Live Minnows in Ukiah??

Pretty sure there isn't suitable spawning habitat in Mendo. 

It would definitely be awesome if the striper fishery became self-sustaining but that's a pipe dream I think.

On one trip earlier this year, I saw both a female with eggs and a milking male caught.  The fish that were stocked originally aren't triploids so I guess there could be a chance of them spawning.  I know I have caught fish that seem to be too small to be 6-7 years old.  That's when the last of the stocking was done, from what I've gathered.

Oh I'm sure the stripers give it the ole' college try but from what I understand it's the habitat that isn't suitable.

And it's been debated whether some have been successful, but I don't think enough have been to continue to keep the fishery alive.

Stripers are broadcast spawners and typically use large rivers for spawning.  The eggs are slightly heavier than water, and are required to remain suspended for at least a couple days before hatching.  If they sink to the river bottom, they're toast.  I don't think the EF Russian is large enough to support successful striper spawning.  The odds of the eggs either sinking to the river bottom or to the lake bottom in Mendocino are too great.

According to Rock Hopper, they stopped planting 5-6 years ago (2009-2010). That means all the fish *should* be at least 5-6+ years old depending on how old they were when they were planted.

I hope it's alright that we've completely hijacked your thread... Let us know if we should go away.

Stripers spawning... I learned something interesting a minute ago. Stripers need a section of river with sufficient length and flow rate to keep the fertilized eggs suspended in the water column for about 2 days. I don't believe the East Fork of the Russian meets that criteria.

Dammit, Clayman, you beat me to it! I started writing this reply then let it sit too long before posting...

Ha!

I would love to see the Powers That Be of Lake Mendocino make it a C&R only striper fishery.  I see too many of them getting yanked out during the year.  The school seems to be pretty good size and definitely healthy but it doesn't take long to change that for the worse.

Dammit, Clayman, you beat me to it! I started writing this reply then let it sit too long before posting...

Ha!

At least it shows we're on the same page  .

I would love to see the Powers That Be of Lake Mendocino make it a C&R only striper fishery.  I see too many of them getting yanked out during the year.  The school seems to be pretty good size and definitely healthy but it doesn't take long to change that for the worse.

Anyone know the CDFW fish or reservoir bio for that area?  Could be worth planting that seed in their minds, to see where it goes.

When I fished the lake recently, it seemed to me there were quite a few stripers left.  I was getting bit on nearly every cast, and most of those fish turned out to be stripers.

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Anyone know the CDFW fish or reservoir bio for that area?  Could be worth planting that seed in their minds, to see where it goes.

When I fished the lake recently, it seemed to me there were quite a few stripers left.  I was getting bit on nearly every cast, and most of those fish turned out to be stripers.
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Army Corps runs the show there.  Might have to stop by their office.  I like the Christmas tree idea too!

Clayman - How big was your smallest striper from Mendo?

There doesn't seem to be any fantastic spawning habitat, but I have to assume the fish still try. And maybe a tiny few fertilized eggs manage to hatch?

Clayman - How big was your smallest striper from Mendo?

Out of the 24 I landed, the smallest was about 27 inches.  Most were in the 28-32 inch range.

Huh. So much for that theory. Those could easily be 5+ year old fish.

Helluva a job, by the way. Nice work.

This has been an interesting read and I am Lake Mendo bound (and was, even before reading this thread). I have decided to do CnR only when I'm there. Thanks for the informative discussion.

Huh. So much for that theory. Those could easily be 5+ year old fish.

Helluva a job, by the way. Nice work.

Thanks.  Right place at the right time  .  But that was just one sample.  I think you'd have to dig through angler history for the last few years and see if anyone has caught a "shaker" striper in that time.  I won't say that stripers have ZERO chance of pulling off a successful spawn here, because I've seen enough stuff from trout spawning that defied the literature.  But for all intents and purposes, the spawning success would not be sufficient to sustain a fishable population.

In all my years fishing this lake I have never caught a shaker striper. The only time we caught small ones was right after a plant of little ones, and that's if any were left after the adult fish were done chasing them.
In the good old days there were boils all over the lake due to the numbers of fish. You don't see those big boils anymore.

In all my years fishing this lake I have never caught a shaker striper. The only time we caught small ones was right after a plant of little ones, and that's if any were left after the adult fish were done chasing them.
In the good old days there were boils all over the lake due to the numbers of fish. You don't see those big boils anymore.

I got into a monster boil in April of this year, first one I had seen in a while.  What impressed me more was the size of the baitball they were busting up.  Damn near blacked out the screen on my Humminbird.

Back in May I witnessed a gnarly boil at the south end near the dam. I saw/talked to  you that day Jef.