[one_half last=”no”][colored_box color=”blue”]Acknowledgments
Thanks to Chris Paxton and David Yeager of the Florida Wildlife Commission, and to Allan Brown of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, for fish- stocking data and insightful assistance. Source material used in preparing this article can be found at locations cited below:
Florida Wildlife Commission: http://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/ sites-forecast/striper/#apalachicola http://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/ sites-forecast/nw/apalachicola-river/
Dr. Mark Fisher, Rockport (TX) Marine Lab: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/ fish/didyouknow/gulfstripedbass.phtml
Dr. Ralph Yerger:
Fishes of the Apalachicola River. Florida Marine Research Publications No. 26
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[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he ecology of the Apalachicola River watershed is unique in many ways. At a large scale it’s a migratory pathway all the way from the Appalachian foothills of North Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico, both for animals that move intentionally, and for plants whose seeds are washed hundreds of miles downstream. On a small scale the river’s valley and floodplain have microclimates found nowhere else — the Steephead Ravines near the north end of the river, for example — that provide homes for plants and animals that you don’t expect to find in North Florida. The consequence of this is incredible biodiversity: Dr. Ralph Yerger of FSU counted 116 species of fish in the system, which comprises the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint Rivers. Some of these species are “endemic” to the system, meaning that they are found nowhere else.
The Gulf-strain Striped bass found in the Apalachicola River are not truly endemic, but in a few decades may become so. Originally found in river systems all along the Gulf coast from the Suwannee River to Corpus Christi Bay, these stripers — which are genetically distinct from their cousins in the Atlantic Ocean — have been all but wiped out by pollution, destruction of habitat, and by dams that impede river flow, and which keep the fish away from their preferred spawning grounds. The Apalachicola River is the only remaining stronghold for these fish.
But even here the natural population barely hangs on, with very little reproduction occurring. The upstream dams prevent the fish from getting to their preferred spawning grounds, and alter the flows necessary to ensure survival of the fertilized eggs. And, habitat loss is caused by extended low water levels in Florida. These low flows are the result of droughts, upstream water depletions and those same upstream dams.
Low flows not only cause the wet and fertile floodplain to shrink, but low water levels cut the stripers off from the cool springs and streams that they need to help them survive the hot gulf coast summers. (That is, access to thermal refugia necessary for aestivation is substantially constricted.) And larger, older stripers are more likely than smaller youngsters to suffer from summer heat, so not only are the numbers down, but the fish are smaller, too. And those big old sows carrying millions of eggs are the most prolific, so their loss really hurts reproductive success. The amount of natural reproduction is too small to maintain the population, and even with hatchery stockings, fishing for Apalachicola stripers isn’t what it once was. Commercial harvest is gone forever, and recreational landings are fewer and smaller.
But not all the striper news is bad. The first good news is that Georgia, Florida, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service share a commitment to preserving this last vestige of the Gulf-strain Striped bass. This commitment results in frequent large stockings of young stripers in Lake Seminole, many of which wind up downstream in the Apalachicola River. In very round numbers, there were about 300,000 stocked in 2011, about 400,000 in 2012, and about 500,000 in 2013. As a result, good opportunities for landing large stripers are still around. Although Alphonso Barnes’ Florida state record of 42.25 lbs has stood for nearly 20 years, FWC reports that “Striped bass greater than 20 pounds…are common. Striped bass in the 40 to 60-pound range have also been caught or collected from the Apalachicola / Chattahoochee / Flint River system.”
The second bit of good news is that if you’ve caught freshwater stripers elsewhere, then you probably already know how to catch them in the Apalachicola River, especially in the turbulent waters below Jim Woodruff dam where the river begins. During the spring spawning run, fish congregate in big numbers in the tailrace of the dam. Live eels, live shad, and shad-imitating crankbaits will all produce fish. Lipless crankbaits (Rattletraps, Cordell Spots) can be deadly, especially around bridge pilings and other current-surrounded structure. Bucktails, with or without plastic trailers, can be thrown into the swirling rapids, or tossed at the bridges, or trolled in the deeper channels, all with high expectations of a striper supper. In calmer water at dusk and dawn, your favorite large topwater lure (I like a Zara Spook) can produce surface strikes just as explosive as the ones at Roanoke Rapids, NC. In the lower reaches of the river, where stripers spend the cooler winter months, they acquire a taste for saltier fare, so you can add live shrimp and pogeys (menhaden) to the list of productive baits. In the river delta near Apalachicola and Eastpoint in winter, Capt. Brandon Hewitt of Aquadog Charters suggests peeled shrimp and cut croakers. Fortunately for anglers, hungry stripers aren’t all that particular!
The last bit of good news is the stocking of Sunshine Bass in the lower reaches of the river. These hybrids (Striped Bass x White Bass) grow fast, fight hard, and are tasty, too. Some 500,000 fingerlings have been stocked by FWC in the lower river since 2010. Just as with pure stripers these are easiest to find in winter, especially in the distributary streams in the delta: St. Marks River, Little St. Marks River, and East River.
Thanks to ‘civilization’ by man of the natural habitat of the striped bass, the truly wild Gulf-strain stripers are now all but gone. But thanks to the commitment by state and federal agencies to preserve this sub-species and its genetic material, hatchery-born stripers populate the Apalachicola River in large numbers, and provide the same great catches and fabulous meals that their wild ancestors did. We’re glad for both!
Dr.Doug Wakeman is Senior Policy Analyst for Apalachicola Riverkeeper, a member-supported organization dedicated to the conservation and restoration of the Apalachicola River and Bay. Send email to doug@apalahicolariverkeeper.org, or visit us on the web at www.ApalachicolaRiverkeeper.org, or call us at 850-653-8936, or Find Us on Facebook.
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