Good To See

Saltwater Striper Fishing
1

Been fishing late evening until shortly after dark all summer, but decided to try it much later last night to see what’s going on since they’ll normally move up in the water column as the night goes on this time of year.

They did as expected, but not sure I’ve ever seen it quite like this. Got a limit real quick and then decided to just drift, relax a bit and enjoy the nice weather before heading in.

It was really nice to see they are getting out of those low O2 depths and back to where they can breathe.

These pics were taken while drifting over a distance of about 1/2 mile. The screen was the same the entire time right up until I decided to leave. All taken about 1 am.

2

That’s actually the same depths they were suspended and feeding just after daylight this morning. I agree it’s nice to see them up that high where there has to be way more O2.

3

Went Saturday morning back to a spot that has been producing all August and September long and had fish from the surface down to 55ft. The graph read water temps 86-87 degrees. Caught a healthy teenager that was released and swam away strong, which was a good sign this time of year. Good seeing the fish sucking up the good O2, bring on some cooler weather already.

4

All that may change this week … SCE&G is already drawing down the lake in anticipation of Hurricane Florence … :roll_eyes:

… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!

2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke

5

I saw that, any idea how much they intend to draw down?

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quote:
Originally posted by fishfinder84

I saw that, any idea how much they intend to draw down?

No idea, but if it’s anything like last year, then it’ll be down probably 10-18 inches by the weekend … That’s running off a lot of water on a 40,000+ acre lake

7

When I fished Saturday morning, I found the bait would die within a minute if I dropped it more than 40 feet. 30-35 was where I had action. Interestingly, I’d be drifting over 90+, and fish would rocket off the bottom to inspect or hit a relatively shallow bait.

Thanks to Rick and Liz for donating their leftover bait to me. I only bought 2 dozen and was down to my last 5 bait at 10:00 AM with only 1 fish due to having to change out so often. The bait and info saved the outing for me.

James “Captain Fog” Lindler
Team Hardcore
Xpress HB-22
F150 4 Stroke Yammy Jammer
For guide service, search fogmanfisheries on Facebook.

8
quote:
Originally posted by Fogman

When I fished Saturday morning, I found the bait would die within a minute if I dropped it more than 40 feet. 30-35 was where I had action. Interestingly, I’d be drifting over 90+, and fish would rocket off the bottom to inspect or hit a relatively shallow bait.

Thanks to Rick and Liz for donating their leftover bait to me. I only bought 2 dozen and was down to my last 5 bait at 10:00 AM with only 1 fish due to having to change out so often. The bait and info saved the outing for me.

James “Captain Fog” Lindler
Team Hardcore
Xpress HB-22
F150 4 Stroke Yammy Jammer
For guide service, search fogmanfisheries on Facebook.

I went from having to troll at 65-70 ft to 30 -35 ft starting the last week in August.

Weird how they seem to move up around the same time every year even when there is no significant cooling going on. The air and water temps havent budged at all, Must be something else that triggers them, like shorter days maybe?

'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
DF90 Suzuki

9

They moved up because of the poor water quality. Herring were deing below 40, so the DO levels are very low below that. Studies have shown that the fish will choose better DO over cooler water temps with poor DO. However if they are in warmer water there metabolism is revved so they have to eat like mad to survive. Usually can’t find enough to eat so that’s when they start getting skinny. Also almost all fish will die when released now, hence the 5 and done rule. Better to give your fish away then release them and be wasted.

SCEG pulls water from the bottom so this might help get some of the bad water out. Not sure if it’s enough to affect the fish though.

10
quote:
Originally posted by bioguy

They moved up because of the poor water quality. Herring were deing below 40, so the DO levels are very low below that. Studies have shown that the fish will choose better DO over cooler water temps with poor DO. However if they are in warmer water there metabolism is revved so they have to eat like mad to survive. Usually can’t find enough to eat so that’s when they start getting skinny. Also almost all fish will die when released now, hence the 5 and done rule. Better to give your fish away then release them and be wasted.

SCEG pulls water from the bottom so this might help get some of the bad water out. Not sure if it’s enough to affect the fish though.

Going to beg to differ with you … Bait run shallower than 50’ died pretty quick, but all the bait we ran at 65’ and deeper lived quite well … Every biologist who has spoken to the MSC has said that stripers are temperature driven over O2 levels so much so that they will suffocate in O2 deprived waters in order to stay within their preferred water temps … That’s part of the reason why SCE&G no longer pulls from the “bottom” (which, if memory serves, is at the 70-80’ mark) and they now pull from the “middle” (50-60’ I believe) …

All that said, I have no idea why the stripers in Murray AND Clark’s Hill are running so shallow this summer… The stripers at the Hill are stacked on top of 30’ humps first thing in the morning and then move out to the middle of the river channel mid to late morning … Murray stripers are doing the same thing … It’s nuts right now … We actually saw sporadic top water on Saturday and it wasn’t yearlings either… Head scratcher for sure

11
quote:
Originally posted by bioguy

They moved up because of the poor water quality. Herring were deing below 40, so the DO levels are very low below that. Studies have shown that the fish will choose better DO over cooler water temps with poor DO. However if they are in warmer water there metabolism is revved so they have to eat like mad to survive. Usually can’t find enough to eat so that’s when they start getting skinny. Also almost all fish will die when released now, hence the 5 and done rule. Better to give your fish away then release them and be wasted.

SCEG pulls water from the bottom so this might help get some of the bad water out. Not sure if it’s enough to affect the fish though.

Isn’t the reason we sometimes see summer fish kills because they choose to remain in the cooler water with low O2 levels rather than come up into warmer water with more O2?

The water is actually pulled from about 85’ deep and releasing high volumes of water depletes the O2 at that depth which is where fish spend much of their time in the summer. That is why it is carefully controlled now as to keep from running much water in the summer unless necessary.

'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
DF90 Suzuki

12
quote:
Originally posted by Lawcrusher
quote:
Originally posted by bioguy

They moved up because of the poor water quality. Herring were deing below 40, so the DO levels are very low below that. Studies have shown that the fish will choose better DO over cooler water temps with poor DO. However if they are in warmer water there metabolism is revved so they have to eat like mad to survive. Usually can’t find enough to eat so that’s when they start getting skinny. Also almost all fish will die when released now, hence the 5 and done rule. Better to give your fish away then release them and be wasted.

SCEG pulls water from the bottom so this might help get some of the bad water out. Not sure if it’s enough to affect the fish though.

Going to beg to differ with you … Bait run shallower than 50’ died pretty quick, but all the bait we ran at 65’ and deeper lived quite well … Every biologist who has spoken to the MSC has said that stripers are temperature driven over O2 levels so much so that they will suffocate in O2 deprived waters in order to stay within their preferred water temps … That’s part of the reason why SCE&G no longer pulls from the “bottom” (which, if memory serves, is at the 70-80’ mark) and they now pull from the “middle” (50-60’ I believe) …

All that said, I have no idea why the stripers in Murray AND Clark’s Hill are running so shallow this summer… The stripers at the Hill are stacked on top of 30’ humps first thing in the morning and then move out to the middle of the river channel mid to late morning … Murray stripers are doing the same thing … It’s nuts right now … We actually saw sporadic top water on Saturday and it wasn’t yearlings either.

13
quote:
Originally posted by striperskiff
quote:
Originally posted by Lawcrusher
quote:
Originally posted by bioguy

They moved up because of the poor water quality. Herring were deing below 40, so the DO levels are very low below that. Studies have shown that the fish will choose better DO over cooler water temps with poor DO. However if they are in warmer water there metabolism is revved so they have to eat like mad to survive. Usually can’t find enough to eat so that’s when they start getting skinny. Also almost all fish will die when released now, hence the 5 and done rule. Better to give your fish away then release them and be wasted.

SCEG pulls water from the bottom so this might help get some of the bad water out. Not sure if it’s enough to affect the fish though.

Going to beg to differ with you … Bait run shallower than 50’ died pretty quick, but all the bait we ran at 65’ and deeper lived quite well … Every biologist who has spoken to the MSC has said that stripers are temperature driven over O2 levels so much so that they will suffocate in O2 deprived waters in order to stay within their preferred water temps … That’s part of the reason why SCE&G no longer pulls from the “bottom” (which, if memory serves, is at the 70-80’ mark) and they now pull from the “middle” (50-60’ I believe) …

All that said, I have no idea why the stripers in Murray AND Clark’s Hill are running so shallow this summer… The stripers at the Hill are stacked on top of 30’ humps first thing in the morning and then move out to the middle of the river channel m

14

Still an increase in flow and this rain today (not associated with the hurricane) isn’t helping any either … :roll_eyes:

Well - that was huge … here’s more manageable screenshot …

15

Wow, no wonder Hartwell has such bad fish kills. Their average pumping in Sepetember is 3,284 CFS. The peak flow of 1,940 on Murray yesterday would be a slow day on Hartwell. Clarks Hill averages 5,850 CFS in September but they have the benefit of the O2 lines now.

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Yeah, well they more than doubled the flow this morning … :angry:

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Lawcrusher, is that an app for your phone that you are using to access this information. I assume it is because it looks like a phone screen shot? I have an app like that for the Savanah River Lakes. How do I access this info for Murray as well?

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quote:
Originally posted by 91tiger

Lawcrusher, is that an app for your phone that you are using to access this information. I assume it is because it looks like a phone screen shot? I have an app like that for the Savanah River Lakes. How do I access this info for Murray as well?

The app is called “Riverflows” it gives info for every body of water in the US. Some work some dont. Easy to use app. Search by state, then by body of water, then location on that body of water…

For example you can search SC then saluda river, then it will give reading from Greenwood, chappells, below Murray, at broad confluence. The same is available for other river systems. It gives whatever info is available from gauge height, cfs, water temp, oxygen levels, and so forth…

The data isnt always up to date so gotta pay attention to the last time stamp…

This info is great when monitoring/tracking how fish are feeding during generation schedules on the lake. It took a little while for alot of the tower fleet to realize this during this summer…they ran water a good bit mid August which pulled the fish off the towers a little bit. It also pulled alot of channel fish over to the spillway.

Alot of people dont realize the main channel goes towards the spillway then bends back towards the towers. When alot of water is being pulled fish will stack up on this bend of the channel. I cant say 100% but i would guess this creates some sort of underwater “eddy”…

Not sure if any of this is true, but It all sounds good right :stuck_out_tongue:

But at the same time results back some of the theory

“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”

21’ Hewes Craft Custom
140 Suzuki

USCG Licensed Captain
Sea~N~Stripes Guide Service

19

The app I’m using is called RiverFlows and I believe it is only available for Android devices …

You can search the various stations by State then water body …

I then save them to my favorites and rename them based upon the area’s common name …

For Example, these are the stations I have saved for Lake Murray …

This gives me a basic snapshot of the state of the lake on one screen …

20

pretty sure that Murray and probably some of the Savannah’s lakes stratify meaning there are 3 layers of water of different temps/densities. One of those layers is almost void of oxygen and the fish trapped deep die, but I’m not sure where that is. I thought and could be wrong that the upper layer this time has slightly better DO levels, hence why the fish are up. If the fish choose to stay deep in the cooler water with bad DO we have 10’s of thousands dead fish, instead of a few thousand. Lakewide I bet there’s close to 500k+ fish. Perhaps a call to Ron Ahle could clarify for all of us computer fisheries experts. Ha