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ANGLER'S GUIDE TO FISHES OF THE GULF OF MEXICO!
This book is a given for recreational and commercial fishermen as well as anyone who loves the outdoors! Since most anglers identify their fish by reviewing illustrations rather than using scientific keys, the authors have succeeded in making fishing easier by providing superb illustrations and detailed diagnostics for fish identification. A valuable, one-stop reference tool for everyday anglers, fisheries experts, biologists, and outdoors writers, this guide includes intensively researched information on 207 species of saltwater fish, essential data on each speciesí habitat, identification, typical size, and food value. By Jerald Horst & Mike Lane, illustrated by Duane Raver. 207 species.
|Other Names :||Striper, Striped Bass|
|Range & Habitat :||Historically, the Gulf coast race of striped bass was found in the rivers, and their associated estuaries, between the Apalachicola River in Florida and the rivers draining into Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. Although relict populations of this fish remain, striped bass from the Atlantic Coast races have been stocked by man in a large number of reservoirs and rivers. From these stockings, striped bass have now become established in most of the rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico. Substantial populations exist in the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in Louisiana.|
On the Atlantic coast, stripers are highly anadromous, spending their adult lives in saltwater and spawning in rivers. On the Gulf coast, they appear to be much less anadromous, tending to stay in the rivers and their closely associated estuaries their entire lives.
|Identification & Biology :||Striped bass are silver overall, with a greenish or gray back. They have bold black stripes that extend the length of their sides. They may be separated from their smaller cousins, the white bass, Morone chrysops, the yellow bass, Morone mississippiensis, and from striped bass/white bass hybrids (also stocked) by having dark unbroken black stripes and a more streamlined shape.|
Striped bass are aggressive predators that eat a wide variety of fishes, including eels. They seem to prefer, however, silvery-colored fishes such as shad, menhaden, anchovies, and silversides. Striped bass will also take crustaceans, especially blue crabs.
Striped bass spawn in rivers with strong currents in the spring, when water temperatures are 55-70°F. Spawning takes place at the surface, with several males tending one female. The fertilized eggs swell with water and are buoyant. The large eggs hatch in 2-3 days, but without a current, they will sink to the bottom and die. Striped bass are hard, tenacious fighters.
|Size :||Striped bass have been known to reach 100 pounds on the Atlantic coast, but fish over 20 pounds are uncommon in Gulf states.|
|Food Value :||Very good|
|Description by: Jerald Horst, Associate Professor, Fisheries - LSU AgCenter|