Striped Bass

[emjay]

I feel BS is about the only lake in this part of the state that has ALMOST as many walleye guys as bass guys.

I caught a few eyes last year that had bass fry in them. Should we eradicate them because they are eating bass?

There are alot of great bass lakes in the area, why not have a true multispecies lake to draw anglers of all sorts of breeds.

It would be great to see bass anglers, walleye anglers, and striper anglers in the same picture on the same lake.

When I'm out on BS, 8 out of 10 people are fishing for walleye. Its no secret. I have yet to meet 1 or 2 guys exclusively fishing for bass even though there are good size and numbers in there.

he stripers that are in the lake now are nearing the end of their life span and are 30-50LB'ers. I believe the life expectancy is 10-15 years. The fact that stripers are about the only way to control the gizzard shad population which does need to be controlled is one of the considerations that makes this an option.

Exactly. Have you seen those 10" shads swimming around? No fish is gonna touch those except stripers.

[gotmuddy]

norfork has the same "problem" with shad. When the white bass run you will see shad as big as a white bass! I wonder what they taste like...

[Feathers and Fins]

Here is a silly question as I do not fish BS alot.. From what im reading it sounds more like BS is a less than stellar trophy bass lake but could be a trophy Walleye lake, Why not manage it for Trophy Walleye and Striper? A 8lb Walley can and ive seen and cleaned them with up to 10'' Gizzard shad in them. So why not take advantage of the potential to grow Monsters eye's in it. Increase the size limit to say 25'' that is a 5lbs walleye. Or Slot it to No more than 3 fish 2 fish may be between 18 and 24 inches and only 1 fish over 25 inches

[Wayne SW/MO]

I suspect that both States feel more comfortable in a plan that gives good economic return on the large walleye investment they've made. Without figures I'm guessing, but I don't think BS gets all that much pressure. The big stripers would indicate that.

[Feathers and Fins]

Wayne im not sure about the Pressure on stripers on BS. Beaver gets tons of preasure heck I see people on forums from around the country talk about it, but truthfully for the average person figuring them out is hard on Big lakes like we have in the Ozarks.

Ill use Cali as an example; The lakes are much smaller and summer or winter it only takes a pair of Bino's and 30 minutes at most to find the FLEET of boats fishing for them. I truly beleive that if more people would actually learn the habits of stripers that we would see more people targeting them with HIGH success rates.

I think about this when i watch the Pro Bass and Walley shows. There is alot of people watching and learning from those shows which also spark alot of interest in fishing for those species. Stripers dont have big tournaments or TV shows dedicated to them, if they did I would bet we would see more people chasing them.

Honestly what got me into carp fishing was a friend of mine in England turning me onto how big tournaments were over there and how much fun they are on the fly, When i introduced him to bone fishing on the flats he said " You love doing this so why not Carp?" I GAVE IT A TRY WITH HIM! Behold Carp are freshwater bonefish!! Runs like and fights like a Bone and just is plain old fun.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I was just thinking that no one targeted them, just not enough of them. The need for dark, high water, huge lures and perseverance allowed them to reach their potential.

Why people would think that the black bass needs protection in this state or AR is beyond me. I've fished here for over 60+ years and I don't now where you can't catch them. BS doesn't have the structure to be a great bass lake. No one will run out of bass to catch, they just will have learn where they reside in the lake.

Nothing will hurt the bass more than the walleye and they aren't going anywhere.

I would like to know why stripers versus hybrids, size of the prey?

[Iclass]

I was just thinking that no one targeted them, just not enough of them. The need for dark, high water, huge lures and perseverance allowed them to reach their potential.

Why people would think that the black bass needs protection in this state or AR is beyond me. I've fished here for over 60+ years and I don't now where you can't catch them. BS doesn't have the structure to be a great bass lake. No one will run out of bass to catch, they just will have learn where they reside in the lake.

Nothing will hurt the bass more than the walleye and they aren't going anywhere.

I would like to know why stripers versus hybrids, size of the prey?

Being from central/southern AR... stripers have always been in the waters I fished. Those lakes down there havent seemed to suffer because of them. IMO theres not a lake up here that compares to Ouachita, for quality and quantity.

[rangerman]

Hybrids target a little smaller baitfish, Stripers have the bucket mouth for eating large stuff.

[Feathers and Fins]

Wayne, I have seen the bigger hybrids 8lbs and bigger eat 10'' gizzard shad no problem. Also Flatheads love them. About 10'' is the biggest even a big Hybrid can take on over that its purely striper or cats. If we had FL Strain LMB in the lakes then even the big Gizzard shad would be in danger. I have seen them eat a 12'' trout and ducklings more than once, hence the reason the west coast bass guys chuck striper sized baits at them.

[rangerman]

Hybrids are voracious eating machines as well...Doesn't seem like they ever slow down, used to catch quite a few up to 15 pounds below bagnell dam. Very cool fish to catch. I just haven't seen them grab anything over 7 or 8 inches, not to say they wouldn't try, just doesn't seem they have the mouth diameter. Used to target them exclusively before walleye made its way into my blood.