Food habits and growth of young-of-year striped bass in Cherokee Reservoir, Tennessee

Of 109,675 striped bass young-of-year stocked at Quarryville in June 1979, only 70 were recaptured; none of the 80,480 stocked in June 1980 were recovered. Of a similar number of hybrids (80,000) stocked in June 1980, 206 were collected for food habits and growth analyses. Chironomidae and Crustacea were the primary food items of striped and hybrid bass introduced into the reservoir. Striped bass switched from invertebrates to fish (primarily Clupeidae) at 20 cm or approximately one year after stocking. Hybrids over 5.1 cm consumed small fish shortly after they were stocked and continued as they grew larger. Food habits of white bass were also examined and compared to striped and hybrid bass. All three species were often observed feeding at the interface between the substrate and the water column. Preferred sub-strates ranged from a sand-clay mixture to a muddy-soft mixture. Striped bass stocked at an average length of 3.5 cm grew approximately 21.7 cm in one year. Hybrids attained a similar length, 21.5 cm, after only 7 months' growth. Condition factors (K) were similar for both striped and hybrid bass (0.8 to 1.3) during their first year of growth.