A large segment of Louisiana’s freshwater fishing community has become
obsessed with black bass, almost to the exclusion of interest in other
fish. Two species of black bass live in Louisiana waters, the largemouth
and the spotted. Both of them, as well as the cooler-water smallmouth
black bass, which is not found in the state, are eligible for entry in
Bass Angler Sportsman Society tournaments.
Lost in
the furor over competitive black bass fishing are three other species of
bass native to the state: yellow bass, white bass and striped bass. The
three species, along with their Atlantic Coast cousin, the white perch
(not what we call white perch in Louisiana), make up the family
Moronidae, commonly called temperate basses.
The
closest relatives to the temperate basses are the temperate perches, a
22-species family centered in Australia. Their next-closest kin are the
saltwater groupers rather than freshwater black basses, as one might
expect.
All three species are marked by bold black stripes that
run the length of their bodies. All three will voraciously attack both
artificial lures and live baits, especially in the cooler months of the
year. All three are extremely hard fighters. Most anglers not carrying a
wagonload of bias will admit that a 2-pound white bass will outfight a
2-pound largemouth any day. They just don’t jump as much.
All
three also have the reputation as substandard table fare. While they
can’t measure up to crappie (what fish can?), the rap is unfair,
especially in the case of the largest of the clan, the striped bass.
Yellow
and white bass are more common in Louisiana than striped bass. When
fishermen aren’t busy lumping them all indiscriminately under the name
“striper,” these two species are commonly called “barfish.” Beyond the
fact that both have needle-like fin spines as well as razor-sharp gill
covers that can gash a careless fisherman’s hand, they are distinctly
different.
The yellow bass is the smallest in the clan. Although
the world record is 2 pounds, 9 ounces, anything approaching ¾-pound is a
good fish in Louisiana. The species is best identified by its yellow
body color, which becomes especially pronounced during its
February-March spawning season.
Another distinguishing
characteristic that it shares with no other member of the family is that
the black bars on the lower half of the fish, near the anal fin, are
broken and offset, like an earthquake hit them and created a fault line.
Yellow
bass seems to tolerate low-oxygen conditions better than its two
cousins. It can be found in back-swamp lakes as well as rivers and
reservoirs. It is the only one of the three that can reproduce with no
access to flowing water.
White bass in Louisiana are perhaps most
common in large rivers and reservoirs, although in the late winter and
early spring when waters are cool and hold a lot of oxygen, they will
invade almost any overflow habitat to gorge before spawning.
Ocasionally,
like the yellow bass, the black bars above its anal fin may be slightly
broken and offset, but the base color between the black bars is white
or silver, hence the name. The body color and the lack of a dependable
break in the bars makes the fish similar to striped bass and the hybrid
striped bass, creating endless confusion among anglers.
An
external distinguishing feature that separates the white bass from its
cousins is that typically only one black bar will extend all the way to
the base of the tail. Hybrid stripers and stripers will have more than
one such bar. A fail-safe way of separating the species is to feel for
the teeth on the back of the tongue near its center. A white bass has
only one such patch. The other two species have two patches.
White
bass grow larger than yellow bass, but not nearly as large as stripers
and hybrids. The Louisiana record fish, a 6.81-pounder caught by Corey
Crochet in the Amite River in August 2010, tied the previous
world-record fish caught in Lake Orange, Va.
Called “sand bass”
or “sandies,” along with several other names, white bass have developed a
big following among anglers. In Midwestern reservoirs, schools of white
bass force shoals bait minnows to the surface. In these “jumps,” they
will take any bait presented to them.
In many places in the
eastern United States, anglers look forward to the spring, when the fish
mass to make their annual spawning run up rivers. During these runs,
fishermen can catch white bass until their arm muscles burn with
fatigue.
Here in Louisiana, we by and large ignore them.
White
bass prey heavily on smaller fish, but a live river shrimp impaled on a
hook will bring every white bass in the vicinity on the run.
The
heavyweight slugger of the family is the striped bass. The IGFA world
record is 78 pounds, 8 ounces, although believable reports have been
made of stripers of over 100 pounds occurring in old-time commercial
fishing catches. The Louisiana record of 47.50 pounds was made in 1991.
Every striper in the top 10 except one, the No. 9 fish, was taken before
1992.
Striped bass found in the Gulf States were once a separate
race from Atlantic Coast striped bass and occurred only from the Florida
Panhandle through the small rivers that drained into Lake
Pontchartrain. Since 1965, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and
Fisheries has been releasing hatchery-produced stripers (from Atlantic
Coast races) and, sporadically, hybrid striped bass in Louisiana waters.
Other state agencies have done so as well, and if any fish were left
from the original populations, they have likely been bred out of
existence.
Presently, striped bass can be found throughout the
fresh waters of the state, and spawning populations appear to exist in
the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers. Striped bass must have flowing
waters to spawn. Unlike white and yellow bass, whose eggs sink to the
bottom and stick to hard surfaces, striper eggs balloon with water and
float, so current is necessary to suspend them while they develop.
While
at first glance they seem to resemble white bass, stripers are
distinctly different. Their black stripes are knock-your-eyes-out-bold,
and run the length of the fish unbroken. The fish is also shaped
differently than the flat-sided white, yellow and hybrid striped bass.
It is round in cross section and the entire fish is distinctly
torpedo-shaped.
Adult stripers specialize on feeding on fish and
seem to focus on bright silvery fish such as gizzard shad, threadfin
shad and skipjack herring (slickers). Like their prey, they live in open
water and have absolutely no inclination to use cover to ambush their
supper like largemouth bass do. At all times of the year, striped bass
seem to be attracted to points of water current or current breaks.
The
fly in the ointment in temperate bass identification are the striped
bass/white bass hybrids. Created by humans, the creatures carry the
names “wiper,” “sunshine bass,” “whiterock bass” or “palmetto bass,” and
are intermediate in appearance between white and striped bass.
Their
body is flattened from side-to-side like a white bass, but not as much.
Their stripes are unbroken like in the striped bass, but they are less
bold, more favoring those in the white bass. Their maximum size is
intermediate as well, with a 16.25-pound fish holding the state record
and 27-pound 5-ounce world record.
Like white and striped bass,
hybrid stripers are sensitive to low oxygen levels, and in periods of
hot weather will move to deeper waters and almost cease feeding and
moving.
Jerald Horst is author of six books on fish and seafood,
including the acclaimed Trout Masters: How Louisiana’s Best Anglers
Catch the Lunkers. His latest book is Game Warden: On Patrol in
Louisiana. Both are available at www.LouisianaSportsman.com or by
calling (800) 538-4355.
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