2014 Striped Bass Trophy Season

[buzz]

vballbach's thread got me thinking its time to get ready... but I didn't want to hijack his thread.
Maybe we can use this thread for general questions related to the striped bass trophy season.

I had to ask about this year's season because I was having terrible difficulty navigating the DNR site. But I finally found the page.
Maryland DNR - Striped Bass

This will be the first year I've hit the trophy season on my own. In the past, I've always chartered a boat.

I notice the regs state you cannot use eel for bait. I've read before that this is because they tend to gulp them down too deep for a safe hook removal.
So would that mean you can't use artificial eels too?

[ES Fisherman]

Artificial eels are fine. Strange how you can use other live baits as they have the same chance of being swallowed. I think they allow eels starting sometime in May but by then the bigger fish are mostly gone. If you do go with live bait definitely use circle hooks.

[chex]

striped bass regulations are complicated, but I'm sure they're like that for a reason (good or bad).

WHY ARE EELS PROHIBITED AS BAIT IN THE SPRING?
Striped Bass return to Maryland each spring to spawn. Striped Bass engulf eels and swallow the hooks. Deep hooked fish experience about 50% mortality.

I also wonder why this does not include other types of live bait. But then I also can't think of another live bait I might use at that time of the year. Minnows, menhaden maybe.

Also, barbless hooks when trolling. We do a lot of trolling on our kayaks, sometimes not intentionally, even though it's not really the type of "trolling" they had in mind when making this rule.

[surfdog]

DNR doesn't put kayaks in the trolling group if human powered. But I would still crush the barb.

[Cody]

Does anyone know the striped bass regs for fishing back in the creek as far as seasons and hook regs

[buzz]

Tidal tributaries of the Bay follow the same regs as the Bay.

Chesapeake Bay & Tidal Tributaries

[Capt C-Hawk]

The regs are complicated for sure. Eels are striper candy and they get swallowed. Other favorites are shad and herring, both are in moritorium. Eels are allowed when the regular season starts in May.
Barbless hooks are only required during pre-season C&R. There's also a 6 rod limit during pre-season. Starting April 19 any hooks are legal. Assuming DNR lifts the 3 rod limit. like they say they will do, you can troll all you have.
When the season opens April 19th most tributaries remain closed. The Potomac is open from 301 bridge to the bay, but is C&R from the bridge to Fletchers.
Check out the maps at this link to find out what areas are open to C&R, catch and keep or closed to fishing. I'm sure you'll find it clear as mud.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/mapindex/bass.asp

If you like the striper regs you'll love the license laws. Basically any one of three licenses will cover you in tidal water. MD's Bay Sport, VA's Tidal or the PRFC license. DC doesn't honor any of the three, they have their own.

[J.A. Veil]

I call your attention to a post I made last spring about where to find applicable striped bass rules from DNR http://www.snaggedline.com/showthrea...r+striped+bass.

The official regulations are codified in COMAR (Code of Maryland Regulations). Another version of the rules is shown in the Fishing in Maryland annual brochure. They are written in formal language and are not real easy to follow, nor are they flexible. I phoned a woman in DNR to get some clarification. She told me that DNR created a series of maps with different date ranges to more easily explain how the fishing rules changed during the year. This was done to make interpretation easier for the large majority of us who are no lawyers or regulatory specialists. I suggest that you visit the DNR website and review the geographic boundaries and dates before planning spring striped bass trips.


On another regulatory note, Surfdog wrote "DNR doesn't put kayaks in the trolling group if human powered." I have not seen or heard that distinction before. Please share with us where you got that interpretation.

[jet]

DNR doesn't put kayaks in the trolling group if human powered. But I would still crush the barb.

I was stopped by DNR last year under the bay bridge. they checked my barbs and even made me crush a barb on a bucktail that wasn't being used at the time, but sitting on the deck. I was trolling tandems when I was stopped