The striped bass (9) white bass (d') hybrid (Monroe saxatilis X chrysops) was fIrst stocked into West Point Reservoir in May of 1978. Fishermen interviews established that a fIshery had developed as early as January of 1979. The hybrid bass were stocked at 2 rates over the period of study, 84 mixed fry and fingerlings per hectare in 1978 and 150 mixed fry and fingerlings per hectare in 1979. Fish in the 1979 year class had a mean length at annulus 1 which was 48 mm greater than those stocked in 1978; threadfin shad (Dorosoma petenense) made up most of the diet, and increased growth in 1979 was apparently due to an increased abundance of threadfm shad. Bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus), gizzard shad (D. cepedianum), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were also found in the stomachs of hybrids that were longer than 100 mm. Hybrid bass that had not yet progressed to a piscivorous diet relied heavily on insect larvae of the family chironomidae. There was no significant relationship between prey size and hybrid mouthpart size or between prey size and hybrid length.
