flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Are the freshwater stripers and the saltwater stripers, basically the same fish? They do look like they are. I ate striped bass when I was a kid and didn't like it. Then we caught a ton of them out of Devils Lake. cleaned and brought some home. We couldn't eat those either. I don't know of anybody that eats them around here. DC and Steve love the ones that they catch out of the salt. So, what is the deal?

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

Striped bass, M. Saxatilis, are an anadromous fish. That means the can survive in fresh or salt water. On the east cost they are basically in salt and come into fresh water areas to spawn. West coast and fresh water confined striper are a hybrid of stripe bass x white bass. West coast bass might have been introduced in the nonhybrid version as well. That I don't know. As far as being edible, I've caught znd eaten both and personally, I don't see any difference might just be a vanilla chocolate thing, personal taste preference.

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Thanks, Fly, that's what I was thinking, but wasn't sure. They must taste better out of the salt.

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

Some folks will only eat fish out of the salt, and others only out of fresh water. I have had some great meals from each.

NoCal Steve Loc: Dunnigan, CA

Not a bug fish eater myself but lots of people out here eat Striper. Most are caught in the river systems. Some live in the river year round and some come from the ocean to spawn. The one thing I've heard consistently over the years is that you must remove the center portion of the filled before cooking. It contains the bloodline that can taste down right nasty.

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Oh, that is nasty stuff for sure, Steve, that is the one thing that is gone from every fillet of mine. Especially, saltwater fish.

florida Loc: Southwest Florida/ Virginia

I have eaten plenty stripers from fresh water and salt water. Removing the bloodline and lines of blood on the fillet is the way to clean them. I would review different recipes on how to prepare them, that can make a big difference in the taste.

DCGravity Loc: Fairfax, VA (by way of Cleveland OH)

Here in VA, stripers (referred to locally as rockfish) can be caught in the Chesapeake as well as a few freshwater/landlocked lakes (e.g., Lake Anne). Both taste the same to me.

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

That is very true. That is also very fatty tissue and the bad stuff like mercury and lead tends to concentrate there. Most of the toxins they mention in consumption warnings tend to collect in fatty tissues.

plumbob Loc: New Windsor Maryland

Then you have folks like Saw 1. Franks hot sauce on all fish. That S*** goes good on everything. Right Saw?

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Morning, Fly, I was fishing in the Lac Seul, 250 miles into Canada on an Indian Reservation. We were a group of 10 and I was the only one who knew how to do a decent job of cleaning a walleye, so, I was doing a "hurry-up" job of cleaning the walleyes because everyone brought their limit in. I was giving them the "Norwegian Fellet job" and cutting everything below the backbone and rib cage off. Including the belly fat, primarily to get rid of the toxins and because it was a faster way to clean them. Two COs pulled up to the dock and one came to the fish cleaning shack where I was and the other went up to the cabin. The one that went up to the cabin was going to count the walleyes in the freezer but it was our first day there and our first trip out and we didn't have any. That's why we all brought our limits home. The one that stopped at the fish cleaning shack with me, watched me cleaning the walleyes. I just keep cleaning as he informed me that he could give a ticket for want & waste because I was cutting too much belly "meat" off and throwing it away. I said that he could try, but it wouldn't fly, because the "fat" has pollutants in it and I won't eat it. He didn't say anything and went over and pulled some carcasses out of the pail I was throwing my carcasses in and measured them. Then he measured any of the questionable walleyes that I had on the table and the pail that I had left to clean. Then the other CO came down from the cabin and they said, "Have a good week" and left. Of course, they had checked all of our lisc.

Frank romero Loc: Clovis, NM

I don’t know if it would work on stripers or not but I bleed white bass before I fillet them and they have less mess when I do and blood vein is gone.

bucky buckner Loc: murrells inlet SC

Hey Flyguy, I do know that the stripers in the Santee lake system SC. are land locked, as in they were trapped when they built dams, when they came up the santee river systems N and S during there spawn. And back in the day not sure of year, South Carolina traded land locked stripers for blue catfish,

fast_randy Loc: Blackfoot, Idaho

I remember when they first planted Stripped Bass in Lake Powel and Lake Mead. I'm pretty sure they thought they would be sterile coming from the ocean. In the seventies they were catching huge Stripped Bass at Lake Mead, as long as your leg. But they found out they breed like crazy and they removed the limits you could keep, recommending people keep and eat as many as they wanted.
Stripers as Flytier said are a cross between White Bass and Stripped Bass and are completely sterile and need to be planted. I love fishing for wipers. They fight ten times harder than a Stripped Bass. I got my moniker: fast_randy because I would troll for wipers at Willard Bay in Utah with lipless rattle traps 5 mph. After taking several of my work buddies fishing they started calling fastrandy.

Rorylaw1

not sure the difference between salt and fresh water stripper...I do know they are very good eating, as long as you cut the red bloodline from the fillet before you cook them, very tasty