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gonnachum

Fish guide

Striped bass

Native to Atlantic coastal rivers, and stocked into big reservoirs and rivers across the South and West, where stripers run in schools after the shad and fight like nothing else in fresh water.

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A striped bass

Morone saxatilis · also called striper, rockfish, linesider

How to tell it

  • Silver sides with 7–8 dark, unbroken lines from the gills to the tail.
  • Two separate dorsal fins and a forked tail.
  • Hybrid stripers (wipers) are chunkier, often with broken lines: use more than one sign.

Size: Reservoir stripers are often 5–15 pounds; the best lakes give up fish over 30.

What to throw

The first pick and the backup for every water clarity and light, from the Gear Matcher. Tap one to see the whole kit.

Tackle
Kind of water
Water temperature

Lake · Transition water (50–65°F)

Clear water · see 4 ft+ down

Stained water · 1–4 ft of sight

Murky water · under 1 ft

Rain fishes like a cloudy day, so it is left out. These are the everyday picks: in spring and fall the Gear Matcher adds the season’s patterns for some fish.

Our picks for these

Rod, reel and line

Rod
~7' medium-heavy
Reel
3000–4000 spinning
Line
15–20 lb braid or monofilament
Leader
Optional 20 lb fluorocarbon leader in clear water

Stripers are strong, fast fighters. Heavier gear than black bass keeps them from breaking off.

Where and when

Lake fishing: plan your approach and read the water.

Where they live
Big, open water: main-lake points, humps, river channels and the tailwaters below dams, wherever the shad are.
Water they like
Best from 55 to 70°F; in summer they go deep for cooler water with enough oxygen.
Best time
Dawn and dusk, and at night under lights in summer.
Spawning
Spring, in long rivers with current, at about 60–65°F. In most reservoirs they cannot spawn, so they are stocked (a few, like Lake Texoma, sustain themselves).

Through the year

Best months for striped bass: March–May and October–December.

  1. January: good.
  2. February: good.
  3. March: best.
  4. April: best.
  5. May: best.
  6. June: good.
  7. July: slower.
  8. August: slower.
  9. September: slower.
  10. October: best.
  11. November: best.
  12. December: best.

Earlier in the South and later in the North. In summer, fish at dawn, or deep.

A general pattern, not a local forecast. Pick your state for a rough adjustment: striped bass follow the water’s warmth, earlier in the South and later in the North.

  • Spring

    Runs up the rivers, and points: bucktails, swimbaits and live bait.

  • Summer

    Deep and early: live shad on downlines, and topwater blitzes at dawn.

  • Fall

    Schools chase shad near the surface: watch for gulls and breaking fish, then cast spoons, swimbaits and topwater.

  • Winter

    Following the shad into creek arms and warm-water outflows: swimbaits and bucktails, slowly.

Fishing live bait

Live bait is one of the most reliable ways to catch reservoir stripers. Find them first (diving birds, bait or fish on the sonar, main-lake points and river channels), then put a lively baitfish where they are.

  • Downline

    Summer and winter, when stripers are deep

    A 1–2 oz egg sinker above a swivel, then 6–8 ft of 12–20 lb fluorocarbon and a circle hook through the bait’s lips. Lower it straight down to the depth where the sonar shows fish or bait, and hold it there.

  • Free line

    Spring and fall, and at dawn, when they are shallow

    No weight at all: a circle hook through the lips or just behind the back fin, and let the bait swim 50–100 ft behind a slowly moving boat.

  • Planer board

    Shallow fish that spook from the boat

    A free line clipped to a planer board, which pulls the bait out to the side, over flats and points the boat never crosses.

  • From the bank

    No boat: points, and below dams

    A sliding sinker above a swivel, a 2–3 ft leader and a circle hook (a Carolina rig): cast a live or cut bait out and let it sit on the bottom.

The bait

Gizzard and threadfin shad, blueback herring or big shiners: whatever the stripers eat in that water. Catch shad with a cast net, or buy bait where it is sold. Many states limit which baitfish you may use, and moving them from one water to another: check the rules before you go.

Hooking them

Circle hooks, about 1/0–3/0 for shad and herring. When the rod bends over, do not jerk it: reel steadily and the hook usually sets itself in the corner of the mouth, where it is easier to remove for a release.

Keeping bait alive

A round, aerated bait tank (in a square one, bait piles into the corners and dies), cool water with a little non-iodized salt in it, and not too many baits at once. Change some of the water through the day.

What it takes

Each opens an Amazon search: pick one with good reviews.

For striped bass on lures instead, see the picks above.

Tips

  1. 1.Follow the birds: gulls diving on the water mean bait, and stripers under it.
  2. 2.Heavier gear than for bass: a striper will strip line and break light tackle.
  3. 3.In summer, let them go fast: a striper brought up from cool depths into warm surface water is stressed.

The rules

Seasons, size and bag limits for this fish differ from state to state, and from water to water. Check local regulations.

for its license and regulations

Through the ice

What to drop

Jigging (Slab) Spoon

or Live Shad or Minnow under a Tip-Up

Rod
30"–36" medium ice rod
Reel
2500 spinning
Line
10–12 lb monofilament

How thick the ice must be

  • Under 4"Stay off
  • 4"Ice fishing and anything on foot
  • 5–7"Snowmobile or ATV
  • 8–12"Car or small pickup
  • 12–15"Medium truck

For new, clear ice. White or snowy ice is about half as strong, so double these. Check it with a spud bar or auger as you go out, and keep off ice over moving water, near inlets and at pressure ridges. No ice is completely safe.

Find water near you