Navigation canals opened the way for them to invade the Great Lakes by the 1940s. Schools of white perch, numbering in the hundreds and even the thousands, leave the lakes and estuaries in spring, ascending rivers and inlet streams to reproduce. If it were not for its brassy coating, the yellow bass could easily be mistaken for a white bass. This schooling fish makes its home in the open, slow-flowing waters of big rivers and oxbow lakes in the Mississippi River basin. It prefers vegetated waters with a firm bottom of sand or rubble and avoids altogether fast-flowing water.
Striped bass is the marquee fish among the sea basses.
This schooling fish roams over the rocky shores of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. These introductions into the Pacific have been successful. Stripers have been considered a game fish in California since 1935. Their value as a game fish is easily understood knowing they grow to five feet and 60 pounds. As table fare they can t be beat.