The striped bass (Morone saxatilis) has a history like no other fish on earth. The fish itself is mentioned in Native American lore dating back centuries, as well as being the chosen fare at the nations first Thanksgiving. Surf fishing clubs and accompanying buildings were formed and built with the sole purpose of coordinating activities specifically geared for fishing for the striper. People constructed their livelihoods around the abundance of the bass, notably the baymen off Eastern Long Island, as well as charter boat captains from the same ports. The fluctuations in striper populations caused many problems once the fish began to decline at times throughout the years, most recently the early and mid eighties. It was then that a moratorium was placed on the sale of the striped bass This led to the conservation efforts to track and maintain a sort of safety net for the monitored fish, born and labeled the "class of 1982", or the `82 class. Initially a complete moratorium was placed upon any sort of harvesting the species. Gradually, as the fish grew, a size limit was placed on the class, in addition to daily bag limits of one or two fish. Both commercially and recreationally, it has been enveloped in more political turmoil than most politicians could ever hope for.

The striped bass is a coastal species that moves far upstream during spawning migrations in coastal rivers. As aforementioned, stripers are anadromous, entering fresh water to spawn and can often be seen in the shallows in many estuarine environments around the island, especially during those hours between dusk and dawn. This is true even in the warm summer months although it is more likely when the water is cooler in the spring or fall. I have personally caught bass up to 18 pounds in water so shallow that a Great Blue Heron was walking through it as I was reeling in the fish! In these coastal populations of bass, individuals may ascend streams and travel as much as 100 miles inland to spawn. They can tolerate lower salinity levels than can bluefish and can take advantage of this when pursuing prey, such as mummichog, or white perch into brackish waters. Their anadromous nature enables them to take advantage of additional prey when moving into brackish and fresh waters. These moments make for exciting light tackle or fly rod action that allow the bass to really display their vivacity

Stripers are a migratory and highly nomadic species, following the seasons and vast schools of herring, mullet and menhaden up and down the shoreline. This characteristic of the bass makes for some fine fall action when the fish are preparing to head south or out to deeper water and are on hot pursuit of these mullet or menhaden. This is especially a great time to use those large Danny Plugs and Pencil Poppers off the beach. Stripers are at times predictable in their arrivals and departures during the Spring and once again in autumn, however they will often frustrate the angler during the times between, failing to show where they were abundant the year before.

I can recall one evening at a Northshore beach at a nice location where a tidal estuary emptied into the Sound, where on Nov 30th, at exactly 7pm, the entire mouth of the estuary was covered with acres of churning white water, under which were acres of feeding striped bass! It was phenomenal, and made an indescribable sound as hundreds maybe thousands of stripers intercepted a school of herring as they left for the Sound. Fish, both herring and bas cleared the water splashing and jumping eveywhere like schoolkids seeing their first snowfall of the year. As amazing as it was that evening, out of the eight of us witnessing this event, nobody actually caught a bass! We were using jointed swimming plugs, tins, bucktails, were fly fishing, one guy even had cut herring...all to no avail, as for whatever reason, the bass only wanted the herring and whatever else was swimming that moment in the river.

The native range for the striped bass is along the Atlantic coast east of the Appalachian Mountains from New Brunswick south to Florida and west into Louisiana. The species has been introduced at scattered locations throughout the central U.S., in addition to being introduced as far west as the Colorado River in Arizona, and at various sites in California. Although not native to Texas the species has been stocked in a number of reservoirs where excellent fisheries are maintained and bass reach "saltwater weights" of 40-50 pounds. Stripers were first introduced to the Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary in the late 1800's. Their high fecundity and ability to survive in a wide range of environmental conditions resulted in a high survival rate, such that the striped bass population increased rapidly. The introduction of striped bass was so successful that a commercial fishery developed within ten years and they extended their range into Southern Oregon within twenty years. In these pacific states, people today are seen pursuing these majestic fish from the surf as we do here in the surf fishing capital of the world.

Atlantic coastal fisheries for striped bass rely primarily on production from populations spawning in the Hudson River and in tributaries of Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay region has historically produced most of the striped bass found along the East coast, hence the need to protect the fragile marine environment here. However, during most of the 1970s and 1980s, juvenile production in the Chesapeake Bay was extremely poor, causing a severe decline in commercial landings during the mid-1970s. Prior recruitment for Chesapeake Bay was probably due primarily to overfishing, however, poor water quality due to industrial pollution in spawning and nursery habitats likely also contributed.

During the mid-1980s, stringent management measures were adopted by states from Virginia to Maine to attempt to rebuild the Chesapeake stocks, which essentially represent the health of the bass populace as a whole. These measures, aimed at protecting 1982 and subsequent year classes until females could spawn at least once, have been effective in increasing spawning stock abundance. Signs of improved recruitment in Chesapeake Bay have appeared as well, although not in all areas and years. Since 1987, indices of juvenile production in Virginia s Chesapeake Bay tributaries have been at or near record high levels in all but one year. In contrast, Maryland's index of juvenile abundance has remained very low except in two recent years

Today, the striped bass can be found today on both coasts of the United States, having strong populations off the West Coast after being introduced into the San Francisco Bay area. The striper is known in many parts as an introduced species to inland reservoirs, put there with hopes of controlling local alewife or shad populations that had gone unchecked. These landlocked bass are found throughout the country and many hybridize with the White bass to give rise to "white rocks," or hybrid stripers. However, the fisherman who has never taken a bass off the surf during the autumn migration truly hasn't experienced all that fishing has to offer, nor the striper has to give. I can personally attest to witnessing acres of surf, churned white with the frenzied actions of thousands of feeding stripers one November evening in an inlet on the Island. It was the first night that of that year "when the bass came in" back in 1991. It was a memorable sight I won't soon forget.

It should be noted that 90 percent of stripers will be found within a mile from the beach and many will be right in the wash during low light hours from dusk to daybreak. I can remember an October sunset at Turtle Cove in Montauk, the wind howling at thirty knots in your face. I was in the surf up to my knees and schools of 20-30 pound stripers were swimming all around me, chasing spearing right up onto the beach, then the bass would flop back into the wash, to be followed by yet more bass! There were vast schools of both bait and bass around that day, with a few bluefish thrown in as well. The schools of bass were hundreds of yards in length and fish would be seen literally with the dorsal fnis out of the water, in two feet of water at times! Predation at its finest! This is the time for using light floating swimming plugs or darters.

As far as angling sport, striped bass fishing ranks among the most prized catches in the world, both by fisherman and chefs alike, as the striped bass is a delicacy, and is sought after by quality restaurants worldwide. As a game fish, it frequently requires more diligence and skill to catch than does your average bluefish. There are times, however, where they will be in a feeding frenzy akin to a marauding bluefish school and will take just about anything moving that may resemble food. Records have been made on the beaches of Long Island, especially at Montauk and along the South Shore, although the IGFA record was landed in New Jersey. This specimen weighed in at over 78 pounds (see below). Fish weighing over 20 pounds are relatively common today, but were not always and thus should not be taken for granted. Although there have been bass netted that have weighed in excess of 125 pounds off the coast, you should consider yourself fortunate if you land a fish over 30 pounds. The larger "cows" will appear more frequently during the runs in September through November, when fish topping 50 pounds will be caught. Presently, (1998) there seems to be an abundance of young, or schoolie stripers, which some look upon with a certain amount of disdain, however fisherman should rejoice. The presence of large numbers of young fish indicate a healthy future for the species and perhaps one day we will be pulling in 50 pounders with the frequency back in the hey day of surf fishing. So, the moral of the story; don't curse the "shorts" and release them with care.

World Record Striped Bass

The recorded-world record striper was caught by Al McReynolds fishing at night off the Vermont Avenue jetty in Atlantic City 1982. He was fishing during a September Nor'easter storm where the waves had been kicking up all day. The fish was taken on a 5 1/2-inch long Rebel Black-back silver minnow plug on 20-pound test line and took one hour and 40 minutes to land the fish on the jetty. The fish measured 53 inches in length with a 34 1/2 inch girth, and was estimated to be between 30 and 40 years old. Its 78 pound 8 oz. weight earned it the IGFA all-tackle record!   Striper Fishing Tackle