StriperChaser Fishing News and Views: Trust Experts: Wildlife commission knows when to stock, stop

[ Post a Response | StriperChaser Fishing News and Views ]

Trust Experts: Wildlife commission knows when to stock, stop

Posted by StriperChaser on March 6, 2005, 7:59 pm
4.152.231.55

Trust Experts: Wildlife commission knows when to stock, stop
By Dan Kibler
JOURNAL REPORTER
Sunday, February 27, 2005
My dander gets up whenever I hear fishermen or hunters blathering on about how they know so much more about "their" deer or "their" fish than the people at the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
Yep, most of these complainers haven't been to a biology class in years, if they ever darkened the door when they had the chance. But they know exactly what needs to be done to put a 20-pound striper over their fireplace better than the men and women who work far too hard for the pittance they're paid by the state.
Biologists heard several years ago from fishermen at Hiwassee that their walleye had disappeared. The disappearance took place, appropriately enough, at about the same time that those same fishermen noticed that there were an awful lot of baitfish in the lake they'd never seen before.
Those baitfish were blueback herring, and they are death on walleye populations - not only do they prey on newly hatched walleye, but they secrete an enzyme that knocks natural walleye reproduction for a loop.
Lake James, a 6,812-acre reservoir west of Morganton that is the farthest upstream of any lake on the Catawba River system. Blueback herring could ruin that walleye fishery if they ever showed up.
They're already close, having been discovered as far up the Catawba River system as Lake Hickory. It's accepted that they were brought into the system by striper fishermen because they're such a hardy, lively bait.
The bluebacks in Lake Hickory are separated from Lake James by two hydroelectric dams and about 30 miles.
"We feel like when striper fishermen go somewhere, they take live bait, and they get it wherever they can."
Although Lake Rhodhiss has an excellent population of striped bass, bluebacks haven't made an appearance there yet, in part because the lake doesn't get as much fishing pressure as Lake Hickory or Lake Norman.