34 Inch Rockfish Below the Bay Bridge

Type: Chesapeake
Region: Middle Bay
Location: Below Bay Bridge

We caught this 34� female rockfish on May 5th about 7 miles south of the Bay Bridge. We were out with Captain Bill and Sunny of Megabite charter. We had caught more but they were under 28 inches and released. The female rockfish had two full sacks of green eggs which meant that she was not ready to spawn, our captain explained. The eggs should be red just before spawning. Yes, we caught her on her way up the bay to spawn. I was under the knowledge that the striped bass do not feed weeks before spawning and the catches are only after spawning? One other point was that she had number of small baby blue crabs in her belly and in her mouth. We presumed she was feeding on little crustacean on her way up the bay.