Where have all the striped bass gone

The more I ask “Where have all the striped bass gone?, the more I realize the question should be “What is happening to the striped bass?” In the past year, a lot has happened to striped bass. They have been in the news more times than I can count. Many noted anglers and fishing captains say the fish are on the decline, yet there is evidence from some scientists, captains and anglers that bass may just not be where they normally are but are feeding in areas where anglers do not fish.

In this and subsequent columns this month, I will recap what I have heard and read and what some experts have to say about striped bass. But first, a little history and a few facts about striped bass.

Striped bass are migratory. 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. Striped bass 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…”

Striped bass tolerate both salt and fresh water. They live in the ocean but spawn up rivers. In the spring striped bass prefer a temperature range of 55 to 68 degrees. 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, anglers are urged to release them to help preserve the fishery.

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.

Striped bass in the news

This summer fishing writer Tim Coleman wrote in an editorial titled “New England’s coming striped bass collapse” that he and area shore anglers believed striped bass fishing has been substantially down for the past three to five years. Steve McKenna a noted shore angler from Cranston, RI said his bass landings were down 40% (Steve like many avid anglers practice catch and release), Richard Kalinoski of Little Compton, RI, said his landings were down over 60%. So anglers who normally land five hundred fish a year, were now landing two hundred fish a year. In addition to those fishing from coastal Rhode Island shores, anglers fishing Narragansett Bay from shore and in boats were down substantially too.

Yet, this summer I received hundreds of reports and photos from anglers and captains landing many good fish at and around Block Island. In fact, some claim the fish may not be in Narragansett Bay or off coastal shores but they are offshore in waters not normally fished. Captain Rick Bellavance of Priority Too Charters and president of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association said,” I personally do not believe the striped bass stock is in decline. My landings have been rising for the past several years and I witness tremendous numbers of striped bass in the EEZ, where they cannot be fished legally. Areas offshore which rarely held striped bass are now highly populated with the fish. Stellwagon, East Grounds, The Mud Hole, and the offshore wrecks all hold super large fish regularly and nobody can catch them. I believe the bulk of the stock has shifted from the inshore grounds to the offshore grounds. But, the fish trap guys report and catch ridiculous numbers of small fish close to shore as well.”

While the controversy over striper decline continues, the species continues to make the news in ways that can shed light on the issue.

· Scientific evidence supports that bass are in decline (but not critically so). This past fall we received mixed news from Chesapeake Bay in Maryland where striped bass spawn. The annual “Young-of-the-Year” index for striped bass announced by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was at 5.6 for 2010, in 2009 the index was 7.87, in 2008 it fell to 3.2, and in 2007 it was 13.30. The index average is 11.6. Although the 2010 index was low, the DNR said, “While this is the third consecutive year of below average striped bass production, the population is above the management action trigger…”

· Small bass killed as commercial fisherman up-grade their catch impacts the amount of available young. Last month news and video footage (on YouTube) became available of North Carolina commercial trawlers tossing thousands of dead striped bass overboard as they “high-grade” for the largest bass while staying within their legal 50 fish limit. In an article for the Examiner newspaper, Captain Kelly, a top striper fishing guide on the Outer Banks said, “…It’s an atrocity … It’s gone on before but I think this was the first time it was in front of such a large crowd”. Last week we heard that the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries will replace the current 50-fish a day commercial trip limit with a 2,000 pound a day limit. This will encourage commercial trawlers to keep all fish, up to a 2,000 limit rather than culling their catch looking for 50 large fish.

Captain Rich Hittinger, vice president of the RI Saltwater Anglers Association and RI Marine Fisheries Council member said, “…I also hear about significant commercial by catch of stripers and this could be a major contributing factor (to decline) along with poaching.”

· Poaching of all types impacts the species. Poaching by anyone, recreational or commercial fishermen, has a negative impact on a fishery.This fall the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) charged Albert Reeves of Rehoboth, MA with poaching striped bass. DEM said they had information that Reeves was illegally taking over limits of striped bass in Rhode Island and selling them in Massachusetts and that he had the extra fish in a hidden compartment on his boat. The officers stopped him while driving on Route 1 in Rhode Island after fishing. Officers found a secret compartment that opened hydraulically with eleven (11) illegal fish (in addition to the two legal fish he had in his possession).

Poaching in the Chesapeake kills fish that would normally find their way north to Rhode Island and beyond. Last week the Maryland DNR shut down the February striped bass gill net season after confiscating more than ten tons of illegally caught striped bass in two days. The illegal fish (over 20,000 pounds of our striped bass) came from four illegally anchored gill nets in the Chesapeake Bay. Authorities are concerned about the extent of the poaching and shut things down to investigate. These young bass are the very fish that migrate north to Rhode Island and New England, poaching such as this in the Chesapeake can have a huge impact on our fishery.

This series on striped bass will continue next week.

They Keep Coming Back (6/1/09)

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.

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.