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Striper Migration Question

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  • Striper Migration Question

    I'm always trying to learn more about the sport and I've been wondering about striper migration. I'm not speaking of the resident fish but rather the ones that have joined the migration.
    Right now they are migrating out of the ocean and into the bay, presumably through the south end of the bay and the C and D canal. This is obvious because they have sea lice on them so it's clear that they were just out in high salinity.
    At what point did they move out to the ocean, after spawning in the spring?
    Do they stay in the bay through the winter or do they move out to the ocean again, only to make another trip back in the spring? I know there are big ones that stick around the WWD's through the winter but I'm not sure if that's typical or not.

    Can someone set me straight as to where the heck the migratory fish are through the season

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  • #2
    Most resident fish stick around year round. The WWD's are a good place to find them during the coldest times. A high percentage of all the stripers are hatched in the Chesapeake watershed. They stick around and grow till they reach traveling size (around 22 - 24"). When they reach that size a good number of them migrate to the north, following a food source all the way.
    In the fall the bait schools gather up and head south. All of the migrating fish including blues and stripers, among others gather to feast on the bait schools. This is occurring now, the main body is reported to be from DE to the mouth of the bay. Once they get to the Chesapeake they run into the bait fish that are moving down the bay and make the turn north.
    They move up the bay and continue to follow the food wherever it goes. When the food is out of the bay so are the stripers. Once in the ocean again they move from VA to NC and back. They also move from near shore to out beyond the 3 mile limit where you can't legally fish for them. Not even C&R. Almost all of the east coast stripers stay in that area till the urge to reproduce sends them up the bay and other coastal rivers to spawn. Then it all starts over again

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