fishing for spawning bass

[porgy75]

Maybe this is a controversial question but if people are concerned about the population of striped bass why are they allowed to be caught before they spawn?

I tried to find out some information about when they spawn and came up with this.


Biology







Reproduction

Striped bass begin spawning in the spring when the water temperature reaches 60 degrees. Most spawning occurs between 61 and 69 degrees and the spawning period usually extends from April to mid-June. Stripers spawn in open fresh water where the current is moderate to swift. The Delta, especially the San Joaquin River between the Antioch Bridge and the mouth of Middle River, and other channels in this area, is an important spawning ground. Another important spawning area is the Sacramento River between Sacramento and Princeton. About one-half to two-thirds of the eggs are spawned in the Sacramento River and the remainder in the Delta. Female striped bass usually spawn for the first time in their fourth or fifth year, when they are 21 to 25 inches long. Some males mature when they are 2 years old and only about 11 inches long. Most males are mature at age 3 and nearly all females at age 5.
Stripers are very prolific. A 5-pound female may spawn 180,000 eggs in one season and a 15-pound fish is capable of producing over a million eggs. This great reproductive potential and favorable environmental conditions allowed striped bass to establish a large population within a few years after their introduction in California. Striped bass often spawn in large schools. On one occasion, DFG biologists observed a school of several thousand bass at the surface along the bank of the Sacramento River above Knights Landing. Small groups of three to six bass frequently segregated from this school and splashed and churned in the main current of the river in the act of spawning. At times, five or more groups of bass were observed spawning at once. Usually, a large female was accompanied by several smaller males. While the eggs are still in the female, they are only about 1/25 inch in diameter, but after release, they absorb water and increase to about 1/8 inch in diameter. The eggs are then transparent, making them virtually invisible. During the spawning act, eggs and milt are released into the water. The milt contains microscopic sperm cells which penetrate the eggs and cause them to develop. Striped bass eggs are slightly heavier than water, so a moderate current is needed to suspend them while they develop. Without adequate water movement, they sink to the bottom and die. The eggs hatch in about two days, although the length of time may be somewhat shorter or longer depending upon temperature; hatching is quickest in warm water. The newly-hatched bass continue their development while being carried along by water currents. At first, the larval bass are forced to subsist on their yolk, but in about a week they start feeding on tiny crustaceans which are just visible to the naked eye. By August, they are about two inches long and are feeding primarily on mysid shrimp and amphipods, both bottom- dwelling crustaceans. At this time, they are most numerous from the western Delta to Suisun Bay.

Growth

The age of striped bass is recorded on the scales by a series of growth marks. The winter is a period of slow growth, during which a series of closely spaced rings form around the edge of each scale. The age of an individual bass can be determined by examining a scale under a microscope and counting the number of such closely spaced bands of rings, called annuli.

Examination of many thousands of scales has provided a basis for determining the rate at which striped bass grow. On average, bass are four to five inches long at the end of the first year, 11 inches at the end of the second, 16 inches at the end of the third, and 20 inches at the end of the fourth year. A striped bass that is 36 inches long normally is about 12 years old. A bass 48 inches long, and weighing over 50 pounds, is over 20 years old. The graph on this map makes it possible to estimate the age of an individual striped bass if the length or the weight is known. The largest striped bass on record weighed 125 pounds and was caught in a seine net in North Carolina in 1891. Another very large one, weighing 112 pounds, was caught in Massachusetts many years ago. No stripers over 100 pounds has been caught on the Pacific Coast. There is an authentic record of a 78-pound bass from a San Francisco fish market in 1910. The current California sport record for striped bass is a 67-1/2-pound fish caught in O'Neill Forebay, Merced County, in May 1992.


Food

Striped bass are voracious feeders. They generally feed on the most available and abundant invertebrates and forage fish of the appropriate size. Initially, small bass feed on tiny crustacean plankton, but, after a few weeks, the favorite food becomes the mysid shrimp and amphipods. Mysid shrimp are most numerous where salt levels are 1–20 percent of sea water. Young striped bass are most numerous in the same area. Larger stripers tend to prefer larger food items. In San Francisco Bay, anchovies, shiner perch, and herring are important in the diet. Anchovies, sculpins (bullheads), and shrimp make up the bulk of the diet in San Pablo Bay. In the Delta and upriver areas, larger bass feed mainly on threadfin shad, young striped bass, and other small fish.

Migrations

Sublegal striped bass, fish under 18 inches long, are found all year in large numbers above San Francisco Bay. It is not known whether they have a definite migratory pattern or just wander about in response to environmental cues, such as food availability. Most adult bass, after spawning in the spring in the San Joaquin Delta and upper Sacramento River, move downstream into brackish and salt water for the summer and fall. Many bass spend this period feeding in the bays, particularly San Francisco Bay.
Some fish enter the ocean, but the actual number doing so varies considerably from year to year. Some of the larger bass move up and down the coast and are occasionally caught as far south as Monterey and as far north as Bodega Bay. During late fall and winter, some fish move back upstream into the fresh water of the Delta and lower Sacramento River. While this general migration pattern applies to most bass, there are always exceptions. For instance, some fish remain in the American and Feather rivers during the summer and good fishing sometimes occurs in San Francisco Bay in the spring. Therefore, many striped bass anglers have had the experience of catching fish at unexpected times and places.


Parasites

A parasite is an organism that derives its living from another organism. Most fish are hosts to numerous parasites and the striped bass is no exception. A common pest and an external parasite of stripers is the Pacific lamprey. This parasite fish, eel-like in appearance, with a horny sucking disc surrounding its mouth, attaches itself to the sides of bass and sucks body fluids. When it releases itself, or is rubbed off, it leaves a round, circular wound about an inch in diameter.

Two types of internal parasites found in striped bass are of particular concern. The first of these is a tapeworm larva of the order Trypanorhyncha. Adults live in sharks and rays and the intermediate life stages live in small crustaceans and other fish, such as striped bass. Tapeworm larvae that live in crustaceans eaten by striped bass burrow through the stomach or intestine and form masses in the muscles of the adjacent body wall. The immunological response of the fish to this foreign substance often leads to the death of its own muscle tissue at the site where tapeworm larvae concentrated. Secondary infection by bacteria may lead to a severe sore on the side of the fish.

Hence, tapeworm larvae are likely the cause of most sores seen on stripers. Most sores occur on the right side of the fish because the stomach and intestines lie closer to the body wall on that side, making it easier for the larval tapeworms to burrow into the muscles. The other internal parasites of concern are roundworm larvae of the genera Anisakis and Phocanema. Although other kinds of roundworm larvae live in bass, these two are important because the adults live in marine mammals, such as sea lions, seals, and porpoises. Because humans are mammals also, these roundworms may infect people who eat raw or undercooked fish containing larval worms. This can lead to severe digestive problems, including stomach tumors and peritonitis. Roundworms are not restricted to stripers, but are found in many other marine fish. Infection can be avoided by thoroughly cooking all fish before consumption.

[Rip-Plugger]

thats a very good question Porgy75,I think the population is also supported by many other rivers on a smaller scale that are not known or that are too small to really see.
there are many small rivers that contribute to spawning in my state like the Ct. river,thames,housatonic,saugatuck,niantic just to name a few.
with this all being true,the main branch stocks are unknowingly supported by smaller stocks of fish that may be from the hudson but spawning in the thames river in Ct.
it's like stop&shop being a huge grocery store buying gallons of milk from local farms.

with the decline or herring,eels and such we all see small bass everywhere,even in trout streams at times.
so,they seem to be doing well.as I see tons of schoolie bass around at nearly anytime and any place.

I can remember 1978,when I first got salt on my hands,there were so any bunkers that the alligator chopers would shove them up a small river and they would choke off the O2 and have a huge die off.to be quite honets,I have seen so many bunkers that they were totally across a river and actually slowed the tide down with so much mass deflecting the flow!
thousands died and still,they came,from shore to the best distance your eye could see!


R-P

[dogfish]

Maybe this is a controversial question but if people are concerned about the population of striped bass why are they allowed to be caught before they spawn?

There's a lot of money to be made pushing the striped bass industry. You try to cut the season down and you risk anger from a lot of groups.

[RJC]

porgy75,

I grew up on the Hudson River and have been fishing for striped bass for over 55 years. There has not been any commercial fishing for striped bass in the Hudson River for over 35 years. The Hudson River is the single largest river in the world for striper production.

The fish they catch on the west coast originally were part of the Hudson River strain. They were netted in the ShrewsburyRiver, near Rumson, NJ as immature Hudson River striped bass and shipped to San Francisco before the end of the 19th Century. The ShrewsburyRiver is about 20 miles south of the mouth of the Hudson river.

Just about every river from North Carolina to the St. Lawrence River in Canada produces striped bass on the east coast of the US.


A J Mc Clane put together a New Standard Fishing Encyclopedia in 1965.

In his section on Striped Bass LIFE HISTORY he states the following - "By the 6th year all females are mature, male begin to mature at 2 years and nearly all of them are ready to spawn at 3 years. Four year old females produce about 65,000 eggs and those that reach 13 years produce nearly 5,000,000 eggs.

During the spawning period striped bass ascend rivers from brackish or salt water. Spawning in freshwater begins in April in southern waters and will extend to July in the St. Lawrence River area. Spawning begins at 55 to 65 degrees F, with it peaking between 60 and 67 degrees F."

*********************************************
I've fished for striped bass since I was 12 years old when my folks moved to Ossining, NY on the Hudson River from Long Island. That was in 1951 and my next door neighbor was a 6th or 7th generation Dutch shad fisherman. He started taking me with him to show me what he did on the river. He worked as a school janitor in Scarborough to make a year round living and supplemented that salary with commercial fishing for Striped bass, Catfish, Bluefish, Shad and Carp. A good man and a great neighbor. Shad fishing is the only commercial fishing allowed in the Hudson River today. Commercial striped bass fishing in this river ended 30 or more years ago.

Back in the day, before the PCB scare they were netted as were American Shad. The Hudson River as a commercial opportunity must be viewed in the sense of it being a column of water.

Every town and village in the Hudson RiverValley has been filtering its grey and sewer water for over 30 years. Six years ago, NY State declared the Hudson River from Troy to NY City as Class A swimming water.

The PCB count in striped bass tissue has been below the federal red flag level for well over a decade. Not to many years ago you couldn't give Hudson River property away. Now, it is prime and very expensive.

Mature male striped bass swim in the middle depths and feed through out the middle to top column. And the ladies swim on the bottom of the column until they release their eggs.

In the lower Hudson nets are strung between poles the Hudson River on the Tappan Zee Flats and are set to catch shad in the top 12 feet of the water column. River herring can pass through the net but a lot of shad and a few male stripers get caught. The bi-catch of stripers us usually fewer than 3,000 fish a year.

The number of commercial netters in the river is under 30. Most can track their family back to when New York was called New Amsterdam. And most of them net in the salty lower 35 miles below the HudsonNarrows at Bear Mountain.

5 to 7 million striped bass ascend the river to spawn annually. In the Hudson River, May is the optimum time for spawning.

Female Striped bass stay near the bottom of the river whenever they can during the day. Some will move up onto flats to feed at night. Trollers catch mostly males unless they are down rigging near the bottom. Only one fish a day is allowed and most anglers practice catch and release.

When water temperatures reach 60 degrees and above, female bass will ascend to the top 4 feet to spawn. They pick up males on the way up thru the middle of the water column. As the female begins to emit eggs the male begin to leak milt. Then the males start hitting the large female with their snouts to help her expel eggs. This poking action helps the males push out their milt.

The females will begin to roll over and over trying to get away from the males. The males trying to hit her sides get more frantic and the river begins to look like a washing machine. Milt and eggs mix well because of the agitation in the water.

They are totally focused in the act of procreation and are not interested in feeding.

I've seen up to three acres churning in the Athens/Coxsackie area on the flats next to the ship channel. The major portion of striped bass spawning occurs in the Main Stem of the river. From NewburghBay to the south and the Troy Dam 160 miles up the river from the Atlantic Ocean. The Freshwater Tidal reach is 130 miles long. The Salt line seldom gets above Cornwall, NY, and never in the spring when the run off from the 14,000 square mile watershed keeps pumping snow melts and spring rain into the Hudson.

Most spawning occurs at night or on low cloudy, misty rain days. And the 3 times I have seen it in those rainy conditions it started at slack tide.

The eggs are neutral buoyant and float back and forth thru several tidal cycles. If the fish spawn near the 60 degree temperature and if a cold front settles in and puts the water temperature below 50 degrees it could kill the majority of the eggs spawned just before the cold water came. RJC

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Back to AJ Mc Clane's commentary - "There is no parental care, and the semi-buoyant eggs drift down stream for some distance. Hatching takes place in three days at 50 to 60 degrees F. or less than 48 hours at 71 to 72 degrees F. The yolk sac is absorbed in about 6.5 days."

********************************************

If the majority of the spawning that happens over the period of a month doesn't encounter cold killing water, that year will become a Class Year. There are a couple of Class production years maturing in the tow or thee years. You should start seeing and abundance of mature 8 year old fish this spring.

I'm more concerned with the condition of the bait striped bass feed on. Herring, mossbunker, sand lance (aka sand eel) and assorted other small bait species are hammered hard by this class 1 predator. As are a number of crab species and lobsters.

The two River Herring species (blue back and alewife) are in tough shape. Many states have closed the season on them. There herring runs are almost empty.

The Hudson has a large population of spawning herring and shad during the same time frame as the striped bass. The smaller and shorter rivers and streams in New England have been harder hit than the Hudson and its tributaries.

The spawning cycle lasts about two months in the Hudson and the other Rivers between the Delaware River between NJ and PA and on up the coast of NY, CT, RI, MA NH and ME.

Spawning itself happens in a 14 to 20 day period in May of early June. Fish enter the Northeastern Rivers in March, but do not spawn until May and sometimes early June. The optimum water temperature is 63 - 65 degrees.

IMHO, striped bass are not in trouble. Some of their support bait species are, but slowly those problems are being address. The sky is not falling on stripers.

Inshore netting is going away, especially bunker netting.

As long as we all pay close attention to the entire picture, it will get better.

Til we meet again!

[voyager35]

RJC, impressive first post, welcome aboard.

"The Hudson has a large population of spawning herring and shad during the same time frame as the striped bass. The smaller and shorter rivers and streams in New England have been harder hit than the Hudson and its tributaries."



Do you know if any of this applies to the Delaware as well, where the shad and herring population is down considerably? Or is your knowledge specific to the Hudson? Either way, quite an impressive answer.

[RJC]

The shad and herring populations are down in all the rivers. Be glad that the Delaware and the Hudson have the bio strength to repopulate themselves and others.

I believe in part the herring and shad problem is tied to deep ocean netting. The smaller herring runs have been devastated in New England. The larger production in the Delaware and Hudson will help restore them sooner than the smaller runs.

Another part is herring and bunker are the prime food target for the striped bass and blue fish. Herring can not reproduce in the numbers sand lance (sand eels) and mossbunker can. They produce in the salt ponds by the millions every year. IMHO the striped bass population is a lot stronger than it was in 1987. Stripers like to eat, bluefish like to kill. They both eat a lot of bait fish. Sand eels are bass and blue food, who are not targeted by the netters. They are not in our personal food or industrial need chain.

Everything on the planet like to eat herring. I have a jar if it in wine sauce and onions in the fridge as we speak.

I'm sure you have seen the jettys at inlet openings packed 5 or 6 feet out from the rocks and all the way to the bottom with peanut bunker in September. It is an umbleivable biomass of protein and the predators love it. Menemsha in September make my heart sing! As do the Breachways of SoCo.

The biologists are working on the problem. I'm not one to throw rocks at people who have dedicated their lives to the study and the preservation of fish.

There are a few anglers who like to pile on, who need to spend a little more time on helping fix the problem, instead of head hunting the state biologists who are the only people trained to fix it.

A great American I admire once said "Trust but verify". I don't believe everything I hear coming down the grapevine, and I like facts that support conviction.

[DarkSkies]

^^ I thought I recognized this writing style. Could this be RJ? If so, I'm honored to have ya post here. From what I remember, you have years of experience fishin the Hudson, and know that place like the back of your hand. Welcome aboard!

[RJC]

Thanks DS,

It is a pleasure to be allowed on your site. You are doing a very nice job here. Lotsa luck and as the Irish say "May the wind be alway at your back, rain fall softly on your fields and the devil not know your dead until an hour after you enter Heaven"

I love this time of year. It snowed yesterday here in the endless mountains of NE PA and it is supposed to be 60-degrees this afternoon. One day at a time is the only way to live.

[DarkSkies]

porgy75,

I grew up on the Hudson River and have been fishing for striped bass for over 55 years. There has not been any commercial fishing for striped bass in the Hudson River for over 35 years. The Hudson River is the single largest river in the world for striper production.

*********************************************
I've fished for striped bass since I was 12 years old when my folks moved to Ossining, NY on the Hudson River from Long Island. That was in 1951 and my next door neighbor was a 6th or 7th generation Dutch shad fisherman. He started taking me with him to show me what he did on the river. He worked as a school janitor in Scarborough to make a year round living and supplemented that salary with commercial fishing for Striped bass, Catfish, Bluefish, Shad and Carp. A good man and a great neighbor. Shad fishing is the only commercial fishing allowed in the Hudson River today. Commercial striped bass fishing in this river ended 30 or more years ago.

5 to 7 million striped bass ascend the river to spawn annually. In the Hudson River, May is the optimum time for spawning.

The females will begin to roll over and over trying to get away from the males. The males trying to hit her sides get more frantic and the river begins to look like a washing machine. Milt and eggs mix well because of the agitation in the water.

They are totally focused in the act of procreation and are not interested in feeding.

I've seen up to three acres churning in the Athens/Coxsackie area on the flats next to the ship channel. The major portion of striped bass spawning occurs in the Main Stem of the river. From NewburghBay to the south and the Troy Dam 160 miles up the river from the Atlantic Ocean. The Freshwater Tidal reach is 130 miles long. The Salt line seldom gets above Cornwall, NY, and never in the spring when the run off from the 14,000 square mile watershed keeps pumping snow melts and spring rain into the Hudson.

Most spawning occurs at night or on low cloudy, misty rain days. And the 3 times I have seen it in those rainy conditions it started at slack tide.

The eggs are neutral buoyant and float back and forth thru several tidal cycles. If the fish spawn near the 60 degree temperature and if a cold front settles in and puts the water temperature below 50 degrees it could kill the majority of the eggs spawned just before the cold water came. RJC

The two River Herring species (blue back and alewife) are in tough shape. Many states have closed the season on them. There herring runs are almost empty.

The Hudson has a large population of spawning herring and shad during the same time frame as the striped bass. The smaller and shorter rivers and streams in New England have been harder hit than the Hudson and its tributaries.

The spawning cycle lasts about two months in the Hudson and the other Rivers between the Delaware River between NJ and PA and on up the coast of NY, CT, RI, MA NH and ME.

Spawning itself happens in a 14 to 20 day period in May of early June. Fish enter the Northeastern Rivers in March, but do not spawn until May and sometimes early June. The optimum water temperature is 63 - 65 degrees.

IMHO, striped bass are not in trouble. Some of their support bait species are, but slowly those problems are being address. The sky is not falling on stripers.

Inshore netting is going away, especially bunker netting.

As long as we all pay close attention to the entire picture, it will get better.

Til we meet again!

RJ, that was an amazing history lesson of the Hudson River and spawning. I've fished there, but never been up there when they were rolling like that. Heard stories about it, but that's not the same as being there and seeing it. You were pretty clear in describing it, made me feel like I could see it through your words. Great post!

[A great American I admire once said "Trust but verify". I don't believe everything I hear coming down the grapevine, and I like facts that support conviction. ]

RJ, would the author of that quote be Ronald Reagan?

[williehookem]

Maybe this is a controversial question but if people are concerned about the population of striped bass why are they allowed to be caught before they spawn?

I tried to find out some information about when they spawn and came up with this.

I don't see where that would be a big issue if we pushed back the season a bit. We have a closed season for largmouth bass until after the spawn, why not for saltwater striped bass?

[surfwalker]

RJC-thank you for a very informative post.

[RJC]

DS - That'd be Ronald Magnus!

Willhehookem - The problem with your theory is that north of the salt line, after spawning in the Hudson River (and this is probably true with all the home rivers) is the striped bass, immediately head down stream and out into the ocean after spawning. There is a theory that some young male bass hang out untill the new "young of the year herring and shad" move to the ocean in late September. But they are few and far between compared to the 5 to 7 million fish in the river in April and May.

Right now the striped bass have a strong healthy population. The sky is not falling on the species.

The estimates of bi-catch by shad fishermen in the Hudson Valley is about 3,000 striped bass per annum.

The estimate of fish caught by recreational anglers is about 40,000 fish in April and May. Compare that 43,000 fish to the 5 million fish and it isn't even a fraction of 1%.

I believe that allowing anglers to fish a large and vital mass of striped bass and retain a single fish each day builds a strong bond between the angler and his quarry.

They love that fish species and they spend a lot of time protecting it beyond the 6 week spawning run.

Just my humble opinion, but it works for ducks and Red Fish, why wouldn't it work for Striped Bass?

I helped raise $33,000.00 from duck hunters in NJ in one year to fund the reclaimation of a Black Duck breeding marsh in Quebec, Canada in the 1980's. Duckhunters love to protect their favorite duck. The same rule applies for the stiped bass.

I would bet you a large, cold Gin and Tonic at Bahr's in Highlands, NJ that I couldn't generate a dime for Bluefish, but for Striped Bass I could get a huge response.

There is no money for the yellow-eyed devil or the snapping turtle. But for Mr. Line Sides, Rockfish or Striper "There be Whales [of Money] Here" for them.

Close the season in the Hudson Riveris a kneejerk response. It will not help the striped bass one iota.

[plugginpete]

I would bet you a large, cold Gin and Tonic at Bahr's in Highlands, NJ that I couldn't generate a dime for Bluefish,

The poor bedeviled bluefish, stone cold killer without a country or congressman as a friend! I agree, rj.

[storminsteve]

I don't see where that would be a big issue if we pushed back the season a bit. We have a closed season for largmouth bass until after the spawn, why not for saltwater striped bass?

Agreed. Yeah if we can do it for lmb why not stripers?

[buckethead]

They should stop the fishing in all spawning areas. Hudson, delaware, chesapeake. Raritan bay too. What is the big deal if we had to wait till say May 15 or so, Every year by that time the migrating fish are usually out front. It would change the dynamic of the whole fishery. They already closed fishing in the Chesapeake. might be a good time to evaluate even closing the C&R part too. My 2 cents

[bababooey]

They should stop the fishing in all spawning areas. Hudson, delaware, chesapeake. Raritan bay too. What is the big deal if we had to wait till say May 15 or so, Every year by that time the migrating fish are usually out front. It would change the dynamic of the whole fishery. They already closed fishing in the Chesapeake. might be a good time to evaluate even closing the C&R part too. My 2 cents

I beg to differ buckethead. Making folks wait till May 15 would cause economic pain to some of the marinas and businesses that serve the needs of those of us with boats. Why should it be the 15th closed during the spawn? In the Delware river they allow fishing as long as you use circle hooks and catch and release your fish. The only dynamic it would change is that less money would be spent in areas that desperately need it. i don't see how that would be a blessing.

[Monty]

I beg to differ buckethead. Making folks wait till May 15 would cause economic pain to some of the marinas and businesses that serve the needs of those of us with boats. Why should it be the 15th closed during the spawn? In the Delware river they allow fishing as long as you use circle hooks and catch and release your fish. The only dynamic it would change is that less money would be spent in areas that desperately need it. i don't see how that would be a blessing.

I think this is a great idea.
Allow fishing as long as you use circle hooks and catch and release your fish say up until May 15th.

[cowherder]

Or even better if you say no one can fish for them at all till May 15. That could work too. Bababooey there are other things folks can fish for, flounder, ling, cod, and blackfish when the season is open. Why not give the bass a chance to breed, then you can kill all you want?

[bababooey]

I don't see what differs in killing them in the fall before they make it through the winter for the spring spawn, or in the spring right before they spawn. You are still looking at one dead bass. Whats the difference?

[Monty]

Or even better if you say no one can fish for them at all till May 15. That could work too. Bababooey there are other things folks can fish for, flounder, ling, cod, and blackfish when the season is open. Why not give the bass a chance to breed, then you can kill all you want?

I would prefer C and R, but if they decided to close the season for breeding I would support that.