Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass Management Plan for Virginia Reservoirs

Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass Management Plan for Virginia Reservoirs
by John Odenkirk, Dan Wilson and John Copeland


Striped Bass Morone saxatilis are an anadromous fish native to Virginia. Their annual spring migrations occur in all major Atlantic slope river drainages with fish ascending from the ocean to tidal freshwater below the fall line to spawn (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994). They have tremendous economic value fueling substantial recreational and commercial fisheries. Striped Bass and their hybrids (typically a female Striped Bass crossed with a male White Bass M.
chrysops in a hatchery) are widely stocked into Virginia reservoirs (for purposes of this management plan, “reservoirs” are those impoundments exceeding 500 acres vs. “small impoundments”). This management plan encompasses the use of Striped Bass and Hybrid
Striped Bass (hereafter referred to simply as “hybrids”) in Virginia reservoirs. Read more.....