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About Strait Stripers
The most popular saltwater recreational fish in Eastern North America, striped bass are large, robust fish that school in coastal waters, returning to fresh water to spawn. There are several populations of stripers in Nova Scotia. The fish we find off the Northumberland Strait, from a population of bass that spawn in the Miramichi River in New Brunswick.
Female stripers produce up to 100,000 eggs which are released near the surface and hatch in two or three days. Young bass grow rapidly on a diet of plankton and invertebrates such as insect larvae and worms. Later growth is dependent on the availability of fish such as silversides, mackerel and herring.
Striped bass in the Northumberland Strait spend the summer feeding off our coast. After spending a few years in our waters they return to the Miramichi to spawn and complete the cycle. Generally speaking stripers in the Strait, the Gulf Region do not reach the size of bass found along the Atlantic Coast and Bay of Fundy, the Maritime Region.
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Fishing before sunup and after sundown will more likely yield larger striped bass who feed at night. During daylight hours there is still lots of fun to be had fishing for smaller schoolies.
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Fishery Regulations:
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The fishery for striped bass was closed a number of years ago when population numbers dropped to very low levels. Thanks to management measures brought in by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans the population has rebounded extremely well.
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The tidal water season for striped bass on the Northumberland Strait runs from mid-April until the end of October. Anglers are permitted to keep three bass every day of the fishing season.
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The size window for keepers on the Strait is a minimum length of 50 cm (20 in.) and a maximum length of 65 cm (26 in). The length is measured in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail.
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Angling activities can begin two hours before sunrise and ends two hours after sunset of each day.
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The use of a non-offset barbless circle hook is mandatory when bait is used while fishing for striped bass in tidal waters.
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Tidal water fishing in Nova Scotia does not require a fishing licence.