Nearly 2000 Largemouth Bass Stocked in the Patuxent River

Type: Chesapeake
Region: Tidal Patuxent
Location: Patuxent River

Nearly 2000 largemouth bass were stocked to the Patuxent River on 10/26/2010 to support on-going studies of the best size fish that should be stocked from hatcheries. There is also a small, but important recreational fishery of the river. The sizes released by Maryland�s Southern Region ranged from 2 to 8 inches. Fish that were 4 to 8 inches were tagged using PIT tags. In the coming years, the largemouth bass caught during the annual fall surveys of the river will be scanned. Growth rates and the proportion of fish surviving to ages 3 or older will be determined for recaptured fish. These studies have helped improve stocking stratagies that will largely be focused on the Choptank River in 2011. For questions, please contact Joe Love ([email protected]).