DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710010710

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Bob Hutchinson 
                                            LENGTH:   34 lines

IT'S S-DAY MINUS TWO AND THAT MEANS OPENING

It's S-Day minus two and that means opening of the 1997 Chesapeake Bay striped bass season is almost here.

What is perhaps Virginia's most popular fishing season begins at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Or with the strike of midnight Friday, if you prefer to look at it like that.

In case there's anyone who doesn't know, the season will be the longest since angling was opened in 1990 after all striper fishing was banned for several years. It has been opening Oct. 17.

It'll will run through the year. Once again anglers must comply with an 18-inch minimum and a daily bag limit of two fish. But no fish will be too large.

Incidentally, the coastal season on stripers has been open since May 16 with rules which will remain in effect until this fishery also closes Dec. 31: 2-fish bag limit, 28-inch minimum and no maximum.

The only thing that could alter the above rules would be for recreational fishermen to exceed their quota of 1,711,748 pounds of stripers. And since accurate angling records are almost impossible to maintain, that's unlikely.

For the Chesapeake Bay opening, stripers should be scattered all along the area's three major bridge-tunnels: Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Roads and Monitor Merrimac Memorial.

But if you're looking for big fish, you're a bit early. Historically, the year's giants have been boated between Thanksgiving and season's end. There's no reason to think things will be different. For complete copy of list, see microfilm

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