Fishing For Hybrid Bass

Fishing For Hybrid Bass

Striped bass hybrids are hatchery produced by crossing female striped bass with male white bass. Although both male and female hybrids attain sexual maturity, natural reproduction has not been observed. It has been reported they do go through the spawning activity as their parents do, without producing the offspring.

Habitat - Hybrid Striped Bass mirror the habits and prefer areas within lakes and streams to striped bass and white bass, typically traveling in large schools in open water. In the Spring, schools are smaller and the road trip is on, as they head for the spawning grounds. Hybrids start to get a little more active as the water temp rises; live bait seems to be the best from the banks, although trolling with a white or mirror crankbaits in 12 to 15 ft water produces a good catch. As June and July rolls around, it's slabbing time, look for them off deep creek channels on the slopes. Live bait is at its peak. We have boated thousands! During those Hot Summer days, hybrids seem to hug the bottom in deep water, depending on the oxygen content of the lake. Working the slab very slow in deep water around shad seems to the best, at this time the downriggers shine also, using 3 or 4 inch Sassy ShadThen comes the fall! By this time the schools have become very large, and the feed is on for the winter. Early morning and evenings you can find Hybrids on top, running through weary schools of shad, like a freight train through a small town. When winter comes the hybrid seem to turn into loners, hugging the bottom up to depths of 65 feet. They are catchable, but be careful if you plan to catch and release as they get the bends as you bring them up from that depth! The best result is to let the fish play and several depths before bringing them to the boat.

Natural Food Sources - Shad, minnows, crustaceans and insects.

Fish Facts - Hybrids are a valuable part of fishing: they grow fast, fight hard and take the sport fishing to another level! They fit perfectly into the ecological system, especially in lakes with large shad populations but with little suitable habitat for striped bass and white bass.As a sport fish, hybrids are probably best known for their rapid growth and fighting ability. They can attain weights of six to seven pounds by three years of age and 18 to 20 pounds by eight to nine years of age.