Hybrid Striped Bass (M. chrysops x M. saxatilis)

[Striperjim]

The Hybrid striper is a cross between a white bass and a striped bass. Of the three the hybrid grows the quickest.

The original cross (Palmetto Bass) is a female striped bass and a male white bass (morone chrysops) . Was first produced in South Carolina in 1965. The reciprocal cross a female white bass and a male striped bass is the most common and preferred cross among aquaculturists because a male striped bass will mate readily with many females ( a man after my own heart). Aquaculturists using white bass female eggs and striped bass male sperm commonly refer to this cross as the Sunshine Bass.
The two hybrids are indistinguishable without biochemical tracing. Their horizontal stripes are dark like the striper's yet broken like the white. The body shape is intermediate. The Hybrid can withstand temperature extremes and lower dissolved oxygen thus making it more suitable for pond culture than either of its parents. Almost every state in the southern region has hybrid striped bass producers, but most of the production is in Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Annual production is approximately 600 metric tons. Biologists say that one of the most incredible facts is that within the first 12 months of life, a hybrid can reach 12 inches in length. Sometime in the middle of the second year, it will be 15 inches or longer and already at a legal size to keep. That's astounding growth.

There are several techniques that are productive for catching hybrids, with both live bait and artificials.

During the late spring, you can almost always find hybrids and striper's right below dams in the immediate tailwaters. Hybrids are aggressive and fight hard. In the swifter water where they tend to congregate, it makes for a lot of excitement trying to get them to the boat

Bait-fishermen use gizzard shad - 5-inch or larger shad - as their No. 1 hybrid striped bass bait. Like pure-strain stripers, hybrid stripers will hit both artificial lures and live bait, but the best fish-producer of all is the live gizzard shad. The shad can be drift-fished, fished below a balloon or a float, or hung straight beneath a boat on a tightline. Shad are very sensitive to handling, to water temperature stress and to water chemistry. Guides and avid hybrid and striper bait-anglers usually have large, well-insulated bait tanks aboard their boats. Some guides catch shad with hoop nets dragged through the water, but most use cast nets. It can be quite a challenge to keep the bait alive long enough to use it

Artificials will work as well for hybrids. Top-waters, crank baits, slab spoons and jigs. Watch and listening for splashing or watch for diving, feeding seagulls.

Just about any shad-colored white or silver top water plug will get hit when thrown into a school of feeding hybrids.

The crank bait may be the best artificial lure for hybrid fishing. It can be trolled or cast, fished in tail-races, rivers and lakes. . Crank baits can take deep-water fish lurking near structure or cover and can draw strikes from open-water roaming schools. They can be used to catch hybrids prowling windswept shorelines where bait-fish are stacked up near the bank.
They spook more easily than pure breds at the sound of trolling motors. They have been described as a "football with fins".
Bite when the weather is hot and calm
When hooked they will stay deep and pull hard.
They generally prefer open water, which means they're not competing with other predators like black bass, walleyes, catfish and crappie for habitat.
The best way to go, if you're planning to fish from the bank, is to rig one outfit for bottom-fishing and get it going. Once that's done, throw an in-line spinner or crank-bait, or swim a jig on another rod

Top down :white - hybrid striper - pure striper

[Striperjim]

IDENTIFICATION OF THE
TEMPERATE BASS

Yellow bass can be identified because they do not have a tooth patch on their tongue and the second spine of the anal fin is longer than the base of the anal fin.
White bass can be identified because they have a single center tooth patch, and their stripes are faint. On a white bass, the first stripe below the lateral line is not distinct nor complete to tail.
Some striped bass may have broken lines, but the stripes of a fresh hybrid are distinct and definitely broken. The shape of the head can be a distinguishing characteristic between the striped bass and the hybrid bass (wiper)

[Slowretrieve]

I love it! That's great info, Jim. Thanks for sharing it. The graphics are especially useful.

[Striperjim]

Hybrid Striped Bass Distribution

Shading indicates presence in a state, not distribution within it.

[LittleMiamiJeff]

Originally Posted by striperjim

Hybrid Striped Bass Distribution

Shading indicates presence in a state, not distribution within it.

Hey Jim, Manny's book gives a lot of info on Utah, Willard Bay Res., 26" wiper is state record.
We had a guy posting from Utah last year, can't remember his name, him and LC were trading info.
LMJ

[Striperjim]

Jeff

Two guys broke the Willard bay record.
A 7 pounds 7 ounces, 26 5/8 inches long wiper
caught by Joe Huisu at Willard Bay on July 6 2006 beat the old record by nearly a pound
Then a week later on July 13, John Volt of South Weber hauled in a new record that weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces, just four ounces heavier than Huisu’s fish!
********
RE: Map
Yea Utah is missing from the map Jeff.
Nevada isnt represented either.
New Mexico doesnt stock them but Neighboring Texas does into shared Red Bluff Reservoir.
The book also says California raises hybrids and sell them to Oregon and doesnt stock them in their own lakes but heres an 18.6 pounder caught by Jim Schriver on a jig'n pig at Sierra Cove.
I would have to mess with the map in in fireworks and update it properly. Maybe a project for a rainy day.

[Toothfish]

Shading indicates presence in a state, not distribution within it.

This is somewhat confusing...I take it that the grey area is the "shaded" area...??? Right ???