My new liberty reservoir personal best striper!

[GoFish]

I went out on Liberty Reservoir yesterday(5//19/09) mid day for a quick trip I ended up landing my new liberty reservoir personal best striper 38 3/4lb 48 3/4 inches.... I had only fished for an hour befor she hit...

[Capt.Nick]

Now that''s saying something.

[satterly]

Nice rock. Almost a wall hanger

[Capt.Neil Renouf]

Dude that is awesome! :bigfish:

[martineta]

Geez Louise that's a nice one. Where may I ask is Liberty Reservoir and what were you pitching. I assume your were Bass Fishing?

[K~61]

awesome fish and pic......:thumbup:

[satterly]

Up by baltimore I believe.

[GoFish]

Liberty is in Maryland on the Baltimore co., Carroll co. line. She close to going on the wall..For me I want a 40lb or 50in striper out of freshwater. 50 in 50 lb out of salt water. High hopes? Nah.... Ill get it done sooner or later!!!tight lines to all!!!!

[satterly]

Yep, I'm looking for a 50 for my wall. You using live or cut bait to pull that cow out?

[GoFish]

live bait.

[crabby and son]

Beautiful fish! I bet that had to rock your world...........Gary

[GoFish]

I tried to release her, but she died.
We were only going out for white perch and small striper (18"-25").
Do see what happens when you just go out to enjoy the day! Tight lines.....

[Mister E]

be careful boys. liberty has a $ 60 season permit that has to be purchased for the boat. Only electric motors and rowing allowed. most of the regulations don't tell you that. i have seen Balto. city (which owns liberty) sit at the ramp with a boat trailer to confiscate any boats without a sticker. signs are posted but who wants to drive for several hours and find out when you get there. I live 1/2 mile from the reservoir.

[GoFish]

Dont sweet it guys..Contact me and ill get you out on liberty, loch raven, prettyboy for a small fee on one of the largest reservoir rigs (boats) in the state. Bass, walleye, white perch, crappie and stripers..and for u guys that like it- carp. I do fish for cat on the reservoir, but not at the levels most of you guys do...Ive land cats in the 20lb range in our reservoirs and know people who have hooked larger.I dont take very many people on cat trips, but will take a few a year.. Happy fishing and tight lines , Mark P.s. My best catch of the week is a 7.4lb large mouth bass on live bait out prettyboy reservoir.

[Don Hershfeld]

Great catch, GoFish! It has been decades since I fished the Balto City drinking water lakes, long before stripers or (did I read that right?) white perch got established in Liberty (I think they were in Prettyboy way back when). For those with a curious bent, could you review the whole striper story in Liberty? Did anyone ever fess up to planting them there? What are they foraging on, primarily? Is it a year-round fishery, or more s
specialized in some way? :clapping2:

Thanks in advance,
Don Hershfeld / fishing4u2@juno.com
streams-and-dreams.net

[Capt.Nick]

I tried to release her, but she died.
We were only going out for white perch and small striper (18"-25").
Do see what happens when you just go out to enjoy the day! Tight lines..... yoo bad it died,but...atleast you're having toxic fish for dinner.

[GoFish]

Yes there are white perch in liberty now. Its not good, their taking over the Reservoir. The rockfich were stock by dnr fisheries. the last year they stock was last year, before that it was 1986. Its a year round fishery. The seasonal movements are the same. Mostly based on water temp. Of course now the main forage is white perch, but Ive found in their bellies bluegill,crappie,yellow perch, crayfish, catfish, carp and baby ducks.

[Don Hershfeld]

Wow. I guess the more things change...

There's no telling whether the rumors one picks up n-th hand are true or not, but I'd heard one that years ago anglers fishing Liberty started to catch some juvenile striped bass while targeting other species, and that their reports were ignored at first by MDDNR Fisheries as impossible... until finally a person produced a body, and then it was undeniable.

Now I find myself wondering why DNR would have stocked purebred stripers there instead of say, the more easily controlled/managed (sterile) hybrid striped bass, and also if it was expected that the stripers would manage to pull off natural production there. Or why they would stock stripers on top of hatchery trout, for that matter. Do you know if the white perch were also put there by DNR, or if this was an unauthorized introduction?

I'm not aware of any other freshwater lake so small (nationally speaking) and lacking any major inflowing rivers that support natural recruitment of stripers. Are you?

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[GoFish]

Im not sure but i belive that the hybrids are stocked in lakes and reservoirs to try to control bait fish or advasive fishes. Stripers were put into Liberty reservoir in the 80's to try to make a catchable population. Starting in the early 80's. Hybrids were put in Loch Raven and Prettyboy reservoirs. Few have been caught in the last few years. The last was a 18lb hybrid out of loch raven 5 or so years ago. 2 years ago there was a 12lb rainbow trout shocked up by dnr in Liberty res.,and there is a catchable population of Rainbows in liberty now. Not all the trout get eaten. As far the white perch. I talked to dnr myself when i started to catch the perch and they were shocked that they were in the reservoir. With all this said, I can only thank Dnr and the Fisheries department for taking such good care of these 3 Reservoirs. If you ever want to wet a line on any of them, drop me a line. Tight lines, Mark

[Salmo trutta]

All the WSSC reservoirs like Tridelphia, Rocky George also have stripers, natural reproducing stripers. But liberty has always been know for producing the largest and the most.

They stock liberty with 10,000 or more trout every year in the late Fall. The stripers seem to fatten up on them well. But the main forage is gizzard shad which reach impressive size in all the reservoirs.

The striped bass are not overly abundant like one would think. They are not that commonly caught or dominate the lake. There are also Northern Pike and muskie in the reservoirs to compete with, as well as smallmouth and largemouth bass, chain pickeral..... Channel catfish.

[GoFish]

To clear it up! Liberty doesnt have a viable population of gizzard shad and the trout have been stocked into the tributaries, not the main lake these past few years to let them have spawning groung to go back 2 .Liberty does not have pike,pikerel,or muskiy. Loch raven has pike and pickerel. Piney run has musky. As far stripers in liberty, there is a good population of catchable stripers here in the 15-20lb range. I guess its who you ask and ill put my knowledge of liberty Reservoir up againest just about anyones!!!!!!!:cool2:

[smells like fish]

That's a sweet fish. Congrats on your catch.

[Bob B]

GoFish, Congratulations on that huge Liberty striper. A fish that big will test your tackle as well as your skill. Beautiful photo by the way.

A little history on the introduction of stripers in Liberty. There was an unsuccesful attempt to stock stripers in Liberty back in 1965. Some small fingerlings were stocked but later they were found dead. The later attempt at stocking began in the early 1980s with the last major stocking in 1984. Available information at the time indicated that natural reproduction would not occur so the DNR thought they could control the striper population. Additional striper stocking could have occured but its just that I am not aware of it.

These stripers were raised at the Joe Manning Hatchery and were the Chesapeake Bay strain. (as were the one stocked in Piney run and Tridelphia reservoirs) The first evidence of natural reproduction was dicovered in 1986 when a few turned up during night electro shocking. The following year a larger number of striper fingerlings were shocked up and the rest is history. Scale samples from the current state record indicated that the fish was 14 years old and according to the biologist would be from the first year class of natural reproduction.
In 1990 stripers were so plentiful and prey was limited that the creel limit was raised to 4 a day but of course it has since been lowered back to two a day. Today the lake has plenty of forage. (the DNR was pretty upset when someone introduced white perch)

Piney run stocking began in 1975 and continued into 1884 with the exception of 1981. The first evidence of natural reproduction in Piney Run was in 1990. Hybrids were stocked in Prettyboy and Loch Raven reservoirs but because of a shorter life span the biologist says they were either caught or died and he considers the hybrid fishery non exsistant.

I might mention one of the rules of the reservoir is that any live bait must be purchaced from a "certified zebra mussel free bait store" with a current receipt being on board. It sounds a little goofy but that means that technically you are not allowed to catch or use bait caught from the lake. This includes crayfish, trout, white perch etc.

Liberty is a beautiful lake to fish but if you plan on going it would be best to bone up on the rules and regs.
Bob B

[Don Hershfeld]

Thanks Bob B for the flesh-out on the history of stocking striped bass and their kin in MD impoundments. As surprising as it was to learn that they had 'gone natural' in Liberty Reservoir, I am even more astounded to learn that natural reproduction has also been documented in 'lil 'ol Piney Run. Next thing you know natural recruitment will be found in some farm pond (just kidding). Your summary has an authoritative ring to it. This wouldn't be the same Bob B that spent a lot of time getting familiar with S. trutta, would it? If so, would like very much to discuss another matter of mutual interest.

fishing4u2@juno.com / Don Hershfeld / Youghiogheny River Vacation | Bed and Breakfast | Vacation | Trout Fly Fishing | Getaway at Deep Creek, Maryland (http://www.streams-and-dreams.net)

[Salmo trutta]

[QUOTE=Don Hershfeld;1397853] Your summary has an authoritative ring to it. This wouldn't be the same Bob B that spent a lot of time getting familiar with S. trutta, would it? If so, would like very much to discuss another matter of mutual interest.QUOTE]


I don't think so but it definitely sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

[Don Hershfeld]

I wondered whether that reference would get an untargeted rise from you (it did). I meant the actual fish, in a behavioral study, not the TF'er! Double entendre purely accidental...

[GoFish]

Thanx Bob B. Now im glad I said just about anyones, Bob you are the man. For people who dont know. Look up the land locked striper record for the state of Maryland. Check out the name.......Bob B........."Live bait" I now the rules...and so does everyone else out there. "certified zebra mussel free bait store" no its a certified zebra mussel free bait "dealer". The license can be obtained every january. Tight Lines Mark L.