California Striped Bass Association celebrates 50th anniversary. Here’s how it started
The California Striped Bass Association (CSBA), one of the first organizations dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of California’s fisheries, specifically the striped bass in the California Delta, celebrates its 50th anniversary on April 14.
Founded in 1974, the CSBA is one of the oldest freshwater fishing organizations in the state, starting under the leadership of the late ‘Jolly’ Jay Sorensen, legendary Delta fishing guide and member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.
At the time of the initial meeting, Sorensen was the owner of Jolly’s Bait and Tackle in Stockton, and he also guided for striped bass and sturgeon on the waters of the Delta. Noticing a huge decrease in the numbers of striped bass spawning in the San Joaquin River, Sorensen called together a group of local fishermen to address the concerns, and the organization was born.
The combined effects of the State Water and Central Valley Project pumping in the south Delta changed the ecology of the San Joaquin River, severely impacting the spring run of striped bass and American shad. Sorensen was often quoted stating: “The San Joaquin River flowed by gravity for its first hundred miles, but it flowed by politics for its final 200 miles.”
Working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the organization grew over the years to include chapters in Fresno, Ukiah, Sacramento, Modesto, Rio Vista, and West Delta. Sorensen served as State Board president for seven years during its formative stages along with being the local chapter president.
Because of the early efforts of the CSBA, the now-defunct Striped Bass Enhancement Stamp was put into place along with net pens to rescue striped bass fry salvaged from the pumps. After initial success, both programs were discontinued due to the possibility of predation by the non-native species of striped bass to threatened/endangered salmon and steelhead. Since the programs were discontinued, scientific students have shown that striped bass predation is not a major factor in the demise of anadromous species, in fact, if the striped bass were removed, populations of non-native Mississippi silversides and Sacramento pikeminnow would explode, further damaging the tenuous ecosystem of the Delta.
The CSBA has active chapters in Antioch (West Delta), Isleton, Modesto, and Stockton, and although a few chapters remain active in their communities, the participation has waned since its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, when a proposal is forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission that impacts striped bass populations, members wearing their blue CSBA jackets fill the auditorium to voice their opinions.
West Delta holds one of the largest and longest-standing youth derbies in northern California with the annual Walt ‘Compy’ Compormizzo ‘Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs or Gangs’ event. The Isleton Chapter serves as weighmaster for the annual Rio Vista Bass Derby and Festival, and the organization was instrumental in most current striped bass derbies rewarding a target-length instead of the largest fish.
To commemorate 50 years, CSBA will dedicate a bench and plaque in honor of Sorensen at the Dean DeCarli Waterfront Plaza on the Stockton waterfront on Friday, April 19.
For more information on CSBA go to http://www.striper-csba.org/.
Dave Hurley is a longtime educator, fishing writer and member of the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.
