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$6 and a Half Billion...
 ...and worth every inch. $6.63 billion to be exact. That's the net income activity derived from the recreational striper fishery on the atlantic seaboard from Maine to the Mid Atlantic states. Capt. Eric Wallace, owner/operator of Coastal Fly Angler, quoted that number to us while gently poling his "flats" style boat around the shallow bays of Casco bay.
A quick double haul, the shooting of the 8 wt. line through the snake guides, and the soft plop of a Seductive Slayer, a fly of the Captain's own design (currently being put into production tying), and the fun begins. Strip, strip strip, pause, strip, strip, ...SLAM. Fish on. Briefly anyway.
Damn. He cut the line. Probably a small bluefish. After a quick knot on a new fly and another cast another hit and a schoolie striper was quickly brought to hand.
These fish are found from the lower St. Lawrence to Northern Florida in coastal bays, estuaries and anywhere breaking surf can be found. Known to grow to weights of a hundred pounds and live for up to 40 years it's no wonder the devotion this fish conjurs up amongst the angling community.
Once sought after so hard by commercial fishermen, both the commercial and recreational fisheries collapsed in ruin. But times have changed and so has the view of many regarding this fishery. Today most states have recognized the economic value of the recreational fishery. Only a few states still allow commercial harvest, though groups like Stripers Forever (www.Stripersforever.org) are advocating to make it a gamefish of national significance everywhere it is naturally found. The Southwick report prepared by Stripers Forever states that the value of the recreational fishery is around $6.63 billion anually with possibilities of close to $9 billion if given gamefish status ( an economic gain of almost $1.8 billion), and thus ending the $250 million dollar commercial harvest.
Ask the Captain what he thinks about that. He'll quickly tell you they're worth every inch. Then tell you to make a cast to the left another foot, right next to that bunch of floating eel grass and then make it dance before stripping it hard. A quick cast, a few short strips before a longer one...fish on. After a few head wiggles and enough fight to take out a bit of line, another is brought to hand.
Alternating casters after every fish, it was Tim's turn. The Captain positioned the boat for him to intercept a pod of fish cruising the shallows feeding on small groups of what we thought to be either peanut bunker or baby mackerell. In the background a man dug sea worms from the exposed tidal flats. After a missed cast another was quickly made, this time in the right spot and the fly was quickly swallowed by a bigger fish. This one warranted being a bit more careful and it was allowed to make several runs towards shore in an attempt to rid it's mouth of the hook. After a moderate fight the fish was brought to hand for a quick photo before release.
$6.5 billion. That's the current value of the recreational striper fishery and, by account of all on board the Captain's boat at that moment, worth every penny.
The fishing is heating up, which is why we had scheduled this trip, in preperation for the fall feeding blitz as the bait fish and stripers feeding on them move south. Over the next month the bait will congregate into schools and migrate south in search of warmer waters in which to winter. This will take them and the stripers chasing them through the coastal waters of states allowing commercial harvest. The larger fish which serve as the breeding population and the portion that interests the recreational community, will be what the commercial fishermen target.
$6.5 billion, potentially $9 billion, and worth every inch.
If your looking to book a trip stalking stripers on the fly around Casco Bay with a guy who lives and breaths stripers contact Capt. Eric Wallace of Coastal Fly Angler. He can be reached through his website http://www.coastalflyangler.com when he's not on the water or sitting at the tying bench designing next years go to fly.
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written by Dave Huntress (aka Hunter)
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