Striped Bass in Texas

Striped bass are the fourth most preferred
fish among licensed Texas anglers.

It is estimated that the economic impact of striper fishing in the
Lake Texoma area alone totals well in excess of $20 million.

Striped bass in Texas can be caught using artificial lures
that imitate small fish, such as silver spoons.

Live bait or cut bait are also effective.

In Texas, striped bass in excess of 50 pounds have been caught.

Although striped bass exceeding 100 pounds have been caught in saltwater,
to date a 67.5-pound striped bass was the largest individual reported from inland waters.

Life History of the Striped bass

Striped Bass in the Gulf Region of Texas

The native Gulf population declined during the 1950's and 1960's and it is speculated that the construction of water control structures and extensive channelization of waterways
during this time prevented successful spawning.

A Gulf commercial Striped bass fishery existed from the late 1800's through the early 1960's.

There is no historical record of striped bass ever being particularly common off Texas.

The last reported commercial landings of striped bass in the gulf
 were in 1939 from Corpus Christi Bay.

In 1890 5,000 pounds were recorded caught from Galveston Bay,
 3,000 pounds from Aransas Bay and
 1,000 pounds from Corpus Christi Bay.

Occasionally striped bass are encounter in gill netting samples,
 mostly from Sabine, Galveston, and Matagorda Bays.

Striped bass also occasionally show up in creel surveys.

The spawning requirements of striped bass are very exacting, a major factor limiting the establishment of self-sustaining populations.

A few reservoirs in the United States contain self-sustaining populations,
 including Santee-Cooper, Lake Mead, and Lake Texoma.

However, striped bass are readily propagated in hatcheries and periodic stockings can maintain populations in reservoirs not having tributaries suitable for spawning.

Telemetry studies reveal Apalachicola River striped bass remain in the river or the estuary most of the time, only occasionally entering the open Gulf.
They spend winters in the lower reaches of the river,
and following their spawning run they disperse downstream.
 
The hot summer months are spent at the mouths of cool water springs and streams.

Striped bass prefer water temperatures less than 75° F and will stop feeding
 when forced to live under warmer conditions,
 
Gulf-race fish have a higher temperature tolerance than their Atlantic cousins.
 
Their strong preference for cooler water can isolate them from prey and acceptable oxygen levels, and this behavior is responsible for summer die-offs.
 
They feed irregularly during the summer and grow very slowly.

Fish over 10 pounds are particularly dependent on cool water,
and are more susceptible to warm water-induced mortality.

The five Gulf states initiated a plan to re-establish striped bass to their historic range, but stockings of Gulf-race stripers in Texas bays have to date been unsuccessful.

Just under 500,000 fish were stocked during 1975-1977, and millions were stocked from 1983-1994, mostly in Trinity Bay and Sabine Lake.

None of these stockings produced any significant results. However, a land-locked race that completes its entire life cycle in fresh water was discovered when the Santee-Cooper Reservoir in South Carolina was completed in 1942, and their offspring have been used to stock reservoirs throughout Texas and the United States.

Atlantic coast stripers have also been introduced along the
Pacific coast as far back as the 1890's.

In summary, the native Gulf population has declined since the 1950s likely due to blocked access to historical spawning areas and summer thermal refuges.
 

The only naturally occurring population is in the
Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system
 in Florida, Georgia and Alabama.
 
These fish are being restored and maintained to:

• Provide a broodfish source for Gulf state restoration programs

• Support recreational fishing programs

• Maximize natural reproduction and recruitment into the Gulf population.
  
  Restoration efforts are guided by an interstate Striped Bass Fishery Management Plan prepared by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission in 1986, amended in 1992 and is being revised in 2006.