you're fishing Texoma, where the smaller fish, which are not as stressed by the heat, seem to be everywhere.

When you do catch a nice striper, plan to keep it, as mortality rates are very high on the bigger catch and release fish during our hottest months. They may not die immediately, but stress can kill them days later after being caught.

Up here, September generally spells cooler temps, and the river fish will start stirring and easier to catch on lures. By October, look out! Early mornings and late evenings the fish will be schooling and thrashing anything in the water. YEEEEEHAAAAAAA

I usually fish artificials. The type of lure really depends on all kinds of factors.
I like Bombers, as they don't run too deep and get hung on the shallow river rocks.
In September, I'll sometimes throw a topwater popper with a trailor jig. They'll take the topwater until around December, when the water gets colder and then they take the jig that's about a foot and a half below the popper. But when a school of striper is in a frenzy, I don't think the fish care what it is. Just make sure you have quality hooks on your lures. LOL
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Post by Beve »

That's really good info on their habits.

How far below a dam will they travel when the water isn't too hot?
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Post by Danny Williams »

During cooler water temps, a striper can swim hundreds of miles in just a few days. And that's well-documented. Oklahoma tagged fish have been caught in the gulf.

In fact, a striper has to have somewhere around a hundred miles of free-flowing river in order for their eggs to hatch. in the spring, Striper swim has far upstream as possible. Too short a distance or not enough flow and the eggs sink and never hatch. Hatcheries will have to produce any striper in those rivers or impoundments. A lot of lake introduced hatchery striper fingerlings will naturally end up in the river below such lakes.

When the water is hot and THERE'S NO CURRENT of flow in the rivers, the big fish don't usually move from their cool water source in the summer.
That's a real good reason to protect those fish along the dams.
There was a study done just a year or 2 ago at Keystone Dam to check the movements of stripers. About 20 fish were tagged and inserted with tracking devices. The biologists were interested in knowing the distances these fish traveled. The city of Tulsa is talking about building a low-water dam and the biologists were looking for ammunition in order to fight for a way for these fish to spawn upriver. Unfortunately, it was a dry spring and summer. A few fish went downriver early before the heat and disappeared to cooler waters, most likely the Illinois river system or Kerr Lake. Most fish headed to the dam and stayed right against the walls all through the summer. A few fish stayed in deep holes along the river, but not many. The fish in the holes will likely not feed for the hottest month. They'll be in bad condition when the summer breaks. In particularly bad summers, they'll not make it.
I'm not sure how hot the brazos gets, but I suspect it's cooler just below the dam, as the state seems to stock trout there. But again, I've never fished there. Yet.
Spring and summer is the best fishing up here and it can be fantastic, although the size is not nearly that of fish further south or in deeper, cooler rivers where the yearly growing cycle lasts longer.

There's a lot I don't know and I'd be smug to think so,
but I've fished quite often with a few of the best
and that's the quickest way to learn the habits of one of the hardest fighting fish - the true bass - the striped bass.

I'd love to fish the East Coast also.
"So much to do and so little to do it with." YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Last edited by Danny Williams on Mon Jul 28, 2008 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by YaknYota »

Another excellent selection for F.O.W., Beve :D .

After 23 years of being a Striped Bass junkie. I've compared notes on my striper chasing Coast to Coast. From the landlocked (no passage from fresh to salt)Stripers of Southern CA. impoundments such as Lake Silverwood or the Tennessee Valley Giants of the Clinch River to the All Tackle Records swimming the roiling surf and jetties off Martha's Vineyard and the Hudson River. Just to list a few other than my home waters.

I have been blessed to have caught a lifetimes worth the stripers in different environments/conditions and had unique experiences and chances to observe and compare notes from fishery to fishery.

One thing I can attest to, in a landlocked river or lake environment,
Stripers reign supreme and nothing compares to the ferocity and mass casualties they can inflict individually or collectively, when feeding. I've seen stripers feed effeciently in complete darkness with water so roiling and fast, it would have drowned most fish. Most folks don't realize it, but this is one fish that, as a juvenile or adult can survive a 80,000-100,000 CFS tumble over the top of Lake Whitney or PK Dam and live to feed another day. This is one way our Texas Stripers find their way into our Rivers and in some cases, can even reproduce. I have seen this occur on the Brazos in several different year classes following a major flood event such as 1990-1991 and even in 2007-2008.

Learning about stripers origin as a saltwater/anadromous (can live in salt and fresh) species really helped me better understand these fish.
Some of my very first Striper reads were the classics from the East Coast Saltwater Masters like Hal Lymon and Frank Daignault.

Want to get started with some plug fishing?

Stripers are primarily sight feeders and plugs are a great way to cover water and will catch stripers year around in a variety of conditions.

Here are a few of my artificial selections.

Topwaters -


Image


Rainbow Trout pattern plugs, poppers and oversize jerks -


Image


I love fishing plugs for stripers 8) .

Remember, GO SLOW-ROLL FOR THE BIG FISH!!!!!


I'll touch on other aspects of striper methods and equipment later in the thread.
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Post by Longhorns »

Another winning topic, Beve. And good early responses from Danny Williams and YnY. My goodness, we're an educated group.
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Post by YaknYota »

Danny Williams wrote:During cooler water temps, a striper can swim hundreds of miles in just a few days. And that's well-documented. Oklahoma tagged fish have been caught in the gulf.
Sounds interesting, DW.

Tagged Oklahoma River Stripers in the Gulf? Well documented where?

Btw - A hybrid/striper egg incubation cycle is 48 hours. I was not aware it had anything to do with river miles. If it did, how do you explain the spawns below Whitney and PK?
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Post by YaknYota »

Danny Williams wrote: A few fish stayed in deep holes along the river, but not many. The fish in the holes will likely not feed for the hottest month. They'll be in bad condition when the summer breaks. In particularly bad summers, they'll not make it.
In the study you make reference to, I would also like to know where these downriver fish kill/kills were documented by the State of OK :?:

Please, quit selling our River Stripers short, DW.

Even if they are of the Oklahoma variety :P :wink:
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Post by Danny Williams »

Someone tripping on your territory Yak? :D
LOL
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Post by Beve »

This is some great, detailed info. Keep it coming.

I have been on the Illinois river and that is some cold water even in the summer time, so that would make sense for them to travel there IMO.

In Texas, it sounds like our flood years make a big difference in what occurs in the following year.

What is the life span of a Striper and what is an average year's growth for one? Do populations with rainbow trout available as forage grow faster??
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Post by Danny Williams »

OK .....I've heard this from the biologists and others, but this is online\:.

From:http://www.oklahomagameandfish.com/fish ... 204a/#cont


"...In the 1980s, Peterson says, some Oklahoma State University graduate students tagged some stripers, caught below the dam at Keystone Reservoir near Tulsa. Six weeks later one of those fish was caught and identified in the Gulf of Mexico, nearly 1,000 miles away...."

As far as river miles. That depends on the current and depth of said river.
Our Arkansas is shallow and sandy. It takes a lot of current (covering a longer distance) for eggs to hatch and not get stuck in that shallow sand. Again, 100 miles may be an overstatement, but not by a longshot on this river.
There's not many river systems that will supppt a natural hatch.
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Post by Vlaude »

MODS need to step in on this one! DANNY don't let all the cats out of the hat! LOL your post needs to be censored! hehehehe... The dinks are running wild on tejOMA. Fish up to about 4lbs and some larger if you are lucky. If you are lake fishing this time of year I'd look for the smaller schooling fish, if you want larger then find the thermocline and drop some slabs, sassy, or shad. I can't bring myself to doing the later of the three though! If you take them deep they are probably keepers this time of year...

As far as releases in the OK lakes, I've fished some serious release conditions on a couple of rivers, and the more water the better the fishing a lot of times. Last summer with water over the spillway and the gates wide open on the Red fishing was pretty tough to beat. I believe it was calling fish up from way down south, but just a guess from talking with people and the type of fish in the area. You start seeing hybrids, at best is a 75 mile run, probably longer... Then you also start seeing fish that are probably coming up from the Mississippi River area water, which is at least 500 river miles? A long run, so if other fish do it I gotta believe the stripers do? And if the big ones come back, why not protect them?

If you just want to catch some stripers get up to Texoma any morning right now and wear yourself out on the smaller 2-4lb fish. A PB makes things easier with the speeds the schools travel, but you can get them in a yak as well...
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Post by YaknYota »

Danny Williams wrote:Someone tripping on your territory Yak? :D
LOL
I'm calling BS on your quoted statements, nothing more, nothing less.

Most folks on TKF don't know any better and cannot separate the wheat from the chaf and are here to learn.

Incorrect egg incubation cycle/time is one thing..................

Telling folks about how fragile river stripers are downriver during severe drought during the Summer is just flat out incorrect. Especially in OK!!!
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Post by Danny Williams »

Here's the link to the recent tagging study.

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/strip ... ection.php

Sorry Yak.......but you know better. LOL
The Brazos may be nothing like our Arkansas,
and probably doesn't suffer the same effects,
but the truth is.
when someone even attempts to say anything about striper,
you feel one-upped. :D :D :D :D :D

I expect you to go on a tirade.
You Prove me Wrong!
YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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Post by Vlaude »

YaknYota, I think what Danny said is pretty right on from information I have read. I'm not going to claim to be the "know all" of stripers. Instead of calling "BS" or if you want to call "BS" fine, but you might share the info as to why? There have been studies done on the area Danny mentions do you discredit studies by biologists? Similar studies have been completed in other area that have a lot of similarities as well.

Fragile? Yes, if there is not a cool water supply the larger stripers are not going to eat, correct? They are going to seek refuge in the cool water ahead of chasing a shad (etc.) for a meal. If they don't eat they are going to slowly waste away, correct? So in a drought condition when the water heats up and there aren't releases then there are problems, happens in resevoirs commonly.

As far as the reproduction the eggs have to turn and stay off the bottom for a period to successfully hatch? I'm not sure I understand where you are going?

Care to elaborate, as you said some of us enjoy learning even when we aren't on the water...
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Post by fishin phantom »

I will be fishing conroe for stripers this friday. Does anyone have any experience on conroe stripers. I know they dodn't get that big on conroe and I usually catch them by accident while fishing for hybrids and whities. Any specific lake locations you think might be productive would be a great help!
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Post by YaknYota »

Danny Williams wrote:Here's the link to the recent tagging study.

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/strip ... ection.php

Sorry Yak.......but you know better. LOL
The Brazos may be nothing like our Arkansas,
and probably doesn't suffer the same effects,
but the truth is.
when someone even attempts to say anything about striper,
you feel one-upped. :D :D :D :D :D

I expect you to go on a tirade.
You Prove me Wrong!
YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Why in the world would you post a link to a study that proves your account of tagged river fish dying in downriver holes wrong. Or was that just your opinion?

Threads like this go alot better with posts based on experience instead of opinion.

If you personally have witnessed stripers dying in downriver holes on the Arkansas during drought/Summer conditions, why did you not report it?

I am sure the State of OK would love to know about them. Why would you keep that to yourself?

:idea: Or was that another opinion you wanted to mingle with a State Study?

This one belongs to Beve, so I think it would be better if we continued on another thread.
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Post by Danny Williams »

8) I like you Yak.
And you might reread what I originally wrote.
I'm certainly not infallible,
but I certainly am not a bs'er.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Another site to read about striper reproduction:
http://www.arkansasstripers.com/morone- ... d-bass.htm

"larvae hatch in approximately 2-3 days"

How far can you float in 2-3 days on a running river?
2 miles an hour x 48 hours =

:wink:
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Post by Beve »

YaknYota wrote:
Danny Williams wrote:Here's the link to the recent tagging study.

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/strip ... ection.php

Sorry Yak.......but you know better. LOL
The Brazos may be nothing like our Arkansas,
and probably doesn't suffer the same effects,
but the truth is.
when someone even attempts to say anything about striper,
you feel one-upped. :D :D :D :D :D

I expect you to go on a tirade.
You Prove me Wrong!
YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Why in the world would you post a link to a study that proves your account of tagged river fish dying in downriver holes wrong. Or was that just your opinion?

Threads like this go alot better with posts based on experience instead of opinion.

If you personally have witnessed stripers dying in downriver holes on the Arkansas during drought/Summer conditions, why did you not report it?

I am sure the State of OK would love to know about them. Why would you keep that to yourself?

:idea: Or was that another opinion you wanted to mingle with a State Study?

This one belongs to Beve, so I think it would be better if we continued on another thread.
Thanks, lets keep the FOW threads as informational as we can. At some point well down the road I'll collate the threads together as a resource for the TKF family.

Now back to the Stripers......
Does anybody have an answer to my previous question: :?: What is the life span of a Striper and what is an average year's growth for one? Do populations with rainbow trout available as forage grow faster??
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Post by Danny Williams »

I'll let someone else answer this please.

Aw heck......
Striper love trout,
but it's more about the abundance of forage and the quality of water that determines striper growth. They might prefer trout if given the option, but they'll grow great on shad and other forage fish if readily available in our rivers.

There are resources on the net pertaining to striper growth, but it all depends on the conditions. A Tennesse river fish's growth is going to outdo an Oklahoma striper. But that's my opinion, cause I can't remember where the facts are. LOL

Dang, this is a slow day at work!
Let's go fishing.
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Post by Vlaude »

Yak'nYota, you are right Beve posted talking about info on stripers. Danny posted up some good and I think fairly well documented information and other stuff that is pretty common info among striper fishermen.

“A few fish stayed in deep holes along the river, but not many.” – Fact

“The fish in the holes will likely not feed for the hottest month.” – Studied in multiple cases. If you’d like to see this I can show you this scenario on Texoma come early fall. It was real bad this past year with the influx of water, the lake (like most shallow river holes) did not stratify and therefore there was little refuge for the larger fish.

“They'll be in bad condition when the summer breaks.” – Again studied in multiple cases when, the fish don’t eat they become skinny over time.

“In particularly bad summers, they'll not make it” – It is a fact that without oxygen a striper will die. During bad summers without much water flow they will die. I have seen this take place below Eufaula.

So going back through and looking at Danny’s statement I think it’s pretty accurate? Not really much opinion in it. Regardless, I believe you’ve mis-read or stretched what Danny said… You are the one that misread or made the stretch of tagged river fish dying, not Danny. Hopefully, that clarifies Danny’s comments… Pretty good stuff, IMO.

Instead of redirecting the discussion and in the spirit of learning do you mind elaborating on what you are claiming “BS” on?


And Danny stop tossing bait out there with stinger hooks on them! Aren't you a C&R guy? LOL
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Post by Longhorns »

Vlaude, are you telling our children to play nice?
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Post by Vlaude »

From a Sooner to a Longhorn... I guess I'm saying...







BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMER!!!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONER!!!


:roll: LOL, no I think Danny made some excellent points that are pretty well documented. Yes, its good to play nice. I don't understand why Yak'nYota called BS on Danny, I think Danny's comments are pretty accurate. Only Yak'nYota can elaborate, just a bit silly to call BS and then not explain?

Maybe Yak'nYota will explain, but he has yet to do so...


=============================================

Totally off-topic - How the Horns gonna be this year? Looking forward to "The Game" should be another good one! Hope they don't move it away from the fair, but I gotta wonder with the Cotton Bowl already making the move to Jerry's place!
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Post by Danny Williams »

GET OFF MY BACK VLAUDE!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hey.....tell us about Fork! 8)
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Post by reservoir dog »

i am very interested in this fish. i've never fished for them.

where is the closest place to houston where i could give it a shot?
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