Striped bass fishing the Bay (all released)

[CHOC]

In fact, I haven't harvested a single striped bass this year and will not until the fishery improves.

[ronaultmtd]

Same here...In fact, there have been many fishing trips where I did not even target C&R fishing for them due to water temps...caught and released many fish over 19 inches, biggest so far is 25 inches (measured)...most were not measured and released while in the water...lost the entire month of October fishing due to lingering illness and a clutch slave cylinder failure on my truck...but feeling better now...truck is fixed...

[whenican]

I thought the striper fishery should have been closed this year so I did not target them at all. However, I still hooked them
but I released every single one of them including some nice would-keepers. How can the fishery improve if most everyone else is in denial & wiping out the ones that are left?

[nhunter344]

How can the fishery improve if most everyone else is in denial & wiping out the ones that are left?

I blame the state on this one. A lot of people aren't as in tune with the fishery like people the on this forum. The thinking goes along the lines of "If there was a problem, we wouldn't still be allowed to catch them."

[Mark]

There is a long history of Chesapeake anglers keeping fish. It’s cultural and hard to overcome. I’ve often wondered if local charter captains would find clients if they advertised C&R trips. I’ve also wondered how many of those fish in photos we see on various online forums and in print of dead stripers laid out on pier planks or frozen stiff in coolers actually make it to the table.

Of course, we know that C&R has mortality too and we recently learned that it accounts for more losses than we realized. But certainly, fish that are never returned to the water have zero chance to reproduce.

I practice C&R but without any sense of self righteousness. I know that on occasion my hooks have caused fish to die after I returned them to the water. The fact is that there would be more fish in the world if we weren't catching them for our amusement in addition to our desire to eat them.

I believe the answers to the present striper downturn lies mostly with each of us. Regulators, for the sake of the species, may limit our take but they will always fall short of the best solutions in my opinion as they balance political and economic pressures. Even so, they may reduce the frequencies of our trips, limit the times of year when we pursue stripers or change the acceptable methods we may use to catch them. But we can do each of those things now without mandates. We can exceed whatever the new MD/VA and coastal conservation edicts become by choice. We don't always have to 'limit out". Also, we can fish for other species in other waters because we are blessed in this area with many angling opportunities. In short, we can fish responsibly.

Stripers will rebound. But the question is will it be the lawmakers or us who will ensure another decline does not happen. I think the answer is us.

[rugbyfish]

I have also released all of my stripers this year. It certainly want easy at times, since I really enjoy the taste, and it’s always nice to bring home fresh fish. However, based on my observations and all available data, the decline is very evident. I don’t begrudge anyone for keeping fish legally, but at the same time I appreciate the efforts of those on this forum that are doing their part to ease the decline in numbers.

[ronaultmtd]

The title of this post allows for some additional thoughts...and tips...this time of year, I migrate away from pulling mostly paddletails soft plastics trolling for Stripers...one tip I can share this isn’t a big secret is the use of a Rapala hardbaits and how I troll them. My favorite colors are the olive “bunker,” blue/silver and Ghost colored XR-10 and XR-12 XRaps...they generally run about 5-7 feet deep depending on the amount of braid you let out, more line, deeper trolling depth up to about 8 feet max...I target structure I find on my side scan and when I get a knockdown I tag the GPS with a waypoint. You can quickly get a picture of what is going on with the fish by doing this and stay on them. My technique is to pull only two rods. I have tried trolling more but in my experience all you do is weave a net of hopelessly tangled lines when you get into fish...so only two and I alternate holding one rod and slashing the XRap with a yo-yo sequence with the rod I am holding...invariably, doing this greatly increases my success and usually as I give the bait slack is when the fish hits...be aware that it is smart to leash the rod doing this as the hit can sometimes be so strong as to knock the rod out of your hand. Once I have located the fish, sometimes I stop trolling, reel in the rods and sit there casting to them using the same slash bait techniques of retrieve...don’t get me wrong- the XRaps work fine in straight trolling and many times the rod sitting in the rod holder without any slash bait jerks get the fish...but Alternating has worked well for me...give it a try and see if it works for you.