[Tiderunner]

I found a decent guide to Striped Bass age, length and growth chart that is downloadable to Excel. However it seems that the overall weights of the fish tend to be higher than they should be. I think most of the fish on L.I. fall in the Min. range in the spring and perhaps closer to the average range in the fall. I see many guys calling a 33" fish 23lbs. when they are really only about 14lbs.
To view the chart see web site below or click attachment to open file.
http://www.surfstriper.com
Tag & Release
Tiderunner

This message was edited by Tiderunner on 12-9-01 @ 11:50 AM

 

[mattyblazer]

"*************" had an article that said that those leingth/weight charts are not accurate anymore, something about a decline in the weight of the fish overall,
I got 2 40" fish in the ocean feeding on bunker 1 on 10/23, and 1 on 10/25.
Bolth exactly 40" but my bogagrip said 20 and 19 pounds.






This message was edited by mattyblazer on 12-8-01 @ 9:42 PM

 

[Tiderunner]

I think the age and lengths are accurate, however the weights are somewhat over estimated. A 40" Striped Bass at 20 lbs. is probably within the range for fish around here. I would expect to see a 40" to be a bit heavier say around 22-25 lbs.I had two 37" stripers in the last two weeks one was 17lbs and the other was 16.6lbs. The heavier one was full of mullet and the lighter one's gut was empty. They must be all on a diet.
Perhaps the availability of bunker, mullet and other bait fish are on the decline which would explain the lighter weights of the stripers.
Tag & Release
Tiderunner

 

[mattyblazer]

50 pounds or 5 pounds, it has been one incredible season, from Montauk point to the Rockaways!

 

[Hunt n' Fish]

I don't think it is possible for a 33 inch fish to weigh 23 pounds. On one day I got my girlfriend to try striper fishing she caught a very fat one that was 39 inches and weighed 22 pounds according to the Boga Grip. That coincides with MattyB and Tiderunner.

 

[616800]

I just checked a photo of my first "keeper" from 2 years ago 32 inches 14lbs. The chart seems correct to me.

Tiderunners therory can be corroborated.

Bryan Taplin, an environmental scientist in the Atlantic Ecology Division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has witnessed the destruction of all the large schools of menhaden by purse seiners in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay. During the last two decades he has also studied changes in the diet of striped bass in the bay by analyzing the carbon isotope signature of their scales. What he has discovered is a steady shift away from fat-rich menhaden to invertebrates that provide considerably lower nutritional value. That has been accompanied by a loss of muscle and a decrease in the weight-to-length ratio of striped bass. The bass that remain in Narragansett Bay, says Taplin, are "long skinny stripers" that have been forced to shift their diet because "the menhaden population has crashed to an all-time low."

 

[Tiderunner]

Very interesting article Harry. It makes a lot of sense! Bunker schools have been dewindling over recent years in New York and along the eastern seaboard. The Bass must find other sources to feed themselves. Everytime we deplete a certain fish population we affect another. And so on and so on. Tag & Release
Tiderunner



This message was edited by Tiderunner on 12-26-01 @ 7:02 PM