NEWS RELEASE

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

November 4, 1997

CONTACT: Rick Long (850) 487-1644

FALL IS THE TIME TO FISH FOR STRIPERS AND HYBRIDS

For some anglers autumn’s cool weather means it’s the time to store their gear until next spring. For striper and hybrid fishermen, this is one of the best times of the year to fish.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Fisheries Biologist Rick Long says both stripers and hybrids (striped bass-white bass hybrids) tend to reduce their activity and feeding during the warmer months but move and feed voraciously as water temperatures begin to drop. He said catching fish now is a matter of being in the right place and using the right bait.

"There are fishermen already catching both stripers and hybrids in the lower Apalachicola fishing on the bottom with live shrimp," Long said. "They’re also catching fish near the sawgrass and along the deeper banks by using a float and shrimp fished about two feet underneath."

He said everything feeds on shrimp and anglers sometimes catch largemouth bass and near the coast, saltwater species such as redfish and speckled trout.

Up river near the Jim Woodruff Dam, Long said striper and hybrid fishermen tend to fish on the bottom with threadfin shad, and small live eels when they can get them. He said eels historically are an excellent striped bass bait, especially for big striped bass.

Long said hybrids and stripers will often come to the surface in huge "schools" during the colder months in the Apalachicola River between the dam and Interstate 10 and lots of fish can be caught while they’re on the surface by throwing Crocodile-type spoons or small spinner-type lures such as the Little George.

Other northwest Florida rivers with stripers and hybrids include the Ochlockonee, Intra-Coastal Waterway near Port St. Joe, Choctawhatchee, Blackwater, Yellow and Escambia rivers.

Stripers have been caught recently from North Bay in Bay County below the Deer Point Lake dam. He said those fish were probably some that were stocked originally at White City and Apalachicola.

Long said he would like to hear from anglers catching stripers below the Deer Point Dam, or elsewhere in the panhandle where tagged stripers have been caught. Long said tag information can be reported to his office at (850) 487-1645 or to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (850) 763-1059.

Anglers are limited to a 20-fish aggregate daily bag of striped bass, hybrids and white bass. However, the 20-fish bag may include no more than three striped bass and they must be at least 18 inches in total length.