Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis

Natural-history illustration of a silver striped bass with dark horizontal stripes
Reviewed species illustration. Confirm your catch with current state identification resources before keeping fish.

Striped bass are one of America's premier gamefish, found in both coastal salt water and landlocked in freshwater reservoirs nationwide. Their horizontal black stripes on a silver body are unmistakable. Landlocked stripers were first stocked in Santee-Cooper Reservoir in South Carolina in the 1940s — a breakthrough that led to their stocking in lakes from California to Virginia. They grow large, travel in schools, and attack baitfish with stunning ferocity on the surface.

Catching Tips

Find schooling stripers by watching for birds diving on baitfish. Cast white bucktail jigs or topwater plugs into the melee. For trophy fish, troll with large shad-imitating swimbaits near points and channel edges at night. In rivers, fish live gizzard shad on a circle hook near submerged timber during the fall.

World Record

81.88 lbs
Weight
Long Island Sound, Connecticut
Location
2011
Year

No stocking events recorded yet for Striped Bass.