LAST EDITED ON Aug-30-01 AT 05:23 PM (PST)LAST EDITED ON Aug-30-01 AT 05:18 PM (PST)
It would be interesting to compare the fight of the two species pound-for-pound, if anyone has caught both at comparable weights. Being a newly arrived Santa Barbaran from the SF Bay area I have not yet caught my first wsb, but I have caught stripers. Whereas large stripers put up a good fight, I am not very impressed with the fight of the smaller stripers compared to some other species of the same size. During an El Nino we caught bonito in the SF Bay area. I would say that pound for pound they pull much better than stripers.
The salmon that I have caught were generally larger than the stripers that I have caught, and the gear and bodies of water were much different so it would be hard for me to compare the fight of these two species. Also, because of their relatively soft mouths I would use less drag and take more time to bring in a salmon, whereas I could "horse" a striper a little more and feel its power.
Do southerners know that the stripers in California originated in New Jersey, a tank car of them being dumped into the Delta , I believe, around 1900? Imagine trying to propose a transplantation like that today! If I had been around at that time I would have proposed transplanting into Southern California waters another Atlantic fish, the bluefish. Pound for pound the bluefish is one of the hardest fighters. Even 12 inchers, called snapper blues, put up a great fight; pound for pound better than a striper. The bluefish is voracious. They have been caught using a bandaid on a hook by a guy who ran out of bait. I have caught them with many different baits and lures, including the prototype for the modern swimbait, the French-made viv vif (spelling?) lure. They have mangled many an angler's fingers. I once caught a 30" bluefish that had a 36" eel crossways in its mouth.
Finally, the wsb may be safer to eat than stripers because of mercury in stripers. Catch-and-release is the way to go.
Sorry for getting carried away, but yours was an interesting post.