Do you love fishing for striped bass, or as they're known in the Chesapeake, rockfish? Well, of course you do. The bigger question at the moment is, do you love the striped bass itself? And if the answer is yes, then as a responsible angler you owe it to yourself to learn as much as you can about the fish itself, the fishery, and how you can play a role in influencing its future.
In a perfect world maybe you’d sign up for a class about striped bass at the local community college, volunteer twice a week for a restoration or research project, and attend each and every Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission meeting up and down the East Coast. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world, and doing just one of these three things much less all of them isn’t even close to realistic. That’s why the sportfishing community has coalesced to create a series of angler-focused, interactional, educational discussions including both seasoned professionals of the striped bass world and recreational anglers like you and I, called The Past, Present, and Future of Striped Bass, a Chesapeake Bay Perspective.
This informative and entertaining series is free, and open to the public. A panel of people who have made careers revolving around rockfish will be on hand to educate and engage as many members of the angling public as possible, while bringing them up to speed on the issues surrounding stripers and how we can play a role in forming the future of the fishery. And hosted by yours truly.
If you care about these fish — if you want your children and your grandchildren to have the opportunity to fall in love with them the same way we have — we encourage you to check out this series. We kicked things off with Part 1 - The Dark Years – Lessons Learned from the Striper Moratorium of 1985 to 1990. More than a mere history lesson, an expert panel comprised of those who lived and fished through this darkest period in the history of rockfish discuss how the fishery, regulations, and fish populations have changed through time, helping us all gain the broad perspective necessary to look at the big picture.
In Part 2, we discussed The Current State of the Striper Fishery, Habitat, and Forage. Then in Part 3, the topic was Rebuilding a Better Striper Fishery, One the Bay Anglers Deserve.
Now, back to the original question: do you love rockfish? If your answer is yes, be sure to watch The Past, Present, and Future of Striped Bass, a Chesapeake Bay Perspective series. You owe it to yourself — and to the fish.