Stripers in the St. Lawrence

[John Bacon]

I wonder if any will make their way into Lake Ontario

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/striped-bass-were-once-extinct-120000310.html

 

[Canuck]

Interesting. They have a striped bass population in Lake Champlain so presumably they tolerate colder freshwater.  Lake Ontario's pelagic's seem to be in good shape so there would be forage for another species maybe.  I wonder if there were Stripers that are now extinct (i.e., they would not be considered invasive).

[OhioFisherman]

59 minutes ago, Canuck said:

Interesting. They have a striped bass population in Lake Champlain so presumably they tolerate colder freshwater.  Lake Ontario's pelagic's seem to be in good shape so there would be forage for another species maybe.  I wonder if there were Stripers that are now extinct (i.e., they would not be considered invasive).

https://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/topic/476245-15000-striped-btass-released-into-lake-champlain/

This was the only mention I could find of Striped Bass being in Lake Champlain, and it appears to have been an April Fools joke? I have never heard of Stripers being there, but I certainly don' t know for sure.

Edited November 3, 2019 by OhioFisherman

[craigdritchie]

Back in the 1960s when alewife were taking over the Great Lakes there was a lot of debate in the US about whether to introduce striped bass or coho salmon as a way of dealing with them. Back then stripers were being introduced to freshwater systems all over the southern US, and creating amazing fisheries. But as they started planting them in systems farther north, they began running into problems with winter kills, especially in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. The thought was that the water was too cold in winter, and that belief was a big factor in the decision to stock salmon into the Great Lakes.

Having said that, today New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI all have huge striped bass populations and all of those paces are cold in the winter. I don't know if it being salt water habitat versus fresh water makes a difference, perhaps it does.

In New Brunswick the stripers are said to be major predators of Atlantic salmon smolts. That being the case, I doubt MNR or the OFAH would be very happy to see them show up in Lake Ontario.Personally, I'd be happier with more rainbows.

Edited November 3, 2019 by craigdritchie

[OhioFisherman]

They have stocked them on the San Fran Cisco California delta system which has access to the Pacific, Tactical Bass has some videos of them catching them there. Did they ever occur naturally in Lake Ontario? Migrate to spawn that far? A big fish with a big appetite some water systems aren't going to support too many different species like that with out causing the collapse of native species?

Just my view, a less risky species? Blue cat get huge, and they don't generally roam all over a water system and various depths? Spotted bass?

[dave524]

Wasn't there a few Wipers caught in Lake Ontario a few years back ?

[OhioFisherman]

32 minutes ago, dave524 said:

Wasn't there a few Wipers caught in Lake Ontario a few years back ?

https://www.afs-oc.org/wiper-caught-in-lake-ontario/

I don't know if any of our states stock Wipers or Striped Bass where they could migrate to the Great Lakes.

[David Chong]

Ontario record Wiper was caught in the Detroit River back in 2006!

https://www.ofah.org/programs/ofahontario-record-fish-registry/

[Garnet]

I've been to Cape Cod fishing Stripers 6 times. Started out trying use my regular bass gear, that lasted about 1.5 days .

Now have 4 salt outfits cover most anything plus about 20 wooden plugs custom made for Stripers plus 3-6 oz bucktails and spoons.

Stripers are a total blast and hard on pocket book.

[John Bacon]

Even if they don't make it to Lake Ontario, they are as far upstream as Montreal.  I may have to plan a trip to Montreal; you know, for the stripers... 😉

[Locnar]

I've heard of the Wipers being caught in Lake ontario, one being around the pickering nuke... and I've heard of Stripers being introduced into small lakes and ponds in the northern states. So they probably could survive in Lake Ontario or it's surrounding waters. 

[OhioFisherman]

10 hours ago, Locnar said:

I've heard of the Wipers being caught in Lake ontario, one being around the pickering nuke... and I've heard of Stripers being introduced into small lakes and ponds in the northern states. So they probably could survive in Lake Ontario or it's surrounding waters. 

They used to stock Stripers at West Branch reservoir here about 60 miles east of me, the Ohio record at 37 pounds came from that lake in 1993. I think they stopped stocking them here quite a few years ago.

[tomO]

They are in the Ohio River but nothing like in years past. After 911 the stocking program ceased I suppose because of budget cuts. back in the mid 80s on you could catch stripers and saugeye  at will. Waiting on the fall run now but  the last few years it's been  pretty much non existent.