Stripers: Sweet and Salt.

Striped Bass from the upper Chesapeake Bay.
 

 

By: Jim Gronaw

Date Posted: March 22, 2011

 

 

For years, I had heard about the catch and release striper season on the Susquehanna Flats complex at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. Stories of fish of 30, 40, even 50 pounds or more are caught, photographed and released every spring season. This sounded like a great fishing gig! Literally the Mecca for giant, shallow water cows that could tow the boat. And even if you didn’t catch a giant, there were tales of many, many fish of all sizes. Many methods would work, and different times would be productive.

So, when I got a call from Ronald Dorsey, of Bel Air, last April, that he was into a bunch of light-tackle stripers, well, I just had to beg Linda for the chance to sample these powerhouse fish. Ron and his friends had been having good success with 3 to 10 pound class fish on a variety of lures to include jerkbaits, jigs with plastics and top waters. Not those huge, cow stripers we had all heard about, but lots of numbers. The week previous he had one trip where they landed over 50 fish from his 20-foot Crestliner, and several other trips with a count of 20 to 30 fish caught. Let’s see…dozens of 3 to 10 pound fish that smack topwaters or jigs and sizzle off on scorching light-tackle runs? Did I want any of that? Yup!! I was stoked!

We would actually be fishing on one of the final days on the flats before the catch and release season closed. As Ron explained, a wave of younger, male striped bass had entered the system and the average size was perfect for light, 8 pound test spinning gear. Most of the bigger, female fish had already spawned and were making their way back out of the flats and down the bay. Different pulses of fish enter the Susquehanna throughout the spring. They will vary in size and usually school according to such.

We launched out of Harve de Grace and went just a mile or so and began drift-casting along the northeast section of the flats. This is a huge, 30 square mile basin at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. It is shallow throughout and has a few channel areas and deeper pockets. It would be ill advised to go it alone if you have never been here, as you can get stuck on a sand bar for 6 hours waiting for the tide to change. Fishing with a veteran like Ron made it nice.

Almost immediately, we stated tagging stripers on jerk baits such as the Rapala Husky Jerk # 12 and I used a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 in a shad pattern. Most strikes came as solid hits, and the fish would whistle off on a brief run and then dog it all the way to the boat in typical striped bass fashion. Ron used Bass Pro Shop Inshore Extreme 6 ½ foot rods and 8 pound test Fireline. I used 20 pound Stren Sonic Braid. Both lines allowed long, smooth casts and afforded the sensitivity and hookset power needed when fish struck far from the boat on the end of the cast. It was a clear and relatively calm day and we didn’t have many issues with boat positioning. Casting on the edge of some upper bay grass beds kept us on the fish as different small schools and pods of stripers would smash our baits.

We didn’t get any giants, but I’ll tell you what…we caught and released 31 stripers in a brief, four hour stint. The fish were true to form and ran three to seven pounds, as Ron had said. These are great fish on light tackle and about all you would want on 6 or 8 pound line. Earlier in the morning, his good friend in another boat, had landed a 16 and an 18 pounder on similar sized gear. We had a bunch of doubles. What a hoot!

If you have never caught a striped bass then I guess you would put it somewhere with powerhouse salmonoids of the Great Lakes region for fighting strength and endurance. Scale the tackle accordingly and numbers of ‘decent’ fish are just plain fun. Of course, being primarily a panfish freak, anything over a couple pounds seems huge to me! We closed out the day with a run of only a mile back to the docks, and hopes of doing this again next year when the stripers cram the Susquehanna.

MEANWHILE, IN A LAKE NOT FAR AWAY…

Stripers roam, in some lakes throughout the Mid-Atlantic, some big, and some are huge. The Maryland freshwater striper record is 47 ½ pounds from Liberty Lake, 20 miles west of Baltimore. The Pennsylvania record is 52 pounds, 11 ounces and came from Raystown Lake in Huntington County. Many other regional lakes have either recent or remnant populations of freshwater stripers that still provide action for those willing to refine tactics and persue them. In Maryland, Liberty, Piney Run and Triadelphia Lakes currently have stripers and the Quaker State has Raystown, Blue Marsh, Beltzville, Redman, and Pinchot holding stripers and hybrid stripers from past stockings. In northeast Pennsylvania is 5,900 acre Lake Wallenpaupack. Along with Raystown, Wallenpaupack  may be the only viable ice-fisheries for stripers in the United States. Stripers in the 20 to 30 pound class have come through the ice from both lakes over the years. That is just CRAZY!

Freshwater stripers are different, yet the same, as the saltwater clan.  They like to roam in schools, get under some baitfish and crash up through them, just like they do in the brine. They will make movements upstream and enter tight, riverine environs in an effort to spawn. Be at the right place at the right time and you can do quite well from the shore. In lakes like Virginia’s Lake Anna, Kerr and Gaston, they key on shad based forage types and show favoritism to herring when they spawn. In smaller lakes like Piney Run or Pinchot, it’s usually a panfish quest or a run for gizzard or threadfin shad.

Where golden shiners exist, there can be a good early spring bite on stripers chasing these fish as waters get to the upper 40’s and low 50’s. The shiners will move in shallow on wood cover and mix it up with prespawn crappie. At that time and they both can be an easy meal for big fish of several species. Tossing suspended jerk baits like Lucky Craft Pointer 128’s or Rapala Husky Jerks will take fish as shallow as 18 inches off of downed trees or beaver lodges. Many anglers just don’t believe this, thinking it must be a ‘bass-only’ pattern. But, nope, it works for stripers, too.

My son Matt and I have each taken several 36- inch class stripers chucking these baits to the wood. When water temps are below 50, very slow retrieves with long pauses can get the stripers attention. Strikes seem to come in two forms…it’s either a soft, almost crappie-like bump or else it’s an all-out explosion. But once the fish is hooked, it’s like a runaway freight train…hold on and hope! We spool up with Sonic Braid at 20 pound test and use a 15 pound test mono leader to secure the lure. Rods should be 6 ½ to 7 ½ feet and have sensitivity yet backbone to handle these fish. Reels should have excellent drags, as a 75- yard initial run is not unusual. Expect long, tension-filled battles with these fish that just don’t quit. Get them in, take the photos and revive them to fight again. Cold water stripers release well, and delayed mortality is not a concern unless the fish is deeply hooked. In freshwater lakes throughout the Mid-Atlantic, three- foot long stripers are considered trophies among all but the most elite of striper anglers.

Sadly, most all freshwater venues for stripers are determined by stocking ratios to sustain the fisheries. In todays angling world, money talks, with other species getting the overwhelming percentage of fishery management dollars. With a huge resource of saltwater stripers in the Chesapeake and adjoining coastal states, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia do not always put striped bass stocking on the front burner. Most of those programs have ceased. The huge sprawling reservoirs of the south and mid –west can answer the call for these great and adaptable game fish. But back east, I’ll settle for a combination of both sweet and saltwater stripers to shatter my nerves and keep the drags screaming. Some fisheries are emerging and some are fizzling out. But me…I’m just glad they’re here for now, in numbers and in size.