Do you eat them? I caught one that was 8lbs or so on Friday and we had it for dinner last night. I'll save my thoughts until after you guys chime in but I'm curious if you all eat them.
I'll have to keep a rockfish this year if I catch a small one. Sorry, Will!I think striper is slightly better. Hybrids don't freeze well for long periods. Both are near the top for me on freshwater.
Actually, they do occasionally occur in nature.I've eaten a pile of them over the years and they taste great. Haven't caught one in a bit though since we moved to SC. The lakes I fish here have pure stripers, no hybrids.
But that brings up a question, does nobody get weirded out by the fact that these are frankenstein fish? They have never naturally occurred in nature, they're a science experiment cross between White Bass and Striped Bass.
Makes me wonder if we're going to find out years from now that eating these was a bad idea. Yea a fish is a fish, but isn't this sort of like the weird experimental "meat" scientists are working on? That lab designed/3D printed meat that chemically speaking is real meat but didn't come from an animal? I would not eat that stuff. But I guess I'd probably still eat Hybrids.
I've eaten a pile of them over the years and they taste great. Haven't caught one in a bit though since we moved to SC. The lakes I fish here have pure stripers, no hybrids.
But that brings up a question, does nobody get weirded out by the fact that these are frankenstein fish? They have never naturally occurred in nature, they're a science experiment cross between White Bass and Striped Bass.
Makes me wonder if we're going to find out years from now that eating these was a bad idea. Yea a fish is a fish, but isn't this sort of like the weird experimental "meat" scientists are working on? That lab designed/3D printed meat that chemically speaking is real meat but didn't come from an animal? I would not eat that stuff. But I guess I'd probably still eat Hybrids.
I didn't know this. You mean the ones that have managed to naturally reproduce? I read about that recently somewhere. But did they exist in nature before scientists created them in labs? Was there historically successful spawning between White Bass and Striped Bass?Actually, they do occasionally occur in nature.
Good to know. Like I said I haven't eaten one in years only because the lake I mostly fish now a days in SC only has pure Stripers. Just lately I was thinking about it and thought it was kind of weird to eat a fish that doesn't normally occur in nature. Maybe it's not a big deal even if they'd never naturally occurred and I'm overthinking it. They taste good and they're a lot of fun to catch, that's for sure.Yes, white bass and stripers occasionally spawn together and create natural hybrids. My memory is that most are white bass males and striper females. It happens the other way as well.
Again, it's not a frequent occurrence, but it does happen.
Perhaps better than the meal was the fight. It was fun to catch a fish that pulls back.
I caught him on a minnow under a cork on 4lb mono with a size 4 aberdeen Mustad. Thank goodness for a smooth drag!