Controlled spawning techniques for cultured striped bass (Morone saxatilis) to produce striped bass and striped bass/white bass (M. chrysops) hybrids were demonstrated. Some striped bass males matured at age 2 while almost all were mature by age 3 (mean weight 2.3 kg, 550 mm TL). In contrast, no female striped bass were mature at age 2 and only 16% were ripe at age 3 (3.4 kg, 623 mm TL). By age 4, an estimated 59% of the females were mature (4.9 kg, 692 mm TL). In 1985 and 1986, striped bass were conditioned using controlled temperatures and photoperiod regimes to spawn 1-3 months before the natural spawning season in South Carolina. Wild white bass matured in outdoor tanks and were spawned with striped bass to produce original and reciprocal cross hybrids. Reciprocal cross hybrids can easily be obtained as striped bass males and white bass females readily mature in outdoor tanks under natural conditions. Further, this maturation occurs about 2 months before wild striped bass females are running ripe.
