Striper, a story of fish and man

by John N. Cole

In 'Striper', this well-known editor, author and conservationist presents both a moving personal story and detailed natural history--reminiscent of William W. Warner's Pulitzer Prize-winning 'Beautiful Swimmers'--of the striped bass whose strength and grace have challenged and inspired American fishermen for centuries.

269 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1978

Reviews

[Geoff Winston Leghorn Balme · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Thoreauesque dive into the 1950s Montauk with a pair of fishing brothers and their adventures seining for the magnificent striped bass. A favorite book of my fishing mad pop who-while on a beach last fall-taught me to surf cast into a blitz as manhaden left the water and died on the sand by the thousands to avoid the greedy striper jaws. If you’ve never seen it it is a stunning natural event that boggles the mind. This novel is full of tragedy and the first measure of the pollution that damned near ended the striper. The good news it they are back. Clean river efforts have made a difference for their nurseries and this most popular game fish is back.

Nature mixed with the rugged true life stories of New York boys post WW2 roughing it on the New England coast for their passion for the bass.

[Linda Dittes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book a long long time ago as someone who became interested in the loss of the Striped bass (rockfish) in the Chesapeake Bay. Although this is really about the hardships of fishermen off Montauk, NY and very little about the late 1970s loss of this venerable fish. As the Chesapeake Bay was cleaned up, the fish have had a revival.