Fishin’ with Capt. Gus! Striped Bass/What’s Next? 10-30-11

Daniel Burns of Matthews, NC maintain a Lake Norman spotted bass.

Fishin’ with Capt. Gus!
Striped Bass/What’s Following?
10-thirty-11

Traditionally, the month of November heralds the beginning of the winter season striped bass fishing period on Lake Norman. Unfortunately ample, what was when Lake Norman’s most common sport fish has all but disappeared. And, with its demise, the quantity of tourist money has declined significantly.

A appear at background reveals that Lake Norman was a favourite location for striper fishermen until finally the turn of the century. It was then that the fish population began to decline. In addition to 4 fish kills, a gill maggot infestation took a toll on more substantial fish, and the introduction of white perch reduced the survival fee of the annually stocked striper fingerlings.

As the 12 months following calendar year catch price declined, NCWRC did small to reverse the pattern, siting that laptop or computer applications calculated that the striper fishery would recuperate in 3 or four many years. It has been 8 years considering that the initial eliminate and all that has been carried out so much is to boost the 2011 stocking by 15,000 fingerlings. Assuming that if 10 p.c of survive, an extra one,500 stripers will attain the minimal creel size limit of sixteen inches. Even though a ten p.c survival rate is the norm, Lake Norman’s enormous population of hungry white perch will reduce that number considerably.

In accordance to Brian McRae, the NCWRC’s Piedmont Fisheries Supervisor, the stocking options for 2012 are being seriously studied. 1 choice below consideration is to dietary supplement the stocking of striped bass with hybrids.

For people who don’t know, a hybrid is a cross between a striper and a white bass. Hybrids have various names based on location. In Florida they are known as Sunshine Bass, and in Tennessee they’re referred to as Cherokee Bass (the name of the lake exactly where they had been initial stocked). In other areas of the nation they are known as Wipers, Whiterocks or simply, hybrids.

Fertilized by striped bass, the eggs from the female white bass are hatched and elevated in ponds. They increase speedily and usually reach weights of ten kilos or a lot more. The reality that hybrids are tolerant of substantial h2o temperatures (33 Celsius or 91 Fahrenheit), as well as very low ranges of dissolved oxygen (1 element for each million), make them a best match for Lake Norman’s intense setting. The fish are so hardy that they thrive in Florida’s warmth and in modest impoundments throughout the south, wherever water circumstances are so bad that even largemouth bass have trouble surviving. In addition to the hybrid‘s pattern of fast development, it fights with this kind of tenacity that it usually snaps fishing lines ine when hooked.

Guidelines from Capt. Gus: Hybrids swim in faculties just as their mother and father, the white bass and stripers do. Methods of fishing are equivalent. Simply adjust the tackle to match the size of the fish.

Upcoming Occasions:
A free safe and sound boating class on “How to Navigate Norman when the Lake is Low” will be held at North Level Watersports, 112 Doolie Street, Mooresville, NC 28117 on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Subjects for dialogue will consist of “Understanding Lake Norman’s Channel Marker and Buoy System”, “Identifying and Understanding How to Steer clear of the Ten Most Risky Spots”, and “Safely Navigating In Low H2o Circumstances.” For much more details, phone me @ 704-617-6812 or e-mail Gus@LakeNoman.com.

Scorching Spots of the Week:

Decrease water temperatures have activated bass, crappie and perch. Try top h2o baits for spotted bass in the south very hot hole and in back again coves and boat basins at dawn and dusk. Jigs, fished off points for the duration of the day and lighted docks after darkish, are creating large limits. Nice size crappie have moved to shallower drinking water. Very best bets are bridge pilings and submerged brush in water significantly less than fifteen ft deep. White perch are in coves to thirty ft and right after darkish are creating heavy limits.

The lake stage on Lake Norman is down about four.7′ from complete pond and down three.0′ on Mountain Island Lake. The drinking water surface area temperature is in the substantial sixties and lower seventies.

Captain Gus Gustafson is certified by the US Coast Guard, a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Affiliation and a Skilled Activity Fishing Information on Lake Norman, NC. Go to his Web website at www.fishingwithgus.com , e-mail him at Gus@lakenorman.com or contact 704-617-6812.