What Am I?

[Fishhand]

I am curious if you guys think this is a striper or a hybrid? It had a couple of broken patches near it's pectoral fins and was definitely more "football" shaped than a typical striper. Sorry, the picture isn't very good... let me know what you think!

[Dutch]

It isn't unusual for a striper to have a bit of broken lines like the pic. Where was it caught?

Did you do the tongue test? The back of the tongue of a hybrid has one distinct tooth patch or two close patches very close together. The back of the tongue of a striped bass has two distinct parallel tooth patches.

[Bill B.]

It isn't unusual for a striper to have a bit of broken lines like the pic. Where was it caught?

Did you do the tongue test? The back of the tongue of a hybrid has one distinct tooth patch or two close patches very close together. The back of the tongue of a striped bass has two distinct parallel tooth patches.

I'll vote for an unusually fat female striper. Either way, it's a beautiful fish. Where did you catch it?

[Fishhand]

It came out of Bull Shoals....I thought I had heard at one time there was a very limited number of hybrids in Bull. Probably mistaken though. It ate a pearl Sassy Shad. The digital scale was fluctuating between 28lb15z and 29lb3z. Just by the weight, I'ld say it was a striper. But, dang, it sure did look like a hybrid by it's shape. I released it, so, we'll never know.

I tried the tongue patch thing and it felt like there was one patch.

Here's another photo that's puts it more in perspective.

For comparison, I included a photo of a 6lb.+/- hybrid from Truman.

[Dutch]

That much weight would have been a world record hybrid. I have never heard of hybrids in Bull, only a few stripers. I'm glad to see you were able to release it. Last winter I got a tongue lashing on this site for suggesting that a couple of stripers should have been released.

[Fishhand]

Hey Dutch,

In respects to the tongue lashing....I think if we all just talk to one another like we're in the boat with one another, we can all get along. Don't let a few people ruin this forum for you. Respect.

On the world record thing...I've definitely second guessed myself for releasing the fish. If I could have definitively determined the fish was a hybrid, I would have kept it. But, shoot, I've never caught a hybrid that big! Since catching it, I've looked at pictures of the world record hybrid that came out of Greers Ferry. And, my fish was similar in shape and proportion. I've also found a photo of a 22 lb. hybrid caught from Bull Shoals. So, I know they've been in there, but, the photo on that one was such that you couldn't really see the fish very well. The proportion was similar to my fish though.

Oh well, it's still out there unless it died of old age. Someone will just have to catch it so we'll know for sure!

[Dutch]

Too bad about the possibility of a world record. That could have done you and Bull Shoals some good.

[Phil Lilley]

Hey Jim- when did you catch this? Below Powersite? Looks like at night. Do you own a Supreme? That's what the boat looks like.

[Fishhand]

Hey Phil,

I caught it this past summer. It came from the Forsyth area in about 45' of water. A couple of friends and I fished from 7:00 until about 11:00 pm with no luck. They took off but I decided to stay for another hour. The moon had just risen when I got the bite. I took one photo of the fish when it was on the bottom of the boat, but, those photos never seem to show the proportion of a fish. So, I went to the shore and a couple of dudes on the bank took the photo with me holding it.

[Samkam1]

Striper