I'm with you ay. But guess photo's of sandies don't look as impressive......

Another thing to remember is that most of Mike and other guides customers don't fish very often.They only take one or two limits a year from the fishery.Its legal and non-boaters have just as much right to the resource as we boat owners.

I agree with C&R on hybrids or at least, I did.
We boated well over 500 hybids on BP in '04 in
about 20 trips. Kept maybe 20. Rest were released.
Most kept their limits tho. A "slaughter' went
on in '04 on BP in my opinion. Thus, '05 was not
great for numbers. C&R works maybe, if all do the
same like BASS fishing. Otherwise, you better get
em while they are there. The GW even asks why are
you releasing. Don't bash the guides. It takes
a team effort for the theory to work. Personally,
after '04, I'll keep my legal limit and could
care less who whines about it. I know Mike well.
He does not waste fish period. He will keep
enough to satisfy his customer or to feed his
family. Check his recent post, C&R trip. He is
more ethical and moral than most I know. The fact
is, some are simply jealous and wish they had
Mike's success. Lots of opinions. This is mine.
Add a quarter to it and it won't buy you a cup of
coffee.

David
www.davesguideservice.net

Is the limit on LL 10

I see one angler and 10 Hybrids

David,

"The fact
is, some are simply jealous and wish they had
Mike's success. Lots of opinions. This is mine.
Add a quarter to it and it won't buy you a cup of
coffee."

I think I probably started this big discussion on keeping the hybrids and I can tell you for a fact that I am not in the least bit jealous of Mikes or anyone elses catch of hybrids. I have had plenty of success catching hybrids on LL. The point that I was trying to get across is that there is NO NEED TO KEEP THE BIG HYBRIDS WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY SANDBASS ON LAKE LEWISVILLE PERIOD. Your opinion is worth just as you said about a cup of coffee as is mine. I do not doubt Mike's morals or ethics in any manner of form. It just seems to me that posting that many pictures of nice hybrids,(from a well known guide), that are obviously going into the frying pan does nothing except encourage other anglers to keep them as well.

I am all for a 24 inch or bigger limit on LL as this lake has the potential to become the best hybrid lake in the state. The number of hybrids in the lake is great right now but that will not be the case if everyone keeps them for the frying pan. Just my honest opinion.

I just don't have a problem with anyone keeping a legal limit of anything. It self regulates. The more fisherpeople, the more liscenses sold. The more liscenses sold the more revenue for the hatcheries to produce fingerlings to stock. Lots of people get mad as hell if someone keeps a lmb. I don't keep them, but I used to, 25 years ago. I personally keep very few hybrids, in my opinion they don't taste as good as sandies. But I keep them in the summer if I think they won't survive. Have fun, keep what you want, stay legal and let others do the same. What's wrong with that?

I just don't have a problem with anyone keeping a legal limit of anything. It self regulates. The more fisherpeople, the more liscenses sold. The more liscenses sold the more revenue for the hatcheries to produce fingerlings to stock. Lots of people get mad as hell if someone keeps a lmb. I don't keep them, but I used to, 25 years ago. I personally keep very few hybrids, in my opinion they don't taste as good as sandies. But I keep them in the summer if I think they won't survive. Have fun, keep what you want, stay legal and let others do the same. What's wrong with that?

WOW! What a discussion. Being a guide I'm into conserving the resource as much as possible for obvious reasons. There are some who care less. Catch and release is OK in the winter, but catch and release in the summer actually can kill more fish than those keeping their limit. I believe there is a greater than 70 percent chance that a released hybrid/striper will die even though it swims off (with water temperatures above 80 degrees). Keeping your 5 per person and stopping better conserves the resource in the summer and that information comes from our biologists.

Some folks will catch numerous fish in the summer and release them all and the majority of them will eventually die. There are studies that prove this. I have watched others including other guides catch 40 to 100 fish and release them all...ouch!

Winter fishing is great and if you are going to keep hybrids, they are absolutely in the fattest healthiest condition of the year. The fillets are thick and they are excellent table fare.

One other thing, just because you see only one person in the photo, that does not mean he was the only one in the boat. Some folks don't want their picture taken. FYI, That was a relatively slow day on LL with out any birds working. They started working after we left on that day(so I heard).

MWA

Well...Mike is right about C&R on Hybrids. To add to that...those same studies also show that the Hybrid life span is only 5-6 years, so by the time they are 18" they are only 2-3 years away from being dead anyhow.

Mike is right - C&R during the winter is really the only time C&R is an option...otherwise plan on keeping what you catch.

I always release them unless I'm sure they won't make it, however I don't want to be inadvertently contributing to their demise.

My question is - if I release them during the summer months and make sure that they swim off - is there a good chance that they will survive or is it still likely that they will die, even though
they swim off. I'm asking that because I caught one last year (@ 6 or 7 pounder) and I spent about 20 minutes trying to revive it - it kept floating but then finally swam off. If it's likely going to die anyway, then I should have kept it.

I'm asking these questions cause I hate to see big hybrids floating dead out there and even more so I hate to be contributing to it.

Don't want to make anyone mad with my questions - just trying to learn.

Also - there are a lot of larger hybrids out there now - how big does a 6 year old get?

One reason it's harder to revive stripers in the summer, besides the heat, is if they are caught at greater depths and they can't expell the air (for bouyancy) fast enough. This would require fizzing which involves inserting a hypadermic type needle in a specific location to allow the fish to expell air so they can dive. I wonder if the same applies to hybrids as well.

Hybrids can stand the heat a lot better than Stripers. I'm for C&R in summer and winter. That being said, I can understand a guide keeping his customer's fish as the customer likley does not have the opportunity to catch alot of fish as some of the regulars do. I say if its within the law, lets not bash someone for keeping a few fish.

Great catch Mike!!

Papa Peck,

Even if you release that fish, chances are it will die especially if you stressed it enough to have to revive it. Best chance is horsing them in the summer and releasing them, however more than likely half will still die according to the studies.

Genetics will determine the size of the fish. Some will get big, some may stall relatively small even at an older age.

My personal biggest to date is 13.5lbs on certified scales. Arkansas record is over 26 lbs if I remember right. Texas record is under 20.

Michael Acosta

Mike

If I understand you correctly, if I catch them in the summer time and plan to release them I should use heavier tackle and get them in and back ASAP. If I'm using light tackle in the summer and wear them out I should plan on keeping them. In the winter months I can use the light tackle and they should be O.K. if I release them so long as they do not appear to be overly stressed ?

How old do you think those 8 - 9 pounders are?

Papa Peck,

I don't know for sure, but I would guess 7 to 10 years. Biologists tell me that the life span is about 7 years. I worked with Spencer Dumont on Hubbard Creek. We were catching hybrids and big hybrids back in 97-2000. Ten pound fish were fairly common. They were not stocking Hubbard Creek with hybrids anymore. I called the biologist (Mr. Dumont) and he said that there should be no hybrids left in Hubbard Creek as the last time they were stocked was in 1984 and this was 1997-98 when I first called him. I disagreed as we were hosting tournaments there and I was taking folks on guided trips. A week later I took him fishing and we boated about 15 to 20 fish to 8 or 9 lbs that day. He believed these fish were second generation hybrids. He took ear bones and flesh samples. All the fish were 1984 vintage. We met with them yearly after that and they took samples until 2002. All the fish were 1984 vintage. The last hybrid I caught out of that lake was about 4 lbs and and was 18 years old. Biggest fish I caught in that lake was 12.5 lbs.

I guess on some bodies of water they may be able to live longer. (they will never restock Hubbard Creek with hybrids as they say that there is not enough baitfish to support them).

Michael Acosta