The striped bass, or “striper,” is native to most of the East Coast and along portions of the Gulf of America. It is also the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state marine fish of New York. While stripers mostly inhabit the whole coast surf, reefs, tide rips, inshore bars, estuaries, and bays, they have also been widely introduced in the Mississippi River system, the Colorado River, and Coastal streams from Washington to California. They are particularly active in areas with tidal currents and in the wash of breaking waves. Striped bass are the largest fish in the temperate bass family and grow as long as 6 feet. While the striped bass lives mostly in Coastal marine waters, they are anadromous and will swim into fresh water to spawn.
A schooling species, striped bass move about in small groups during the first 2 years of life. After this period, they feed and migrate in large schools. The size of the adult striped bass serves to separate it from any other bass, except the white bass. With silvery sides dressed with 7 to 8 horizontal stripes extending from the back of the head to the base of the tail, it is easy to see how they were named. However, a small striper and a white bass held together look nearly identical but for one trait: the striper has two parallel patches of teeth on the tongue while the white bass has only one.
Striped bass can live up to 30 years reaching weights of up to 100 pounds. However, the average size of the striper is around 50 pounds with the female reaching a significantly greater size than the male. Spawning takes place in late spring to early summer when water temperatures are around 60 degrees. The stripers ascend rivers and congregate in swift waters where mating occurs. Fertile eggs are buoyant and drift for 3 days while they incubate. If the eggs do not stay adrift, they sink to the bottom and suffocate. The number of eggs produced by the female is directly related to her body size. For example, a 12-pound female may produce around 850,000 eggs while a 55-pound female will produce around 4,200,000 eggs.
Stripers eat a variety of foods including other fish, such as flounder, sea herring, menhaden, alewives, tomcod, smelt, silver hake, eels, and silversides as well as crabs, soft clams, lobsters, sea worms, small mussels, and squid. Although some feeding occurs throughout the day, they feed most actively at dusk and dawn. However, around midsummer they tend to become more nocturnal and feed throughout the night.
Angling after dusk or dawn is successful for most of the season, but around midsummer, night fishing is best. Fishing the shoreline proves to be most successful in areas where tidal rips, strong currents, or wave action creates turbulent waters.
James L. Cummins is executive director of Wildlife Mississippi, a nonprofit conservation organization founded to conserve, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their website is www.wildlifemiss.org.
