House Bill 4876 (Proposed Striper Limit Changes)

Saltwater Striper Fishing
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Link to the full document with the Proposed Changes is as follows:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p776cszrkd3a2x1/HB%204876%20(Proposed%20Revised%2002-10-2016).pdf?dl=0

Here are the abbreviated proposed revisions …

The proposed changes are in the very early stages …

NOTHING is likely to change for this year …

These changes are NOT CURRENTLY IN EFFECT …

ADDED

(56)	‘Intracoastal Waterway (Horry County)’ means all waters of the Intracoastal Waterway from its confluence with the Waccamaw River upstream to U.S. Highway 17.

REVISED

SECTION 2. Section 50 5 1556 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 193 of 2010, is amended to read:

“Section 50 5 1556. (A) In the inshore waters, except for that portion of the Savannah River from the saltwater freshwater dividing line downstream to the mouth of the Savannah River defined by a line from Jones Island, S.C. (also known as Oysterbed Island) point at N. 32° 02’ 18” (N 32.03833°), W. 80° 53’ 21” (W 80.88917°); across Cockspur Island, Georgia, point at N. 32° 01’ 58” (N 32.03278°), W. 80° 52’ 56” (W 80.88222°) to Lazaretto Creek, Georgia, point at N 32° 01’ 2” (N 32.01722°), W. 80° 52’ 51” (W 80.88083°), and the territorial sea from June first sixteenth through September thirtieth, it is unlawful to possess any striped bass (rockfish). Any striped bass taken must be returned immediately to the waters from where it came.
(B) In the inshore waters, except for that portion of the Savannah River from the saltwater freshwater dividing line downstream to the mouth of the Savannah River defined by a line from Jones Island, S.C. (also known as Oysterbed Island) point at N. 32° 02’ 18” (N 32.03833°), W. 80° 53’ 21” (W 80.88917°); across Cockspur Island, Georgia, point at N. 32° 01’ 58” (N 32.03278°), W. 80° 52’ 56” (W 80.88222°) to Lazaretto Creek, Georgia, point at N 32° 01’ 2” (N 32.01722°), W. 80° 52’ 51” (W 80.88083°), and the territorial sea from October first through May thirty first June fifteenth it

2

We knew this was coming from a PAC meeting we had a few months ago. This will hopefully turn santee back into what it used to be in the 80s and earlier.

Unfortunately no revised limits on murray…would love to see a new upper limit set like 28" with 2 of your 5 being allowed to be over 28" and still keep a minimum of 21". And of course that would only be from Sept 15th-June 15th. Keep the 5 and done from June 16th-sept 14th.

I know it’s not gonna happen, but it’s still a wish…lol… it’s a put and take fishery. Not to mention without an o2 system all the hard work of getting big fish in murray would go right down the drain with the 1st fish kill.

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

“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude

3

Correct, no changes to the lake systems only the river systems below the dams …

Limit of 5 with two over 30" would be more likely to pass … 28" is a little low … Particularly during tournaments … :smiley:

4

Very true 28 is low. 30" would actually be alot better.

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

“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude

5

no way there will ever be an upper limit on murray. you said it yourself its a put and take fishery, so there’s no need to protect the bigger fish. santee does because they can successfully spawn, so you need to protect your breeders. additional murray doesn’t have the habitat to create a trophy fishery, plus I would imagine more people meat fish than trophy fish on murray, so theres no way there would be enough support for anything more than the 21".

6

also the 41" will/is get rejected. more likely to be one fish over 36"

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I do not want Lake Murray to be a trophy fishery, like you said it would not support the trophy fish because of the summers, but I would like to see a lake full of this solid big fish. Where the avg fish is 10-14#.

Look at lanier. It’s small than murray but does have 2 cold water rivers flowing into it. The avg fish is easily over 10# on lanier in my opinion. They have a 10 fish per person creel with no size limit except only 2 of your 10 can be over 22". That has created an awesome fishery.

If your wanting to protect the breeders why reject the 41". The older the fish the less valuable of a breeder it is to a certain extent. Think we were told they target those 15-25# fish for breeders. They are the healthiest and give off more eggs. I may be wrong on that and will admit that. Maybe I heard wrong, but still even if it wasn’t true why not give that 36" fish 2-3more years of be spawning before being harvested.

But in the end we all know there isn’t enough successful natural spawning occurring to withstand the fishing pressure. That’s why santee is in the shape it’s in. You can’t force every single fish to run all the way up the congaree or wateree rivers to spawn.

All the guides down there are soooooo eager to start catching and booking trips again. They caught a ton of 23-24" fish last yr. That hurts when u have to tell your customers they have to put it back.

It will be interesting to watch dnr continue to resurrect santee over the next few yrs. They have done a great job the last few yrs for sure.

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

“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude

8

I think if DNR had regulatory authority you would see the 41", but I think the guides/public are pushing for the 36". Catch them now and complain later, when the stock is depleted again. I believe you may be right about the larger fish not producing as quality off eggs, but what size class fish you start to see the decline i’m not sure.

That is pretty incredible what Lanier is able to turn out. yea I bet those water temps are cooler and more suitable, but also has a buttload of forage as well.

9

Good discussion. The harvest slot proposed for the Santee Cooper system looks a lot like the current spottail bass regulation used on the marine side. I suspect the one ‘trophy fish’, one over 41" or 36" is a concession to anglers that does not jeopardize the benefit of accumulating more adult brood fish. I’d like to know more about the Murray fishery, correct me if I’m wrong, but its supported by stocking only? So accumulating older fish would only serve a “trophy” fishery, not increase natural reproduction? How is the current summer regulation working? Is it being respected? or widely abuse? Are you-all still satisfied with the catch rates, if not the size of what you are catching? I’d be interested in anything you can add.

10

catch rates have always been good and the average size has been improving every year. I don’t think the month of June should be included in the “5 and done” months but overall the results have been excellent. I know lots of fisherman believe it’s not worth the effort to go and only catch 5 fish so they don’t go as much during 5 and done… I’m sure others are still catching a few more than 5 fish too when they accidentally hit a school of small fish to start the day…

Team Shad Up & Fish

If you’ve had fun catching fish on the transom bait, you are welcome…

I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…

11

The number of striper on Lake Moultrie is starting to get ridiculous. They may not be the giants of twenty years ago, but there seems to be a million 20 to 25 inchers. I think it’s crazy to keep these rules. I would like to see a three and done, or something similar during the summer months (although I do not think they should be targeted) and a slot to start thinning down the numbers the rest of the year. I can’t seem to not catch them when targeting crappie or bass any time of year. It bothers me to see them floating around the boat after I release them in the summer months. I’m also fearful the numbers will start to affect the other species in the lake because there is no doubt they are apex predators with voracious appetites. I think the limit was 18 or 20 inch minimum with a limit of five year round when I was growing up. I know that poor management and over fishing is what led to their decline but there has to be a way to keep them in check. The number of people that target them now is a small fraction of what it used to be because most used to fish for them exclusively in the summer, taking a limit and killing a million small ones in the process. Since most of the recreational fishermen are fairweather Summer fisherman, they are not getting targeted like they should be. Another reason they are not being targeted like they used to be is because you can catch 30 of them twenty four to twenty five inches long before catching one that barely makes the twenty six inch limit. Fisherman simply give up and target other species. The DNR never seems to consider human behavior when adjusting limits and setting rules.

2013 Ranger Z21 Intracoastal 250 hp Yamaha VMAX SHO

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Big Shrimpin,

The proposed regulation is a 23 - 25" harvest slot that also extends the season to June 15th.

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quote:
Originally posted by smalljaws

Big Shrimpin,

The proposed regulation is a 23 - 25" harvest slot that also extends the season to June 15th.

I understand that. Maybe my point is being missed or isn’t being made clearly enough. I am trying to convey that once people stop fishing for a species in an area; slots, limits, etc are no longer effective at reducing numbers. Before the DNR put the brakes on striper fishing in Lake Moultrie it was common to see 30 to 40 boats in the evening time, any day of the week in the summer months (in the Pinopolis Dam area alone) fishing down rods with blue herring. Now you see none. If a ban remains in place during the summer months, I do not believe enough striper will be removed from the system for the slot to be effective or the population to be managed. Stiper fishing on this lake used to be big business with live herring being sold for bait at several locations around the lake, now you cannot find live herring anywhere but Blacks on the Canal (sometimes). There are not enough hardcore striper fisherman on the lake using plastics, downriggers, etc. to touch the population during the rest of the year. When they first changed the rules and limits with striper on the lake I was all for it; made sense. They claimed that they would watch the progress and change accordingly, hasn’t happened. I doubt the proposed changes will be enough. Then it will take years before trying something different. Maybe by then The other fish species will be on the decline because of the Striper population, but the DNR will say we need to place stricter limits on those specoes instead of dealing with the problem. I don’t think the Striper are a big problem now, but I can see how they will be if we do not get a little more realistic with their management.

2013 Ranger Z

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The way I understood it is that people stopped fishing because they weren’t able to keep anything because everything was too small. I think there will be a boost in the fisherman targeting striper in my opinion.

I really don’t believe you have anything to worry about when it comes to a species taking over a lake. These are not snakeheads :stuck_out_tongue:. The striper population was huge back in the 80s was huge. I have never heard of anything negative coming from back then about the size population.

Your still looking at it as if every fish is gonna lay a ton eggs every year, hatch 200k fry and then eat every fish in the lake that’s just not gonna happen. Why has no other lake seen a problem with a decline in other species? The natural spawning taking place just isn’t big enough to support this. That’s the reason for the stocking. DNR has poured a ton of stripers in there over the last few years. Those are your 18-23" fish. If they see a boost in population they will not stock as much (controlling the population). They don’t just stock and hope for the best. There is a method to their madness. They do gill net surveys, catch data surveys and other methods of watching numbers.

DNR has had way too much success managing striper in other lakes. After all this is the birthplace of the landlocked striper.

Now as far as bait goes. I don’t know where it all goes. But I can find out for you who has it and when. And maybe it’s all going to the canal. But I do know the general store gets some. But we send prob over 1000dz down there in the summer weekly. And can’t hardly keep it down there lately because everybody buys it up as fast we can get it down there. someone is fishing.

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

“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude

15

I agree that they stopped fishing for that reason as well. But I do have to ask if they are so great at managing how did they let it get so bad before reacting? I believe they know what they are doing with the fishery but can be really slow to react to changing conditions. I do believe if something isn’t done quickly, this could be a problem. I still think control will require the aid of recreational summer fisherman. The lake is pretty rough winter, spring, and the back half of fall. This keeps all but the most diligent off the water.

2013 Ranger Z21 Intracoastal 250 hp Yamaha VMAX SHO

16

Great discussion, and I don’t want it sound like I am getting an attitude or totally against your views. Just wanted to put that out there so that this does not turn into a pissing match lol.

I believe it got so bad because number one the limit they had in place and two they honestly thought or wanted to believe that natural spawning was taking care of the population itself. Once they realized the spawning could not keep up with the harvest that’s when something had to be done.

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

“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude

17

I am enjoying the discussion as well. I don’t disagree at all with your last your assessment, there is no doubt that was the case. I love to see a healthy population of them again on the lake. There is no doubt they are on the rebound. I can’t seem to go crappie fishing and not run into them, even when fishing the shallows in spring. I have never had that happen until the last couple of years.

2013 Ranger Z21 Intracoastal 250 hp Yamaha VMAX SHO

18

I honestly don’t think you have to worry about stripers becoming overpopulated in the Santee system. Stripers are not the only top predator in the system either. Blue cats, and to a lesser extent, channels and flatheads take their share of smaller species. With the fishing pressure stripers get in the Congaree, Saluda and Wateree, as well the lakes, I can guarantee their numbers will be kept in check.

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Anyone know how The Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environmental Affairs committee reacted to the bill yesterday??? Im sure they countered with something else than the proposal.

Also does anyone know why the DNR can not make they changes themselves, like NC does?

20

Great discussion. I particularly like considering the big picture, not just one species.

NC can sure make adjustments quickly. In SC, Every limit has to go through the legislature, because this is how it always has been done and giving up any power just runs contrary to an elected official. There is plusses and minuses for this structure, but it sure makes getting the most out of our natural resources difficult. No way to make fine adjustments in response to annual changes in specific resources, kind of like trying to run that old tractor that has 70 degrees of play in the steering wheel. I think our state is doing better in recent years, but politics still play a big roll. We all need to stay informed and stay involved with the process.