Festival gets its name from famous fish

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With the striped bass festival this weekend, everyone is ready for the arts and crafts, food, singing and dancing and other entertainment. It truly has something for everyone. The festival is to celebrate spring and the beauty of the county. As the name states, it is also a salute to our State Fish, the striped bass. Today, I would like to give you a little information on the fish that this celebration honors. Striped bass are native to the Atlantic coast and have been introduced to fresh water in a variety of states and even countries as far off as Turkey. The striped bass takes its name from the dark longitudinal lines that run from behind its gills to the base of its tail. What makes the Santee-Cooper River system famous for these fish is that they were the first to have them as a “landlocked species.” The concept came into play during the dam construction of the Lakes Marion and Moultrie. Striped bass are naturally an anadromous species, which means they travel into fresh water to spawn. It is believed that they were in the Santee-Cooper River system spawning and became trapped at this time or either they came in through the lock system. According to an article that ran in “Sports Illustrated” in 1959, it is believed that the lake-river system provided the ideal conditions for the fish to carry out their life cycles. The article even suggests that they may be a special race with uncommon abilities. Whatever the case may be, we are blessed that they ended up here. Striped bass are highly sought after all over the east coast for both their fighting abilities and their exceptional table fare. They can be caught in a wide variety of ways in our lakes including trolling, still and drift fishing. Night fishing has even caught on more recently as a new way for anglers to target them with the aid of hydroglow lights. I am going to take a moment to talk about my favorite way of chasing these prized game fish. Casting has to be one of the most exciting ways to “chase” these extraordinary fish. Nothing gets your heart pounding like “chunking and winding” top-water plugs, swim baits and Rat-L-traps into schools of these awesome fish as they bust the water. Many times it sounds like cement blocks crashing into the water as target bait pods in the lakes. The method is simple: You locate the “schooling” feeding fish, ease your boat up to them without disturbing the school, and cast your lure into or around the school of fish. Then, begin to reel in and wait for the strike. You can vary your speed of retrieve based on what the fish seem to like. On many occasions, I have seen the fish in such frenzy, I always imagined they’d strike a Coke can if you threw it in the water (not that I’d advise anyone to do that). It’s a sight to behold when the fish are really stoked. Then, when you hook one of these fish, it’s really on! They often make sizzling runs that can send you all over the boat trying to net them. In most cases, you can tell by the way they strike whether you have a “hawg” or not.  If you realize you have an undersized fish before measuring it, I would recommend removing the hook while it’s still in the water if possible. Wherever or however you fish for them, you need to make sure you check the rules and regulations of that particular body of water. You can do that on the www.dnr.sc.gov website in order to make sure you are compliant. I mentioned earlier in the article what excellent table fare the stripers are and I thought it was only right that I included a recipe below. It’s so good “it’ll make a dog break his chain.” Marshall Huggins is a Florence resident who has a home on Lake Marion in Clarendon County. He enjoys writing about his experiences fishing on the Santee Cooper lakes.  

STRIPER CAKES RECIPE

You want to start with about a pound of striper filets. First remove all the red meat and skin from the filets.   put the filets in little tin foil “boats” and add lemon juice, a little butter, salt and pepper. Cook them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees. You can tell the fish is done when it starts flaking.

Next combine an egg, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of Old Bay, a half-cup of mayonnaise, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, a half-teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and a good squeeze of lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk. Add in filets, salt and pepper lightly, and mix it all together. Put the mixture in the fridge for about an hour so it is easier to form the cakes. When the hour is up, form into cakes and put them on a cooking pan. Broil them in the oven on low heat until golden brown, flip and do the same on the other side. Once golden brown on both sides, they are ready to serve.