Fall Striper Tease

It is August and that usually means an angler's lull in the Chesapeake; but not for Mikey D Fishing!  Temperatures in the low 80s, a waning quarter moon for average tide sets, clear skies, and light winds left Captain Felker and Captain DiPaola with some decisions to make.   It came down to a choice between, late season chumming, live lining, or jigging.  Fresh off of an 18 hour flight from Africa, Captain Felker made the command decision to get on the water and use the lowrance to locate groups of stripers waiting to assault metal jigs and BKDs (Bass Kandy Delight - soft plastic lures).

Turning the corner from Whitehall Bay, the adrenaline began pumping as we spotted terns and gulls diving to fish on the surface.  Approaching a school of voracious stripers requires some common sense and etiquette.  We pushed the throttle to close in on the school.  Positioning ourselves in the approaching path of the school we eased back on the throttle making no wake within 200 yards.  The key is to not go full speed to the edge of the school and be courteous of other boats around the fish.  With some forethought and patience, you can get several casts to the stripers before they dive, scatter or move on. 

We got hits on metal jigs, BKDs, and Kastmasters almost immediately.  It was good enough that we were able to switch a rod to plug for top water and it yielded results on the first cast.  Most fish were between 16 - 18", which was beyond our expectations.  After the first school scattered, we were able to locate large groups of fish massing nearby with the trusty lowrance.  Captain Felker hooked into the first one in the pack and reported a "good pull"!  That pull gave way to a 20" keeper which was quickly followed by 3 more including one taken on top.  That short taste of autumn bite was a harbinger of the fishing sure to come in the weeks ahead.

The fillets were the perfect size for the recipe below originally created for Halibut but fresh rockfish worked nicely (Saltwater Sportsman - Sept 2017):

3 or 4 striper fillets
3 figs
3 cups fennel (shaved or sliced)
1/4 # butter
2 cloves garlic
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth or stock
1 - 2 teaspoons of chili pods (seeds removed)

- Place fennel, garlic and chili in saucepan on medium heat
- Cook until fennel softens then add butter
- Deglaze pan with white wine and chicken broth / stock, bring to boil
- In a separate pan, sear rockfish on one side in olive oil
- Place fish in pan (brown side up) with oven safe saucepan with the fennel chicken broth mixture
- Place fish in oven at 350 for 5 minutes

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing