MONETA, Va. (WFXR) — There will be approximately 325,000 striped bass stocked into Smith Mountain Lake this year. That number is closer to traditional stocking averages and is a sign the striper population is stable and the forage base is rebounding. That announcement was made at a recent meeting of the Smith Mountain Striper Club.
“Most of the things we’re looking at to try to make decisions are headed in a direction where we can kind of resume more of a normal average stocking rate,” said Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (VDWR) biologist Dan Wilson.
There have been concerns over a declining gizzard shad forage base for striped bass in the past few years as they faced predation from striped bass and other species, as well as competition from smaller threadfin shad. Threadfins do not handle cold well and the recent cold winters the past two years has led to a threadfin die-off. With that, gizzard numbers have come back…