Major Dad "claws" The Big Craw

[fishinwrench]

All very cool looking bugs.

I'm just mildly blown away because to my knowledge the closest hybrid stocking is either gonna be Lake Ozark or one of the Illinois lakes. I guess it's not completely crazy to think that those might be HONKER river WHITES! Kinda hard to tell by the pics. Check the tooth patches next time you catch one.

You realize, right, that hybrids don't reproduce on thier own....so if they are Hybrids (wipers) then they were stocked somewhere, and they don't dump them in the Mo. or Miss. Rivers at all (at least that is My understanding).

[esox niger]

All very cool looking bugs.

I'm just mildly blown away because to my knowledge the closest hybrid stocking is either gonna be Lake Ozark or one of the Illinois lakes. I guess it's not completely crazy to think that those might be HONKER river WHITES! Kinda hard to tell by the pics. Check the tooth patches next time you catch one.

You realize, right, that hybrids don't reproduce on thier own....so if they are Hybrids (wipers) then they were stocked somewhere, and they don't dump them in the Mo. or Miss. Rivers at all (at least that is My understanding).

to my understanding the Missississippi river and Missouri rivers have reproducing populations of these fish...I don't have the genetic line off hand but there are some crosses of these fish which reproduce on their own or back with white bass...and are able to reproduce. I will have to dig on that one but I'm pretty sure Iv'e read or been told that. let me look around ...and I will post back.

[esox niger]

from http://aqua.ucdavis....t/pdf/300FS.PDF note: I've run into schools of little bass but come to think of it they may be straight white bass. need to find some barried pictures to confirm (maybe not even then)

Spawning

Hybrid striped bass, unlike some

other hybrids, is fertile. It is

oviparous (egg-laying) like the

parental species and produces eggs

and sperm in the spring when

temperatures are 15 to 20° C. Some

males mature at the age of 1 year

(approximately 250 mm long and 500

grams), and all are mature at 2 years

of age. A few females are mature at

2 years of age, but all are mature at 3

years. Females produce an average

of 160,000 eggs per pound of body

weight and spawn once a year.

Males may spawn many times over

the spawning season.

Natural spawning of hybrids has

been verified in a few instances.

They may participate in spawning

runs with striped bass or possibly

white bass. There are also confirmed

cases of reproduction in reservoirs

that contain only hybrid striped bass.

Hybrid striped bass produce sperm

and eggs during the spring when

water temperature is between 55 to

70° F. Temperatures of 65° to 68° F

are ideal for spawning hybrids and

the parental species. Spawning occurs

from mid-March through May

depending on location. Spawning

season in any one location usually

lasts 4 to 5 weeks. Hybrids have been

observed participating in spawning

acts in areas that contain clear shallow

rocky shoals that are 1 to 3 feet

The Black ops strikes again!!!!

[fishinwrench]

Nevermind....I just looked at the pics again. Definately not Whites.

[fishinwrench]

Ahh, well I'll be darn. Thanks for digging that up, I had always heard/read otherwise. How cool! Guess that explains it then.

[esox niger]

just in case you missed the photo of the juvy

[fishinwrench]

I think there's something pretty special about that zone you're in. Because if that happens at any similar areas up and down the Mo./Miss. I've sure never heard about it. That's just awesome!

[Wayne SW/MO]

Wow! I didn't realize that either. I have heard that one of the reasons the MDC is cautious about them is that they have a tendency to travel. I don't know if that is because they feed near the surface in schools and are more prone to being swept over dams of if they seek flows over the spillways.

That juvi ceratinly had to come from somewhere.

[esox niger]

I personaly wouldn't mind a few more of them around, but thats always a sensative issue when other peoples favorite fish are threatened by changes in the food chain. They are certainly fun to catch!

[Wayne SW/MO]

That's true, but they do tend to feed on a fish that has few predators after a year or so. I don't think a lot of people realize that shad feed on the same thing that juvenile game fish do and compete directly.

There are those however who cry doom while ignoring lakes that under the same circumstances have suufered no problems.