But I never really think of Delaware when it comes to striped bass. Are they just a bunch of under-the radar-snakes in the grass? When we think of spawning rivers the big three are, the Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries, (Virginia and Maryland, and headwaters of the Nanticoke River in Delaware), the Hudson River (New York), and the Delaware River (mostly New Jersey and Pennsylvania). But alas.....Delaware is a huge player in Delaware River striped bass.
The Delaware Bay runs from Cape May to the north 17 miles to Cape Henlopen State Park to the south. Basically that's the cutoff between the ocean and bay and river fisheries. When they determined mile markers in the Delaware River Exit 0 or RM 0 starts at that imaginary line between N.J. and Delaware. To me the actual start, or mouth, of the Delaware River would be just west and north of the Delaware Bay, around Hope Creek or RM 48. The Delaware Bay is 785 square miles, for comparison, the Raritan Bay is 109 square miles. And remember the Chesapeake...4,479 sq. miles.
So, when I think of the Delaware River I think of it more in terms of where I live and fish, around RM 140. It's New Jersey on one side and Pennsylvania on the other. Two states divided by water, each with their own set of striped bass regulations, like open seasons and size limits. As you go north it becomes Pennsylvania on one side and New York on the other. Going south it's Delaware on one side New Jersey on the other.
What separates the states is an imaginary line, kind of like the 3-mile EEZ, that runs down the middle of the river, maybe, because in some sections the split is in the middle of the channels. But again, different states with different rules.
Striped bass come into the Delaware River to spawn. There's a bunch of environmental stuff that has to happen to have a successful spawning year. But what we think we know is that the primary spawning ground for striped bass is between Marcus Hook, Pa. to the north RM 77 down to Wilmington De., RM 70. That's what the scientists say. To me, the true spawning locations are north of that. One of my life's goals is to photo/video them going at it in the Delaware.
So where am I going with this? Well, lets talk about and get rid of New Jersey. Ocean fishery, back bay and river fishery, Gamefish status with a Bonus Tag Program, done. Now, what about Delaware? Well, if we look across the pond from say Fortescue, those Delaware boys have a recreational and
commercial fishery in the Delaware Bay. Not to long ago tournament fishing in the Delaware Bay and points north up the Delaware River used to hold catch and kills two times a year, on both sides. "Yeah, buddy, let's go kill some cows!', and then put them in the dumpster...."Oh no, they were donated to the homeless". Okay.
These days, besides blaming everything on the recreational side, and we deserve a lot of it, we need to look past the same-old-same everyday argument and make sure we're not missing something. While the tournaments have stopped the commercial fishery of pre and post spawn striped bass in the Delaware Bay and River ( to a point) continues. In fact, the commercial fishery along the Delaware Bay is readying their nets to start fishing February 15th. What do you think those bass are doing there? They are doing the same thing the bass in the Raritan Bay are doing. Looking to stage and chew before their natal river calls them up river to spawn. Besides the gill and anchor net tactics they use in the Delaware Bay they also have a hook and line commercial fishery as well. If you'd like to see the Delaware commercial fishing regulations you can read it HERE.
The commercial fishery in Delaware is mostly about nets. It's gill netting, both floating and anchor. A floating gill net is put out and floats around, laid out depending on the tides, winds, and currents, and the anchored nets are fixed to the bottom. John Clark, the DNREC Fisheries Manager had a few interesting things to say about commercial net fishing in the Delaware Bay this past week. He said, 90% of the spring fish are caught by anchor net (they're not looking up yet), anchor netting is more effective but also more destructive, and POW!, anchor gill net fishing accounts for 41% mortality for other species (by catch) with an 8% mortality (of non-harvested fish) for striped bass when a drift gill net is used.
So, they get them either way. Over the years they have ensured the size in the mesh is big enough for fish, either undersized or by-catch, to pass through, but that is so inexact. Killing small or other fishes comes with the gill net fishery territory.
So as we wait to see how the 11 states and waters governed by the ASMFC meet the required reductions, the states are juggling numbers, seasons, sizes, everything....to just catch more fish. It's like that child you have that is always manipulating everything to get what they want. And Delaware is doing it as well. Overall, the ASMFC said there has to be a coast wide 7% reduction in commercial quotas. What does Delaware do? Well here's their position according to an article titled "As stripers arrive earlier, commercial fishing season to shift". on Delaware.live, HERE.
What they are proposing, because, "striped bass are coming into the Delaware River and bay earlier in the year as the weather warms up earlier", is to move the commercial season up two weeks earlier and shorten in in late April and May. Mmmmm. Now wait, is that the DNREC's conservation position? Are they looking to protect spawning striped bass, or are they looking to get in early so that the commercial fishery is happy? Let me say this. In New Jersey you may not start fishing until March 1st, or later, but those that wait and fish waters where striped bass stage and chew before going upriver to screw, can tell you the fish are there right now. So let's hammer down on them because they are arriving earlier and before anyone sees us?
Delaware commercial fisherman/woman, 2020
As I wait upriver for these striped bass to show up they have to go through, recreational guys on the Jersey side in the bay, commercial and rec guys on the Delaware side, pollution, big ships, maybe some predation on the smaller fish, old age and natural death, and then the triple treble plug crew who really believe they're are feeding fish, but it's really it's just a reaction strike to annoyed big fish who have spawning on their minds. And then C & R mortality, and let me tell you, if you want to see a cluster f%$k, just watch "beach guys" and some river guys who think they know what they're doing, try to fish, and land fish, in a big river. It's not good. It's the same casts behind the same rocks or runs, over and over again, on the same tides. Let's just annoy them into biting. I think they do that with shad and maybe salmon or steelhead. Yeah, that's fishing. Anyway. To each his or her own.
We all talk about the Chesapeake. The Hudson gets put in the talks but who really fishes the Hudson. Some anglers do in the shadow of Lady Liberty, maybe around Piedmont Pier early on, but it's the way up river guys live lining herring and using planer boards who's gig that is. And nobody really cares, only when the YOY numbers come out. And they still live-line herring for striped bass up there, WTF?
If we are looking to rebuild the striped bass then we can't allow netters to feast on striped bass before or shortly after they spawn in the bays and rivers. Delaware has a commercial quota of around 145,000 pounds of striped bass per year. If the average fish is around 8 pounds that's nearly 18,000 fish that are removed from the SSB stock.
