First striper for the Coastal Bend area?

Striper catches in the other saltwater areas are reported regularly, but not so much along the Texas coast. There have been a few caught out of Galveston Bay, Sabine Bay and Matagorda Bay. But the latest catch could be the first off the jetty at Port Aransas.

The fish measured 34 inches long and most likely was swept from an inland reservoir during last year’s epic floods that ravaged the Hill Country. Throughout much of North America stripers live in saltwater most of their lives, but spawn in freshwater rivers.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) just completed electro shocking at the Lake Livingston dam last week collecting striped bass to be used as brood fish for spawning in TPWD hatcheries. TPWD stocks their fry and fingerlings into Texas lakes.

Most likely this one traveled about 160 miles from Canyon Lake, through the Guadalupe River and into San Antonio Bay, which is another 60-70 miles north of Port Aransas.

Retired Coastal Fisheries biologist Kyle Spiller who directed TPWDs Upper Laguna Madre team from 1980 to 2010 was reported as saying he believed this is the first striper for this area.