Check out this link. It shows water temp, levels and O2 readings for the top and bottom of the lake. I think the “bottom” reading is taken at about 80’ deep. The reason there is less O2 down there is that the water does not mix with surface water in the summer due to the temperature difference and the fact that our lake “stratifies”. This is where the thermocline comes from. Once it sets in, the water below it in Lake Murray is stuck with whatever O2 it has in it. As the summer presses on, more and more of this O2 is depleted from the cooler water by fish and decomposition. Until the temps equal out again and the lake “turns over” there will be no additional O2 content added to that water. This is why they installed an O2 system on Clarks Hill to artificially add O2 all summer.
Stripers need food, oxygen and temperate water to survive. This is why they seek refuge down deep in the summer. They can get all three. If the O2 runs out down there before the surface temps lower enough to make them comfortable, they will be stressed by staying either deep(no O2) or going shallow(too hot). That’s when we have the potential for a big fish fish kill.
Even if they only have a 10% chance of survival, that is more of a chance than they have if they go in the ice box. DNR says you can kill 5, I would rather release a frisky 16" fish and give it a chance to survive than turn it into 2 small fish nuggets.
I think trying to calculate mortality rates on fish that are released is rediculous. Even more so on saltwater fish. There is no way to validate any of it. It’s all scientific opinion.
I think trying to calculate mortality rates on fish that are released is rediculous. Even more so on saltwater fish. There is no way to validate any of it. It’s all scientific opinion.
“Banana Pants”
Indigo Bay 170
90 Johnson
Actually when the DNR did there study in 04, 05ish they tagged about 60 fish with sonic tags. the tags send a signal to the recievers when the fish are moving and send a different signal when the tag has NOT moved over a period of time. once a signal was detected that the fish hadnt moved over that peroid of time it was concluded that the fish had died, so there is definately scientific basis for this type of mortality rate. the sample size might be small but it is factual. it was a very neat study based on angling techniques and the use of striper tubes versus immediate release. im not sure where i read it or where to get a copy but it was very interesting.
Well put gar-heart about the oxygen squeeze. hopefully this summer will be a mild one and we dont have any fish kills.
Check out this link. It shows water temp, levels and O2 readings for the top and bottom of the lake. I think the “bottom” reading is taken at about 80’ deep. The reason there is less O2 down there is that the water does not mix with surface water in the summer due to the temperature difference and the fact that our lake “stratifies”. This is where the thermocline comes from. Once it sets in, the water below it in Lake Murray is stuck with whatever O2 it has in it. As the summer presses on, more and more of this O2 is depleted from the cooler water by fish and decomposition. Until the temps equal out again and the lake “turns over” there will be no additional O2 content added to that water. This is why they installed an O2 system on Clarks Hill to artificially add O2 all summer.
Stripers need food, oxygen and temperate water to survive. This is why they seek refuge down deep in the summer. They can get all three. If the O2 runs out down there before the surface temps lower enough to make them comfortable, they will be stressed by staying either deep(no O2) or going shallow(too hot). That’s when we have the potential for a big fish fish kill.
Immediate release cannot be studied or measured. Sewing a transmitter into a fish adds to it’s stress, keeping it out of the water longer. It’s just bad science to conclude 10% survival based on those studies. Too many variables. The only solution would be to provide us with something similar to sailfish tags. If the fish float up dead, they could be counted. Still, that’s not 100% accurate due to some fish sinking after expiring. We can go around forever on this topic…
My big concern for this summer is all the water they are having to pump out of Murray. That water is taken from the bottom of the lake reducing the amount of cooler water down there while rain water adds more warm water at the top. The more of that water they take out the less viable habitat there will be for stripers. Fingers crossed!!!
My big concern for this summer is all the water they are having to pump out of Murray. That water is taken from the bottom of the lake reducing the amount of cooler water down there while rain water adds more warm water at the top. The more of that water they take out the less viable habitat there will be for stripers. Fingers crossed!!!
I was thinking the same thing. I also think this is why they are so deep so early this year, even with surface just above 80*. Last year when the surface temp was in the 90’s the water felt about 10 degrees colder 3 feet down. We went fishing on that 109* day and had to float along the boat for a while. I was amazed at how cool the water was just below the surface. I was fishing in Beaverdam after the storms Wednesday and the thermocline was at 45’. Thought it was odd that the fish were suspended just above it until we caught a few of them all gar.
Just a theory, but the stripers might be deep early this year because they’re relating to the deep current created by the heavy drawing.
Stipers like current.
anybody catching stripers that they do not want this weekend please give me a call. i need some for my brazillian friends for a gaucho cookout. they do not need to be cleaned. just keep them on ice and give me a call. i do not live far from the dam. thanks in advance.
331-8873.
p.s. steelytom and i gave it a try sat morn and he tried again wed night but we were not successful. must be my curse. ha ha
Coolbreeze, Does it have to be stripers or will other fish do? I’m hoping to get out on the lake tomorrow morning and try the white perch, largies and catfish. I am normally a catch and release fisherman, but I’ll keep what I and a friend catch if you want them. I’m in the elbow area up 378, just beyond Weeds, and can usually catch a bunch of fair sized perch. Usually 1/2 to 1 lbs. each. Do you want to ride this far to get them?
thanks everybody for the offers; murrymaker has called and has plenty for us. this is another good thing about this site. we all will help out others if possible. sorry that i cannot seem to catch them myself. i need to get out more and keep trying. the more experience; the better i will get. good thing is that i will not have to take a back seat to the crappie fishing. seem to do o.k. with them. however; that is in the upper lake and earlier season. thanks again peeps.
I did manage to get out on the lake this morning and try the perch, thanks to an old friend carrying the heavy stuff down to the boat for me. We caught a bunch of perch, only kept 28, but had a great time. That’s my first time on the boat in about 2 months and it felt really good to be on the water again. We fished from around 7:00 until almost 10:00 and it sure was fun. I had four doubles, so at times, they were biting the old Berry’s spoons pretty good.
glad that you were able to get out and also thanks for the call last night. i appreciate the tips on the perch fishing and will have to give that a try also.
Best tip I can continue to give for the perch is recommending the 1/2 oz. white/silver reflector Berry’s spoon. That’s what every fish bit this morning. They were between 20’ and 25’ deep near drops or channels. Then again, when they were biting that good we didn’t try any other colors or types of spoons.
For what it is worth there is a chapter summarizing striped bass catch and release studies in the new book “Biology and Management of Inland Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass”. It is an excellent read, well worth the expense, particularly when passed around fellow striped bass anglers. I agree with Fogman that the study of catch and release mortalities is difficult because of the introduction of additional stress. However, the study he quoted was published in a peer reviewed publication that questions every detail and there were fish that were ‘imediately released’ after a 20 second blood drawing and external short term tag attachment. These were compared with fish held in the experimental tubes and showed no significant difference in survival. However, the study was limited to larger fish (ave. 23") and it is recognized that striped bass tolerance of warm water stress decreases as the fish get larger, so a 16" striper handles C&R a whole lot better than a 23" fish. Regardless, the intent of the law is to limit summer angling harvest/mortality to 5 fish per angler. So if you C & R and keep more than 5 fish you are wrong even if the man can’t catch you at it. If you don’t want to catch small fish then you need to adust how and where you fish for Murray stripers. Fogman also makes a good point that a quickly released striper has a better chance of surviving than one placed in the cooler. From my soap box, respectfully Rasputen_
Thank you Rasputen, but it was Geronimo that made the comment about the ice box:) C&R is a difficult subject to handle, and there are many holes that can be poked in either side of the issue. As for 5-and-done, time will tell whether it truly helps our fishery. I will follow the law whether I keep or on the rare instance that I choose to release.
I also will sometimes release small fish during 5 and done when they are lipped hooked and appear to be healthy. In a couple of weeks, if they really get stressed and start hitting like a gar and come in with a red “rash” on their belly I will keep pretty much everything if I fish, but I normally just give the fishing a break then until they come back up in early Sept.
The one thing about 5 and done is it makes the fact of whether a fish lives or dies after release a mute point…as far as an effect on the fishery anyway. You catch 5 and you are done. Yes, no one likes to see a released fish die, but, like said above, you cannot argue that a released fish doesn’t have a better chance of living than one in the cooler…especially the small ones.
With that said, I was thinking I may like to read the study rasputensc referenced, but that was before I saw it was almost 600 pages!! LOL
quote:I agree. It is stressful to the fish to be brought up from the depths. I usually keep fish but am going out of town tomorrow. That 10% chance was computed after after catching stripers, drawing blood, weighing, measuring, and storing in tubes for a couple hours before release. Talk about additional stress on fish! The way I immediately release them, I would give the fish a better than 60-40 chance of survival. However, there is no way to know for sure. JMO.
That is not an accurate description of the study methods or results for the Lake Murray catch and release mortality study. One group of fish was used to evaluate blood chemistry and a separate group of fish was fitted with transmitters to evaluate mortality. During the summer mortality of striped bass caught and immediately released, not stored in tubes, was 83%.
quote:Immediate release cannot be studied or measured. Sewing a transmitter into a fish adds to it's stress, keeping it out of the water longer. It's just bad science to conclude 10% survival based on those studies. Too many variables. The only solution would be to provide us with something similar to sailfish tags. If the fish float up dead, they could be counted. Still, that's not 100% accurate due to some fish sinking after expiring. We can go around forever on this topic......
Caught fish were held in water, measured, not weighed, and the transmitter was attached externally to the fish in a process that took about as much time (roughly 90 seconds netting to release) as an average angler would take dehooking and weighing the fish. The same transmitter attachment method was used on fish caught and rel
Wow thanks for all the facts. It seems like the study was very well planned and executed. We dont always get all the details involved in DNR studies and just hear the end reaults. Personally I don’t think science is perfect, but it sounds like sound decisions to protect our fisheries stocks can be made from that study. I think this year, the rules will be critical to the fishery with the fish being so deep already. Do you happen to know if there is an oxygen profile because it seems like these fish are being squeezed into a pretty small zone of good water quality. I hate to say it but if these conditions continue things could get ugly weather we keep or release.