Photo by Ron Sinfelt

While largemouth bass fishermen employ catch-and-release practices and use oxygenated livewells to keep their fish alive, striper fishermen fish for a species that is a powerhouse in the water but a wimp in the livewell. Stripers often succumb even if released immediately. Furthermore, the hot weather of summer only increases the odds that many stripers will not live to fight again.

Consequently, the merits of summer striper fishing have come under debate.

Catch-and-release advocates, influenced by the catch-and-release practices of largemouth bass anglers, view summer striper fishing as essentially “catch and kill” and frown upon the practice.

Summer fishing proponents argue that inland striper fisheries are conceived as put-and-take fisheries by wildlife agencies since stripers can’t reproduce naturally at most lakes. These anglers contend that as long as they observe size and creel limits, they have no qualms about summer fishing.

To appease both viewpoints, efforts have been made to protect the fishery.

At Norman and Jordan lakes, the size and creel limit for striped bass has been changed to a four-fish creel limit with a 20-inch minimum size limit to protect smaller fish that have a better chance of surviving than larger fish after being released.

A special regulation has been implemented at Norman whereby there is no size limit for striped bass from June 1 through Sept. 30. The rationale behind the regulation, encouraged by local fishermen and striper clubs, is that since released stripers are likely to die during hot weather, fishermen should keep the first four stripers they catch, whatever their size, and then either stop fishing or fish for another species.

Striper guides have imposed their own restraints.

Maynard Edwards of Yadkin Lakes Guide Service (336/249-6782) limits his clients to four fish each at Badin and High Rock lakes, though the creel limit at both lakes is eight fish. Steve Stephens of Hot Spot Charters (919/775-5205) limits his parties to a total of four fish at Jordan Lake in June and uses a Boga grip to release fish so they’re not handled directly. He also stops striper fishing from July through September.

The striper tube, a vertical livewell for stripers, has been tried, but its effectiveness remains limited to the spring, fall and winter.

“Once the air temperature exceeds 75 or 80 degrees, the chance that a striper will survive upon release from a striper tube is not very good,” said Lexington’s David Smith, who helped design the tube along with its inventor, Warren Turner of the National Striped Bass Association.

The controversy indicates that stripers can in fact be caught in hot weather; otherwise, fishermen would not be concerned about the stripers’ survival rate.

Excellent summer striper fishing can be found throughout the state from Lake Norman in the west to Badin and High Rock lakes in the central Piedmont, and to Jordan Lake in the east.