Chesapeake Bay
Cheapeake Bay is the nursery for approximately 75 percent of the striped bass found along the Atlantic Coast. People living in the Chesapeake Bay region call striped bass "Rockfish".
Chesapeake Bay
Striped Bass are an anadromous fish, meaning that they spawn in fresh water rivers, but spend most of their adult life in saltwater. Freshwater rivers that see a significant amount of striped bass spawning activity include the Hudson, Delaware, and Roanoke. However, the Chesapeake Bay is the spawning ground for the majority of the Atlantic coastal striped bass stock. Consider that the Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the U.S. More than 150 freshwater rivers and streams, where stripers can spawn, drain into the Bay.
The stripers typically spend the first two to four years of their lives in the Bay. Most then move to the ocean and join the annual coastal migration, going north to New England in summers. They return south in the late fall to feed on smaller fish that migrate out of the Bay for the winter. Most stay in the Atlantic Ocean off of the Virginia and North Carolina coasts, but some also winter in the Bay.
Chesapeake Bay Rockfish
Because the Chesapeake Bay is so large, trolling is the most popular and effective method of catching striped bass there. With trolling you can cover a lot of territory and maybe intercept a large striper.
A popular technique is to troll umbrella rigs with shad teasers and a large spoon or plug that resembles a large baitfish. The rockfish shown on the right was caught while trolling.
One of the best places to fish in the Chesapeake Bay is around the piling of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. To find out more about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel Click here.
Juvenile Stripers
Striped Bass YOY Juvenile
Index Chart
Catch and Release
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service performs a Juvenile Striped Bass survey each year where they document annual year-class-success for young-of-year (YOY) striped bass. They derive juvenile YOY indices from seine sampling at 22 fixed locations within the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. A high relative index indicates a probable abundance of stripers in future years when these juveniles reach maturity.
Years where high YOY indices were realized were 1993, 1996, and 2001. The years of 1996 an 1993 are of special interest, as these fish are now 34 and 42 inches in length and are in their prime spawning years. These fish are now in abundance in the Bay. It is the hope, and the concern, that these stripers are allowed a few years of successful spawning to assure many future years of striped bass abundance.
The Maryland DNR Fisheries Service and other states are considering incentive programs to reward anglers who release large, spawning size fish. Most large striped bass are female (Cow) stripers and are capable of producing 1 million eggs for every 10 pounds of weight. Stripers in the 28 to 34 inch size are also abundant, and these tend to taste better than bigger stripers.
We fishermen must do our part to preserve our precious striped bass fishery. When you catch a large striper, quickly take its picture, then gently release it. Let your photograph be your trophy. Then take pride and satisfaction on giving the striper you released the chance to spawn again, and produce many more stripers.
Susquehanna Flats
Where the Susquehanna River flows into the Chesapeake Bay there is a deep channel section surrounded by shallower areas called the "Susquehanna Flats." Here mud bottoms soak up the Spring sun and warm the shallower water flowing over them. As the bigger striped bass move into the Bay in the Spring they use these warmer flats as staging areas while waiting for the river waters to warm enough for them to head upstream to spawn. When the water temperature gets to about 50 degrees some great striped bass fishing can be had here. During this period the State of Maryland restricts fishing to Catch-and-Release in order to protect the stripers before they spawn.
A few weeks later, depending on water temperature, the State opens up a limited Catch-and-Keep period where fishermen can catch stripers as they head back out through the Bay and into the Ocean to continue their migration north. During this period trolling in the channels and deeper sections of the Bay is the fishing technique of choice.
Recognition: Much of the above information was obtained from the Maryland DNR website, and from an article in the April 2007 issue of Chesapeake Magazine written by John Paul Williams.
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