The striped bass sustained American colonists through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and went west with nineteenth-century pioneers. During the past one hundred years, however, Atlantic coastal stocks have been over-fished three times to the brink of recreational extinction. Today, the stripers are back in such numbers they're the center of a saltwater fly-fishing revival. George Reiger recounts his own relationship to the striped bass and traces the history of the great sportfish through such angling writers as Henry William Herbert and Robert Barnwell Roosevelt in the nineteenth century to Joe Brooks and Lefty Kreh in more recent decades. The book also demonstrates that the striper is heading for another collapse unless prevailing fisheries turn to better conservation policies. The Striped Bass Chronicles is a paean to a remarkable fish - and a prayer for its future. (61/4 X 91/4, 212 pages, illustrations)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
The striped bass, Morone saxatilis, aka the ocean rockfish, is one of the more common U.S. game fish, readily available to anglers on both coasts. Its range has shrunk since a century ago, but in the past decade it began swimming in many of the country's largest reservoirs. It is known for its fierce fighting ability on hook and line and its excellent comestible qualities, yet it is largely ignored by the mainstream angling press. Reiger strives to amend that neglect, and if he doesn't give much precise information on catching striped bass, he does survey its past, present, and future well. Common on the dinner tables of sixteenth-century colonists, the fish has been through many boom-and-bust cycles. At present, it may be headed toward a very serious bust because of pollution and overharvesting. Besides the hard info, Reiger recounts plenty of his early fishing exploits with the species, and they are just a joy to read. Jon Kartman
From Kirkus Reviews
A pleasantly avuncular history and reminiscence of striped- bass fishing from Field and Stream conservation editor Reiger (Heron Hill Chronicle, 1994, etc.). The striped bass is an extremely important commercial and game fish, and it has been since colonial days, when the striper was pursued from Maine to Georgia. It was also pursued by native populations prior to European arrival. It has been fished nearly to extinction three times over the last hundred years (Reiger doesn't buy the cyclical-decline hypothesis offered by some fisheries biologists, and outlines convincing reasons why he doesn't). He shapes his story by mingling historical accounts of striped-bass fishing (fishers wield a pen as often as they handle a rod) by notables of their day--like Genio C. Scott, fashion editor and New York City's most popular fishing writer during the Civil War, and Russell Chatham, a writer and artist now living in Montana, far from striper precincts--with his own personal encounters with the fish. Each chapter concentrates on a particular striper venue, mainly along the midAtlantic Coast, but also venturing north to New England and south to the Savannah River, as well as to the West Coast and the San Francisco Bay and Monterey fisheries, which have also waxed and waned since the introduction of stripers from New Jersey in 1879. Ever the inquiring naturalist and sportsman, Reiger laces his chronicle with biological tidbits, such as how the turkey buzzard got its name, reflections on the practice of catch-and-release fishing, and the pleasures of the fly as opposed to the plug. Sadly, Reiger foresees another crash for the striped bass; the number of fish taken by recreational fishermen now rivals the commercial catch, leading to a one-two punch. He might be out there stalking them, but no one will doubt Reiger's love of the striper after finishing this book. (22 line drawings, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An addictive book about a noble fish,
By Josh Stoneman (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Striped Bass Chronicles (Hardcover)
I found this book by chance, and as soon as I started reading it I couldn't put it down. By the time I was finished, I agreed that maybe the STRIPED BASS should be our national symbol, not the bald eagle. It's a fascinating fish, and an unknown player in American history and politics. It's also HUGE. Who knew that 150 pound monsters lurked in the East River? Reiger is a great writer, period. And he makes a compelling case for the gentlemanly art of catch and release fishing.
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