Striped Bass

An anadromous species that spends part of its life in salt water and part in fresh, striped bass rank as the most popular game fish for the northeastern U.S. coast. These fish range from Maine through northeast Florida and in select Pacific locations from California to Washington. The species also has been introduced to freshwater lakes throughout the Southeast.

The targeted fishery for stripers, also called rockfish, occurs primarily from Virginia through Massachusetts. Stripers are structure-oriented fish; when found in open water, they’re generally following bait pods. Anglers use a variety of methods from trolling to casting topwater plugs to lure these feisty gamefish.