Since its creation in 1973, central Virginia’s
Lake Anna has offered anglers the chance to fish for many species of fish, from
the regional change-of-pace that is the striped bass to the small but feisty
table fare, the white perch. But this
spring, in partnership with the Virginia Marine Resources Commission,
biologists from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will
enrich further the angling opportunities present in Lake Anna, through the
pioneer stocking of 96,000 hybrid striped bass.
Meet the Fish
The hybrid striped bass—or “wiper”—is a
striped bass-white bass cross. The
family lineage endows the hybrid with the deep, humped body of the white bass
and the larger potential size of the striped bass. Broken black stripes, reminiscent of both
parental species, seems indicative of the species’ engineered existence. They typically weigh 5-10 pounds, though the
Virginia state record is 13 pounds, 9 ounces, and potential exists for even
larger specimens.
Why Lake Anna?
Hybrids currently fin the waters of just
two of Virginia’s impoundments—Claytor Lake and Flannagan Reservoir—thanks to
stockings elsewhere in the Piedmont; but certain characteristics also make them
a perfect match for Lake Anna.
“Hybrids are being added to the mix due
to their tolerance of lesser water quality than pure stripers,” reports
Virginia state fisheries biologist, John Odenkirk, the project lead.
Pure stripers require an abundance of
cold, oxygen-rich water to grow to large sizes; and Anna does not offer such an
environment. However, Odenkirk reasons,
“Hybrids should grow faster due to increased vigor and reduced metabolic demands
for gonad development. Larger fish
should better tolerate the marginal temperature and oxygen conditions.”
“It takes stripers about 30 months on
average to reach the legal 20-inch minimum, notes Odenkirk. “I would expect hybrids to get there a few
months faster. Max size should be well over
12 pounds.”
Given the appropriate forage base,
these 10-pound-plus fish will grow, in time.
Hybrids stocked in Claytor Lake in 1992 have only recently acquired such
size.
Additionally, Lake Anna is well-known
for its abundance of baitfish, a detail vital to the success of the new
predator species. Lake Anna guide ChrisCraft is very aware of this asset, and welcomes the addition of hybrids to the
waters where he makes his home and business.
Craft, believes that there is “entirely
too much bait in the lake,” a common complaint among Lake Anna fishermen, and hopes
the introduction of another pelagic species will help control the number of
baitfish present in the lake. “It will
also provide opportunities to be able to target another predatory game fish
when others may not be cooperating,” and “provide anglers with great memories
and even better table fare,” says Craft.
What Does it Mean?
The principle benefit of the addition
of hybrids to the Lake Anna fishery is increase biodiversity. Hybrids don’t vary much from their parental
species.
Anglers will have success with hybrids
fishing as if for stripers, though with slightly lighter tackle. Choose lures mimicking the preferred forage
species of gizzard shad and blueback herring.
Crazy Blades and Toothache Spoons, available at Anna Point Marina, as
well as soft plastic swimbaits are Lake Anna favorites, as are Zara Spooks and
Jitterbugs, provided you can find fish feeding on the surface.
Like their parents, hybrids are
schooling species, and can be found following bait in the winter and early
spring months when the water temperature and oxygen levels are more to their
liking. It is during the winter that
fish can be found busting bait on the surface in the early morning and late
evening hours. Hybrids may continue this
feeding pattern longer into the year than pure stripers due to their
physiological difference in water tolerance.
During the warmer months, both hybrids
and stripers will seek out the thermocline, where the oxygen level and temperature
is most suitable. Again, the warmer
water-tolerating hybrids may deviate into thinner water during this time, and
at longer intervals; but their pattern is largely to be generalized with that
of the stripers.
Originally published in the Rural Virginian
