Early Growth and Mortality of Largemouth Bass in West Point Reservoir, Alabama-Georgia

Abstract

Abstract Early growth and mortality rates for the 1977 year class of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides were estimated and compared to the initial year class of largemouth bass after impoundment of West Point Reservoir in 1975. The population fecundity was estimated before spawning to be 422,000 mature ova per hectare in littoral areas. The number of young of the year ranged from 1,138 per hectare in May to 20 per hectare in August. Monthly instantaneous mortality rates for the 1977 year class were 0.872 between June and September 1977 and 0.213 between May 1977 and August 1978. Survival was estimated as: 0.22% from spawning to brood dispersal; 5.88% from brood dispersal in early June to early September 1977; and 0.002% if the estimate for population fecundity is used as the number of eggs spawned surviving to August 1978. The monthly instantaneous growth rate was 1.645 between May and September 1977. The observed biomass of young-of-the-year largemouth bass in September was 5.83 kg per hectare. Greate...