The ocean was dead calm, but the crisp October air sparkled with life around a handful of fishing boats spread-out over Rhode Island’s Watch-Hill reef. Shrouded in a fog, we could hardly see the jagged rocks outlining the shore where a lighthouse appeared and then vanished in veils of mist. The hungry screams of diving seagulls and the haunting echo of distant marker-buoys accompanied us as we slowly drifted with the incoming tide. My angling companion and I were focussed on our live bait – small shad-like fish about ten inches long - that were defiantly being dragged behind the boat… A school of bait-fish soon erupted close by – and a formation of birds came to investigate. As I considered casting surface lures towards the area, I noticed my little shad was swimming erratically at the surface. We used no leader or weight. With our drag open – and our thumbs stopping the line from un-spooling off the reel – we waiting for a strike, and a fish to run with the bait.

There came a thunderous splash! A silver-white tail slammed my bait-fish into the air, only 20 yards behind the boat. I released my thumb and watched my stunned shad floating at the surface… A few seconds later, a dark shadow engulfed my bait and the line peeled off my reel. After a few more heartbeats, I engaged the drag. The butt of my rod jolted me in the stomach as the heavy fish immediately protested the hook-set… It was a glorious fight ending in my first striper ever – a magnificent 20 pounder. The night before I arrived, a night fisherman casting live eels from shore landed a 55 pounder. It is not hard to understand why striper fishing becomes an obsession with so many East-Coast anglers.

Before Expo ’67, Anglers from Montreal to Quebec City would catch striped bass regularly in the St-Lawrence, but pollution and has since help extinguish the population. Today, the MLCP is making efforts to re-introduce the species with a trial stocking program. In Lake Ontario, before wildlife management officials from New York State and Ontario decided to massively stock Pacific salmon, they had seriously considered introducing Striped-bass. And why not? These fish grow big, fight hard, and offer everything else a game-fish is supposed to.

Although Canada does possess some virgin striper fishing off the coasts of Nova Scotia and New-Brunswick, the sport fishery is vastly undeveloped. Along the American coast from Canada to North-Carolina however, it is a different story. Along the East coast stripers are extremely popular because in addition to being ‘sporty’ they can be targeted from shore or on reefs close to the shoreline. Stripers have a specific migratory pattern.

Migration

In the winter months, striped bass travel as far south as the lower Carolinas. They spend most of their time in the winter in deep water. In early spring, somewhere around early March, the stripers begin to move north to spawn in huge schools. Most stripers will spawn in either fresh or brackish water at the mouth of Large Rivers. They tend to reach the Connecticut area in early to mid April, Cape Cod around the first week of May and points north later into spring. Water temperature has a great influence on this process. Once waters have reached the 50 degree mark, action starts suddenly appearing along the coastline. Bass also can remain in an area all winter. It is rare but not impossible to find a fisherman catching stripers in December. These fish are generally smaller and are caught in rivers such as the Connecticut and Hudson. There is a prime time for angling. Season and time of day seem to have a big impact on fish presence. In the New England area, fishing is best in June and then again in September and October when the bass begin their fall migration south. Cooler water temperatures will turn activity on, while warm waters found during the peak summer months and at midday, tend to drive the fish deep.

Smaller stripers school-up and travel in large numbers, but big stripers tend to be loners, staying deeper than the pack. They often arrive a few weeks later than the schoolies. In New England, May brings the arrival of the “cows” or any fish really over 28 inches. Big fish tend to feed on herring and larger bait as well. It is not uncommon for fisherman to witness big stripers working a school of bait-fish together, like a pack of wolves, cornering them before moving in for the kill.

Fishing tactics

The official world record striper was caught by Al McReynolds on September 21, 1982 from Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was 78 pounds 8 oz and about 53″ long. Heavy tackle is required when targeting such monsters. Surf-casting is one of the post popular methods; big spinning reels with 15-25 pound test are mounted on 7-12 foot heavy rods. Anglers wade the shoreline while casting surf lures like the ‘popper’ - a cylindrical plug that, when jerked, thrashes at the surface, mimicking an injured bait-fish… Live bait is an extremely successful method for big stripers. Since such trophy fish feed close to shore at night (especially under the visibility of a full moon), live eels are used frequently by bait fisherman who cast and wait patiently for a strike…

When trying to locate bass, the sight of feeding birds is often the best sign. Incoming and out-going tides are preferred periods for travelling bait-fish over reefs – because all stripers love structure. Bluefish also inhabit most of the stripers range. They are equally sporty gamefish with sharp teeth, so using a metal leader for bass is often a wise idea: both species strike the same lures. Lately, fly-fishing for stripers has grown in popularity. Weighted, shad-dart type flies are striped over reefs and in the surf by Fly-casters generally using a ‘stripping basket’ and 9 – weight saltwater rods and reels.

Stripers were successfully introduced along the Pacific Coast, and San-Francisco Bay is now a very successful striper area – but not as popular as Chesapeake Bay on the East coast or other famous beaches. Some fresh-water reservoirs in the Southern U.S. have stocked stripers with great success since the species takes well to fresh water. Perhaps Canadian anglers one day will enjoy a wide striper sport-fishery, but until then, the best guides, and most knowledgeable striper anglers remain our American cousins. For more information, contact Chatham Charters at www.HookedonStripers.com.