Hybrid bass are most often produced from a female striped bass and a male white bass. The young grow well in the hatchery and are usually stocked in the fall as fingerlings. Hybrid bass are fast growers. In New York, hybrids reach eight inches in length in the first year and are double that by age three. Adult hybrid bass feed in open waters and primarily eat forage fish, such as alewife and gizzard shad.
Hybrid bass are popular sportfish.
They are hard fighting and good eating. Anglers use the same fishing methods as those for white bass. The future of hybrid bass in New York is uncertain. Although the fish are doing well in the state's waters, anglers have not learned how to catch them consistently. Hybrids also have shown the trait of moving downstream from reservoirs into waters where they may not be wanted.