Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saltwater striper hatch down
Bill Cochran
Recent field reports
The 2009 striped bass hatch in the Chesapeake Bay is being called “decent” by Maryland fish officials, but some anglers don’t see it that way. It is better than the previous year, but below average for the decade.
Hatches tend to fluctuate from year to year, but Stripers Forever believes the decline is yet another example of what it calls “a deteriorating recreational striper fishery from Maine to North Carolina.”
Stripers Forever is an Internet-based conservation organization that advocates managing the striped bass as a game fish by eliminating all commercial harvest of wild stripers.
The Chesapeake Bay is a huge and vital spawning ground for stripers along the Atlantic Coast. Fish born in the Bay travel north and south along the coast. Year classes can determine the success of this fishery, especially when there are several good ones or bad hatches in a row.
Scientists often explain the reasons for changes or anomalies in hatch data, but fishermen simply want something to catch, said David Ross of Stripers Forever.
“It really doesn’t matter what the reasons are, the recent spawning numbers are not good,” he said.
The impact can be seen in the declining fishery for school-size striped bass along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is at odds with Stripers Forever. The commission’s latest preliminary assessment reveals that the stock is not being over fished and remains healthy, though it agrees that abundance has declined since 2004. Landings and recruitment has been declining, the commission said.
In the meanwhile, growing numbers of anglers are beginning to express concern over their declining catches.
BILL
OUTDOOR BRIEFS
- The Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail is celebrating its fifth anniversary. David Whitehurst of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said the first statewide trail of its kind is generating $8.6 million a year in tourism, often in rural areas where the revenue is much needed.
- The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is getting $1 million in federal stimulus funds. The money must be used in energy conservation efforts. A big chunk will go to the A. Victor Thomas Hatchery in Brookneal where the state’s inland striped bass are raised.
- The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries plans to begin its active surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease Oct. 31 as it zeroes in on sections of Frederick and Shenandoah counties where hunters will be asked to submit deer heads for study. CWD has not been detected in Virginia; however, since Sept. 2005 approximately 45 cases have been documented in nearby Hampshire County, W.Va. Look for more information on HuntFishVA.com/cwd
BILL
VIRGINIA SALTWATER FISHING TOURNAMENT
Few changes can be expected in the Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament this time of the year. Here are the standings:
BLACK DRUM: 84 pounds, 12 ounces, William Brown, Hampton, Inner Middle Ground; C-13
BLUELINE TILEFISH: 20 pounds, 10 ounces, Kenneth Bowe, Chester, Norfolk Canyon.
COBIA: 105 pounds, 8 ounces, Wes Blow, Newport News, lower Chesapeake Bay.
CROAKER: 5 pounds, 3 ounces, Nathan Clendenin, Richmond, lower York River. .
DOLPHIN: 39 pounds, Robert Manus, Ark, Triple Zero’s.
FLOUNDER: 12 pounds, 12 ounce, Mike Perron, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
GRAY TRIGGERFISH: 5 pounds, 1 ounce, Thomas Shepard, Virginia Beach, Hanks Wreck.
KING MACKEREL: 33 pounds, 1 ounce, Ed Cromwell Jr., Virginia Beach, inshore waters off Virginia Beach.
KINGFISH: 1 pound, 12 ounces, Bill Pope, Norfolk, Sandbridge Pier.
SEA BASS: 8 pounds, 4 ounces, Wei Zhohg Zheng, Saranac, N.Y., Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.
SHEEPHEAD: 17 pounds, 4 ounces, Lesley Inge, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake Bay.
SPADEFISH: 14 pounds, 14 ounces, state record, Roland Murphy, Fredericksburg, the Cell.
SPANISH MACKEREL: 6 pounds, 7 ounces, Michael Bell, Lynchburg, 26 Mile Hill.
SPECKLED TROUT: 13 pounds, 14 ounces, Michael Whittaker, Chesapeake, Elizabeth River.
SPOT: 1 pound, 2 ounces, Chris Brooks, Virginia Beach, Elizabeth River.
STRIPED BASS: 66 pounds, 8 ounces, Pete Johnson, Hampton, Smith Island.
TAUTOG: 21 pounds, 13 ounces, Skip Feller, Virginia Beach, wreck off Virginia Beach.
TUNA (BLUEFIN): 168 pounds, Paulette Johnson, Uniontown, Ohio, 100 Fathom off Virginia Beach.
TUNA: 230 pounds, Jeff Creekmore, Chesapeake, Norfolk Canyon.
WAHOO: 72 pounds, 4 ounce, Lonnie Brock, Virginia Beach, 100 Fathom off Virginia Beach.
MEETINGS/EVENTS/SEASONS
Early muzzleloading season, Oct. 31-Nov. 13
Rabbit season, Oct. 31-Feb. 27
Smith Mountain Striper Club meeting, Nov. 6, Moneta Community Center, officers to be elected.
Quail and pheasant season, Nov. 7-Jan. 30
Woodcock hunting season, Nov. 7-21; Dec. 26-Jan. 9, three per day.
Firearm’s deer season November 14.
Smith River Trout Unlimited meeting, Dec. 3, 6:30 p.m. at Rania’s Restaurant in Martinsville, program by Scott Smith, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ biologist on the Smith River fishery, guests welcome, meals available, information from Al Kittredge or smithrivertu.com.
Youth spring turkey hunt day, April 3, 2010.
Spring gobbler season, April 10-May 15, 2010.
BASS Elite Blue Ridge Brawl, April 15-18, Smith Mountain Lake.
North Carolina State University Sport Fishing School, May 30-June 3, 2010, Hatteras, N.C.
Got an event? Let us know: xtrails@earthlink.net.
