GRANT: AGE COMPOSITION OF STRIPED BASS 



were chosen on the basis of water temperatures 

 and are more meaningful in the present context 

 than terrestrial seasons. 



Seasonal Age Composition 

 James River 



Catches in the James River (Table 1) typify 

 the seasonal pattern observed in all three rivers. 

 The age group that dominated July-September 

 catches generally continued to dominate through 

 the following June, i.e., for a complete sampling 

 year that began in July. 



Striped bass older than Age III were present 

 throughout the 1967-1968 sampling year and 

 were most abundant in spring. In other years, 

 these mature fish appeared in April; some re- 

 mained in the river through summer, but none 

 were taken during the fall and winter. Young- 

 of-the-year were generally absent from catches, 

 except for the appearance of the 1969 year class 

 in spring months of 1970. 



York River 



The general pattern of dominance observed in 

 the James River was repeated in the York (Table 

 2). An exception occurred in winter months of 

 1970, when icing of the river severely reduced 

 catches and the small sample consisted mostly 

 of older fish. A more notable exception was the 

 dominance of young-of-the-year striped bass in 

 spring months of 1971. 



Mature striped bass older than Age III 

 rarely appeared during warmer months in the 

 York River. Seventy-eight percent of these older 

 individuals were taken in winter and spring 

 months, 7.5% in the summer quarter. 



Rappahannock River 



Only one seasonal shift in age group domi- 

 nance occurred in Rappahannock River catches 

 of striped bass during the four-year sampling 

 period. Older fish dominated in winter months 

 of 1970 (Table 3), as observed in the York River. 



Table 1. — Age composition of striped bass caught by nonselective fishing gear in the 

 James River within quarterly periods, July 1967-June 1971. 



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