Has the name changed recently? And why don’t they just call them Hybrids like all the fishermen so? What happened to the name of Wipers? How did some end up in Lake Granbury when it takes ideal conditions for this crossbreed to occur in nature vs in the hatchery? Sorry for all the questions. Just curious why some river lakes receive tons of hybrid fingerlings and others (like PK, Granbury and Whitney) only receive Stripers. They say they’re easier to catch, fight like crazy, and can be produced easily (in a lab at the hatchery).

Sorry for all the questions. Just wanted to know. Did a search (including my precious post in ‘19) and it explains the history but doesn’t explain the thought process in choosing lake for TPWD in receiving the difference types

Palmetto and Sunshine simply suggest which stocking a specific lake receives.

Hybrids are the term us Texas choose to use for the fish. Wipers are used up north and in the mid-west.

Palmetto and Sunshine is the difference between:

Male striper x female sandbass

Female striper x male sandbass

I don't remember which is which right now

*edit* ok, it's the next morning and I've had my coffee. Here's a good older thread that covers what you're asking (I think):

https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/3815706

The ones in pk, granbury and Whitney are from graham lake and some of Whitney’s are from cleburne. We’ve caught quite a few this year.

From what I read a long time ago, the sunshine bass is based on female white bass with male striper. I can't remember where I read it but a parks and wildlife said something along the lines that the sunshine bass growth rates and survivability was better than the original palmetto bass. Not sure how significant the difference is but that was the take away message that I remember. Not sure if that is why they changed it up or if was easy to produce them with this certain female/male pairing. Be curious to hear more if anybody know much else on it.

Seems like I recall info from way back being that one did much better in southern states with the warmer water while the other did much better up North with the cooler water. For some reason, I want to say the Palmetto was the line of hybrids we had in our area.

I could be wrong about that..but not sure

I am considered a Wiper

I just call em hibbies and drag queens or kings or baby bull reds

I've been pretty intimately involved with TPWD's hybrid stocking program for years now.

I can tell you all with 100% certainty that a palmetto strain hybrid is produced by crossing a female striped bass with a male white bass.

Likewise, a sunshine strain hybrid is produced by crossing a male striped bass with a female white bass.

The resulting hybrid are impossible to tell apart except via genetic testing.

TPWD struggles oftentimes to obtain adequate numbers of fertile female stripers from the primary collection point below Livingston Dam to produce all of the desired palmetto strain hybrids.

More and more, the sunshine strain hybrids are becoming an attractive option for this reason, as the male stripers and female whites are both more readily available than the female stripers.

Last year, a handful of Texas anglers, including myself, were enlisted to capture both female white bass and male striped bass for use in sunshine hybrid production.'

Here is a photo of a catch of egg-laden female white bass we captured (with rod & reel) from Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir in Spring 2020 (just before COVID-19 hit) heading to the hatchery.




I hope this helps!

Great explanation. I had heard something about this long ago but had completely forgotten. Thanks !

Nice post and fish. Good job.

Thanks for the job you are doing.