# striper vs rockfish



## stonemason

how come you guys call them stripers over rockfish? i grew up calling them rockfish...i didnt even know about stripers until i joined some fishing message boards a few year ago


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## MANDINGO

*Hmmmm*



stupidjet said:


> how come you guys call them stripers over rockfish? i grew up calling them rockfish...i didnt even know about stripers until i joined some fishing message boards a few year ago


SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE BLACK STRIPES ALONG THE BODY. JUST A GUESS


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## fingersandclaws

You fish for stripers . . . you order rockfish at a restaurant


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## HuskyMD

We call them both. Depends who is doing the calling. Outside of Delmarva, most people don't know what we are referring to when we say "rockfish". So, striped bass seems better to me. I'll still call it a rock when talking locally.


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## catman

Stripe bass(Morone saxatilis) is the right name for this fish. Rock are an entirely different spieces. Once you get away from the Chesapeake Bay area they known a striped bass. 

One story has it that the fishing fleet out of Rock Hall in the upper bay caught such enormous quantities of this fish that they were renamed Rock fish. Whether or not that is true is anyone's guess.


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## fishhead

I think we had a thread a year or so ago that listed all the different names of fish and perhaps some references to where and why the names are used. Rock/Striper, Flounder/fluke, Kingfish/SeaMullet, etc. I couldn't find the thread so I'm not sure where I read it


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## sand flea

I travel quite a bit for my fishing. Since they're known as stripers everywhere else, that's what I call them.

Same as the whiting/kingfish. In Tidewater (where I grew up and learned to fish), they're called roundhead. But calling them roundhead anywhere else just confuses people, so I stick to the broadly used name.


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## cygnus-x1

sand flea said:


> I travel quite a bit for my fishing. Since they're known as stripers everywhere else, that's what I call them.
> 
> Same as the whiting/kingfish. In Tidewater (where I grew up and learned to fish), they're called roundhead. But calling them roundhead anywhere else just confuses people, so I stick to the broadly used name.


Roundhead ? I wonder then is the term hardhead for croaker a local one?


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## fyremanjef

*Rocks*

I thought the term Rockfish came because they were known (which fish aren't) for hanging out close to rocks (ie jetty's, piles, bridge supports, etc.). I even read an article about waiting when reeling in eels at the waters edge, along with other lures, as the stripped bass would often be sitting right there.


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## Atlantic Angler

I was on a charter out of Nags Head this winter and the capt called them rock fish. Also, saw a boat named, "Rock Solid".


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## KT_UMCP

Hey stupid, long time no hear. I am guessing it is like the "tog" issue. Having lived in MD most my life we call these fish "togs". Now having moved to NJ this same fish is called "blackfish" in these parts. When I first fished in Belmar, NJ I asked at the B&T down here if "tautogs" can be caught at the inlet. He looked at me with a very clueless expression. I ended up describing the fish and he recognized it as "blackfish". Also, I have noticed that in MD most people use the term "rockfish" or "rock(s)" whereas in Deleware they call them "stripers". Here in NJ everyone called them stripers you seldom here them reffered to as rockfish.


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## fingersandclaws

Yo KT, where you been? Hope NJ is treatin ya good  When you gonna come on down and show me whats what?


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## granpafish

KT, next time you're discussing tog with an old timer up there refer to it as a "slippery bass". When I was learning to fish up in S Jersey 50 years ago that was the only term I ever heard used for them. You're libel to bring a tear to the eyes of one of them. By George, I'm gettin' a bit misty myself.


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