Tiny bass locally spawned/

[2na]

I've been getting a larger number of micro's off of the Ptown/Truro beaches than I have in a few years - don't think that they are locally spawned. My 1st fish of the year couldn't have been bigger than 8", and it took me a dozen to break a foot

[tlapinski]

While they very well might be spawning in local waters, I don't think it is far-fetched to think yearlings may have travled up from points south this winter. The waters never got that cold, why wouldn't they swim up here? While I for one compeltely believe they are spawning in way more places than we have documented, do you really want your local water-way to be named an official spawning ground? If I am not pistaken, you can not target stripers in certain stretches of the known spawning rivers in the spring.

[Rappin Mikey]

I know for a fact that they don't spawn in the CT River anymore.

[tlapinski]

Originally Posted by Rappin Mikey

I know for a fact that they don't spawn in the CT River anymore.

[FishermanTim]

Here's an interesting thought:

What if the reports of YOY are bein g skewed because the YOY are dispersed all along the east coast as fish are seeking new spawning grounds? That could account for lower numbers of young fish, since they are breeding farther north than the number-crunchers are traveling.

Just an observation, since as they say, "Nature will find a way!"

[tlapinski]

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Just an observation, since as they say, "Nature will find a way!"

It's funny you say that. While not so much in reference to the YOY #'s, I made the argument in the past when I was pushing people to believe SB were spawning in new places that there was a very good chance fish adapted to these alternate river systems. Scientists state that a SB needs a certain set of strict variables to come together like the perfect storm or the eggs will die. Sure, the eggs of fish that have been studied and documented might not survive, but haven't we already learned that SB are some of the more adaptive and resilient fish out there? If we can fill a train car with a few hundred bass, drive them across the continental United States, drop them in the Pacific Ocean and they thrive, why can't they adapt to new spawning grounds in the Atlantic Ocean? Evolution is at work all around us.