Striped Bass Identification Guide
Learn to recognize striped bass by their unbroken horizontal stripes, forked tail, and two separate dorsal fins.
Read the full Striped Bass encyclopedia entry →
Key identification features
- Elongated, torpedo-shaped silvery body with a slightly olive to steel-blue back
- 6-9 dark horizontal stripes running the length of the body, one typically continuing unbroken below the lateral line to the tail
- Two distinctly separate dorsal fins with a noticeable gap between them, the first spiny and the second soft-rayed
- Deeply forked tail and a large, slightly underslung mouth
- Grows large, commonly exceeding 20 inches and capable of reaching well over 3 feet
Common look-alikes
- White bass: deeper, shorter body with dorsal fins set close together and stripes less uniformly continuous
- White perch: lacks stripes entirely and has a noticeably deeper, humped body profile
- Hybrid striped bass (wiper): stripes are broken or interrupted rather than running as continuous unbroken lines to the tail
Where you'll see one
Striped bass are native anadromous fish of the Atlantic coast, migrating between saltwater and coastal rivers to spawn, but they have also been widely stocked into freshwater reservoirs and large river systems across the interior United States, where landlocked populations thrive in open water chasing schools of baitfish.
Frequently asked questions
How do I tell a striped bass from a white bass?
Striped bass have a more elongated, slender body with a wider gap between the two dorsal fins, and their stripes stay parallel and unbroken all the way to the tail, while white bass are deeper-bodied with dorsal fins set close together.
How can I tell a true striped bass from a wiper hybrid?
On wipers (striped bass x white bass hybrids), the horizontal stripes are broken or offset rather than running in continuous unbroken lines as they do on pure striped bass.