Hypothesis about this year stripers........

[midwesttransplant]

So I am by no way shape or form an expert or am I claiming to be about stripers but I do have some questions/hypotheses about the slower fishing this year.

I am sure my name will surely give away the fact that I am not a native to the area but I have chasing these things for three years now and by far this year has been the toughest.

I checked out a striper book from the local library this summer to learn a little more about them. The book was a little outdated and written for east coast anglers but there was some good biological information none the less.

From what I recall stripers only need to come into fresh water to spawn. Could it be that the Bay/Ocean this year has enough of a food source for them to hold out there this fall and not to come into pillage shad this fall relative to previous years?

Just curious what the rest of you think? I thought things would turn around here but from the reports and my trips doesn't look like it is getting any better, if I had to say the best may have already happened in September/Early October.

Until then I am on sabbatical until I see some consistent promising reports.

[DeltaDan]

Here is my take on the dismal season this year.

1- El Nino year with warming ocean temps.

2- There was a BIG shad die off last year in the port of Stockton on the first rain- due to poisions that that came down the storm sewers. With a Major population of the shad lost last year ..... They have not re-produced to nomal levels.

Shad populations produce oils. Oils that are entrianed in the water and sent down to the bay with the tides. I "believe" there were never enoufgh "shad oils" in the water this year to even start to entice the Stripers up into the river system --- While there is still abundant bait out in the bay system.

With the water temps we currently have here on the delta - The shad should be pilling into the dead end sloughs by now for the last of the warmer water temps and grasses that they will feed from. There are some in those locations - but not at all in force ~ as the years and past patterns that are the norm. And currently with just local resident/juvie stripers playing the part of the "Wolf Pack" this year.

It is still FUN fishing with them and trying to figure them out. Actually I think it is more fun and in-line with fishing with LM's for a tuff bite.

Bring on the winds/rain and storms this week. I'll be out there chucking paddle tails on rocks for the LM's eating/gorging food this week- on the wind driven bait with Mah BrothA's !

Runoff to blame for shad die-off, Bay-Delta office claims

By Peter Ottesen
Record Staff Writer
November 05, 2008 12:01 AMA die-off of thousands of threadfin shad has occurred on the Stockton Deep Water Channel and appears to be centered near the Morelli Park boat launch, where construction to restore the downtown waterfront is underway.

Dead shad have been reported floating on the water and being deposited on the shoreline that parallels Fremont Street, causing a stench that can be smelled for blocks away.

"I've never seen as many dead fish. There must be millions of them," said Ron Halvorson, a member of the Stockton Rod & Gun Club on nearby Monte Diablo Boulevard. "What is happening?"

Calls to the state Department of Fish and Game were referred to the Bay-Delta regional office in Yountville, where executive assistant Kathy Geary fielded questions.

"I understand the shad die-off is kind of a normal thing when the runoff from the first rain of the season flushes debris and oil into the stream," she said. "Threadfin shad use the top of the water column, so they are the species most affected when the polluted runoff occurs each year."

Ask any Guide and anyone that fishes the delta alot (From Cooch to Barrack and others) .... and will tell you that the shad were/are down deep around 12'/18' plus of water this year.

Possibly the shad learned something from last year- or there are two different species of shad all togther doing their very own thing.

[CBoat]

Last year I also witnessed a school of shad dying off near Big Break. With all the birds, I thought it was a striper school. Instead, the shad (adult shad) were one by one surfacing and dying off. The birds were having a hay day.

Very odd. I am going to take a trip out this week, hopefully and I will report also.

Frankly, I think the population is down to numbers that makes an average striper scarce. I believe this fishery will take years to recover. The remaining fish must spawn successfully. So please practice catch and release. Report poachers. We striper fisherman are the only ones that care about these stripers, so do your part.

CBoat

[MT]

Such doom and gloom guys. They should be here any day now! C'mon, buck up!

[CBoat]

Such doom and gloom guys. They should be here any day now! C'mon, buck up!

Not doom Mr. MT, but realization, hope, and action by doing what you can. If you are still frying up striper, then you shouldn't be complaining. Every fish counts.

Plus, like you said in another topic, there is always Spotted Bass until the striper rebounds!

[Mike Kontes]

Brothers in the Loyal Order of Tuxedo Hunters:

I would love to see a ban for two years on keeping stripers! Instead of having something like the salmon deal with no fishing, lets just implement a no keeping rule for two years.

Anyway, I just want to catch them this year. I hope this storm generates something, everyone seems to think this is the answer and we will soon find out.

MLK

[lrgmouth]

they were just talking in the spring this year, about raising the limit to help the shad rebound and lower the striper population. well with all the dinks out there this year there should be some good numbers in the next few years right?

[SloppySeconds]

I've been seeing tons of dinks around in the fall for years. They are always out there. But, there is something going on out there preventing us from converting those schools of little guys into meaningful adult numbers. I'm guessing there is some huge bottleneck in the survival out there from the young fish of 1-2 years old to the 3-5 year old fish that you are used to catching at 18"+ fish.

Stripers live for a long time, and a mature fish is probably 5-10 years old depending on size, so problems with young fish can take a while to show up in the adult populations. Keep in mind that a smaller number of LARGE adult stripers can produce huge numbers of eggs, so while the population is dwindling, a few big fish will keep producing lots of little ones... but that eventually doesn't last if the little ones aren't surviving to be the next set of spawners. My guess is that there is a food limitation out there limiting survival of young stripers, shad, salmon etc., which is related to the whole list of other problems with the delta including water exports, the overbite clams and pollution.

Ask DFG about this year's trawl results, and you will see that we are in the middle of a Delta-wide decline across all open water species - shad, smelts, stripers... EVERYTHING. This isn't the first year of this either... its been going on since at least 2006. It is a seriously complicated problem that no one has really been able to get their arms around. But, we might just be starting to finally see the impacts of it.

I don't think we should be surprised to see a huge hit in the striper numbers this year, when the salmon population has been circling the bowl for the second year in a row! Stripers and salmon depend on much of the same conditions to survive - especially for young fish. While the stripers don't go out as far in the ocean, they still depend on the estuary for the bulk of their young lives. I think it would be great to see some more thoughtful harvest restrictions to prevent the harvest of large spawners, or just go to a catch/release season - at least for part of the year. Maybe going to a zero kill Nov-May might help prevent some declines, while still allowing the sport fishing industry to survive during the summer.

All I know is that we are witnessing an unprecedented decline of the Delta fisheries while DFG has their head in the sand, and all of the "striper stamp" intended to "restore" the delta sites idle in a bank account waiting for someone to come up with a good idea how to spend it. How long will we wait to start restoration? Once the striper population is extinct, you can guarantee that they won't be planting them again!

Maybe in 10 year's the scientific and political communities will have figured out what is driving the decline of the Delta ecosystem.... we could publish a book titled, "Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em: The Rise and Fall of the West Coast Fishery".

[kwikfish]

Let me preface by saying that I am a sportfisherman, therefore I am an eternal optimist. However, I think that is what has worked against "us" all these years, i.g.; wait until next year syndrome, etc. Well, 30 years has gone by and the striped bass have not returned in numbers pervious to the exportation of water south.

CSPA has a chart that shows the direct corelation between the start of the State's Water Project and the decline of the fisheries, i.g.; water exports UP, fish counts DOWN.

That being said, striped bass have managed to sustain themselves, albeit, in very low numbers, that still provided somewhat decent recreational opportunities. (inconsistent, yet acceptable) We've learned to accept less.

Now there is another significant shift in the wrong direction; The delta ecosytem collapse. Therefore, I think the previous post in on track in that the ceiliing or maximum capacity the current ecosystem in supporting adult striped bass has been lowered significantly again.

It's rather obvious to me that the "house" needs to be fixed before all species that rely on the "house" will thrive again.

In the meantime, any upticks in the striped bass population is a fluke whereby water, weather, etc. align proplerly out of pure luck as there is nothing done today to enhance/manage the fishery at all.

On a side note, I just roll my eyes when I hear people say that there isn't a problem because they are catching fish in great numbers in their little 'neck of the woods' (one good year in ten) all the while the main historic migratory paths are barren. IMO, the highly adaptable striped bass are ranging outward seeking food and shelter due to the inhospitable conditions where they once lived mostly.

[ppickerell]

I fish the central bay and ocean from the big boat in the summer and we saw good numbers of decent class size fish this year. However the party boats harvested HUGE numbers of these fish becuase of the closure of the salmon season. The numbers of fish taken by 30-40 angler load party boats at 2 fish each from Mel's reef and such spots DAY AFTER DAY for 4 months surely has had an effect. They were still HAMMERING them with limits every trip in November on the shoals near Pinole while they still had live bait.

[jigswimmer]

I also think the salmon closure and party boats has a very large impact. I know they have been hammering them in the ocean and bay for years, but with the declining populations and two years of no salmon fishing, every skipper is targeting stripers or halibut. 30 guys on a party boat and every keeper goes in the box until they fill the boat, not to mention the private guides that have switched from salmon to stripers. I've talked to a number of guys at the ramps that switched from salmon on the upper Sac. and Feather and are now in the delta striper fishing. I don't keep any Stripers, but nothing will change until the regulations limit numbers or size. I don't think there will be too many party boat skippers or guides pushing for no take because of $$.

[Mike Kontes]

BILOTH:

I totally think what you guys are saying makes a lot of sense. If the salmon guys and switched and YANKING numbers of stripers, this HAS to affect the population.

I would love to see a total catch and release of stripers for the next three years! The only problem would be the government and party boats would be totally against it.

Hope it changes or hope they open salmon back up and close the keeping of stripers.

MK

[kwikfish]

I fish the central bay and ocean from the big boat in the summer and we saw good numbers of decent class size fish this year. However the party boats harvested HUGE numbers of these fish becuase of the closure of the salmon season. The numbers of fish taken by 30-40 angler load party boats at 2 fish each from Mel's reef and such spots DAY AFTER DAY for 4 months surely has had an effect. They were still HAMMERING them with limits every trip in November on the shoals near Pinole while they still had live bait.

I actually think the take last year in the bay was much higher than this year, BUT, the take on the beach this year was BIGGER despite efforts by many to practice C&R. Bottom line, there are a lot of 'new' faces on the beaches and bay harvesting as the good opportunist they are.......

Nevertheless, it all adds up and fast.

It's complete irresponsibility by our so called DFG to not protect striped bass when salmon season was closed the past two years. This inaction completely convinced me that DFG no longer 'works' for the tax and license payers. (In all fairness, it's not the individual employees of the DFG, but Mr. Cristman, Resource Secretary that is to blame.)

Unfortunately, bay and beach fisherman didn't do to much so police themselves as well. Don't get me wrong, we've come a long way in a few short years to encourage C&R, but it's too little too late, IMO. These attitudes needed to be implemented 25 years ago.

In summary, C&R will help, but it's time to open up the wallets and contribute to the various coalitions fighting for our fisheries in the courts. If the majority of sport fisherman cannot find it in themselves to contribute as little as $35 a year to CSPA to fight the good fight, then it really is over. Going forward, everything is written by attornies and the legal system. It's how the 'system' works.... plain and simple. If you want more fish in the waters of CA, go to court. Sad.

[DanIsaac]

I fish the central bay and ocean from the big boat in the summer and we saw good numbers of decent class size fish this year. However the party boats harvested HUGE numbers of these fish becuase of the closure of the salmon season. The numbers of fish taken by 30-40 angler load party boats at 2 fish each from Mel's reef and such spots DAY AFTER DAY for 4 months surely has had an effect. They were still HAMMERING them with limits every trip in November on the shoals near Pinole while they still had live bait.

I actually think the take last year in the bay was much higher than this year, BUT, the take on the beach this year was BIGGER despite efforts by many to practice C&R. Bottom line, there are a lot of 'new' faces on the beaches and bay harvesting as the good opportunist they are.......

Nevertheless, it all adds up and fast.

It's complete irresponsibility by our so called DFG to not protect striped bass when salmon season was closed the past two years. This inaction completely convinced me that DFG no longer 'works' for the tax and license payers. (In all fairness, it's not the individual employees of the DFG, but Mr. Cristman, Resource Secretary that is to blame.)

Unfortunately, bay and beach fisherman didn't do to much so police themselves as well. Don't get me wrong, we've come a long way in a few short years to encourage C&R, but it's too little too late, IMO. These attitudes needed to be implemented 25 years ago.

In summary, C&R will help, but it's time to open up the wallets and contribute to the various coalitions fighting for our fisheries in the courts. If the majority of sport fisherman cannot find it in themselves to contribute as little as $35 a year to CSPA to fight the good fight, then it really is over. Going forward, everything is written by attornies and the legal system. It's how the 'system' works.... plain and simple. If you want more fish in the waters of CA, go to court. Sad.

NO, it's time to CLOSE the season to catch and take, PERIOD! The folks back on the East Coast have seen firsthand what proper management can do for a specific species, and overall fishery. Problem is our Game & Fish Dept could care less.

My .02

Dan

[Marty Gingras]

...I think the population is down to numbers that makes an average striper scarce...

Hello all,

I've posted many pertinent and interesting documents at the site below:

ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... iped_Bass/

These are two you'll want to see because they describe what we know about trends in adult striped bass abundance, catch, etc.

ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... 202008.pdf

ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... 0-2008.pdf

This is a link to the estimates of adult striped bass abundance:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/stripedbass/sbpe.asp

This is a link to the abundance trend for young-of-the-year (YOY) striped bass, and within the next week or so we'll be updating it with this year's index:

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/fmwt/I ... sld001.asp

Thanks

Marty Gingras
Supervising Biologist (Fisheries)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bay Delta Region
4001 North Wilson Way
Stockton, California 95205

Phone (209) 948-3702
Phone (831) 372-2581
FAX (209) 946-6355
email mgingras@dfg.ca.gov

[piseke]

Thanks for posting the articles. I may use some of these in the high school Marine Bio class that I teach. We have been developing a study on sustainable fisheries and marine resource stewardship and there is concern among the teens who love to fish that they will not have a healthy fishery in their future. This is a concern to me as I have fished side by side with many young men growing up loving the outdoors. That always has been an excellent alternative for some of them than getting in trouble in the cities and the suburbs. i have had the privilege of helping a bunch of them grow to love the sport and we have years and seasons of great memories on the Feather, the American, the Delta, the Bay and the Ocean. You've seen the smiles on their faces, getting that first big striper or fresh run king! Really awesome! I want to encourage you to remember why you work with the outdoors and the natural resources and keep on doing good work for the people and the health of our beautiful resources.
Thanks for your work and Happy New Year!

[SloppySeconds]

*NM*

[SloppySeconds]

Marty, thanks for posting the links to the striper data. This is some very good stuff, and it shows that DFG is still working hard out there to keep an eye on the fisheries we all love.

After looking over some of it, I had a couple questions for which I would be curious to hear your opinions on.

1. In regard to the juvenile striper, smelt and shad indexes, do you have a guess as to what happened in 2001-2002 to explain the apparent massive decline compared to previous years? That doesn't look like a gradual decrease... so I'm guessing there was something that happened in the system that is related?

2. In looking at the adult striper numbers and totals of age-3+ fish, it looks like there was a big year class in 2000 at around 1.6 million legal fish, with another large year class in 2004. At the same time, the young-of-year number have been in the toilette since the mid-1990's... Are we looking at consistent recruitment failures (habitat related?) while a couple of strong year classes are sustaining the sport fishery?

I would be curious to hear what DFG's current management philosophy for stripers is? Are there any specific goals for the striped bass fishery for the upcoming years, or has most of the energy been diverted to address listed species such as smelt and salmon? It seems like these species are all in decline together, so many of the management efforts to help smelt and salmon would inherently benefit striped bass as well?

I think it would be a shame to ignore the amount of public support for the striper fishery, especially in the light of the current closure on salmon. Ignoring or not managing the striper fishery would be a major oversight, since it has been demonstrated that having healthy salmon, smelt and striper populations are not mutually exclusive conditions.

Does DFG have any management goals for striped bass? If so, what are they?

Is the Department actively managing the fishery in the interest of the license-buying public, or are we just in a holding pattern waiting for the transformation of the regulatory and political landscape after the water crisis (i.e. two gates, peripheral canal etc) has been "solved"??

In other words, should I have hope that we are going to recover the striped bass fishery, or should I just accept the fact that the the fisheries that depend on the Delta as rearing and feeding ground are circling the bowl, and that I should take up golf?

[Marty Gingras]

...In regard to the juvenile striper, smelt and shad indexes, do you have a guess as to what happened in 2001-2002 to explain the apparent massive decline compared to previous years? That doesn't look like a gradual decrease...

...In looking at the adult striper numbers and totals of age-3+ fish, it looks like there was a big year class in 2000 at around 1.6 million legal fish, with another large year class in 2004. At the same time, the young-of-year number have been in the toilette since the mid-1990's...

...should I have hope that we are going to recover the striped bass fishery, or should I just accept the fact that the the fisheries that depend on the Delta as rearing and feeding ground are circling the bowl, and that I should take up golf?

Hi all,

I don't discuss policy or opinion in on-line forums like this, but give lots of pertinent facts...

The simultaneous decline in smelt, shad, and juvenile striper abundance indexes at or around 2001 is the subject of the truly massive Interagency Ecological Program POD (Pelagic Organism Decline) investigation that began in 2005. We've looked at pollution, water project operations, food supply, predation, fish distribution, etc. No 'smoking gun' has been identified and I personally don't think there is one.

The peak in adult striped bass abundance in 2000 is still a mystery, though it is likely attributable largely to an increase in the annual survival rate of young striped bass starting around 1994. It'll probably always be something of a mystery because we have very little data on 1 and 2 year old striped bass. That said, some folks at UC Davis are developing an Individual Based Model of striped bass and we have high hopes that the model will shed some serious light on striped bass population dynamics over the last decade.

If conditions in the Delta --- and perhaps more broadly (see below) --- do not improve, then many of the Delta's native fishes will continue to be in big trouble and the Central Valley's striped bass population (and fishery) will change dramatically.

Striped bass in Oregon have declined dramatically too, with year-class failures in several formerly-productive estuaries. Makes you wonder about climate and/or other large-scale (perhaps cyclical) changes...

Thanks

Marty Gingras
Supervising Biologist (Fisheries)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bay Delta Region
4001 North Wilson Way
Stockton, California 95205

Phone (209) 948-3702
Phone (831) 372-2581
FAX (209) 946-6355
email mgingras@dfg.ca.gov

[kwikfish]

...In regard to the juvenile striper, smelt and shad indexes, do you have a guess as to what happened in 2001-2002 to explain the apparent massive decline compared to previous years? That doesn't look like a gradual decrease...

...In looking at the adult striper numbers and totals of age-3+ fish, it looks like there was a big year class in 2000 at around 1.6 million legal fish, with another large year class in 2004. At the same time, the young-of-year number have been in the toilette since the mid-1990's...

...should I have hope that we are going to recover the striped bass fishery, or should I just accept the fact that the the fisheries that depend on the Delta as rearing and feeding ground are circling the bowl, and that I should take up golf?

Hi all,

I don't discuss policy or opinion in on-line forums like this, but give lots of pertinent facts...

The simultaneous decline in smelt, shad, and juvenile striper abundance indexes at or around 2001 is the subject of the truly massive Interagency Ecological Program POD (Pelagic Organism Decline) investigation that began in 2005. We've looked at pollution, water project operations, food supply, predation, fish distribution, etc. No 'smoking gun' has been identified and I personally don't think there is one.

The peak in adult striped bass abundance in 2000 is still a mystery, though it is likely attributable largely to an increase in the annual survival rate of young striped bass starting around 1994. It'll probably always be something of a mystery because we have very little data on 1 and 2 year old striped bass. That said, some folks at UC Davis are developing an Individual Based Model of striped bass and we have high hopes that the model will shed some serious light on striped bass population dynamics over the last decade.

If conditions in the Delta --- and perhaps more broadly (see below) --- do not improve, then many of the Delta's native fishes will continue to be in big trouble and the Central Valley's striped bass population (and fishery) will change dramatically.

Striped bass in Oregon have declined dramatically too, with year-class failures in several formerly-productive estuaries. Makes you wonder about climate and/or other large-scale (perhaps cyclical) changes...

Thanks

Marty Gingras
Supervising Biologist (Fisheries)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bay Delta Region
4001 North Wilson Way
Stockton, California 95205

Phone (209) 948-3702
Phone (831) 372-2581
FAX (209) 946-6355
email mgingras@dfg.ca.gov

The period 1998 to 2000 provided very good striper fishing from beaches to the delta followed soon after with the steady decline we've been experiencing.

IMO, the pen raised fished salvaged from the pumps in the mid early to mid 90's is the reason for the spike in population.

I personally caugh and saw plenty of 4 pound fish in 1996/1997 that looked dirt brown in color, skinny with reddish eyes. The fish were obviously released from pens not long ago when they were located up in the Napa River and off Collinsville, I believe.

The adult striped bass biomass was very robust in 1998 as it strung from Pacifica to San Pablo all summer long. In fact it was so good, that party boats from HMB were even making the trip to Pacifica along with the usual suspects from Emeryville. The majority of the fish that summer were all uniform in size; 8 pounds.

We immediately figured it was all the little "brown skinny" fish that had showed up a year or two ago that put on some weight.

With the mortality rate of newly hatched striped bass so high in recent years, I surmise that what adult fish being caught today are remnants and descendants from the pen rearing projects of the 90's.

Just my $.02

[kwikfish]

...In regard to the juvenile striper, smelt and shad indexes, do you have a guess as to what happened in 2001-2002 to explain the apparent massive decline compared to previous years? That doesn't look like a gradual decrease...

...In looking at the adult striper numbers and totals of age-3+ fish, it looks like there was a big year class in 2000 at around 1.6 million legal fish, with another large year class in 2004. At the same time, the young-of-year number have been in the toilette since the mid-1990's...

...should I have hope that we are going to recover the striped bass fishery, or should I just accept the fact that the the fisheries that depend on the Delta as rearing and feeding ground are circling the bowl, and that I should take up golf?

Hi all,

I don't discuss policy or opinion in on-line forums like this, but give lots of pertinent facts...

The simultaneous decline in smelt, shad, and juvenile striper abundance indexes at or around 2001 is the subject of the truly massive Interagency Ecological Program POD (Pelagic Organism Decline) investigation that began in 2005. We've looked at pollution, water project operations, food supply, predation, fish distribution, etc. No 'smoking gun' has been identified and I personally don't think there is one.

The peak in adult striped bass abundance in 2000 is still a mystery, though it is likely attributable largely to an increase in the annual survival rate of young striped bass starting around 1994. It'll probably always be something of a mystery because we have very little data on 1 and 2 year old striped bass. That said, some folks at UC Davis are developing an Individual Based Model of striped bass and we have high hopes that the model will shed some serious light on striped bass population dynamics over the last decade.

If conditions in the Delta --- and perhaps more broadly (see below) --- do not improve, then many of the Delta's native fishes will continue to be in big trouble and the Central Valley's striped bass population (and fishery) will change dramatically.

Striped bass in Oregon have declined dramatically too, with year-class failures in several formerly-productive estuaries. Makes you wonder about climate and/or other large-scale (perhaps cyclical) changes...

Thanks

Marty Gingras
Supervising Biologist (Fisheries)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bay Delta Region
4001 North Wilson Way
Stockton, California 95205

Phone (209) 948-3702
Phone (831) 372-2581
FAX (209) 946-6355
email mgingras@dfg.ca.gov

I both observed and partcipated in very good striper fishing from beaches to the delta from 1998 to 2000 followed soon after with the steady decline we've been experiencing.

IMO, the pen raised fished salvaged from the pumps in the mid early to mid 90's is the reason for the spike in population.

I personally caught and saw many 4 pound fish from the beaches in 1996/1997 that looked dirt brown in color, skinny with reddish eyes. The fish were obviously released from pens not long ago when they were located up in the Napa River and off Collinsville, I believe.

The adult striped bass biomass was very robust in 1998 as it strung from Pacifica to San Pablo all summer long. In fact it was so good, that party boats from HMB were even making the trip to Pacifica along with the usual suspects from Emeryville; some twice a day. The majority of the fish that summer were all uniform in size; 8 pounds.

We immediately figured it was all the little "brown skinny" fish that had showed up a year or two ago that put on some weight since then.

With the mortality rate of newly hatched striped bass so high in recent years, I surmise that what adult fish being caught today are remnants as well as hardy descendants from the pen rearing projects of the 90's.

Just my $.02

[Marty Gingras]

I both observed and partcipated in very good striper fishing from beaches to the delta from 1998 to 2000 followed soon after with the steady decline we've been experiencing.

IMO, the pen raised fished salvaged from the pumps in the mid early to mid 90's is the reason for the spike in population.

I personally caught and saw many 4 pound fish from the beaches in 1996/1997 that looked dirt brown in color, skinny with reddish eyes. The fish were obviously released from pens not long ago when they were located up in the Napa River and off Collinsville, I believe.

The adult striped bass biomass was very robust in 1998 as it strung from Pacifica to San Pablo all summer long. In fact it was so good, that party boats from HMB were even making the trip to Pacifica along with the usual suspects from Emeryville; some twice a day. The majority of the fish that summer were all uniform in size; 8 pounds.

We immediately figured it was all the little "brown skinny" fish that had showed up a year or two ago that put on some weight since then.

With the mortality rate of newly hatched striped bass so high in recent years, I surmise that what adult fish being caught today are remnants as well as hardy descendants from the pen rearing projects of the 90's.

Just my $.02

Hi all,

I agree that 'stocking' had an impact on the population boom and I'd never heard about the 'little "brown skinny" fish'.

The striped bass IBM is our best hope of figuring out the amount of impact stocking had. Given the relatively few fish that were stocked in the 1990's, the timing/size/nature of the boom, and the other data (e.g., impact of 1980's-vintage stocking on the population), something more was likely going on.

See this file for the amount of stocking:

ftp://ftp.delta.dfg.ca.gov/Adult_Sturge ... 202008.pdf

Thanks

Marty Gingras
Supervising Biologist (Fisheries)
California Department of Fish and Game
Bay Delta Region
4001 North Wilson Way
Stockton, California 95205

Phone (209) 948-3702
FAX (209) 946-6355
email mgingras@dfg.ca.gov

[kwikfish]

I agree, the "boom" in 1998 was due to a number of 'right' things being properly aligned by nothing more than luck, especially considering how very poor the striped bass fishing was from 1992 thru 1996.

Many things have led to the destruction of habitat that would give birth to young fish of all species. The "mixing pools" have either vanished or been altered so that they are no longer providing life support to recent hatchlings. Just look at what all the landfill did to the south SF Bay which eliminated so much of the "mixing pools" that served much of the food chain.

Thanks for interjecting on this site Marty. I hope you will continue to do so.