Plenty to eat in Candlewood for a striper that size with all of the herring, trout, bluegills, etc. They have been caught that size in Lake Housatonic due to guys catching them below the dam and dumping up in the lake. Plenty of deep water to hold over in the winter similar to what they do in the lower Housatonic and Hudson rivers. That said, from the picture it looks like the foliage on the brush in the background is too far along to be a Candlewood shoreline. The two rivers may be that far along in the lower sections. Virtually all of the big reservoirs in Virginia, N.C., and S.C. have both land-locked regular stripers that size and the swipers (white bass - striper hybrids). The spring has sprung down there so an earlier picture from even March would show the same background. I would also think a striper that size would have shown itself on the surface at some point chasing herring or trout around, anyone hear any rumors like that on Candlewood?
The background looks about right to me as far as the foliage goes. No trees in bud yet, and the only thing green appears to be Hemlocks and yews.
But stripers do not do well in livewells, and my guess is that it would have to have been transported as a schoolie. Probably sub-20 inches. Which would mean it's been in there a good long while.
Lots of big fish are seen surfacing in C'wood. A lone fish of that size taking a herring off the top? Would most likely be written off as a carp.
I don't see anything about that image that looks shopped. His hands are right -- left one with a death grip on the jaw, right one with the fingers into the V of the gill plates, and it looks like his thumb has just lost its grip on the lower lip.
As far as buckcall's concern that a striper or two would in some way damage the bass population n C'wood, it's both narrow minded and baseless. Yeah, it's big enough to eat a bass. But its lot in life is to eat herring. That's what they do, whenever possible. They tend to feed in open water, so it might take a trout or two as well. But any bass it ate in its lifetime would be negligible.
RichZ
Everybody's got to believe something — I believe I'll go fishing.
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