Striped bass and sexual maturity
Someone had a few questions for me today, and I thought some of the answers might benefit other guys here.
When do striped bass reach sexual maturity?
Can you tell a difference between a male and female bass, in case you want to release a female that hasn't spawned yet?
Are bigger bass always females, or what's the maximum size male any of you remember catching?
Females reach significantly greater sizes than do males; most stripers over thirty pounds are female. Thus, the term "bulls," originally coined to describe extremely large individuals, has been more accurately changed to "cows" in recent times. Males rarely live over ten years, while females can reach ages of nearly 20 years on occasion. The number of eggs produced by a female striped bass is directly related to the size of its body; a 12-pound female may produce about 850,000 eggs, and a 55-pound female about 4,200,000 eggs.
Females mature no earlier than four years, and some not until six or eight. By contrast, most males reach sexual maturity at two or three years of age.
The size of the females at sexual maturity has generally been used as a criterion for establishing minimum legal size limit regulations in recent years along the east coast.
Source: laterallineco, a great resource for outdoor clothing.
http://www.laterallineco.com/fishing...n_pattern.html
The answer to my friend's question today is that yes, you can have a 28-32" bass that is female, if you refer to the info above. The way I try to tell is if a bass has a fat belly or is leaking eggs. That's not always apparent, or a fat belly could just tell you the bass has been eating good. At best, you're just guessing, unless the bass is over 30#.
Anyone else here that can answer some of the above questions, either with your own experience or scientific resources available from the web, feel free to jump in, thanks guys.
