# Hybrid or Striper



## whackmaster (Apr 2, 2010)

I caught these today on Lake Conroe in 28' of water under the FM 1097 bridge..Fishing with shad about a foot off the bottom..I don't know if they are Hybrids or Stripers (what is the difference)..This is the first time for me to catch this species..They put up a good fight...They were 21" and 20 3/4"...


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## Kickapoo Duke (May 15, 2010)

With my limited knowledge I'd guess one of each


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Those are hybrids and nice ones too. Lake Conroe was only stocked one time with stripers in 1994, those fish are all gone by now. TPW determend hybrids would do better in Conroe than stripers so that is all they stock now, good catch.


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Male and female Hybrids... no doubt. Been there done that. Nice Catch!!!


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Good fish...and hybrids both. They are great fighters, one of the best in freshwater. Once you catch them, you are hooked!!


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## whackmaster (Apr 2, 2010)

Meadowlark said:


> Good fish...and hybrids both. They are great fighters, one of the best in freshwater. Once you catch them, you are hooked!!


You are correct..I want to go after them again..They hit the bait with authority..It was a blast...

Got to learn how to pattern them and catch them..


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## Kickapoo Duke (May 15, 2010)

Educate me---I thought maybe the one on the right was a striper because the lines don't seem to be jagged and you can't see the tooth patch. How can you tell it's a hybrid? Body shape?


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## Lonestar Proud (Oct 26, 2010)

Nice hibbies!


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## Dgeddings (Sep 16, 2010)

actually I dare say a male hybrid on the left and a big female white bass on the right


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## Lonestar Proud (Oct 26, 2010)

Dgeddings said:


> actually I dare say a male hybrid on the left and a big female white bass on the right


White's don't have mutiple stripes extending all the way to the tail, nor have the stripes defined as well as Hybrids. Just my two cents worth.


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Both hybrids. TP&W does not stock stripers in Conroe. The characteristic broken lines below the lateral is not a firm rule. The thicker body and double tooth patch is the best id tool. A striper that length would look like a hammer handle up next to the hybrid.


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## Kickapoo Duke (May 15, 2010)

Thanks, I am now edumacated


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## Relief (Oct 15, 2006)

They both look like whites to me?


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## Dgeddings (Sep 16, 2010)

the broken lines indicate a hybrid, typically if the lines are unbroken and straight it's a white, the only real way to know is to look at the tooth patches in their mouths

Pretty good reference PDF
http://www.arkansasstripers.com/identification-white-bass-striped-bass-hybrid-bass.htm


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## fishingcacher (Mar 29, 2008)

*If *one of them was a white it would be closer or even a New texas state record.


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## Lonestar Proud (Oct 26, 2010)

Last year while working in Tyler and fishing Lake Palestine constantly, I caught numerous small hybrids (15"-18") that looked like one single tooth patch and didn't have the two distinct tooth patches as mentioned in 2009-2010 regulations which were valid at that time. Upon closer look, the tooth patch was barely separated, making it look like a single patch. I went to the regional TPWD office in Tyler and asked them about this. They told me that they were changing the information in the regs booklet for 2011-2012 to state "Has two tooth patches near the midline towards the back of the tongue. Tooth patches may be distinct or close together." The new regs book reads that way now. They told me that they were starting to get a lot of fish that no longer had the "two distinct tooth patches" and that one should not rely on the tooth patch or patches for identification. 
If one really looks at the two fish, it is pretty easy to tell them apart without relying on a tooth patch. Hybrids will always have a much brighter coloring to them compared to a whitebass, and will have distinct stripes, solid or broken, with several extending to the tail. A whitebass on the other hand will have faint stripes, of which only one will extend to the tail. 
I've also noticed that hybrids won't always have broken lines/stripes either, but their thick girth defines them from a true striper. 

-LP


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## Dgeddings (Sep 16, 2010)

telling a hybrid and a striper apart is pretty easy, it's the white bass vs hybrid that is tough when their in that 1-3lbs range that can be tricky sometimes


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## OrangeS30 (Jun 21, 2009)

Like most have said, those are both hybrids. There is no mistaking a hybrid and a striper once you have seen both up close.


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## Rather-b-fishin (May 13, 2009)

How do Hybrids taste in relation to stripers and whites? Please don't say a cross between stripers and whites...J/k lol


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

Rather-b-fishin said:


> How do Hybrids taste in relation to stripers and whites? Please don't say a cross between stripers and whites...J/k lol


Like chicken....LOL......sorry, I'l go to my room now.


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## Lonestar Proud (Oct 26, 2010)

Sunbeam said:


> Like chicken....LOL......sorry, I'l go to my room now.


With all due respect Sunbeam......it's better than chicken LOL!!


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## Ox Eye (Dec 17, 2007)

Do you have to net the bait shad or are there places around the lake where they can be bought?


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## tbone2374 (Feb 27, 2010)

Sunbeam said:


> Like chicken....LOL......sorry, I'l go to my room now.


 C'mon Sunbeam... You just love it when she sends you to your room. 
LOL


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