What is a Tiger Bass?
Even after decades as the industry leader in trophy bass genetics, we still encounter clients who don’t quite understand what a Tiger Bass is. Simply put, a Tiger Bass is a hybrid between a Northern Largemouth Bass and a Florida Bass.
Northern Largemouth Bass, native to most of the Eastern US and in their purest form above the Mason Dixon line, are known by anglers for their aggressiveness, all but guaranteeing a good day’s fishing as they return to attack lures time and again. However, these fish, often historically restricted by less productive systems and colder weather, are limited in their maximum genetic growth potential.
Florida Bass, on the other hand, are heralded by southern anglers for their outstanding growth potential and their genetics are almost always present in fish breaking the 10-pound plus mark. Native to the warm, hyper-productive waters of central and south Florida, Florida Bass are long-lived but relatively slow-growing in comparison with Northern Bass. They are also less aggressive, often presenting a challenge to less experienced anglers unfamiliar with their habits. While Northern Bass can thrive and maximize their growth potential in a wide variety of ponds, reservoirs, and rivers, Florida Bass, as reflected by their restricted native range distribution, survive, and thrive optimally in productive, warmer waters. A stocked Florida Bass in a deep, unfertilized reservoir, for example, is a fish in an environment poorly matched with its genetics.
How do we utilize the characteristics of these two bass to get the best of both worlds for our clients? Through decades of selection for superior Northern Bass genetics and selection of the trophy size Florida Bass broodfish culminating in their hybrid, the Tiger Bass. Tiger Bass, are well established to have the temperature tolerance, aggressiveness, and size potential seen in their parental lines, ensuring years of angling success for novice and expert anglers alike. Decades of stocking in private ponds, lakes, and even massive state-managed reservoirs have established that Tiger Bass genetics rise to the top, almost irrespective of the environment into which they are placed. A Tiger Bass in a well-managed pond or trophy lake is a formula for angling fun and trophy potential every time!