Striped bass, Roccus saxatilis (Walbaum), have been reported along the Gulf Coast from Florida to eastern Louisiana. This fish has been found in all major river systems along the Mississippi Gulf Coast from the Pascagoula River west to the Tangipahoa River. The striped bass population in the west Pascagoula River supports a small sports fishery and it is the only one that consistently yields fish from year to year. The Pascagoula fish range in size up to 32 pounds in weight. In the last two years striped bass from 7 to 28 pounds have been taken in February and early March and many of the larger fish contained roe. The population level in the other rivers appears to be too low to maintain a sports fishery. There is no concentrated effort by either sports or commercial fishermen to take striped bass in Mississippi waters and most of the striped bass now caught there are taken by fishermen while fishing for other fishes, particularly redfish (Sciaenops ocellata) , or speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulo8U8).
