The tea-colored water swirled around the pilings of the railroad bridge over the Apalachicola River. The tide had turned in an hour earlier and now came up against the river current like two titans arm wrestling until a momentary stalemate was reached.

This daily event occurs everywhere that rivers meet oceans and is an accepted part of the natural system. On this day, it held special interest for the angler anchored upstream from the trestle. He was waiting for the stripers that lurked 12 feet below.

The stripers were in turn waiting for the current to slow so that the schools of mojarra could be lunch. George Wood cast the 3-inch chartreuse streamer against the wooden abutment extending upriver from the bridge. Like a dumbwaiter, the fast sinking 8-weight line carried the streamer toward the bottom and the waiting stripers. Some persistent river current still pushed against the tide and pulled the fly closer to the main part of the Apalachicola Northern Bridge.

Wood steadily stripped the line out of the depths until the nail knot ticked the tiptop, then cast again. It took three casts to draw a solid strike. George put a quick arc in the rod which set the hook as the fish bolted from the bridge toward deep water. The drag gave up line several times to the stubborn fish but after five minutes the residual river current and the persistent bend in the rod won the battle. A beautiful 5-pound striper rolled on its side next to the boat.

This description seems more appropriate to New England where fly fishing for striped bass is as indigenous as clam chowder and lobster. Fortunately, the Sunshine State not only has lobsters, but stripers as well. Granted stripers exist here on the very southern edge of their normal range, but they are true natives of the St. Johns and several other North Florida rivers.

Before the dams were built on the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee, Gulf Coast stripers ranged the entire length of these rivers and spawned in their upper reaches. Now stripers are found on both sides of the dams but the populations are heavily dependent upon stocking by both state and federal wildlife agencies.

The 5-pound fish that Wood caught at the trestle was probably stocked in 1994 as a 7- to 10-inch fingerling that came from either the Blackwater or Welaka hatcheries.

According to biologist Rick Long with the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, the stocking was a result of a cooperative program between Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. The program started in 1986 with the objective of restoring the Gulf Coast striped bass to these waters. Over a million fingerlings have been stocked since the program began, sometimes with mixed results. The Phase I fingerlings that were only an inch or two did not survive well. The larger Phase II fish were seven to 10 inches when released and had a higher survival rate, but accurate figures are difficult to obtain.

Consequently, in late 1997 the Game and Fish Commission stocked genetically marked stripers that can be identified as they mature. This will aid researchers in determining how many survive. This spring a number of 3- to 5-pound fish will be released with radio transmitters to determine what areas they prefer and how far they travel.