Biology:Striped bass fishing

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Striped bass

Striped bass are perciform fish found all along the Atlantic coast, from Florida to Nova Scotia. A distinct strain has historically existed in the Gulf of Mexico, but the fishery that exists there today is for stocked or reservoir-escapee fish. Striped bass are of significant value as sporting fish, and have been introduced to many areas outside their native range.

Ecology

In 2019, the recreational bass fishing season was cancelled before it started in the state of Virginia. This decision was taken due to the female spawning stock biomass (SSB) falling below the threshold deemed necessary for a healthy fish stock. In the state of Maryland, the fishing season remained open.

Distribution

Fishing for striped bass off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Fishing technique

Boat

Flyrod caught striped bass from the Coosa River near Wetumpka, Alabama (Released)

Striped bass may also be pursued through flats fishing in some parts of their range.

Fishery management

The Atlantic coast migratory striped bass fishery had collapsed by the 1970s and early 1980s due to a combination of habitat degradation and overfishing. The 1982 year class of striped bass represented the best reproductive and recruitment effort in ten years, and initial management efforts were directed at rebuilding the juvenile abundance index. It took until 1995 for the female spawning stock biomass (SSB) to be deemed fully recovered by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC).

Due to the loss of SSB assessed in 2017, the ASMFC adopted an addendum to an amendment to the Atlantic Striped Bass Interstate Fishery Management Plan mandating use of circle hooks when fishing with bait to reduce fish deaths following catch-and-release associated with gut hooking. The use of non-offset circle hooks has been suggested to reduce rates of deep hooking, which is one of the greatest contributors to post-release mortality in striped bass, and possibly reduce the likelihood of imminently fatal wounds, such as liver or heart lacerations, even when a fish is deeply hooked. The special regulation took effect January 1, 2021. Different rigging and hookset techniques are required when fishing with circle hooks than when J-hooks are used; the ASMFC acknowledged the need for angler education in its regulation and staggered the implementation of the circle hook provision relative to other stipulations of the plan addendum, although Connecticut implemented the recommendation in December 2020.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources posts a red–yellow–green caution flag advisory during its summer striper season, based on forecast air temperature, and recommends fishing for species other than striped bass during "red" days (air temperature at Baltimore/Washington International Airport expected to be above 95 °F or 35 °C), or special handling practices for caught fish during "yellow" days (air temperature expected to be between 90 and 94 °F or 32 and 34 °C).

In North Carolina, the Albemarle-Roanoke population of striped bass has a fishery that is jointly managed by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). Despite being anadromous, striped bass in the Albemarle Sound, Currituck Sound, Croatan Sound, Roanoke Sound and Roanoke River do not migrate coastally until more advanced ages relative to other populations and are thus not subject to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan as of 2022. In 2021, the harvest quota in the Roanoke River Management Area was reduced from 68,750 pounds (31,180 kg) to 12,800 pounds (5,800 kg) due to declining stocks, and the harvest season in 2023 was restricted to six days. Use of barbless hooks throughout 2023 is recommended by the NCWRC and is mandated in the upper Roanoke River.

In 2022, the ASMFC defined a fishing-related mortality (F) threshold for overfishing of 0.24, which included harvest from both recreational and commercial fishing and mortality after catch and release. The ASFMC also identified an SSB of 202 million pounds (92 million kg), equivalent to its value in 1995, as being needed to be re-achieved by 2029 to ensure a sustainable fishery. As of 2021, the SSB was 143 million pounds, and the F value was 0.14, lower than the updated threshold and targeted F values of 0.20 and 0.17, respectively, suggesting that overfishing was no longer ongoing, but that the fishery still needed to rebuild.

In Canada, Atlantic migratory striped bass fisheries remain in the Miramichi River and Shubenacadie River; the Miramichi River population reached a nadir in the late 1990s to early 2000s. The striped bass population of the St. Lawrence River is listed as endangered on the Species at Risk Act, but the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada considers it to be extinct and replaced by stocked fish. Fisheries in Canada are regulated by the Government of Canada, which mandates use of barbless hooks in tidal areas, with a recommendation to use barbless non-offset circle hooks when bait fishing. As of 2023, fishing is allowed to begin no earlier than two hours before sunrise and end no later than two hours after sunset.

The ASFMC management plan also does not apply to striped bass populations from the Tar River and Pamlico Sound southward, as these populations do not coastally migrate to the degree that northern populations do.

See also

• Bass fishing
• The Downeaster "Alexa"

Further reading

• Abrames, J. Kenney (1994). Striper Moon-Fly Fishing Technique and Flies for Striped Bass in Estuary, River, Bay & Surf. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1-878175-67-X. 
• Adams, Leon D. (1953). Striped Bass Fishing in California and Oregon. Palo Alto, CA: Pacific Books. 
• Caolo, Alan (2001). Sight-Fishing for Striped Bass: Fly-Fishing Strategies for Inshore, Offshore, and the Surf. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. ISBN 1-57188-257-X. 
• Chatham, Russell D. (1977). Striped Bass on the Fly-A Guide to California Waters. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Examiner. ISBN 0-89395-000-9. 
• Chatham, Russell D. (1990). The Angler's Coast. Livingston, MT: Clark City Press. ISBN 0-944439-34-9. 
• Cole, John N. (1978). Striper. A Story of Fish and Man. New York: Little, Brown & Company. ISBN 0-316-15108-4. https://archive.org/details/striperstoryoffi00cole. 
• Gartside, Jack. Striper Strategies: Secrets of a Striper Bum. Boston: Self Published. 
• Kaminsky, Peter (2001). The Moon Pulled Up an Acre of Bass: A Flyrodder's Odyssey at Montauk Point. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6769-8. https://archive.org/details/moonpulledupacre0000kami. 
• Rodman, O. H. P. (1944). Striped Bass-Where, When and How to Catch Them. New York: A. S. Barnes and Company. 
• Muller, D. J. (2007). The surfcaster's guide to the striper coast. Short Hills, NJ: Burford Books. ISBN 978-1-58080-552-0. OCLC 811406116. 
• Muller, D. J. (2008). Striper strategies. Short Hills, NJ: Burford Books. ISBN 978-1-58080-152-2. OCLC 183258872. 

External links

• Catch and release guide for striped bass