# What do Hybrid Striped bass eat in winter?



## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I fished for a few hours yesterday and made some observations that brought up some questions. 

I caught several largemouth varying in size from about 6" to the one pictured below. All were very heavy for thier size. I also caught two hybrid stripers that where healthy but weren't nearly as overweight as they were last fall. Do hybrid stripers eat in the winter? I've never caught or heard of one being caught through the ice. If they do eat in winter, what do they eat?

Here's the largest bass I landed. Something else broke off 15lb test so I wonder if I still have a channel cat lurking or if I snagged a grass carp.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Nice Bass Ryan!! I cant help you on the HSB but after feeding for the last 3 weeks or so, I have made a few observations myself, 1st is that its weird, 1 day Ill have every fish in the pond eating and the next 3-4 days, only about 2000 Golden Shiners and 8 million minnows?? Next observation was that my blue and channel cats did not seem to grow at all ver the winter???? In fact, if I had to guess, they have lost size. 

I stocked HSB last fall at around 3-4" and havent seen any yet so I can not tell for sure if they really grew or not over the winter. Ill let you know If I get any. Still having some real problems catching any crappies or even bluegills the last 10 days????

Salmonid


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

I expect a bit of weight loss with largemouth but they looked pretty good for this time of year and seem to have carried over weight better this year. My hybrids looked good, just not obese like they did last fall and lost more than the largemouth. 

My hybrids seem to school and hit the feed in aggressive bursts of 3 or 4 at a time. Often they just miss the feed causing the water to swirl and the pellets to sink. I think this is some sort of feeding tactic as the pellets that are caught in the whirlpool never return to the surface.

I experience the same kind of feeding irregularity this time of year as you. My water temps have been all over the place. Owning a pond, you learn first hand how much the weather effects feeding. I'm a little surprised that the cats have lost weight since they feed throughout the winter and it sounds like you have lots of forage. Your cats will recover weight very quickly on feed though.

If you have a lot of fatheads your crappie are probably pretty well fed and may explain why you haven't caught any. It is likely that the fathead numbers will be cut drastically this summer and may be eliminated by next spring or fall. Have you installed any spawntex mats for your shiners yet? 

I use a roostertail to target small bass for removal and that's what I caught the two HSB on...must be the white bass in them. They put up a heck of a fight on 4lb test. I caught a couple of bluegill too that were full of eggs.


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