Join us for “Singles Night” at Grey Sail Brewing in Westerly, Rhode Island!

The Local Singles Program is a collaborative community campaign to minimize the recreational angling footprint and reduce striped bass release mortality rates. This voluntary program encourages anglers to make gear choices that give released striped bass the best chance for survival, per the best available science from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (more info below). Anglers can participate by swapping out the back treble hooks on their striper plugs and replacing them with a “flag” (hookless teaser).

The ASGA community will gather at Grey Sail Brewing on January 15th at 6 PM to share fish stories from 2024 and optimize our gear for 2025. There will be inline circle hooks and custom flags available for sale on-site, as well as heavy-duty split ring pliers to ditch your back trebles, making the process fun and simple!

The event is FREE to attend, but registration is REQUIRED.
Tidy up your tackle boxes & plug bags. We’ll see you at the brewery!

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN: Preliminary results from this research show that fishing with bait results in the greatest mortality for released striped bass due to gut hooking. For lures, double trebles do a great deal of physical damage to striped bass.  Two single hooks are next for overall mortality.  The predicted mortality for a treble/treble is 8.1%. For a single/single it is 4.4%.  However, removing one hook gets you to a mortality rate of about 3%, which is a dramatic decrease in striped bass release mortality.  Every angler can have an immediate impact on their angling footprint by removing a rear hook. Many striped bass anglers have expressed their strong desire to help this fishery. Making the decision to fish a single hook lure is one easy action to start reducing release mortality. If you still want to maximize your presentation, try replacing the back hooks with a “flag” (hookless bucktail) to draw predators’ attention. If you intend to release the fish, it is incumbent on the individual angler to make the right choices.