Lake Norman Fish Kill

Its happening again.........

For those of you conservatives who had issues with others keeping their LEGAL LIMIT of larger 10+ lb stripers because you felt that "you should let them go so you can catch them when they are bigger," then take a stroll down lake Norman now and see all the stripers you want floating belly up. Like I said to EVERY person criticizing me keeping the handful of big fish i caught last winter, IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME before those big fish would float belly up.

In the meantime, looks like its now just a hybrid fishery

I am 100% in agreement with you Pete. No one should ever be criticized for keeping their legal limit. If the limit is too generous it should be addressed by the wildlife people not jealous fishermen criticizing others. Part of the joy of fishing for me is harvesting some fish, cooking them and sharing the bounty with family and friends.

Yeah and the catfishing is great right now at the dam!!!

According to the NCWRC the problem arose from the people who thought they were smarter then the state biologist and introduced river herring into Lake Norman!!!

Bruce, is it as bad as it sounds? Have you seen hundreds out there? That is before Duke comes by to clean them up?

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Originally Posted by brucec

Yeah and the catfishing is great right now at the dam!!!

According to the NCWRC the problem arose from the people who thought they were smarter then the state biologist and introduced river herring into Lake Norman!!!

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It certainly has something to do with the herring but Badin had the same issue without the herring. Badin might get it next.

Pete, I've heard 3100 striper and rising from a few different people...

Pete I'm not sure about your question, yes it is really bad and at last count which was a few days ago was over 3000 picked up by Duke. You are very correct in your statement of keeping your limit I personally have made a 180 in my thinking on harvesting and enjoying eating a mans limit. I just wish I had your resources and knowledge and experience to enjoy fishing and eating what you catch and I might add you did catch some mighty nice fish this year, Thanks for your post and pictures and please keep them coming. With the NCWRC stocking 160,000 hybrids per year Norman should turn out to be a pretty good fishery, I know there not stripers but I guess that's as close as we will get from here on out. I wish I knew how to post a link to the NCWRC video on the problem and cause of the striper die off, it;s very interesting and informative. As I'm disabled I only get to fish maybe 1 or 2 times a month so I rely on this and a Catfishing web site to serve as my fishing enjoyment Thanks again and keep the post coming!!!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by brucec

Pete I'm not sure about your question, yes it is really bad and at last count which was a few days ago was over 3000 picked up by Duke. You are very correct in your statement of keeping your limit I personally have made a 180 in my thinking on harvesting and enjoying eating a mans limit. I just wish I had your resources and knowledge and experience to enjoy fishing and eating what you catch and I might add you did catch some mighty nice fish this year, Thanks for your post and pictures and please keep them coming. With the NCWRC stocking 160,000 hybrids per year Norman should turn out to be a pretty good fishery, I know there not stripers but I guess that's as close as we will get from here on out. I wish I knew how to post a link to the NCWRC video on the problem and cause of the striper die off, it;s very interesting and informative. As I'm disabled I only get to fish maybe 1 or 2 times a month so I rely on this and a Catfishing web site to serve as my fishing enjoyment Thanks again and keep the post coming!!!!!!!!!!

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The last story I heard about NC wildlife explanation for the Jordan and Badin Striper kill.....was the heat causes their metabolism to speed so fast that they can't eat enough and effectively starve to death. I didn't believe when I heard it but that's what I heard.

Ok D A me figured it out. Go to you tube and type NCWRC LAKE NORMAN STRIPE BASS KILL and on my screen it is the second video. I thought it is very insteresting and informative. thought y'all might want to watch it!!!

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

Are they still going belly up? TW

Just left Norman. Spent a lot if time yesterday between marker 10 and almost to 150 bridge. All I saw was 2 dead catfish. Maybe the striper kill was minimal and short lived.

The fishkills happen just below where you were. usually Davidson creek all the way to the dam below the Nuke plant. I was out there last saturday just riding around. I counted 42 in a short time. was going to take a pic, but realized i left the cell phone on the dock. All nice sized fish without touching some looked to be pushing 12-13lbs. the good news is all the fish i saw looked very bloated and seemed like they have been there for several days. nothing fresh. The 2+ inches of rain the area got 2 days after may be what was needed to cool the water down and add some O2 to slow it down and perhaps end it.

Moral of the story is NC needs to take notes from TN, GA and SC on how to manage the lake, but then again we all know NC doesnt have enough sense.

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Originally Posted by pete

The fishkills happen just below where you were. usually Davidson creek all the way to the dam below the Nuke plant. I was out there last saturday just riding around. I counted 42 in a short time. was going to take a pic, but realized i left the cell phone on the dock. All nice sized fish without touching some looked to be pushing 12-13lbs. the good news is all the fish i saw looked very bloated and seemed like they have been there for several days. nothing fresh. The 2+ inches of rain the area got 2 days after may be what was needed to cool the water down and add some O2 to slow it down and perhaps end it.

Moral of the story is NC needs to take notes from TN, GA and SC on how to manage the lake, but then again we all know NC doesnt have enough sense.

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NC does not care!

Monk

Ive always heard its because of the river herring , but also heard from a DNR officer its the nuclear plants intake of cool water at the 60-70 ft level. Thus depleting the o2 in the deeper water suffocating the fish. Ive always wondered if all the houses on the lake that fertilize those beautiful lawns has an inpact on the fish (mercury levels and so forth) because you and I all know that when it rains the run off goes straight into the lake . Just some food for thought.

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Originally Posted by gotta_fish

Ive always heard its because of the river herring , but also heard from a DNR officer its the nuclear plants intake of cool water at the 60-70 ft level. Thus depleting the o2 in the deeper water suffocating the fish. Ive always wondered if all the houses on the lake that fertilize those beautiful lawns has an inpact on the fish (mercury levels and so forth) because you and I all know that when it rains the run off goes straight into the lake . Just some food for thought.

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High Rock is full of fertilizer. More than most any lake in NC. It never caused a fish kill. In fact, it causes nutrients to grow in the lake that small fish eat. Its one of the reason High Rock has always had a massive shad population.

In my opinion. I has more to do with dissolved O2 than anything. The fish would have a problem without the herring. Stripers just can't take the low O2. Much like speckled trout can't take too cold a water.

My opinion. Duke Power should put some aerator lines in the lake like Salem, Thomalex and other lakes have done. If Duke is going to make money off using the water.... then they should be a good steward and at least do that. Just my penny.

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Originally Posted by pete

The fishkills happen just below where you were. usually Davidson creek all the way to the dam below the Nuke plant. I was out there last saturday just riding around. I counted 42 in a short time. was going to take a pic, but realized i left the cell phone on the dock. All nice sized fish without touching some looked to be pushing 12-13lbs. the good news is all the fish i saw looked very bloated and seemed like they have been there for several days. nothing fresh. The 2+ inches of rain the area got 2 days after may be what was needed to cool the water down and add some O2 to slow it down and perhaps end it.

Moral of the story is NC needs to take notes from TN, GA and SC on how to manage the lake, but then again we all know NC doesnt have enough sense.

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Its a shame our wildlife administrators are not voted in. That would get them off their rear and make them do something.

If they were voted in don't you think they'd be doing whatever Duke wants like the folks in office now....

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Originally Posted by sundance

It certainly has something to do with the herring but Badin had the same issue without the herring. Badin might get it next.

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

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Originally Posted by todobien

If they were voted in don't you think they'd be doing whatever Duke wants like the folks in office now....

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Not if they wanted keep their job. When I say voted in I mean for a set amount of years and then stood a chance of being voted out.

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Originally Posted by slabinator

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

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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.

Go to you tube and search for lake Norman fish kill and ncwrc had a video that is interesting. See for yourself

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Originally Posted by Knappy

Go to you tube and search for lake Norman fish kill and ncwrc had a video that is interesting. See for yourself

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I don't believe half of what the NCWRC says. They take our money.... more and more of it every year and we get less and less out of it. They genuinely don't care about recreational fisherman......

Didn't say I believed everything on the Internet.

:Rofl

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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

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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!:Rofl

The old Thumper!