Striped Bass True Arkansas Trophies

Anglers looking to tangle with a trophy don’t need to travel far. Striped bass are big fish on the block at Beaver and other lakes.

Stripers grow to 50 pounds, sometimes larger. The state record is 64 pounds, 8 ounces. Stripers are found naturally in salt water, but don’t reproduce in fresh water. That’s where the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission’s striped bass program comes in.

Game & Fish biologists net stripers at night when they make their annual spawning runs upstream. Fish are transported to the Hulsey state fish hatchery near Hot Springs and kept in tanks. They’re monitored carefully. When the females are ready to ovulate, technicians have only 30 minutes to collect the eggs.

Milt from male stripers is added to the eggs. Their kept in glass containers with water flowing over them constantly to keep the eggs aerated. Eggs hatch in 48 hours. The fry are moved to other holding tanks for about four days. Then the fry are released into hatchery ponds to grow.

By July, fry are 2 inches long and ready to be stocked.

Some anglers worry that striped bass eat black bass and other game fish, but their diet is primarily threadfin shad.

Outdoor, Pages 7 on 07/18/2013

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