Post by yihunt on Jun 7, 2009 15:20:41 GMT -4
Commission's plan keeps hybrid striped bass in Pennsylvania waters
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Todd Young has never had a freight train on the end of his fishing line, but he has had hybrid striped bass there.
He'll tell you that's about the same thing.
"They're just a spectacular fish to catch," said Young of Harlansburg, a former tournament musky fisherman and now partner with Muddy Creek Fishing Guides, which operates on Lake Arthur, Pymatuning and elsewhere.
"A big catfish will give you a good pull for a long time, but they've got nothing like the speed of a striper. They're a lot of fun."
The fish are popular in the local waters, including Lake Arthur, Shenango Reservoir, and the Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio and Beaver rivers, that hold them, for a number of reasons. They are big -- a 24-inch fish will weigh 8.1 pounds, on average -- strike aggressively, and make long, powerful runs when hooked.
Unfortunately, the hybrid fishery is one that's been, if not in trouble, then at least of concern over the last few years.
That's because it's supported completely by artificial stocking. And getting fish has become a challenge.
In the past, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission got hybrid stripers -- a cross between a striped bass and a white bass -- via trades with other states. Georgia was a favorite partner, swapping hybrid fingerlings for Pennsylvania-grown walleye fingerlings, said Larry Hines, manager of the commission's Linesville fish hatchery. Arkansas and other states also traded hybrids for fish such as tiger muskies.
That all came to a halt in late 2006 with the discovery of VHS, or viral hemorrhagic septicemia, in the Great Lakes watershed.
VHS is a water-borne disease that can cause fish to die in great numbers. It's never caused any statistically significant fish losses in Pennsylvania, nor has it ever been found in a commission-run hatchery, despite extensive testing.
But those other states -- not wanting to chance importing VHS into their systems -- have quit taking Pennsylvania fish and, more importantly, slowed the supply of stripers coming here.
"It's not that they won't provide us with fish. But since we've got nothing to trade, we've been bumped to the bottom of their lists," Hines said. "We only get any surplus fish they have left over after they trade with other states."
That wasn't a problem in 2007. The commission's goal is to stock 125,000 hybrid striper fingerlings each year, and in 2007, it managed to exceed that, getting 153,000 fish. Last year, though, it was able to secure just 68,000.
That prompted the commission to act.
This year, for the first time, it's spending $10,000 to buy 62,500 hybrid striper fingerlings from a commercial hatchery. The plan is to buy similar amounts of hybrid stripers each year for the foreseeable future.
"We've not been able to consistently get enough hybrid striper fingerlings from our former trading partners, so this gives us a guarantee," said Brian Wisner, chief of trout production for the commission, but also the man who negotiated many of the trades in the past.
"We're not going to buy all of our fingerlings, but it is something we can fall back on to make sure that we can stock at least some fish every year."
That will undoubtedly be good news to fans of the hybrid striper. Fishing for them can be unlike anything else, Young said.
"Sometimes at night, when they start splashing and chasing alewives and other baitfish into the shallows, you can actually hear them coming before you start catching them," he said. "Then it's bam, bam, bam, you've got three or four on at almost the same time. It can get really exciting."
Hines and Wisner, who called hybrids "underrated" if anything, agreed. That's why the commission remains committed to its hybrid striper fishery, they said.
"We've had calls from people concerned about our ability to get hybrids, so we know it's a popular program," Hines said. "That's why we want to keep it going as long as we can."
Season at peak
The season on hybrid stripers runs year round and allows anglers to keep two fish of at least 20 inches per day.
Right now is one of the best times to catch them, said Todd Young. That's because late spring and early summer finds the fish moving into shallower water chasing baitfish.
To catch them at places such as Lake Arthur, he fishes evenings, starting at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. As the summer progresses, the bite starts later, perhaps as late as midnight by August. Year-round, though, the bite can start sooner on overcast days, later on bright, sunny ones.
Alewives, shiners and creek chubs are good bets if you use live bait, he said. Shallow running crankbaits and stickbaits are good artificials.
Hybrid stripers are schooling fish, he said, so if you get into one, you're likely to hook several. If a school seems to have moved on, though, move your boat closer to the shallows and you may be able to follow them again, he suggested
Buzz up!By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW OUTDOORS EDITOR
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Todd Young has never had a freight train on the end of his fishing line, but he has had hybrid striped bass there.
He'll tell you that's about the same thing.
"They're just a spectacular fish to catch," said Young of Harlansburg, a former tournament musky fisherman and now partner with Muddy Creek Fishing Guides, which operates on Lake Arthur, Pymatuning and elsewhere.
"A big catfish will give you a good pull for a long time, but they've got nothing like the speed of a striper. They're a lot of fun."
The fish are popular in the local waters, including Lake Arthur, Shenango Reservoir, and the Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio and Beaver rivers, that hold them, for a number of reasons. They are big -- a 24-inch fish will weigh 8.1 pounds, on average -- strike aggressively, and make long, powerful runs when hooked.
Unfortunately, the hybrid fishery is one that's been, if not in trouble, then at least of concern over the last few years.
That's because it's supported completely by artificial stocking. And getting fish has become a challenge.
In the past, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission got hybrid stripers -- a cross between a striped bass and a white bass -- via trades with other states. Georgia was a favorite partner, swapping hybrid fingerlings for Pennsylvania-grown walleye fingerlings, said Larry Hines, manager of the commission's Linesville fish hatchery. Arkansas and other states also traded hybrids for fish such as tiger muskies.
That all came to a halt in late 2006 with the discovery of VHS, or viral hemorrhagic septicemia, in the Great Lakes watershed.
VHS is a water-borne disease that can cause fish to die in great numbers. It's never caused any statistically significant fish losses in Pennsylvania, nor has it ever been found in a commission-run hatchery, despite extensive testing.
But those other states -- not wanting to chance importing VHS into their systems -- have quit taking Pennsylvania fish and, more importantly, slowed the supply of stripers coming here.
"It's not that they won't provide us with fish. But since we've got nothing to trade, we've been bumped to the bottom of their lists," Hines said. "We only get any surplus fish they have left over after they trade with other states."
That wasn't a problem in 2007. The commission's goal is to stock 125,000 hybrid striper fingerlings each year, and in 2007, it managed to exceed that, getting 153,000 fish. Last year, though, it was able to secure just 68,000.
That prompted the commission to act.
This year, for the first time, it's spending $10,000 to buy 62,500 hybrid striper fingerlings from a commercial hatchery. The plan is to buy similar amounts of hybrid stripers each year for the foreseeable future.
"We've not been able to consistently get enough hybrid striper fingerlings from our former trading partners, so this gives us a guarantee," said Brian Wisner, chief of trout production for the commission, but also the man who negotiated many of the trades in the past.
"We're not going to buy all of our fingerlings, but it is something we can fall back on to make sure that we can stock at least some fish every year."
That will undoubtedly be good news to fans of the hybrid striper. Fishing for them can be unlike anything else, Young said.
"Sometimes at night, when they start splashing and chasing alewives and other baitfish into the shallows, you can actually hear them coming before you start catching them," he said. "Then it's bam, bam, bam, you've got three or four on at almost the same time. It can get really exciting."
Hines and Wisner, who called hybrids "underrated" if anything, agreed. That's why the commission remains committed to its hybrid striper fishery, they said.
"We've had calls from people concerned about our ability to get hybrids, so we know it's a popular program," Hines said. "That's why we want to keep it going as long as we can."
Season at peak
The season on hybrid stripers runs year round and allows anglers to keep two fish of at least 20 inches per day.
Right now is one of the best times to catch them, said Todd Young. That's because late spring and early summer finds the fish moving into shallower water chasing baitfish.
To catch them at places such as Lake Arthur, he fishes evenings, starting at 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. As the summer progresses, the bite starts later, perhaps as late as midnight by August. Year-round, though, the bite can start sooner on overcast days, later on bright, sunny ones.
Alewives, shiners and creek chubs are good bets if you use live bait, he said. Shallow running crankbaits and stickbaits are good artificials.
Hybrid stripers are schooling fish, he said, so if you get into one, you're likely to hook several. If a school seems to have moved on, though, move your boat closer to the shallows and you may be able to follow them again, he suggested