(Roccus lineatus)
The striped bass, like many people who have crossed the continent to
California, readily appreciated the many advantages of a life on the
Pacific Coast. From a couple of shipments brought from the East in
1879 and 1882 they have grown to be one of the most important food
fishes of the state, about 3,000,000 pounds being annually marketed.
They were at first liberated in the Bay of San Francisco, but later
some effort has been made to distribute them, with the result that
they are now found in small quantities along the coast from Los
Angeles to Humboldt.
From their fine size--three to forty pounds--they stand well with the
angler as a game fish and furnish good sport if the tackle is light
enough. Their rushes are not equal to those of the steelhead or the
salmon or the yellow-tail, nor do they fight with the same vigor or
with the same persistency.
The striped bass is unlike any other coast fish. Its back is light
olive; sides, nearly white with seven or eight longitudinal stripes
running the whole length of the body, the dorsal fin is double, but
not joined like that of the black bass. The first half is spiny with
the after division rayed and soft. It is a salt water fish, making its
habitat in and near the mouths of rivers, and often running up them
for 100 miles or more. Use the same rod and line as for salmon.