Striped bass never stop growing! While stripers typically reach maturity between 1-2 years of age, they can continue increasing in size and weight until the end of their lives.
Striped Bass Growth Progression
Striped bass are big fish. They can reach up to about 5 feet and weigh close to 80 pounds towards the end of their lives. Striped bass grow rapidly in the first five years, but then the growth tends to even out. Their lifespan is around 30 years.
- In the first year of their lives, striped bass can grow up to about 12 inches and weigh up to about 2 pounds.
- Their second biggest growth spurt occurs between 1-5 years of age, during which time they can double in size to reach over 24 inches and quadruple in weight to reach over 8 pounds.
- After they reach about 5 years of age, striped bass continue to grow but at a slower rate. They can continue to add about two inches to their length and gain up to 3 pounds every year onward.
Striped Bass Growth Factors
There are two key factors to how big striped bass will get: gender and location.
Females tend to be much bigger and heavier than males. The bigger the females grow the more eggs they are able to produce. For about every additional 2 pounds she gains, a female can produce 200,000 more eggs.
Striped bass that live in saltwater can double the size of those stripers that never migrate from freshwater. Hybrid striped bass, which are a combination of striped and white bass, are even smaller and typically do not exceed 20 pounds.
Depending on where you are fishing, there might be size regulations on which fish you can keep.
Add comment