What Do Striped Bass Eat?

What do striped bass eat?...

That is a question that I am often asked.

The obvious answer would be to say "fish." But, more specifically, what kind of fish do they eat? And what kind do stripers enjoy the most?

Striped bass feed on a variety of foods. They usually will eat any fish that are smaller than them. And it often depends mostly on what's available to them.

Stripers that roam the ocean will have their pick at bait fish that live in that type of habitat. While landlocked stripers will feed on freshwater bait fish.

Bait ball - striped bass love to feed on live bait fish.

Striped Bass Feed On:

Crustaceans That Striped Bass Eat:

• crabs
  
• crawdads
  
• lobsters
  
• mussels
  
• shrimp
  
• soft clams

These are just some of the many varieties of foods that striped bass are most often known to chow on. There are many people who will catch their own bait before they head out for striper fishing. Some of the bait they sometimes catch are small sunfish, which includes bluegill or perch.

A bunch of eel, "striper candy" for striped bass.

Most striped bass anglers know that eel is one of the stripers favorite meals to eat. Eel is well known as striper candy.

Although, most any kind of bait fish will produce quality stripers. The fresher, the better. Live bait is often the best choice when available.

Other than eel, I use fresh shad more often than not. Shad isn't nearly as expensive as eel and stripers love it.

I have even hooked into quite a few stripers with ghost shrimp as I was fishing for sturgeon. Live minnows, sardines, anchovies or herring are also all good choices to fish with.

If you are in doubt, ask questions at your local bait shop. Find out what bait fish they are chasing, and what baits are being used to hook into the big bad quality trophy striped bass. Ask them what do striped bass eat in the area you plan to fish at.

Speaking of questions. A couple of our website visitors just like you asked if striped bass eat eel, and another asked if eel is legal to use for bait. Head there to see my response and feel free to leave your comments there if you have anything to add.

Good luck fishing.