STRIPERS--TEMPERATE BASS
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STRIPED BASS
(Morone saxatilis)
Common Names - striper, rockfish, rock, linesides.
Description - The striper is the largest member of the
temperate bass family. Body coloration is olive-green to blue-gray on
the back with silvery to brassy sides and white on the belly. It is
easily recognized by the seven or eight prominent black uninterrupted
horizontal stripes along the sides. The stripes are often interrupted
or broken and are usually absent on young fish of less than six
inches. The striper is longer and sleeker and has a larger head than
its close and similar looking relative, the white bass, which rarely
exceeds three pounds.
Subspecies - There are no recognized subspecies.
Range - The striper on the Atlantic Coast has a range from
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, N.Y. to the St. Johns River in northern
Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico from western Florida to Louisiana.
Habitat - All Florida populations of striped bass are
river dwellers rather than anadromous (normally living in salt or
brackish waters, but entering freshwater streams to spawn). The
species has been widely introduced in numerous lakes, rivers and
impoundments throughout the world. Stripers prefer relatively clear
water with a good supply of open-water baitfish. Their preferred
water temperature range is 65 to 70 degrees.
Spawning Habits - Spawns in March, April and May when
water temperatures reach 60 to 68 degrees. Stripers are river
spawners that broadcast millions of eggs in the water currents
without affording any protection or parental care. During spawning,
seven or eight smaller males surround a single, large, female and
bump her to swifter currents at the water surface. At ovulation, ripe
eggs are discharged and scattered in the water as males release
sperm. Fertilized eggs must be carried by river currents until
hatching (about 48 hours) to avoid suffocation. Fry and fingerlings
spend most of their time in lower rivers and estuaries. Because
striped bass eggs must remain suspended in a current until hatching,
impoundments are unsuitable for natural reproduction. Freshwater
populations have been maintained by stocking fingerlings, and,
despite initial difficulties in hatchery procedures for obtaining
females with freely flowing eggs, a modern technique of inducing
ovulation with the use of a hormone has been successful.
Feeding Habits - Stripers are voracious feeders and
consume any kind of small fish and a variety of invertebrates.
Preferred foods for adults mainly consist of gizzard and threadfin
shad, golden shiners and minnows. Younger fish prefer to feed on
amphipods and mayflies. Very small stripers feed on zooplankton. Like
other temperate bass, they move in schools, and all members of the
school tend to feed at the same time. Heaviest feeding is in early
morning and in evening, but they feed sporadically throughout the
day, especially when skies are overcast. Feeding slows when water
temperatures drop below 50 degrees but does not stop completely.
Age and Growth - Stripers are fast-growing and long-lived
and have reached weights of over 40 pounds in Florida. Sexual
maturity occurs at about two years of age for male stripers and at
four years of age for females. They can reach a size of 10 to 12
inches the first year.
Sporting Quality - The striper tends to be an underrated
trophy sport fish among many Florida anglers. However, for fishermen
who have caught this species there is no disputing the striper is a
superstar among freshwater fishes. Live shad and eels are excellent
baits for catching big stripers. Other popular baits include white or
yellow bucktail jigs, spoons, deep running crankbaits and a spinner
with plastic worm rig. Popping plugs are best when stripers are
schooling at the surface. As a sport fish, specific bag and size
limit regulations
apply, and you can register a qualifying catch as part of the Florida
Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission's "Big
Catch" program.
Eating Quality - Stripers are excellent eating fish and
may be prepared in may ways. Smaller fish are usually fried and
larger ones are baked.
World Record (landlocked) - 66 pounds, caught in O'Neill
Forebay, California, in 1988.
World Record - 78 pounds, 8 ounces, caught in Atlantic
City, New Jersey, in 1982.
State Record - 42 pounds, 4
ounces, caught in the Apalachicola River, in 1993. (Please check link for
updates)
WHITE BASS
(Morone chrysops)
Common Names - stripe, silver bass, striper, sand bass,
barfish.
Description - The white bass looks similar to a shortened
version of its larger relative, the striped bass. It is silvery-white
overall with five to eight horizontal dusky black stripes along the
sides. Stripes below the lateral line are faint and often broken in
an irregular pattern. It differs most noticeably in being shorter and
stockier with a smaller head, and the dorsal fins are set closer
together. The white bass has a deep body, strongly arched behind
head; deepest between dorsal fins.
Subspecies - There are no recognized subspecies.
Range - General boundaries are the St. Lawrence River in
the east; Lake Winnipeg in the north; the Rio Grande in the west; and
northwest Florida and Louisiana in the south. It has been stocked
within and outside its natural range. In Florida, white bass are
found primarily in the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee river systems;
however, rare specimens have been located in the Escambia and Yellow
rivers.
Habitat - White bass are found in large lakes and streams
connected to major river systems and in rivers with moderate current.
They prefer clear water with a temperature range of 65 to 75 degrees.
Man-made impoundments have greatly favored the white bass, but the
species is one that can become overabundant and stunt.
Spawning Habits - Male white bass migrate upstream in
large schools to a dam or other barrier in early spring, followed
shortly by schools of females. Spawning occurs in moving water over
gravel shoals or a hard bottom. Large females may lay as many as half
a million adhesive eggs that stick to rocks and gravel. If no water
current is present white bass have been known to spawn on wind-swept
sandy beaches. After spawning, they abandon their eggs and provide no
parental care. Fry hatch in only two to three days.
Feeding Habits - White bass are primarily piscivorous. Fry
feed on zooplankton first and within a few weeks larger crustaceans
and insects are eaten. Larger fish prefer to feed on minnows and
thrive on open- water baitfish like gizzard and threadfin shad. Like
the striper, white bass move in schools and feed most heavily around
dawn or dusk.
Age and Growth - Although white bass may live up to 10
years, few live beyond three to four years. Females grow slightly
faster and probably live longer than males. The average size is one
pound with fish over two pounds considered large.
Sporting Quality - White bass are hard hitting, fierce
fighting fish. Their aggressive nature combined with their schooling
tendency make them one of the easiest fish to catch. Several tips to
white bass anglers should include: use light tackle for maximum
enjoyment; use flies, spinners, small plugs or minnows for bait; and
locate feeding schools which usually occur toward evening in shallow
areas. As a sport fish, specific bag and size limit regulations
apply, and you can register a qualifying catch as part of the Florida
Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission's "Big
Catch" program.
Eating Quality - The flesh is similar to that of the
striped bass and may be prepared by frying, baking, broiling, or
stewing.
World Record - 6 pounds, 13 ounces, caught in Lake Orange,
in Orange, Virginia, in 1989.
State Record - 4 pounds, 11
ounces, caught in Apalachicola River, in 1982. (Please check link
for updates)
SUNSHINE BASS
(M. chrysops x M. saxatilis)
Common Names - Striped bass hybrid, wiper, whiterock,
palmetto bass
Description - The sunshine bass is a hybrid produced by
crossing a female white bass with a male striped bass. Sunshines
closely resemble both striped bass and white bass making
identification difficult, particularly for young fish. When comparing
adult fish, the sunshine has a deep body and an arched back similar
to the white bass. Sunshines can often be distinguished by broken or
irregular stripes on the front half of body and straight lines on the
rear half of body. A mid-body break in line pattern occasionally
occurs.
Subspecies - There are no recognized subspecies since the
sunshine bass is an artificial hybrid. Some states including Florida
produce a hybrid called palmetto bass which is a cross between a
female striped bass with a male white bass.
Range - Sunshines are stocked throughout Florida. The
largest fish are from northwest Florida, but sunshine bass have
produced fisheries as far south as Lake Osborne in West Palm Beach.
Habitat - Sunshines appear to prefer areas within lakes
and rivers similar to striped bass and white bass. Older sunshine
bass require cooler water during summer months.
Spawning Habits - Sunshines have not been shown to reproduce naturally
in Florida; however, several recent studies have shown limited
spawning in Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas. In Florida, they are hatchery-produced by Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission biologists and stocked in selected river and lakes.
Sunshine bass were developed by the Commission with two goals in
mind. The first was to control abundant gizzard shad populations in
nutrient-rich lakes. The second goal was to create and maintain a new
fishery that would supplement existing native species. The sunshines
have served those functions in the Apalachicola River system, one of
only a few northwest Florida rivers containing enough shad and
thermal refuges to ensure optimal growth of sunshines. In most years
since 1975, sunshine bass have been stocked in Lake Seminole and the
Apalachicola River.
Feeding Habits - Like stripers, sunshines are voracious
feeders and consume any kind of small fish including threadfin and
gizzard shad. Young fish also feed on mayflies and crustaceans.
Sunshines also travel and feed in schools with peak activity in the
early morning or evening.
Age and Growth - Sunshines are probably best known for
their rapid growth. They have attained weights of six to seven pounds
by three years of age.
Sporting Quality - As a sport fish, sunshines are known
for their good fighting ability. Live threadfin or other small shad
and shrimp are by far the most effective bait for sunshine bass.
Artificial lures such as crankbaits, bucktail or feathered jigs,
spinners and spoons also do well. Topwater lures also are effective
when fish are schooling near the surface. Trolling with artificial
lures often helps locate fish when surface feeding is slow. As a
sport fish, specific bag and size limit regulations
apply, and you can register a qualifying catch as part of the Florida
Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission's "Big
Catch" program.
Eating Quality - Similar to striped and white bass.
World Record- 24 pounds, 3 ounces, caught in Leesville
Lake, Virginia, in 1989.
State Record - 16 pounds, 5
ounces, caught in Lake Seminole, in 1985. (Please check link for
updates)
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