Why?

[GonnaCatchABig1]

i read something somewhere about the stripes patterns and coloration. i dunno how well that holds up. but i tend to give fish a good lookin over when i get into them, and there are some very distinctive differences on different days. i dunno what it all means.

but i've noticed (atleast i think i have) if i get into about 6-8 schoolies in an hour, they all are pretty much the same shades and shapes. be it bright white, or more of a yellowish hue. dark stripes, or somewhat lighter stripes.

but im think that has more to do with the water conditions theyve been in. more so then where they are from. as usually the very white with dark stripes are covered in sea lice. and the yellower fish usually dont have any.

just what i've noticed.

also READ somewhere that the hudson and chesapeake stocks have a different amount of stripes. (7 vs 8). i dunno how true that is. i've never botherd to actually count stripes. but it seems reasonable that the two stocks would have slightly different dna structures. which in theory if it is true, could give each breeding ground its own dna differences. which would lead to different hues and patterns. possibly even body types. (racers vs cows(?)) i know around here we see far more racer types than cows. even with their bellies filled to the point of exploding they are usually much thinner/more streamlined for their length than the big fish i see from other areas.

hey another long winded post from outta my arse. but just some observations. i would assume people take those observations and make them into those theories on who they are and they do.

[BigFish]

They all have 7 lateral lines grasshopper.

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Identification. Striped bass are long, thick-bodied fish with large broad heads. They are characterized by the
presence of 7-8 smoky black stripes running the length of the fish.

from some new york fish identification page. there were others with the same thing. but could only copy that one. i saw one that even said up to 9.. but it also applied to hybrids.

[BigFish]

You read too much...live, experience....and count your own stripes.

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Originally Posted by BigFish

You read too much...live, experience....and count your own stripes.

lol, i been out. keeper almost every trip in the past two weeks. (minus one) just cant get into the really big girls. it's the guy next to me getting them..

i stopped reading for the most part. it really screwed me all up. tried to hard to do everything by the book. i do alot better when i just wing it. and now that its crunch time i'm back to my roots, mono and plugs. who would have thought. got my first fish on mono in almost two years today. decent little keeper. ( i like the sound of that) i was all worried about fishin in the rocks with 30lb mono, but once the fish was on, the stretch of the line felt so natural. and i actually felt more in control.

[BigFish]

30 pound mono? What the hell are you doin'?

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Originally Posted by BigFish

30 pound mono? What the hell are you doin'?

its severely under gunning it in these rocks.. i saw em up close at low tide for the first time the other day.. holy cow. how we manage to get our plugs (and eels) through them, let alone the fish we've been into i have no idea. it's just a nasty place. and i love it!

[Jimmy Fee]

There's no way of knowing for sure, but I'd say they're educated guesses based on reports and the time of year. Well, there is one way to know for sure: I pulled a tagged fish out of the action Thursday, so if it was tagged two days prior on Scorton Ledge, then we can be certain (actually it was a pretty old tag, so that won't be happening). Seriously though, this week there was some dynamite fishing out on Scorton's ledge, lots of fish in the 30-34" with the occasional bigger bass, then the canal blew up Thursday (maybe Wednesday, but I wasn't there so I can't say) with fish of the same size class. So I think that's a pretty good assumption.

Also, given the time of year, figuring these fish are on their way south isn't too much of a stretch either, especially with that wind we had Thursday night.

When that tremendous push of big fish came through the fish week of June, right when the Canal was slowing up, I started getting reports of boats in CC Bay slaying good bass that were loaded with macks. I'd bet the farm that was the same body of fish from the Canal following that big school of Mackerel.

Fishing's all about trying to figure out what the fish are doing and where they're going to be, and the best we can do is try to guess.

[GonnaCatchABig1]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Fee

Also, given the time of year, figuring these fish are on their way south isn't too much of a stretch either, especially with that wind we had Thursday night.

i'm still p.o.ed at that wind. it completely shut off our bite. started back up again though. hopefully many more fish comin down behind them.

[hyefisherman2]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Fee

Fishing's all about trying to figure out what the fish are doing and where they're going to be, and the best we can do is try to guess.

also larry, like jimmy is saying here, there's nothing wrong with guessing right?

[Raven]

Originally Posted by hyefisherman2

also larry, like jimmy is saying here, there's nothing wrong with guessing right?

use the force.....