by Captain Len Buchta
VIRGINIA’S FALL TROPHY ROCKFISH SEASON
There are essentially two trophy striped bass seasons in Virginia: the spring season and fall fishery. The spring 2007 season commenced on May 1 and ended June 15. The fall trophy season commenced on Dec 10 and ended on the 31. The 2007 fall regulations permit one fish in excess of 34 inches per angler per day. Virginia issues trophy citations for fish weighing in excess of 40 pounds. The general rule is a 40-pound fish averages around 44 to 46 inches in length.
Before I begin a discussion about how we fish for trophy striped bass (rockfish in Virginia), I think a brief discussion and understanding of the migratory patterns and feeding behavior of these fish may be helpful—call it Rockfish 101.
The silvery striped bass (Morone Saxatilis) is a member of the temperate bass family (they are often erroneously misplaced in the sea bass family). They get their name from the seven or eight continuous black lines that run along the entire length of the fish.
The present International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world-record fish caught by Al Mc Reynolds in 1982 weighed 78 pounds, 8 ounces; that’s a big fish, but commercially netted fish have been taken that have weighed over 100 pounds. There is an undocumented report of a netted fish weighing 122 pounds. As with most species of fish, the largest members of the species are females and fish weighing over 40 pounds are almost always females. Rockfish are anadromous fish meaning they spawn in fresh water but spend most of their lives in the ocean. They range from the Saint Lawrence River in Canada to the Saint Johns River in Florida, although most are found from Maine to North Carolina. Females generally remain in the brackish waters of their birth until about three years of age, at which time they will migrate to the ocean to mature. Males tend to remain in estuarine waters a bit longer. Females generally return to freshwater to first spawn at around five to seven years of age. Research has shown that a 6-year-old fish weighs about 10 pounds and produces about 500,000 eggs annually whereas a 15-year-old fish weighs about 35 pounds. A fish of this size produces over 3 million eggs. Striped bass are not a particularly fast-growing species. A one-year-old fish can be expected to weigh about 1-pound. An average 5-year-old fish tips the scale at around seven pounds and a ten year old weighs about 20 pounds. To qualify for rockfish citation status in Virginia the catch must be 40 pounds and over. A fish generally averages about 15 years of age. Real whoppers, fish over 50 pounds, probably are at least 17 or 18 years of age and the ultimate trophy, a fish exceeding 60 pounds certainly exceeds the 20 year mark.
ROCKFISH MIGRATIONS
Rockfish are somewhat unique in that they partake in two yearly round trip migrations. The coastal migration in which fish migrate northward along the coast in the spring and the southward coastal migration in the fall. Aside from this migration the fish also undertake a spawning migration up the freshwater streams and rivers where the females lay their eggs. They generally spawn in fresh to brackish water when the water temperature is about 60 degrees. In the spring, following the spawn, stripers will leave their spawning grounds and generally move northward along the coast. They’ll ultimately spend the summer months feeding in the waters off New England and the Canadian Maritimes. When the winds of autumn begin to descend on the waters of New England and the water temperatures begin to drop, stripers are propelled southward. In Virginia waters, the first migrating fish generally appear around early November and by mid-December the migration is in full swing. During the late fall and winter months significant numbers of fish winter over in the nearshore coastal waters, as well as in the lower and mid bay waters. By late spring, the primal urge to reproduce takes hold and the stripers will make their migration into freshwater streams to repeat the cycle and add a new year-class to the population.
There are essentially two trophy striped bass seasons in Virginia: the spring season and fall fishery. The spring 2007 season commenced on May 1 and ended June 15. The fall trophy season commenced on Dec 10 and ended on the 31. The 2007 fall regulations permit one fish in excess of 34 inches per angler per day. Virginia issues trophy citations for fish weighing in excess of 40 pounds. The general rule is a 40-pound fish averages around 44 to 46 inches in length.
Before I begin a discussion about how we fish for trophy striped bass (rockfish in Virginia), I think a brief discussion and understanding of the migratory patterns and feeding behavior of these fish may be helpful—call it Rockfish 101.
The silvery striped bass (Morone Saxatilis) is a member of the temperate bass family (they are often erroneously misplaced in the sea bass family). They get their name from the seven or eight continuous black lines that run along the entire length of the fish.
The present International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world-record fish caught by Al Mc Reynolds in 1982 weighed 78 pounds, 8 ounces; that’s a big fish, but commercially netted fish have been taken that have weighed over 100 pounds. There is an undocumented report of a netted fish weighing 122 pounds. As with most species of fish, the largest members of the species are females and fish weighing over 40 pounds are almost always females. Rockfish are anadromous fish meaning they spawn in fresh water but spend most of their lives in the ocean. They range from the Saint Lawrence River in Canada to the Saint Johns River in Florida, although most are found from Maine to North Carolina. Females generally remain in the brackish waters of their birth until about three years of age, at which time they will migrate to the ocean to mature. Males tend to remain in estuarine waters a bit longer. Females generally return to freshwater to first spawn at around five to seven years of age. Research has shown that a 6-year-old fish weighs about 10 pounds and produces about 500,000 eggs annually whereas a 15-year-old fish weighs about 35 pounds. A fish of this size produces over 3 million eggs. Striped bass are not a particularly fast-growing species. A one-year-old fish can be expected to weigh about 1-pound. An average 5-year-old fish tips the scale at around seven pounds and a ten year old weighs about 20 pounds. To qualify for rockfish citation status in Virginia the catch must be 40 pounds and over. A fish generally averages about 15 years of age. Real whoppers, fish over 50 pounds, probably are at least 17 or 18 years of age and the ultimate trophy, a fish exceeding 60 pounds certainly exceeds the 20 year mark.
ROCKFISH MIGRATIONS
Rockfish are somewhat unique in that they partake in two yearly round trip migrations. The coastal migration in which fish migrate northward along the coast in the spring and the southward coastal migration in the fall. Aside from this migration the fish also undertake a spawning migration up the freshwater streams and rivers where the females lay their eggs. They generally spawn in fresh to brackish water when the water temperature is about 60 degrees. In the spring, following the spawn, stripers will leave their spawning grounds and generally move northward along the coast. They’ll ultimately spend the summer months feeding in the waters off New England and the Canadian Maritimes. When the winds of autumn begin to descend on the waters of New England and the water temperatures begin to drop, stripers are propelled southward. In Virginia waters, the first migrating fish generally appear around early November and by mid-December the migration is in full swing. During the late fall and winter months significant numbers of fish winter over in the nearshore coastal waters, as well as in the lower and mid bay waters. By late spring, the primal urge to reproduce takes hold and the stripers will make their migration into freshwater streams to repeat the cycle and add a new year-class to the population.
