Tribute to The Hybrid Striped Bass

I stocked my first hybrid striped bass on May 5th 2007. I was very skeptical mainly because I had never heard of anyone in my area stocking them and really knew absolutely nothing about them except that some pond boss guys were growing them really big in small ponds. I could not believe how fast these fish grew that first summer and was even more shocked at how fast they grew the next summer and still am blown away with how fast them things have grown this summer!!!

The original HSB that I have left in the lake are 6-9 lbs and just BEASTS! We typically use 6 lb test on medium/light fishing gear for open water fishing, but the big boys have spooled 5 rigs completely this summer and easily broken off another dozen. People I take fishing typically arent very experienced anglers, but they typically have no problems landing catfish, smb, and lmb on this same gear. The big stripers are only just 3 years old and in a whole nother league! Here are some pics documenting the HSB growth!

2007 class pics:



2008 class pics:



2009 class pic:


Anyhow, I have since stocked about 20,000 hsb in lakes and ponds around the area and they are definitely growing faster in the lakes that artificially feed, but they are still growing really good even in the lakes without the additional supplements!

Here is a video of the girls feeding the 2009 year class of stripers on the beach:
Striper Feeding Video