Crying Time is HERE

tradorion · 01-31-2007, 09:07 AM

Shad nets go out tomorrow- absolutely AMAZING in a very sad and miserable way watching that many stripers be legally wasted...

Of all the seaons of the year- this is my least favorite.

T

**DUCKMAN** · 01-31-2007, 09:28 AM

Tell us more! Is it as bad as the shrimper's by catch?

It is tough watching ocean run stripers die for a roe shad!

**Stripa Swipa** · 01-31-2007, 09:33 AM

These fish aren't ocean run. This is another classic situation that the fisheries managers know about but will not touch. We'd do the same in their shoes but it proves the system is out of whack. One thing Scott mentioned was that they would be doing some releases in the tidal zone. It's tax money getting caught in the nets at that point, right? That may raise the stakes a little with the shad nets. We'll see.

tradorion · 01-31-2007, 09:47 AM

huh?? I am now lost- the zone of travel as i see it is Atlantic Ocean to N/S Santee Bays to N/S Santee Rivers and those bays and rivers are hwere nets are drifted and set....

So how do you arrive at the conclusion that these fish are not ocean run stripers?

As for your question DM- i'd say Shad Nets beat Channel Nets simply by sheer volume of numbers for just how much by-catch waste there is...

T

**DUCKMAN** · 01-31-2007, 10:01 AM

DAMN!

**Stripa Swipa** · 01-31-2007, 10:30 AM

Stripers in SC are not and never have been anadromous. They do not go to the ocean and migrate N and S along the coast like their northern kin. All stripers from southern NC all the way to the rivers of the gulf area are fish that migrate up and down river BUT are freshwater fish that don't go past the tidal estuaries. Consider them the "southern strain" vs. "northern strain." Next question rabbit sherruf.

**Claimer** · 01-31-2007, 01:46 PM

Trad I thought you were supposed to be unbiased. It's legal and there is only 1 river system left to net. Why are the stripers gone from the other rivers. By the way It's legal.

tradorion · 01-31-2007, 01:57 PM

CLAIMER- there is a HUGE difference in "UNBIASED" when it comes to chargin a violation of the law and "UNBIASED" as a South Carolina Sportsman.

Furthermore- to be truthful- i doubt any law enforcement officer anywhere is "unbiased"- we all have things we love to work and things we wish we didn't have to work. We all have laws that we think are good calls and laws that seem to stretch common sense in our opinions.

That being said: As a GW- there is not a damned thing i can do to change the fact that while i am working the river i have to ride right by the shad netter throwing 10, 20, 30+ dead stripers back into the water (he's legal as long as he doesn't keep them) and pull up to the guy with a rod and reel and find him in violation if he has one fish over. I find it strange but i do enforce the law.

As a SC Sportsman i can be as sickened as i want to by this grievous waste of game fish.

So what else would you like to tell me about how to do my job?

STRIPA- thank you for the biological heads-up... I didn't know that the Yankee/Rebel Differences extended to stripers in the Santee.

T

**Claimer** · 01-31-2007, 02:09 PM

I grew up fishing these nets and have never seen more than a few striper at once. Most guys don't like to catch them because they tear nets. They fish 5 inch stretch so 30 striper would be 5 lb fish and better. that sounds like a lot.

**JABIII** · 01-31-2007, 02:10 PM

Stripa, where were the rockfish we were catching under the bridge at Little River landing on 17 coming from if not the salt?

**DRDUCK** · 01-31-2007, 02:23 PM

And also Stripa that is very interesting. How about the BIG Stripers we used to catch in Winhay Bay in the winter? I always thought they were coming up from the Ocean. [img]graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

**Stripa Swipa** · 01-31-2007, 03:43 PM

JAB, they are river inhabitants in SC. Now, do they often get caught in salty water? Yes. Since I've caught freshwater catfish within sight of The Citadel in Charleston, am I to assume they are ocean run? I know of stripers that have been gigged by guys gigging flounder at Ft. Johnson. They spend a lot of time in the tidal zone for a few reasons. It isn't up for debate as to whether our stripers are anadramous fish, though. All our DNR bios understand this, but the average fisherman in SC thinks otherwise. Another great example of why our current "will of the populus" based management of the resource is fraught with problems.

**JABIII** · 01-31-2007, 04:01 PM

So to find Stripers in a non riverine inlet, the fish would have swum out of some river, into the sea, up the coast, to the next inlet? I am just trying to understand this as we had this conversation some years ago and I was intrigued by your thoughts.

Per the DNR webiste:

Striped bass are schooling, anadromous fish; that is, they spend much of their time in salt water but migrate to fresh water rivers to spawn. However, landlocked populations spend their entire life in freshwater and do not migrate. Bass from North Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay are known to undertake coastwide migrations in addition to annual spawning migrations. They move north to New England and Canada during early spring and return between September and December. Bass inhabiting waters south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, typically do not take part in coastal migrations. Recent advances in molecular genetics have allowed researchers to investigate differences in populations of striped bass. Evidence strongly indicates that the rivers of the ACE Basin contain a population of striped bass that is unique to the basin.

**DUCKMAN** · 01-31-2007, 04:03 PM

Little River is a 100% salt water/ocean inlet.

What about the stripers caught on the offshore reefs/wrecks this time of year - not many because they are not fished much now.

I am trying to find the Chesapeake Bay study where they tagged several thousand stripers and released them - some were recovered in rivers a 1000 miles away including the rivers in the ACE Basin and the 5 Rivers area - still looking!

**Stripa Swipa** · 01-31-2007, 04:25 PM

JAB, the DNR did telemetry studies that showed minimal migration from one river to another via the int waterway. However, most fish never left their river of origin. They also determined that each river's population seemed to have it's own genetic differences. This is why they stopped stocking Santee system fish in the ACE Basin's rivers. Each of you may know of anomolies, but I've spent many hours discussing these fish with guys who have managed the river fish for many many years in our state. I just sent Duck Tape a lot of background material so he could better understand our often misunderstood state fish. I've pulled together most of the DNR studies done over the years, management plans, proposed legislation etc etc. I've got articles written on the subject, found all historical accounts from the likes of Rutledge, William Elliott etc that go back over 150 years. Anything new you can find or add to this fascinating topic I would love to hear. HOWEVER, if you think our riverine fish all haul ass out to sea, you're barking up the wrong tree.

**JABIII** · 01-31-2007, 04:38 PM

No need to get all defensive. I am truly trying to learn. Forgive me if I don't just take the word of some guy off the internet at face value. I am sure you are right but if I have learned anything around here in the last year, it is that some of those who talk the biggest game, kill the least. I am certain that applies to fishermen as well but neither here nor there. You can't learn if you don't question...

Was there, in your opinion, EVER a migration of anadromous striped bass in the Santee system?

**ROCKFISHER** · 01-31-2007, 04:43 PM

I'm with Trad on this bullshit. It doesn't make a hill of beans if the rocks are salt or fresh water if they are dead, we can't catch them and they do not reproduce. All that matters is that they are gone and netters are killing them by the hundreds every year and Trad can't do shit about it b/c the laws say the bycatch is ok to feed to the crabs/cats. Stipa, Did anyone bring up the netters at the striper meetings