34 inch bluefish caught out of deal on the stormy petrol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[J.A. Veil]

I think the smaller ones 12-15 inches are pretty good tablefare. They are best if you bleed them and put them on ice right away and eat the same day caught.

I agree. A 1-lb to 2-lb bluefish eaten the same day or the next day tastes better than rockfish in my opinion. Of course, I usually cook them in blackened style, which masks the natural flavor somewhat.

[kevinfry]

Smoked Bluefish, even a big guy if the bloodline is cut out, is fantastic table fare. Like all oily fish it takes smoke and brine well. It is better, imho, than some of the lesser members of Salmonidae (pinks, chum salmon, hatchery trout) and just below Mackerel. Bagel, cream cheese, smoked bluefish, a couple capers....MMMMMMMMMMM!

Unsmoked, it is harder to prepare, but I still like it fine.

[ronaultmtd]

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The Hybrid Striped Bass
Aka - Cherokee Bass - Kentucky Bass
The White Bass and Striped Bass cross


THE HYBRID STRIPED BASS



The Hybrid striper fishing forum. (The Wiper Room)
information on Inland Sweetwater - Freshwater impoundments and stocking programs



The world record hybrid striped bass
Jerald C. Shaum, Shirley, Arkansas - 27lb 5oz. 4/24/97


Wiper Fishing - The Hard Fighting Hybrid Striper
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 (marone chrysops) . Was first produced in 1965 The recipical 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).The two hybrids are indistinguishable without biochemical tracing. Their horizontal stripes are dark like the stripers yet broken like the white. The body shape is intermediate. The Hybrid can withstand temperature extremes and lower disolved 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. Here is a course on the aquaculturing of hybrid stripers. It is an interesting read but it is very slow pdf form. Fishery 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 stripers 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. Hybrids appear to be attracted to flowing water. Tailwater areas below dams are good fishing locations when water is flowing either through the spillway gates or turbines of the dam. Also, natural springs and the mouths of feeder creeks after heavy rains can attract hybrids. The fish will usually not be in the fastest water, but off to the side waiting to ambush their prey (or your lure). Areas with current are productive throughout the year. Hybrids also travel up reservoir tributary streams right along with the white bass during April and May. Hybrids occupy distinct spots on structure, so trolling passes need to be exact. Anglers should line up shoreline objects and troll between them. Most strikes will come while trolling with the current because the fish like to hold on the down-current side of points. You can catch hybrids on a variety of artificial baits. In fast water situations, such as those encountered below dams, heavy spoons and jigs are popular baits. For areas with less current, imitation minnow baits and other crankbaits are effective. Hybrids also can be caught on shad, liver and a variety of insects. When pursuing hybrids, leave the crappie and bluegill rods at home. Hybrids are incredibly strong, hard-hitting fish. If there is a weak link in your tackle, a big hybrid will point it out to you. More lures are destroyed by hybrids than by any other species of fish, so have extras on hand. A long rod with some flex to it helps absorb the shock of the initial strike and keeps the hooks from pulling out of the fish's mouth. When a hybrid does hit your lure, it usually happens so fast that if the fish does not hook itself, it often throws the lure before you can react. Sharpening the hooks on your lures is the best way to keep fish from getting off. 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. Topwaters, crankbaits, slab spoons and jigs. Watch and listening for splashing or watch for diving, feeding seagulls. Just about any shad-colored white or silver topwater plug will get hit when thrown into a school of feeding hybrids. The crankbait may be the best artificial lure for hybrid fishing. It can be trolled or cast, fished in tailraces, rivers and lakes. . Crankbaits 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 baitfish 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 crankbait, or swim a jig on another rod


Hybrid stripers dont reproduce so they must be stocked but some natural hybridization may be taking place as well. The hybrid is differentiated by the broken stripes but mitocondrial studies may be needed at times to tell for sure. The strains in the Hudson and Chesapeake are very similar and are referred to as the atlantic strain. Now many of the landlocked stripers stocked in many southern U.S. impoundments are the southern or gulf strain. These apparently have been found to be less migratory and natural reproduction is being observed with this stock, hence the increased stocking of this strain in the southern U.S. Some states have also reported back crossing with hybrids and white bass. Alabama DNR reports the some males arent sterile.