Virginia State Fish (Saltwater)

Striped Bass Morone saxatilis Adopted: March 26, 2011

Virginia State Fish (Saltwater): Striped Bass
Courtesy: N.Y. Department of Conservation

The striped bass became Virginia's official saltwater fish when Governor Bob McDonnell signed Senate Bill No. 940 on March 26, 2011.

VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- 2011 SESSION

CHAPTER 671

An Act to amend and reenact § 1-510 of the Code of Virginia, relating to official emblems and designations; state saltwater fish designated.

[S 940]

Approved March 26, 2011

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 1-510 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 1-510. Official emblems and designations.
The following are hereby designated official emblems and designations of the Commonwealth:

Artisan Center -"Virginia Artisans Center," located in the City of Waynesboro.
Bat - Virginia Big-eared bat (Corynorhinos townsendii virginianus).
Beverage - Milk.
Blue Ridge Folklore State Center - Blue Ridge Institute located in the village of Ferrum.
Boat - "Chesapeake Bay Deadrise."
Cabin Capital of Virginia - Page County.
Coal Miners' Memorial - The Richlands Coal Miners' Memorial located in Tazewell County.
Covered Bridge Capital of the Commonwealth - Patrick County.
Covered Bridge Festival - Virginia Covered Bridge Festival held in Patrick County.
Dog - American Foxhound.
Emergency medical services museum - "To The Rescue," located in the City of Roanoke.
Fish (Freshwater) - Brook Trout.
Fish (Saltwater) - Striped Bass.
Fleet - Replicas of the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, which comprised the Commonwealth's founding fleet that brought the first permanent English settlers to Jamestown in 1607, and which are exhibited at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg.
Flower - American Dogwood (Cornus florida).
Folk dance - Square dancing, the American folk dance that traces its ancestry to the English Country Dance and the French Ballroom Dance, and is called, cued, or prompted to the dancers, and includes squares, rounds, clogging, contra, line, the Virginia Reel, and heritage dances.
Fossil - Chesapecten jeffersonius.
Gold mining interpretive center - Monroe Park, located in the County of Fauquier.
Insect - Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus Linne).
Motor sports museum - "Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motor Sports Hall of Fame," located in Patrick County.
Outdoor drama - "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama," adapted for the stage by Clara Lou Kelly and performed in the Town of Big Stone Gap.
Outdoor drama, historical - "The Long Way Home" based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles, adapted for the stage by Earl Hobson Smith, and performed in the City of Radford.
Shell - Oyster shell (Crassostrea virginica).
Song emeritus - "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia," by James A. Bland, as set out in the House Joint Resolution 10, adopted by the General Assembly of Virginia at the Session of 1940.
Sports hall of fame - "Virginia Sports Hall of Fame," located in the City of Portsmouth.
War memorial museum - "Virginia War Museum," (formerly known as the War Memorial Museum of Virginia), located in the City of Newport News.

Sources...

Miller, John C. Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia General Assembly. Senate Bill No. 940. Richmond: Virginia's Legislative Information System, 2011. Web. .

Additional Information

Virginia State Fish (Saltwater): Striped Bass
Photographs, prints, posters

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis): Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792): Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2008.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (12/2008).

Morone saxatilis - (Walbaum, 1792): NatureServe Explorer: An Online Encyclopedia of Life.

Morone saxatilis (Walbaum, 1792): Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Here you will find authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

State fish: Complete list of official state fish from NETSTATE.COM

More symbols & emblems: Complete list of official Virginia state symbols from NETSTATE.COM.

Striped Bass Fishing: Saltwater Strategies

Striped Bass Fishing: Salt Water Strategies, 144 pages. Creative Publishing international; 1 edition (April 1, 2000) earn what it takes to catch the aggressive and powerful striped bass. Striped Bass Fishing: Salt Water Strategies includes invaluable advice from experts like as Nick Karas, Al Ristori, Vin Sparano and Lou Tabory and editors at Salt Water Sportsman magazine, like Rip Cunningham, Tom Richardson and Barry Gibson. The tips and techniques you'll learn from this highly skilled and experienced group will guide you to more and larger striped bass wherever you fish.

The Complete Book of Striped Bass Fishing, by Nick Karas. 384 pages. Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (August 2000) The Complete Book of Striped Bass Fishing offers a comprehensive look at every aspect of the striped bass, making it a book that no one who fishes for this great gamefish will want to be without, and the essential book for all striped-bass enthusiasts.

The Striped Bass 60+ Pound Club, by Tony Checko. 231 pages. iUniverse, Inc. (January 15, 2008) The idea of this book started with the listed rod and reel records of the catch of Striped Bass of 60 pounds or more. Investigation showed many of these men and women who caught these big bass have passed on or can't be found and their stories lost.

Fly Fishing for Striped Bass, by Rich Murphy. 400 pages. Wild River Press (October 1, 2007) Enjoy the sport of fly fishing for the rebounding populations of striped bass as they migrate from the Carolinas to Maine with this practical guide to tackle, casting and retrieving techniques, striper behavior and biology, and habitat-specific fishing tactics. Remarkable close-up and underwater photos of the bass in their natural marine environments, spectacular satellite photos of the coastal waters of New England, and photographs of 33 original fly designs round out the presentation.

Sight-Fishing for Striped Bass, by Alan Caolo. 100 pages. Frank Amato Publications; 1 edition (July 1, 2001) Ultimate coverage of fly-fishing strategies for inshore, offshore and the surf.

Striper Wars: An American Fish Story
by Dick Russell

Striper Wars: An American Fish Story, by Dick Russell. 368 pages. Island Press; 1 edition (February 10, 2006) When commercial overfishing sent striped bass populations into free fall in the 1980s, Dick Russell emerged as a key spokesman in a long-shot crusade by dedicated fishermen to save them. Striper Wars is Russell's vibrant account of their thrilling, yet tenuous victory, complete with heroes and villains. In one of nature's great comebacks, groundbreaking moratoriums allowed the striper population to rebound more than tenfold. Yet today, the striper faces new threats, including a deadly bacterial disease. While perils persist, Dick Russell's inspiring account offers fundamental lessons about the power of civic action and the necessity of a holistic approach to conservation.

On the Run: An Angler's Journey Down the Striper Coast , by David Dibenedetto. 256 pages. William Morrow; 1 edition (September 16, 2003) This chronicle covers the author's fishing trip in 2001, which took him from Maine to North Carolina. DiBenedetto sought the striped bass on its autumnal migration southward, seeking not only the fish but also the subculture it inspires. He persuaded guides of local renown to show him around their fishing haunts. Ocean bass fishing turns out to be many things: obsessive, competitive, and equipped with etiquette one breaches at one's peril--cross a surf caster's line and you're dead.

A Season on the Edge, by John Skinner. 219 pages. Nor'east Media; 1st edition (2008) From the first signs of life in the backwaters of the South Shore on an April night, to the year's last push of big stripers along the ocean beaches in early December, A Season on the Edge chronicles a season of surfcasting from the shores of Long Island. The season is woven together from a collection of stories culled from the author's logs and told in the order of a seasonal progression.

Ken Schultz's Fishing Encyclopedia, by Ken Schultz. 1760 pages. Wiley; 1 edition (November 1, 1999) Ken Schultz's Fishing Encyclopedia is the new standard for knowledge on fishing and everything related to it. With complete, insightful information for both freshwater and saltwater anglers at all levels of experience, it is the only authoritative, and up-to-date fishing encyclopedia available. More than 2,000 detailed entries and over 1,400 color illustrations and photos cover every aspect of fishing today, including fish species, equipment, places, techniques, and a wide array of other information.

Guide to Saltwater Fish
by Ken Schultz

Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish, by Ken Schultz. 288 pages. Wiley (December 29, 2003) Before you head out to the open seas, listen up: Your tackle box is not complete without Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Saltwater Fish! Written by one of the foremost experts in sportfishing, this colorful reference provides anglers and fish enthusiasts of all levels an easy-to-use, indispensable guide to help you identify and learn about the most common species found off the North American coastlines-from albacore to yellowtail.

Saltwater Fishing Made Easy, by Martin Pollizotto. 384 pages. International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (March 10, 2006) This authoritative guide will help you bring in bigger and better fish every time you cast your line. Saltwater Fishing Made Easy is your all-in-one resource for fishing methods and techniques, tackle and bait, and, most important, the fish themselves.

Saltwater Fishing. Tackle, Rigging, How & When to Fish, by Jack Zinzow. 64 pages. Windward Pub Co; 1st edition (November 1, 1992) A valuable resource on fishing line, rods, reels, knots, terminal tackle, and lures used in saltwater fishing. Other subjects include information on where to fish, the techniques and conditions that affect fishing, the best ways to fish both on land and from a boat, and tips on catching different species on fish.

Sage Elite
Striped Bass Fly Fishing Package

Sage Elite Striped Bass Fly Fishing Package, Got Stripers? This big striper rod and reel package is built to fish. It includes the Xi2 Series Fast 9wt 9' Fly Rod, 4-P, 990-4, a work-horse with heavy lines, large flies and big game fish, the 3500 Series Drag Fly Reel, and Sage Equator Taper II Saltwater Fly Line, a protective aluminum rod tube and neoprene and ballistic cloth reel case.

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