# How Rare are BIG Stripers?



## big D. (Apr 10, 2010)

How rare is it to catch a 10lb, 30" striper on Livingston? Any of you 2coolers have pics of striper over 30" caught on the main lake? Please post them and when they were caught. Michael with Lake Livingston Adventures caught a 12lb, 32" beast, and Medowlark caught & mounted a 16lb, 32.5" beast! I'd love to see pics of BIG Livingston Stripers! 

Post Away 2Cool!!!!!!


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## markbrumbaugh (Jul 13, 2010)

Extremely rare. Most all of us will never see anything over 26 inch.


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## poco jim (Jun 28, 2010)

Glad you prefaced Livingston, as a 10 pounder on Ouachita is bait.


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## Ducktracker (Aug 1, 2011)

I'm just learning Livingston but a great fish where ever you are. I caught a 16 lb one at Toledo bend best I caught. Great catch


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Mark Webb the TP&W biologist assigned to Livingston told me about three years ago that the TP&W bi-annual gill net survey has never caught a 30 inch stripper from the main lake. Those guys are pros and know how to capture all species in nets and traps.
The biologist at Wichita Falls hatchery said in the 12 years he has worked in the striper program he has only seen six to eight fish in the 31 to 32 inch class from below the dam. He and Nate Smith from the Heart of the Hills research center said they have never caught a striper below LL that was older than six years. These are a fish that can live for decades.
A 30 inch TRUE striper from Livingston is a real trophy. In the years I have been on the lake the only 30 inch fish I saw was a hybrid.
Most of the lake record stripers were from fingerlings purchased from Arkansas before the Texas hatchery program became the sole supplier of fingerlings.


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## CrazyBass (May 1, 2013)

All I know that all I could think about last night was that great stringer we put together yesterday. 

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## Lake Livingston Adventures (Mar 15, 2013)

That fish is a true livingston trophy big D. We have caught hundreds of striper out of that lake over the years and have only caught one other fish of that caliber, of course we haven't been guiding all that long so who knows what will happen over the next few years. It's usually a numbers game for us, but during tournament time we search for BIG fish and definatly change our tactics. Amazing fish and an amazing story! Congrats again!!!


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## ikeephardheads (Feb 23, 2008)

We use to catch 25-35 inch stripers all the time on the Sabine River in orange texas feeding into Sabine lake. They use to smash up some hoginars. Ever since hurricane Ike none!!


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

ikeephardheads said:


> We use to catch 25-35 inch stripers all the time on the Sabine River in orange texas feeding into Sabine lake. They use to smash up some hoginars. Ever since hurricane Ike none!!


TP&W stocked stripers in Toledo Bend about every two years starting in 1974. They stopped the program in 1991 although they did stock 272,000 in 2002 but none since. Those last fingerlings would be twelve years old.
Not likely that any have survived that long in a warm southern lake.


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## Ducktracker (Aug 1, 2011)

We used to catch some good ones in Toledo back in 1978-81.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Congrats Big D on your trophy fish. I've caught thousands of stripers on Livingston over the years and can say with confidence that yours was a real trophy for Livingston. 

I'm glad it happened to someone who is a dedicated angler.

Now, someone please give me the lowdown on the tournament results. Did your big fish carry the day? How did the bait guys do like Mr. G and Piggy Perch? 

I just returned from Baja where I was chasing Roosterfish on the fly(see report to come in flyfishing section) and totally missed the tourney and the results.


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## Lake Livingston Adventures (Mar 15, 2013)

Meadowlark,

I'll bet chasing those Roosterfish with a flyrod is an amazing feat!

My brother Michael's team won the tournament with a five fish total of just over 31 pounds. My team took second with a little over 19 pounds, and one of our customers CB Aggie took third with just over 15 pounds. It was a pretty tough day for the rest of the field, but that is to be expected as most of them had never even been on the lake before. I gave them hints as to where to find the striper, but they were mostly just community holes like the lump, hump, bannana hump, island, dam, memorial point, and any structure related to the river channel. I knew that if any of them could establish a pattern it would be piggy perch. They weighed in 4 fish and had a six pounder caught free lining shad at the dam. They would have came in third if they had caught a fifth fish. I believe the guide from lake Buchanan finished 5th with 5 18"-20" fish, and the rest of the field either zeroed or had one fish. Why don't you come on up and fish the one on Cedar Creek in June? It will be a blast, the hybrid fishing is on fire right now!
I'm proud to say that Michaels team's 5 fish stringer is the heaviest of the year so far, beating out lakes like Buchanan and Tawakoni. Hows that for the worst striper lake in Texas?!!!!:rotfl: Things, they are a changing!!


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Tell Michael that I am so proud of him!!! Its way past time that someone showed the folks what Livingston is capable of. I've only beaten that 31 pound 5 fish total on Livingston a few times and to do it on tournament day is one hell of an accomplishment. Outstanding, just outstanding.


When is Cedar creek? 

Yes, I have to say that roosterfish are one of the greatest sport fish I have ever encountered. Just awesome...and big dorados aren't bad either.


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## Fishdaze (Nov 16, 2004)

Ducktracker said:


> We used to catch some good ones in Toledo back in 1978-81.


Those were the good ol' days! 10-12 pounders schooling were the norm back then.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Fishdaze said:


> Those were the good ol' days! 10-12 pounders schooling were the norm back then.


Too bad the bass anglers cried so much they got the program cancelled. I wonder if the bass fishing really improved after they cancelled out the striper stocking on TB?

Ouachita is about the only lake I know of now where you can reliably expect to catch minimum 10-12 pounders...in fact that's considered a small fish there....and the smallest ones I've ever caught there.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

I know Lake Mead in Nevada has some monsters. Avg fish I caught there was 5-10 on Anchovies. Everyone said they were babies! Also I witnessed a striper that was caught on Livingston by a commercial fisherman that he had to release that was as wide as his alum boat floor tip to tip. I had a limit myself or I would have taken it for pics because it probably didnt survive. One of these days somebody will be famous.


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## photofishin (Aug 7, 2009)

you might check out some of the Hill Country lakes like Buchanan or Austin, or below Canyon dam.

http://www.stripers247.com/Texas-Striper-Records.php


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## Bottom bouncer (Jul 26, 2010)

This will answer the question as to how rare they are on Ouachita


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

BB those are green Stripers! They make me green with envy!


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## whsalum (Mar 4, 2013)

I'd like to see one of them blow up on a spook


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## elkhunter49 (Jun 7, 2004)

I was fishing a BB tournament on lake Amistad in the early 80's and caught a 23lb Striper on a chrome/blueback Zara Spook. I was up in cow creek and had caught several keeper blacks out of the top of a tree in about 30ft of water. 
The tree top was about 5 ft from the surface and you had to stay way off of it and make long cast. The water was so clear that you could see the fish come out of the tree and hit the bait. I thought I had the new state record black bass for a second when he slammed my spook!!! Still remember it like it was yesterday!!!!
Baker


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## stuckinfreeport (Sep 13, 2012)

I'm sure some of the older fella's remember back in the early to late seventies there were lot's of big stripers that came from below the dam. We used to catch 7 and 8 pound hybrids back then also. What a fight on light tackle.


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