Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Stripers

Do stripers that live in freshwater all their lives spawn?

Stripers in landlocked impoundments seldom,if ever spawn.
The exception is Lake Texoma on the Texas-Oklahoma border, which has a prolific spawn each year.

George Glazener

I know a lake close to where I live 'spawn' in about May I think. They don't actually have any offspring, but nevertheless they do their thing. There they gather in this one large cove, about 30 acres, to spawn. I haven't ever witnessed them myself, but my father has. He said that the fish were so packed in there that you could literally net some of the fish off the side of the boat. I also know that the DNR, or whoever that makes fishing regulations, doesn't allow fishing in that area with treble hooks or live bait from around March through May.

But this is the only place that I know of...

Chris

Lusk can answer this question better than since he lives "on the bank" of the Red River, the major tributary of Lake Texoma.

The striped bass is an anadromous (sp?) species that lives in salt water and returns up fresh water streams to spawn annually. They require a long flowing stream to keep the eggs in suspension, the reason most fresh water impoundment striped bass eggs don't survive. They all go through the spawning ritual each year.

It is my opinion that the reason for the prolific spawns and survival of hatch is the Red River is salty, being fed by upstream salt springs and flowing across exposed mineral outcrops.
I believe, and may be corrected by fisheries biologists that due the higher dnsity salt water results in floatation of the eggs, because some years the Red dries to atrickly and eggs cound not be carried by the current.

We have a high bag limit on Texoma because we have too many small fish due to prolific natural spawns.
george

ps:excuse the typos - don't know how to edit????

Striper eggs are semi-bouyant. They need flowing water and dependent upon water temperature, they hatch between 36-75 hours. Stripers became land-locked in Santee Cooper Reservoir (SC), and if my memory serves me correctly, that's where we were first able to document reproduction of a land-locked population. The stripers are able to swim upstream, do their business, and the eggs begin the journey downstream. It just so happens they have enough distance/water temp to hatch before they hit the slack water of the main reservoir.

I also have been told that they can successfully spawn in Lake Powell and some impoundments on the Mississippi River. They have to have the flowing water, though. It's easy to see why they are typically not successful with spawning in a land-locked situation.

Thats pretty neat. Thanks for the info. I have been wondering about this subject for awhile and i now understand it.

Why do the eggs require to be in moving water though?

I'm not sure why stripers have a low reproduction rate. Sand bass, which are evidently related, also spawn prolifically in running water and are numerous in all Texas lakes and river systems. I assume they are related since sand bass and stripers are crossed to make hybrids. Sand bass don't need much more than a decent creek to pull off a spawn. Could it be that they follow the rule that 'the smaller the animal, the more successful the spawn, hatch, etc.'?

I've worked quite a bit with white bass (sand bass), and have heard quite a bit about stripers (although I haven't worked with them as much). Let me see if I can add a little to this discussion.

White bass have a heavy, sticky egg. Thus, they run up the streams above reservoirs, and like to spawn on gravel areas that are kept clean by the current. Being sticky and heavy, the eggs stay in the clean riffle, and the eggs don't "smother." Eggs actually need a little oxygen. I don�t think it�s as much as newly hatched fry, but they still need a little oxygen available to cross the egg membrane and support the developing fry inside. White bass occasionally spawn in lakes or reservoirs. Generally, this happens where there is a wave-washed point that has clean, gravelly substrate. I think that stream/river spawning is a lot more common than in-lake spawning.

As Shawn said earlier, striped bass have an egg that is just slightly heavier than neutral buoyancy. Also, the eggs are not sticky. The original, east coast striped bass spawned in freshwater rivers and then grew in the ocean. The eggs are spawned in river current, and they develop as they are carried downstream. If the eggs were heavy, they would settle in the mucky bottom of pools and other still-water areas and smother. Thus, the nearly neutral buoyancy eggs hatch as they are carried down the river. Someone mentioned the Lake Texoma (OK-TX border) striped bass, which naturally reproduce in the inflowing river. The stripers run upstream, and the eggs hatch as they float back downstream. I assume that Bob Lusk knows more about this population than the rest of us. I�ve only worked once on Lake Texoma. Shawn and I discussed the natural reproduction of stripers in Lake Powell via e-mail a couple of days ago. This is a steep-sided, infertile desert canyon reservoir. My former professor, Steve Flickinger, told me that the stripers actually spawn in the canyons there. The stripers gather in groups and spawn in the reservoir (not the river), and the eggs are just slightly heavier than neutral buoyancy. Thus, they develop as they very slowly sink, and they hatch before they hit the bottom. Apparently, some of those canyon walls are 60-100 feet vertically. If the eggs hit bottom, they�d probably smother. However, they hatch before they sink that far. I don�t have any personal experience with this cool scenario, but I sure trust the source of information.

Now, that brings us to the purposeful hybrid striped bass (wipers, sunshine bass, etc.). One of the �old wive�s tales� is that all hybrids are sterile. Not necessarily true!! The eggs of female hybrids are in between the two parents. Thus, if the hybrids run up a stream and try to spawn on gravel riffles, the eggs are not sticky enough. They don�t stay there, but roll down into the pool below and mostly smother. If they try to run up a big river and spawn, like stripers, the eggs are a little too heavy. They settle to the bottom in still water, and likely smother. So, there is sort of a �functional� sterility. However, the male hybrids can run with female white bass up to a riffle, or with female striped bass up a big river. The sperm from the males can fertilize the eggs of both parental female types, and thus cause some genetic concerns over native populations of the two parents.

Whew, another long-winded story!!

Dave

Thanks to our experts (fisheries biologists) for the striper info......
But back to Texoma - the lake is 6ft low due to an extended drought and the river "upstream" dries to a trickle, and I assume NO CURRENT....we'll see what kind of a spawn we get this year. I've seen worse condition before and we always get aprolific spawn, giving problems with too many small stripers and not enough big ones.

Something else is going on here other than just semi-buoyant eggs suspended in river current.
Maybe Mr. Lusk will weigh in on this since the Red River arm of Lake Texoma is in his "backyard".

Does density of salt water cause floatation of eggs?
george

ps: Some claim natural striped bass and white bass reproduction in the lake, with no stocking program of hybrids.

George -- I've seen a few other reports of natural hybrids between white and striped bass, in waters where no purposeful hybrids had been stocked. The milt of either stripers or white bass can fertilize the eggs of either stripers or whites.

Dave

Salt water affects buoyancy. In Lake Texoma, striper eggs tumble down the river, hatching along the way.
Some years there's a great spawn, other times not so good. As George mentioned, the lake is down 6 feet, which is unusual...the watershed missed fall rains this year.
The Red River flow rate is low, but stripers won't spawn until spring. Spring rains can change the odds.
The answer to the original question, is "Yes, stripers that live in fresh water all their lives can spawn."
But, conditions have to be close to "perfect." Lake Texoma qualifies.
Even though the Red River is salty, it's classified as "fresh."
And, with a long stretch of running water, stripers can swim upstream, do their thing, and eggs tumble downstream.
If you think about a few other facts, it makes sense why Lake Texoma has big numbers of small stripers nowadays.
First, long stretches of gently flowing water allows eggs to tumble over sandy river bottoms.
Salinity assists buoyancy, long enough for fry to hatch.
An adult striper can lay more than 250,000 eggs...so sheer numbers of eggs dictates an overwhelming opportunity to keep the lake stocked, even if survival is less than 1%.
Lake Texoma is relatively fertile, draining thousands of acres of farmland along its path. Fertility grows plankton, which feeds tiny fry and insects, which feed bigger fish....you know the ropes.
So, Lake Texoma has a healthy population of Stripers, which lends to a healthy population of fishing guides, which leads to a healthy population of bait stores, restaurants, marinas, which leads to a healthy Texoma economy.
Long live Lake Texoma stripers!

Mild salintiy not only may help keep the striper eggs suspended in the water column but also Striper eggs have a large oil droplet or gobule which aids the bouyancy. Currrent then assists suspension of the egg downstream. I also have a hunch that the water salinity helps in egg development or viability of eggs and or milt. Keep in mind that the natural setting for these guys is life in the ocean and movement to freshwater streams for spawning. Development of fertile mature fish has to occur in a minimal amount of salinity conditions.