Welcome to the Arkansas Stripers most frequently asked
Questions about Striped Bass. .
With the mouth closed and the tail fin pinched together.
A good way to obtain this length is to push the fish's snout up against
a vertical surface with the mouth closed and the fish laying along a
tape measure, then pinch the tail fin closed and determine the total
length.
Do NOT pull a flexible tape measure along the curve of the fish.
What is a "slot limit" and why are they used?
A protective slot limit
prevents mid-sized fish from being caught, but allows catching smaller
and larger fish.
Catching fish below the protective slot may take
advantage of a great number of small fish, which allows mid-sized fish a
better opportunity to survive and grow out of the protected size range.
As the protected mid-sized fish continue to grow, they eventually become
harvestable-sized, large fish.
Lake Ouachita does not have a size or slot limit on striped bass.
What
topwater lures would you suggest for striped bass?
We use a modified Cotton Cordell redfin 7in a lot in
chrome and trout colors. Of course any top water bait you would use for
Black Bass will work, especially fun is "walking the dog" with the zara
spook..
Topwater lures can be productive any time of the year, especially at dawn and dusk.
The most consistence months are September thru April depending on water temperature.
Yes, under the right conditions?
With the event of the FLW
and NSBA Striper Tournament Trails we are seeing more research into
Striped Bass Catch and Release. If your goal is to catch a good
number of striped bass, we would recommend the use of artificial lures.
Striped bass caught on artificial lures are generally not deep-hooked as
they are with natural baits, so overall catch-and-release mortality
generally will be less with artificial bait. Other factors such as water temperature and poor handling contribute to catch-and-release
mortality just as with Black Bass so we encourage anglers to be prepared to release striped bass
quickly and carefully.
More on Catch and release
What kind of rod and reel would you use to catch
striped bass?
We use and recommend 7 foot medium-to-heavy weight rods and bait casting reels in General.
To be such an aggressive fish, striped bass can get pretty picky about what they eat. Cut baitand
live Shad are the baits of choice for consistent catches of
trophy striped bass, some days, striped bass will bite only the
liveliest live baits and ignore anything less active or anything that’s been frozen and artificial baits. On some occasions, artificial baits are just as effective as natural bait.
We encourage anglers who use natural baits to usecircle hooks.
Fish Hatcheries which have
been part of our nation's conservation and natural resource management efforts for more than 100 years. Hatcheries can be warm water, cool
water, or cold water facilities. Hatchery's spawns, hatch, and raise young fish to a size and age which provides them with the best chance of
surviving in the natural wild environment of rivers, lakes and ponds.
To apply for a state record, the angler must
submit a completed State Record Fish Application.
More information on state record application.
Striped Bass spawn in water of 58 to 69 degrees from April
through mid-June in flowing water Broadcasting millions of eggs without
affording any protection or parental care.
More on Striped Bass Spawning.
What size line.
Always use a good quality Line and a reel with a
very good smooth
drag (bait casting or spinning).
During cooler temperatures we use 10 to 20 pound leaders below 30# main line
moving to 30# or even 50# leaders in spring and when tree fishing. As always in fishing no matter what the species is, stay
flexible and adaptive and ALWAYS keep an open mind.
Have there
been any studies done on compatibility of stripers and trout?
Can't quote any specific Striper / Trout compatibility studies. Plenty on Stripers and
other species. http://www.arkansasstripers.com/striped-bass-predation-on-bass-crappie.htm.
Facts are:
Do Striped Bass feed on Trout? Sure do, as do Black Bass, Gar, Walleye
and other species Striped Bass prefer softer scaled fish Trout /
Shad over hard scale fish Bass / Crappie.
Big fish will eat little fish. Fish of different species have different
appetites at different times based on lake info-structure and biological
make up, water temps, and movement of forage fish etc. Striped don't
follow trout around all day eating them.
The same fish also feed on bream and other species and in the case of
the Black Bass are even Cannibalistic. But to say that any one of the
above mentioned fish feed heavier on a single species is incorrect. I
witnessed this years stocking of striped bass into Lake Ouachita and
believe me the bream and little black bass were having a feast on the
striper fry. So in nature the little fish get eaten by the big fish with
out discrimination.
Trout may be the best forage fish for growth that we can put in our big
reservoirs. The world record Walleye and hybird bass came out of Greers
Ferry during a period of heavy trout stocking by the AGFC.
The California Big Bass Lakes (Lake Casitas, Dixon and others) are
heavily stocked with trout.
In my area, Catherine and Hamilton are stocked during the Winter,
Ouachita trout stocking was stopped several years ago. Catherine and
Hamilton produce bigger Stripers and black bass than Ouachita this
despite heavy angler pressure per acre as compared to Ouachita.
Trout are heavily fished for in Catherine and Hamilton headwaters and a
LOT of trout are caught by anglers.
Just my opinions.
Ben
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