Thread: Lake Norman Fish Kill

Originally Posted by slabinator

How do the herring harm the stripers? I thought they were a good food source.

The herring might lure the fish into less oxygenated water. Ultimately, is the O2 in the water. The levels are too low for the stripers to survive. A striper generally moves much of the time to keep O2 moving over its gills. If you ever go to concord Bass Pro, pay attention to the stripers in the tank. They will generally not stop for long and they are generally moving more than any fish in the tank. Combine their constant movement with low oxygen water and you create a demand that they low o2 water can't provide.

Originally Posted by monkscrappie

Years ago, we had summer die off of the Striper population on Lake Wateree in SC. However, the SCDNR has learned to take the fish from Lake Wateree, spawn them and return the fry to the lake. In other words, breed the survivors of the heat. In doing this, they have created a generically heat resistant population of fish.

I am sure NCDNR has never considered this, they have no way in this state to test genetics. When and if genetics testing is desired, the fish are sent to SC for testing!

Wateree has a (10) fish per person creel limit with no size restriction. If the fish is (6) inches long and you want to keep it, it is legal. SC knows how to raise plenty of fish for stocking.

Monk

I have seen the die offs in Wateree. Just about every August. I did not know there was a problem at Norman.

Hey Pete, the only place to throw a ten pound striper is in the grease!

The old Thumper!