Fishing Forum

[#008058]Went to Powell last week.....Fished with anchovies by the damn.....Caught lots of stripers......Fished at Otter on the way home and caught some trout.....good fun and good fishing.[/#008058]
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Any pics?
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BOY FF462 you sure are a greedy one arent you!!![] Here, picture this, you getting up and doing some work!!!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA just giving you crap, I think I would be curled up sleeping right now if I was at work.
TS
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[#005028]OK, I'll give it a shot.....I'm not real good at pictures.[/#005028]
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Do you eat stripers? I have always just turned them loose when i catch them.
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Yes, Stripers are good to eat, you should try some the next time you get down there. I bet you won't throw them back then[].
WaveWolf- thanks for posting your report and pictures, looks like a good trip.
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My god that looks like a side of beef laying on that table!! nice. M.H.
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[#005028]I am one of those idiots that prefer any bass, panfish, or catfish over trout.....That being said, you must bleed stripers and filet them correctly, or they are not fit for human consumption. They are like wipers, and you must remove all of the lateral blood lines.[/#005028]
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I would be interested in a little "how to" when it comes to bleeding and cleaning stripers correctly..... I am headed to Powell in a few weeks and plan on bringing home as many fillets as possible.............
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Please don't turn stripers loose at powell, keep them all, if they are not fit (too skinny) to keep CPR (Catch puncture and release them) the Stiper population at powell must be regulated too keep the fishing consistent.

If not the striper population will overproduce and eat all of their forage (shad) causing the striper population to crash.

Stripers are very good to eat. In hot months down at lake powell it is imperative that the fish be kept on ice rater than caught and thrown back into the 70-85 degree lake water. Temperatures that high would cause any meat to go bad.

Keep the fish on ice and fillet them taking any dark red meat out. They tast fantastic.

For additional information specific to Lake Powell and Stripers see www.wayneswords.com
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Is it not illegal to catch, puncture, and release?
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Not stripers, in fact, if your not going to take em home for dinner its actually encouraged...... Every striper that is caught is to be killed.........................
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Wasting of protected aquatic wildlife is illegal. If you don't want them to eat.....you should release them. Flycasting you are absolutely right. The definition of protected aquatic wildlife means all fish species. Technically even killing carp and abandoning them to rot is illegal although clearly it's not enforced and few people care due to the overall image of carp as "trash" fish. This waste law applies to both game and nongame fish in utah. Killing stripers and throwing them back is definitely illegal.
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Where are you getting your info for it being illegal? Everywhere I have looked it is REQUIRED that you keep/kill all stripers at Powell?
TS
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Never mind, insert foot into mouth, I just looked it up on the internet proclomation and you are right. Guess you have to run into someone that enforces it down there!!! Guess you can say "ooops I messed up this fillet and throw it away!!! I still agree with everyone else that says to killem, they are skinny for a reason, they are eating all the shad!!!
TS
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Nice pics.....you must be pretty handy with a fillet knife[shocked].
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i do not agree with just killing and wasting any kind of animal. i find it a waste to end an animals life if not for me to eat. If i do not plan on keepign the fish for food i generally let it go. though with lake powell, and the skinny, skinny stripers, i feel strongly that all the fish you catch you should keep. if they arent worth a damn to eat because they are super skinny i bet they make a darn good fert. for the garden.
this is a sensitive subject it seems, and i think some regulations are indeed "overlookable" but think that every striper you stick and sink has every possibility to wash up on the shore..and nobody wants to see a bunch of dead fish. im sure all that go to powell can find some use for there deteriotating stipers. worst case donate the excess fish for the homeless. we may just over look it because they are skinny, but a homeless person would love a nice fish dinner. just my 2 cents. on the issue
i do not know what is right or wrong when it comes to this subject, perhaps a lurking viewer that knows what to do on a lake powell official point of view. i would be interested to know what the park official want us to do. for the health of the lake, i just cant see hundreds of rotting stripers healthy for the lake...but i guess it will make the catfish population happy. which is good news for catfishers.
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I would just refer everyone to Wayne Gustaveson, the Fish Biologist for Lake Powell who also encourages keeping all fish and has even recommended to puncture and sink unhealthy stripers. "The Greater Good" and all that.
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Actually, here is a post that Wayne Gustaveson put on his website within the last 24 hours and should answer some questions:
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I got a question about our unusual policy on stripers in 2007 and gave this response.
I understand your concern and thank you for asking. The situation at Lake Powell is unique in that a prolific ocean fish is over producing in fresh water. We have removed the limit on stripers so that anglers can help us keep the population in balance with forage. That program has been successful in most years and has kept the striper population healthy. But recently 3 years of good forage allowed striped bass to reproduce successfully for 3 straight years. The result was too many fish times 10.
Despite harvesting almost 2 million stripers last year there are still millions and not enough forage. Therefore the adults that are not able to eat plankton are malnourished and do not have prime flesh for human consumption. They will die soon from starvation. The better thing for these thin fish is to euthanize them now and prevent them the agony of starvation. So if you catch fish that are obviously skinny it is more humane to kill them quickly. If there is not room to bring them all back to the fish cleaning station for disposal they can be sunk in deep water where the nutrients from the fish can be recycled. Make sure to puncture the air bladder.
If healthy fish are encountered treat them with respect and keep them to eat or return them as you choose. Smaller stripers are in prime condition and should not be wasted. These should be kept and filleted. Put them on ice, fillet as soon as possible, take them home and give them to your friends and neighbors. You will be very popular.
This situation is temporary and different instructions are offered each year to alert anglers of the health of the population and how they should be handled.
There is a new generation of stripers waiting to take the place of the declining adults. I expect the striped bass to be closer to balancing with forage in 2008.
Wayne
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Make a cut under the gill plate to bleed them......As stated, keep them cold......When you hit the fish cleaning station, filet them, (I use an electric knife)......I leave the skin on until I get home, because the lateral blood line under the skin will affect the taste of all the filets.......Use a cooler like a coleman extreme, with a layer of ice, then a layer of filets, another layer of ice, and another layer of filets etc., until the cooler is full......Drain the cooler a couple of times before you get home....I get back to Northern Utah with them in good shape......filet the skin off.....Lay the filet over something round such as a large empty soft drink bottle, with the lateral blood line up, so it protrudes upward......Now filet this bood line off, removing all the red on the filet......That's the way I do it.....Maybe someone else has a better way?
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