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Striped Bass- Seven or
eight black stripes, dark back, almost black with silvery
sides and white belly. Produced in hatcheries.
Tips: Jigs and
crank baits, live shad, and cut bait. Trolling, cast to
schooling fish.
Striped bass are very important
sport and commercial fish in the United States. Their speed,
power, and large size makes them one of the most exciting
sportfish. Known as an accessible giant, striped bass in the
50+ pound range are taken every year.
Striped bass are easily
distinguished by the seven to nine dark horizontal lines found
along their sides, two to three of which extend from the head
to the base of the tail. Unlike white bass or white perch,
stripers have a streamlined body shape, with the depth of the
body generally less than the head length. In addition, striped
bass have two patches of teeth on the tongue.
Striped bass are found in both
fresh and saltwater. They generally occur around rocks and
wrecks in nearshore waters, rivers and large reservoirs.
Striped bass are found along the Atlantic Coast from the St.
Lawrence River in Canada to the St. Johns River in Florida.
Stripers are migratory fish. In
the ocean, they move north in the summer and south in the fall
and winter. Striped bass found along the mid-Atlantic coast
are produced in the Hudson and Delaware rivers, the Chesapeake
Bay system, and the Roanoke River. Hudson River striped bass
are most commonly found between New Jersey and Cape Cod.
However, they can travel as far away as North Carolina and
Nova Scotia.
Striped bass vary considerably
in size, ranging from 18 to 55 inches in length and three to
70 pounds in weight. They are slow to mature and are long
lived. Smaller striped bass in the ten to 20 pound range
generally travel in large schools. Older and larger fish are
usually in small "pods" of only a few fish. Adult striped bass
are voracious feeders, primarily eating fish and
invertebrates, especially crabs and squid.
As the water warms up (above 56
degrees Fahrenheit), trolling with lures such as jointed plugs
or bait is the most effective method for catching stripers.
Although boat fishing provides the best catches, shore anglers
also take their share of fish. Jigs and plugs retrieved on a
fast cast may catch a striper warming itself in shallow water
areas during high tides.
In saltwater, boat anglers
catch the most stripers by trolling or controlled drifting
using large plugs or spoons or fresh cut bait or eels. For
surf fishing, casting plugs, spoons or jigs may produce good
catches. Surf casters should fish on a moving tide.
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Species Facts |
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Science Name:
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Morone saxatilis
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Other Names:
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striper, rockfish, rock,
linesides |
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Ideal Temp:
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65 to 70 |
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World
Record:
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78.8 lbs. NJ |
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Environment:
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inshore, coastal, lake
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Techniques:
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Surf fishing, casting,
light tackle |
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