Lesions on stripers.

[rolmops]

This thread is directly connected to a post that Flyrod wrote in the Whales thread.<br />I read the article in "The boston Globe" about stripers having bacteria causing skin lesions.This happens in the Chesapeake Bay.<br />It seems that stripers are very prone to these bacteria mostly because their natural resistance is down due to malnutrition.Last summer,about 10% of stripers caught had skin lesions.Mostly schoolies in the 12 inch range.<br />Stripers have made a great comeback in the last decade due to good stock management.In the same period, manhaden a main source of nutrition for stripers has been managed only to maximize commercial harvest.As a result there is a serious shortage of certain year groups of manhaden,the smaller ones,exactly the ones that 12 inch stripers feed on.<br />In managing the manhaden,the needs of the now much bigger striper population have been ignored,which is probably the chief reason of striper malnourishment and their susceptibility to the bacteria.<br />However,when they go out in the ocean,the combination of colder water and more plentiful food,seems to have a healing influence on the stripers and it is doubtful if the ones making it to the Merrimack are still sick.<br />It is important that different stock management people talk to each other and look at the entire ecosystem and not just at a specific species.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

We haven't seen any rashy looking fish up here, "BUT" it is possible!!!!! So "BEWARE"!!!<br /><br />We do catch fish with a gray slime when brought on deck sometimes!!! The biologist claims it is from to many fish congested in one area!!!

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

we'll see.... to be perfectly honest, i didn't catch one rock that had myco last year. first trip of the season on saturday, only one 28" boated, and he was a very healthy fella i returned to the water. most of us in the bay agree the media has blown this one up on their own. of course, i do agree on the importance of maintaing the bait fish stock. it's those idiots in VA that allow way too much bunker to be harvested.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

Matt, are you into any big stripers down that way?????<br /><br />And now that the migration north is on, how does it effect fishing for rock fish down your way??? And are there any hold overs for ya to fish in the summer, I wouldn't think that they all come north!!!

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

I find that a lot of smaller Rock are still in the Northern Bay long into the summer. I have caught one sick fish about 6 years ago but none since. <br />I would rather fight a good bluefish any day, anyways. I remember as a kid you never caught Rockfish. It was always Bluefish and big ones at that. Then came the "no catch" law for a bunch of years. You would come across a few more Rock per year as the years past but now they are the main catch in the Bay. I catch very few Bluefish any more and the keepers are few and far between. Is it due to the population growth of the Rock? I do not know but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the two happened together. <br /> So you are right about managing a species and not looking at the others it will affect. <br />Also when I was in Maine this last fall I read a article about how the lobstermen were complaining that as the "stripers" (what they call them) population grew and their natural food supply shrank the stripers are now going after juvenile lobsters to feed on killing their harvest.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

Lobsta fishermen and commercial fishermen are the two biggest cry babies when it comes to not catching less of what they are after!!! Blame the striper (rock fish)!!! It wouldn't have anything to do with the thousands of lobsta pots that they fish or the gillnetter that throws thousands of fish overboard, highgrades, nope I guess that has nothing to do with their problem, just blame the striper or the cod !!!

 

[jch7450]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

Hey matt i couln't agree with you more, the samething as Va. allows crab dredging

 

[mattttt25]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

big rock are here. many still being caught with sealice, so they are still just entering the bay for the spawn. everyone is worried it's going to end quickly with the nice weather, but who knows.<br /><br />yes, we still have plenty of rock in the summer, but usually the smaller ones. for unknown reasons, a few big fish decide they like the bay and stick around. so you can still catch bubba.<br /><br />same goes for blues, plenty of snapper to destroy your bait and bleed all over your boat.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

The bite is on right now. <br /><br />Tuesday we had 16 hook-ups and boated 11. The smallest was 36" and the biggest went 43.5" 4. Of the 11 fish we boated and released 4 of them where in excess of 40" in length. Nice fish.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

What ya using for baits down your way???

 

[dingbat]

Re: Lesions on stripers.

I’m draggin parachutes and small umbrella rigs for the most part. The hot bait yesterday was a 8 oz parachute / 9” sassy shad fished behind a 12” parachute back 5 bars with a 20 oz inline sinker