Morone saxatilis

striper, rockfish, rock, linesides

s/f

The striper is the largest member of the temperate bass family. Body coloration is olive-green to blue-gray on the back, silver to brassy sides and white on the belly. It is easily recognized by the 7 or 8 prominent, black, uninterrupted, horizontal stripes along the sides. The stripes are often interrupted, broken or 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 3 pounds.

Striped bass are a favorite target fish for anglers in both salt and freshwater. 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.

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. They will also eat small trout in stocked lakes. 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 the 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 it does not stop completely.

Males will become mature after only 2 or 3 years (7 inches long) but females must live about 4 to 6 years (18 to 24 inches) to mature. Stripers are commonly caught in the 5- to 10-pound range. However they can grow much larger. The freshwater record is 59 pounds and saltwater is over 70 pounds.

For fishermen who have caught this species there is no disputing that the striper is a superstar among freshwater fishes. They will hit many types of bait and fight hard. 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 spinner/plastic worm rigs. Popping plugs are best when stripers are schooling at the surface. Stripers will also readily consume fly patterns that imitate the prevailing baitfishes.

Until the market crashed due to overfishing, striped bass were one of the most commercially important fish on the East Coast. Their white flesh borders on being sweet. Most stripers that are served in restaraunts today are farm-raised fish.