Striped Bass, White Bass, and Hybrids
Striped bass, also called
stripers, are silver with 7
or 8 dark horizontal stripes
that are not broken. Their
body is longer than white
bass and they have 2
patches of teeth on the
tongue. White bass are
also silver, but they have
horizontal black stripes
that are unbroken above
the lateral line. The lines
below the lateral line are
barely visible and
irregular. The horizontal
stripes on a white bass
usually stop just short of
the tail.
The hybrids, a combination of the striped bass and white
bass, have silvery sides with broken horizontal stripes that
are unbroken above and below the lateral line.
Stripers and white bass are very similar. They both
migrate up rivers and streams in the spring. They thrive
in large bodies of water, especially reservoirs. They
primarily feed in schools in open water. Fishermen will
often see schools of bait fish surfacing in open water.
Stripers and white bass will target these large schools of
bait fish and scare them to the top where feeding is fast
and furious.
Striped bass are the largest with many fish being caught
over 30 pounds. White bass in the 1 to 2 pound range
are good-sized fish with few fish
exceeding 3 pounds. Hybrids are bigger than white bass,
but smaller than stripers. Hybrids in the 10 to 15 pound
range are not uncommon, but fish in the 5 to 10 pound
range are considered quality-sized fish.
Striped bass are located mostly on the east coast and in
the south. White bass are found in the south, midwest
and throughout some of the plains states.
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