THE 



CATCH 



The 

 Season 



for 

 Stripers 



By Jeannie Faris Norris 



P 



.ack the poles and the lures — 

 it's time to head for the breakers off the 

 Outer Banks. The striped bass gather 

 there in the fall to overwinter, and 

 they're just a cast away from the beach. 



The autumnal cues of shorter days 

 and lower temperatures propel stripers 

 into the rough waters of inlets and 

 breakers from Hatteras to Virginia. 

 The fish will stay in this "staging area" 

 from late September to March, says 

 Jim Bahen, a fishery agent for North 

 Carolina Sea Grant and an avid recre- 

 ational fisher. 



Angling for these big, silvery fish 

 — named for the long, black stripes that 

 run from head to tail — is typically best 

 in the waters off Buxton, Bahen says. 



"That's usually an area close to 

 where they come into shore," he says. 

 "They feed on bait that congregates 

 around those areas. They're a big deal in 

 Dare and Hyde counties, but they're 

 also a big fishery in Martha's Vineyard 

 in Massachusetts. Rockfish (another 



November at Cape Hatteras is prime time for catching prize stripers 



Scoit D. Tavbr 



name for striped bass) are the number- 

 one recreational fish up there." 



Off the Carolina coast, anglers can 

 cast for stripers from the beach or toss a 

 line off a charter boat. 



The best way to catch striped bass 

 is to "sight fish" — to spot a school by 

 watching for the gulls that flock as the 

 fish prey on gray trout or speckled trout, 

 a couple of their favorite meals. 



"When I go fishing for rockfish, 

 I'm looking for gulls," Bahen says. 

 "Gulls tell us what's going on just below 

 the surface of the water. When we see 

 them hovering over or diving into the 

 surf, there are usually fish feeding 

 underneath them." 



Bahen recommends using a 9- to 

 12-foot-long rod to throw the lure far 

 into the breakers. Rig up with artificial 

 lures because schools of striped bass are 

 on the move. Get their attention with 

 artificial lures cast and retrieved quickly 

 through the surf, mimicking the 

 movements of bait fish. 



"Artificial lures are nice because 

 their weight lets you cast far, and you 

 need no action other than a steady 

 retrieve," Bahen says. 



One effective lure is a lead-headed 

 jig — either white or chartreuse with a 

 trailing plastic tail. Another is a metal 

 spoon such as a Hopkins, a bright-silver, 

 weighted piece of metal with a treble or 

 single hook on the end. The single hook 

 is preferable for successfully releasing 

 your catch. 



When you don't see gull activity 

 over the water, try natural bait such as 

 mullet or menhaden, Bahen says. The 

 weight of the bait anchors it in the water 

 until a fish happens by and takes a bite. 

 This approach is more effective when 

 striped bass aren't already feeding. 



Ocean fishing for stripers remains 

 good through March, when the mature 

 adults leave the ocean and move into 

 Albemarle Sound and up to the fresh 

 waters of the Roanoke River. There, they 

 will spawn in the river's fast currents 



28 AUTUMN 1998 



t 



