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What's
hitting hard... Our page of the fish biting now
A little about
our Striped Bass - ROCKFISH
Fun for young and old the
rockfish will keep you wondering....
 Right
now the big catch in the Maryland Chesapeake Bay is the Striped
Bass, locally known as
ROCKFISH!
Our Spring Trophy season for
Striped Bass runs April 15th thru May 15th with one fish over
33" per person.
After May 16th, the limit will be 2 fish per person
over 18 inches only one of which can be over 28
inches.
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 The rockfish was named the
official fish of the State of Maryland in
1965.
Background
The striped bass, Morone
saxatilis - also known in the Chesapeake Bay as striper,
rockfish, linesider, roller, squidhound and greenhead-has been one
of the most sought-after commercial and recreational finfish in the
Bay since colonial times.
The striper's habitat reaches from the
St. Lawrence River in Canada to the St. John's River in Florida; and
from Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana to the open waters of the
Atlantic.
- Striped bass variously appear to be
light green, olive, steel blue, brown or black. They earn their
name from the seven or eight continuous stripes that mark their
silvery sides, extending from the gills to the tail. Their
undersides are usually white or silver, with a brassy iridescence.
- Mature stripers are known for their
size (they've even been known to reach 100 pounds and nearly five
feet in length) and fighting ability.
- Life Cycle
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Spawning
- Life for the striped bass begins in
the estuary; at one time the Chesapeake Bay was the spawning
ground for nearly 90 percent of the Atlantic population.
- The migratory behavior of coastal
striped bass is more complex than that of many other anadromous
fish, which spend most of their adult lives in the ocean but
migrate up rivers and streams to spawn. Their seasonal movements
depend on their age, sex, degree of maturity and the river in
which they were born.
- In late winter mature striped bass
begin to move from the ocean into tidal freshwater to spawn.
Spawning is triggered by an increase in water temperature and
generally occurs in April, May and early June in the Chesapeake
Bay.
- Female striped bass may spawn as
early as age 4, but a year class may not reach complete sexual
maturity until age 8 or older. By contrast, most male stripers
reach sexual maturity at age 2 or 3.
- Shortly after spawning, mature fish
return to the coast. Most spend summer and early fall months in
middle New England near-shore waters. In late fall and early
winter they migrate south off the North Carolina and Virginia
capes.
-
Food
- Striped bass larvae feed primarily
on copepods (crustaceans) in both larval and mature stages,
and cladocerans (water fleas).
- Juvenile stripers eat insect
larvae, larval fish, mysids (shrimplike crustaceans) and
amphipods (tiny scavenging crustaceans that lack a carapace
and have laterally flattened bodies).
- Adults are piscivorous, or
fish-eaters. In summer and fall, stripers consume Bay anchovy
and Atlantic menhaden; in winter they eat larval and juvenile
spot and Atlantic croaker; and in spring they feed on white
perch alewives and blueback
herring.
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