Hybrid striped bass (also known as Palmetto Bass; striped bass Morone saxatilis ♀ x white bass M. chrysops ♂) have been stocked into reservoirs in the southeastern U.S. since the 1970s and have gained widespread acceptance as a sportfish. Whereas catch-and-release (CR) mortality of striped bass has been thoroughly studied across the U.S., similar information for hybrids is scarce. Although mortality of hybrids following CR angling in the present study was lower than what has been observed for striped bass elsewhere, CR mortality of hybrids during summer approached 40%. If CR fishing activity is shown to be high, CR mortality in summer represents a substantial source of cryptic mortality. An assessment of hybrid populations in two Tennessee reservoirs revealed a wide range in annual mortality (A = 44 and 67%) but in both systems there was little justification for managing the fisheries with a length limit other than the current 381 mm minimum total length limit.
