The Transcontinental Journey of the Pacific Striped Bass

The striped bass, Morone saxatilis, is one of the most sought-after fish on the U.S. Atlantic Coast.

It’s prized for both its hard fight and its delicious flesh, and its populations sustain large recreational and commercial fisheries wherever they’re found, from Canada down through the entire Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

But this champion of the marine world is found somewhere else, too- in the Pacific!

This western Pacific Striped Bass population extends from Mexico up through British Columbia, although the main bulk of the population is found between San Francisco Bay and central Oregon.

These fish are completely separated from their east coast brethren, with no way for a fish to swim from one ocean to the other.

So how on Earth did they end up there?

This story is a shining example of the sheer force of human willpower and our extensive ability to affect our environment… for better or for worse.

Table of Contents

• Fish Out of Water: How Stripers Crossed America
• Home Away From Home: The Striped Bass’ Spread
• How to Catch a Pacific Striped Bass
• Belly Up: The Decline of Striped Bass
• Conclusion

Fish Out of Water: How Stripers Crossed America

Striped Bass have been important to Americans since long before Europeans settled the continent, and continued to be after the Revolutionary War.

As settlers began to move out west in the following decades, they brought their memories of the striped bass with them. They finally reached the coast of California, where they had an ocean full of brand new fish… but no stripers!

The story begins in 1879 with Mr. S.R. Throckmorton, the chairman of the California Fish Commission at the time.

The transcontinental railroad had been completed only ten years prior, directly linking the Atlantic Coast to the San Francisco Bay.

In a letter, Throckmorton wrote that he had “long had the impression that the great bay of San Francisco… would be well adapted to the propagation and growth of striped bass.”

Throckmorton knew that the transcontinental railroad could make his dream come true. In July of 1879, he enlisted the help of one Mr. Livingston Stone, of the United States Fish Commission.

Stone went to the Navesink River in northern New Jersey and collected over 100 striped bass from the estuary.

Most were between 1.5 and 3 inches long, but thirty fish were larger. The fish were loaded into a train car filled with water and rushed all the way across the country!

The four day long journey was brutal and some fish died, but 135 stripers arrived safely in San Francisco, where they were promptly released into the bay.

A second release of 300 fish occurred in 1882 to bolster the populations, and all anybody could do at that point was to wait and see if the fish would like their new environment.

And like it they did!

Home Away From Home: The Striped Bass’ Spread

Only a few months after the initial release, striped bass were reported in Monterrey Bay, over 100 miles south of the release site.

They were seen in Sausalito, Sacramento, and elsewhere in the region. By the 1890s fish were found migrating over 100 miles inland up the Sacramento River!

The fish were growing just as much as they were multiplying; by 1883, bass in the bay were beginning to be caught between 15 and 20 pounds. The fish were said to be very healthy, with “flavor fully up to the best specimens of the fish at the East.”

By the 1930’s, these fish had spread up and down the entire west coast, though their population still remained concentrated near San Francisco.

California even had enough striped bass to launch a commercial fishery for them, though this was quickly shut down.

Humans had done it- the Pacific Ocean had a brand new prize game fish: The Pacific Striped Bass!

How to Catch a Pacific Striped Bass

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, the best time to fish for striped bass is in the summer and fall months, though some catches can be made all year.

They migrate up rivers in the spring and fall to spawn, and at these times can be caught in bays and estuaries as well as further upriver.

In the summer months they migrate out into the Pacific Ocean and can be caught by inshore charter boats. On occasion, they will even school near the beaches to provide a bite for surf fishermen.

Live and cut bait held near the bottom with sinkers is the preferred method of catching Pacific stripers.

Mullet, sardines, anchovies, worms, and a variety of other natural bait choices have found success. Deeper water near structure is likely to hold hungry fish looking for a meal Trolling with jigs and plugs can also produce a bite.

Check with local guides for what’s currently working well, as well as for what the regulations are if you plan to keep your fish.

Be sure to have a valid California fishing license as well. The money from license sales helps pay for efforts to keep fish populations healthy for everyone to enjoy!

Belly Up: The Decline of Striped Bass

But it isn’t all tight lines and cheers. Damming of rivers, increases in pollution, warming waters due to climate change, and illegal overfishing have all caused the Pacific striped bass population to decline in recent decades.

While the adult population was estimated to be close to three million in the 1960’s, by the 1990’s it was thought to be under 800 thousand.

Yields continue to decline each year, and some estimates put the 2020’s population at figures as low as 200,000 adult fish.

But hope is not lost! New regulations to further restrict the keeping of caught bass have the potential to allow the population to recover, and the process of breaking down dams can give the fish more room to spread and spawn.

These are hardy fish, and they won’t go locally extinct without a fight- and a little help from us.

Conclusion

A stranger in a strange land, the striped bass was able to adapt and thrive in a brand new ocean environment some 3,000 miles from their native home.

With their introduction, the Pacific Ocean has been gifted with an amazing fishing opportunity that has come to be a defining feature of Bay Area angling.

While their population hangs in the balance, if you follow regulations and release laws, you can help them recover to ensure we can all enjoy this amazing sport fish no matter which coast we live on.

You May Also Like: Are Kelp Greenling Good To Eat?