Stripers of the Chesapeake
A fountain of menhaden gushed at the surface 50 yards to the starboard side. The school of baitfish exploded in every direction like silvery shrapnel.
Something swirled beneath the baitfish, something large. Then more menhaden broke the surface to our left, and another school behind us. More swirls, more menhaden, and more and more.
The water now boiled, churning like a witches’ cauldron as thousands of baitfish fled predators unseen beneath the surface. Half an acre of water seemed to take on a life of its own.
Bain launched a bucktail jig. When it splashed, he gave it an upward flip with his rod tip, and blam! A fish was on. I launched my own attack, casting a topwater plug toward the frothy water. It, too, was attacked as soon as it made contact. And from the bend in my 7-foot rod, I knew my opponent was sizeable—or so it seemed.
Claude landed his fish first, 12 pounds of striped muscle. He released it and cast again. Once more, there was a powerful, almost instantaneous strike, and he was battling another bruiser.
My fish was a twin to Claude’s 12-pounder. I removed the plug hooks, released the fish and then shot the lure back into the maelstrom. This time, I saw the fish before it hit. A large dark fin sliced the water, running on a collision course with my lure. I twitched the bait and held on tightly as the fish smashed the lure and tried to yank the rod from my hand.
I was startled at the unbridled energy of my quarry. The fish ran in broad arcs, peeling line against the drag. But soon it weakened, and I brought its 16-pound bulk over the transom.
Over the next hour, we caught and released eight striped bass apiece, all between 10 and 18 pounds. This was my introduction to Chesapeake Bay striper fishing, and I was left breathless in the wake of the frenzied battle at this incredible East Coast fishery.
History of the Fishery
Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Bay is the nursery for 75 percent of the striped bass along the Atlantic Coast. Stripers spawn in freshwater rivers but spend most of their adult life in saltwater. More than 150 freshwater streams, where stripers can spawn, drain into the Bay.Stripers typically spend the first two to four years of their lives in Chesapeake Bay. Most then move to the ocean and join the annual coastal migration, going north to New England in summers. They return south in late fall to feed on baitfish migrating out of the Bay for winter. Most stay in the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts, but many winter in the Chesapeake.
Fishing the Chesapeake
Finding stripers in Chesapeake Bay can be a daunting task if only because this body of water is so huge. The Bay is about 200 miles long, running from the Susquehanna River in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. At its widest point, just south of the Potomac River’s mouth, it is 30 miles wide. Total shoreline for the Bay and its tributaries is 11,684 miles, and the surface area including major tributaries is 4,479 square miles.Hiring a fishing guide or going out on a charter boat—and there are many in this area that specialize in striper fishing—is one of the best ways to learn how to find and catch these constantly moving sportfish. Or do like Claude Bain and I did; head straight for the 17.6-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which spans the Bay from Cape Charles to Norfolk-Virginia Beach. This marvel of engineering is arguably the greatest striper magnet on the East Coast.
The Bridge-Tunnel consists of more than 12 miles of trestled roadway, two mile-long tunnels, two bridges, four man-made islands, almost two miles of causeway, 5-1/2 miles of approach roads and 100 miles of pilings (5,189 in all). If placed end-to-end, the pilings alone would reach from New York to Philadelphia.
Striped bass entering or exiting the Bay must pass through the Bridge-Tunnel complex and past its islands and pilings. Barnacles, shellfish and various crustaceans make the rocks around the islands their home. These attract baitfish, and the baitfish attract stripers. Casting near the rocky shores of the islands in early mornings is a good way to catch feeding stripers. And on an outgoing tide, stripers can be caught around the many pilings where they hide to ambush prey fish swept past by tidal currents.
The Chesapeake striper angler has a varied selection of lures from which to choose. The best tend are those that imitate smaller fish upon which the stripers feed, including a variety of plugs, spoons and jigs. Fishing with surface plugs such as chuggers, darters and prop baits can be especially exciting when the stripers are pushing baitfish to the surface. Floating-diving plugs work great as well, as do heavy casting spoons, diamond jigs and bucktail jigs.
Among the most popular live baits are menhaden, or bunker, and eels. Menhaden are herring family members used extensively ground as chum, cut in chunks and strips, and fished dead or alive. American eels are especially relished by big stripers, and when impaled through the lips, remain lively on a hook for long periods. They are available through many bait dealers. Other excellent live baits sometimes employed in the Chesapeake include sandworms, bloodworms, squid, blue crabs and fish such as killies and butterfish.
Because the Chesapeake is so large, trolling is among the most popular and effective methods for catching striped bass here, whether using live baits or artificials. With trolling you can cover a lot of territory and maybe intercept a trophy striper. One often-used technique is trolling umbrella rigs with shad teasers and a large spoon or plug that resembles a baitfish.
Wherever you fish, watch for diving flocks of gulls and terns that reveal feeding stripers. When Claude Bain and I fished, we would spot working birds, motor ahead of or beside them and cast lures to the often-massive schools of bass. Bucktail jigs worked very well fished at various levels in the water column, as did a variety of topwater plugs worked with stop-and-go retrieves on the surface. Often both of us were hooked up to good stripers at the same time, and whenever the action slowed, we moved until another gull flock was found.
While our fishing was from a boat at locations away from shore, the Chesapeake also offers public areas where you can try surf casting and pier fishing as well. Both methods are popular here, and both produce large stripers for many savvy anglers.
There’s no doubt Chesapeake Bay serves up some of the best striped bass fishing in the country. If you enjoy catching these line-busting bruisers, plan a visit soon. You’ll be glad you did