Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis. Bluish-black to dark gray or olive-green back with silvery sides and a white belly.
Photos
Click a photo to expand it for a closer look.
Identification
- Bluish-black to dark gray or olive-green back with silvery sides and a white belly.
- Seven to nine unbroken horizontal stripes along each side, the trait that gives the species its name.
- Two clearly separated dorsal fins and a forked tail; the mouth is oblique with a longer lower jaw.
- Reservoir fish can reach 40 pounds or more, far heavier than the white bass and wiper they resemble.
Active times
- dawn
- dusk
Top lures
- Swimbait (soft plastic , white/silver/chartreuse): Cast on the windblown side of points, rip-rap and coves in the low-light hours of morning and evening.
- Spoon or slab (spoon , silver/gold/chartreuse): Jigged vertically over schools of open-water shad located on electronics.
- Lipped crankbait (crankbait , silver/white/chartreuse): Worked over channel drop-offs, ledges and off-shore humps where schools hold.
- Marabou jig (jig , white/chartreuse): Cast with a curly-tail grub around points, rip-rap and coves.
Top baits
- Freshly netted shad: A 2 to 4 inch shad on a bait-holder hook, on a 12-inch leader below a barrel swivel and an egg weight, let down to depth under the boat.
- Live minnow: Fathead minnows in the same 2 to 4 inch range, fished the same way or under a slip float from the bank over main-lake flats and ledges.
Line & tackle
- Line: 8–14 lb
- Rod power: Medium to medium-heavy spinning, spincasting or baitcasting rod for casting and trolling big baits
Stocked behavior
Striped bass eggs are semi-buoyant and need a moving, unobstructed river to stay suspended while they incubate, so few reservoir populations reproduce on their own and artificial stocking supports most fisheries. In Kansas there is no natural reproduction at all. The fish that result cruise open water in large, continuously moving schools keyed on shad, and do not frequent shorelines.
Common mistakes
- Fishing tight to cover like a largemouth angler; striped bass cruise open water in large schools and do not frequent shorelines.
- Going too light; reservoir fish reach 40 pounds, and Oklahoma's recommended setup is a medium to medium-heavy rod with 8 to 14 pound line.
- Ignoring fish boiling on the surface; that is the cue to switch to topwater lures, and circling birds give away the shad schools below.
State records
| State | Weight | Angler | Water | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 48 lbs. 11 oz. | Travis T. Jenson | Lake Powell | 1991 |
Source: Utah's official record page , accessed 2026-09-19.
Where it's stocked
No stocking events recorded for Striped Bass yet.
Sources
- identification (accessed 2026-09-19)
- identification (accessed 2026-09-19)
- identification (accessed 2026-09-19)
- stocked_behaviour (accessed 2026-09-19)
- stocked_behaviour (accessed 2026-09-19)
- stocked_behaviour (accessed 2026-09-19)
- active_times (accessed 2026-09-19)
- top_lures (accessed 2026-09-19)
- top_baits (accessed 2026-09-19)
- common_mistakes (accessed 2026-09-19)
- line_and_tackle (accessed 2026-09-19)