Striped bass are migratory. They travel back to Rhode Island each spring. Just like some of our friends who use to live here. So here is a little history and a few facts about striped bass to help us understand why they are so highly regarded and why they keep coming back to Rhode Island. Like old friends.
The bass travel up the east coast. In the spring and summer they leave their spawning grounds in the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware River and Hudson River areas and migrate north to Rhode Island and some as far north as the Canada. In the fall they migrate back and winter in the mouth of the Hudson River and the New Jersey coast in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.
Old habits are hard to break. I think the bass like the food here in Rhode Island (herring, menhaden and squid) just like old friends like the food in Rhode Island (the great restaurants in Providence, Newport and the calamari on Federal Hill).
Here are my top ten favorite facts about striped bass and their history (some facts courtesy of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries).
1. Striped bass are a historic fish. They served as a food source for the Pilgrims and to help fertilize crops. In 1614 Captain John Smith wrote that the striped bass was “a most sweet and wholesome fish as ever I did eat…”
2. Striped bass tolerate both salt and fresh water. They live in the ocean but spawn up rivers.
3. In the spring striped bass prefer a temperature range of 55 to 68 degrees
4. Striped bass were the subject of our first conservation laws… in 1639 Massachusetts forbade the use of the fish for fertilizer, in the 1660’s they were the focus of our first environmental impact statement and passage of the Natural Environmental Policy Act.
5. Females grow larger than males. Most bass over fifteen pounds are female and can produce a million eggs for each ten pounds of weight. So rather than keeping the big fish, release them to help preserve the fishery.
6. In 1879 striped bass were taken from New Jersey and transported by train in wooden barrels and milk cans across the country to San Francisco Bay which was one of our country’s first fish stocking efforts.
7. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s it was discovered that striped bass could and were flourishing and reproducing in fresh water lakes… so started the practice of stocking striped bass in large lakes around the country which is still going on today.
8. A fish 30” can weigh 11 to 16 pounds and be 8 to 14 years old. A 40” fish can weigh 24 to 35 pounds and be 13 to 25 years old (range in weight and age largely due to an individual fish’s luck in finding food).
9. A fish scale can reveal the age of a fish similar to the rings of a tree. Fish scales get larger as the fish grows by adding growth circles to the outside edge. Count the rings to determine the age of the fish.
10. Striped bass peak feeding times are the hour before sunrise and at dusk and they don’t have eyelids so they retreat to the deeper water when the sun comes up to avoid bright light.
I want to thank my friends Ed Langon from California and John Graydon from New Jersey (both formerly of Warwick) for coming back to Rhode Island to visit family and friends this past week. Both returned to Narragansett Bay and caught big striped bass on my boat. Also want to say hello to two sailboat captains and their mates I met this week while we cleaned our catch off Godard Park Sunday, the type of spontaneous friendships that boating and fishing spawn.
Where’s The Bite
Fresh water. Harold Hemberger reported a great night of fishing on Stump Pond in Smithfield this past week. He broke out his Rattle-Traps lures and the bass seemed interested in the noise making lures. The total for the night was six bass and three pickerel.
Scup fishing has been good at the Stone Bridge, Jamestown and Newport. They are being caught on sandworms, clam tongues, calm necks and squid reports Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Bristol/Coventry/Providence.
Striped bass fishing was outstanding on the Bay again this week. Action was hot early in the week on the Providence River with good sized pods of menhaden. Angler Jim Malachowski of Cranston caught four nice fish ranging from 29” to 35” early in the week live lining snagged menhaden. The trick was to get there early just before sunrise and before boat traffic breaks up the pods of bait. Saturday over woo boats were fishing the Providence River. Anglers found it difficult to find and snag bait due to too many boats and not enough bait. The East Passage around Poppasquash Point and Bear Point, Prudence Island continue to bear fruit as well as areas around Conimicut Point. Sunday we caught eight keeper fish in two hours using tube and worm. Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick reported big fish (as large as 46”) being caught of Agawam Cliffs and around the Jamestown Bridge. Ken related that fish are usually caught in these areas in the summer not the spring. Mike Sheppard of Newport reports a slow start to the season on Aquidneck Island compared to action in the upper Bay. However, fishing has improved along beeches.
Fresh water. Harold Hemberger reported a great night of fishing on Stump Pond in Smithfield this past week. He broke out his Rattle-Traps lures and the bass seemed interested in the noise making lures. The total for the night was six bass and three pickerel.
Scup fishing has been good at the Stone Bridge, Jamestown and Newport. They are being caught on sandworms, clam tongues, calm necks and squid reports Dave Henault of Ocean State Tackle, Bristol/Coventry/Providence.
Striped bass fishing was outstanding on the Bay again this week. Action was hot early in the week on the Providence River with good sized pods of menhaden. Angler Jim Malachowski of Cranston caught four nice fish ranging from 29” to 35” early in the week live lining snagged menhaden. The trick was to get there early just before sunrise and before boat traffic breaks up the pods of bait. Saturday over woo boats were fishing the Providence River. Anglers found it difficult to find and snag bait due to too many boats and not enough bait. The East Passage around Poppasquash Point and Bear Point, Prudence Island continue to bear fruit as well as areas around Conimicut Point. Sunday we caught eight keeper fish in two hours using tube and worm. Ken Ferrara of Ray’s Bait & Tackle, Warwick reported big fish (as large as 46”) being caught of Agawam Cliffs and around the Jamestown Bridge. Ken related that fish are usually caught in these areas in the summer not the spring. Mike Sheppard of Newport reports a slow start to the season on Aquidneck Island compared to action in the upper Bay. However, fishing has improved along beeches.
The Uncle Jimmy Strip Bass Tournament was hosted at the Harborside in East Greenwich this weekend. In a field of roughly 100 anglers Kyle Armstrong took first place with a 24 pound bass caught live lining a menhaden in the Providence River. Second place went to Ray Masciarelli Jr., he landed a 23 pound fish. Proceeds for the tournament went to the Rhode Island Food Bank reports Dave Henault from Ocean State Tackle.
Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. Your fishing photos with captions, stories, comments and questions are welcome… there’s more than one way to catch a fish so e-mail Captain Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net .
Photo A
Ed Langon (former Warwick resident) catches a big striped bass of Bear Point, Prudence Island. Ed came back to Rhode Island from California to visit family and friends.
Photo B
John Graydon (former Warwick resident) landed this 35” striped bass off Poppasquash Point. John and his wife returned to Rhode Island to visit his mother-in-law and friends last week. He lives in New Jersey now.
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