Hey guys, what is the most accurate way to distinguish the hybrids from whites or even stripers for that matter? Are the two tongue patches more pronounced on the hybrids than the whites? I can feel the patch but short of sticking my head in their mouth I can't see anything but tongue! And yes, I do have bifocals. I don't mind contributing to the TPWD but I'd rather not do it via the game warden so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

i like to look at the stripes .... sandbass have only one full stripe that goes to the tail whereas a striper or hybrid has 3 or four that hit the tail

I agree with P220, also to me the lines are darker on the Hybrids! but when in doubt, check the patch..

Don't keep anything under 18" and you'll be o.k.

Stripes and just the shape of the fish is different. Proline220 has a problem telling the difference cause he only catches dink hybrids.

Check the tooth patch.

Color, shape, *AND* stripes can vary greatly.

The only way to check accurately is the tooth patch. This is the same manner a warden will check your fish if required.


This question is posted once every couple months, and all sorts of answers pop up, yet only one is correct.

In this pic you will see that each fish has multiple, broken, dark lines, three of which, extending to the tail. These are all hybrids. A sand bass will have only one thin line extending to the tail and the other lines won't be as pronounced. Hope this helps

Try this:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/wbass_diagrams.phtml

jason wouldn't know a hybrid if he saw one..... he always takes pictures of sandbass and enlarges then so that it looks like he caught a limit

Sorry Bret that is not what it says on TPWD--I've been stopped by the game warden at Lewisville and Benbrook and he has never looked at the tooth patches-so I guess only one isn't right

Got stopped by the game warden this past Sunday and he didn't look at the patches on the three hybrids we had, he just looked at the stripes. I have had a few people show me a hybrid and say that it is a sand bass. After you see both side by side, it becomes very clear how different the lines are

This weekend, I am going to take up close, detailed pics of a sand bass, hybrid and a yellow bass and I will post them on here. Perhaps JD can take a detailed pic of one of those nice stripers up his way and post it on here, too. This way, everyone can see the difference

Doesn't matter. If they were over 18" then they were legal for white bass or hybrids... why *would* he check toothpatch?

If he was *actually* checking, and was going to write a ticket, he'd have checked the toothpatch.

Once again, the only way to tell without question is a 1 or 2 toothpatch.

TPWD wardens are mostly biologists and are trained for this. They use the same manner biologists do to ID these fish. That happens to be toothpatch, not color, not stripes, not bodyshape (they will, however, count anal rays).

The lines are *usually* different, but they will vary wildly from fish to fish and water to water. Hybrids always have 2 toothpatches, whites always have 1.


They are also trained to know people quickly. They can figure out pretty quickly if you know what you're going or not, and will trust your judgment. But before writing a ticket, they will all be checked correctly.

Come by the Grapevine BPS tonight and see me at the main Waterfall and i can show you in the tank.

Does anyone know if any pictures of these "toothpatches"??