162 



BTJLLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Table 14. — Collections of black drum illustrating distribution of fish under $5 centimeters {9.8 inches). 

 Fish spawned in 1927 omitted. {See Table 13.) Collections of less than 10 black drum have been 

 omitted also 



Considerable surprise was occasioned on July 26, 1926, when a number of nearly 

 ripe drum, ranging from 31 to 46 centimeters (12.2 to 18.1 inches) in length, were 

 captured in and about the channel leading from Oso Bay into Corpus Christi Bay. 

 Collections of a few ripening fish hkewise were made within Oso Bay. All other 

 fished areas, in spite of extensive collections of drum, failed to reveal any ripening 

 fish. It appeared that all maturing fish were centered about Oso Bay, although 

 many unripe adults were taken along with the nearly ripe fish. 



Heavy commercial catches of drum were being made during July and August 

 in the open fishing area in Laguna Madre, and it was learned by inspection of the 

 catch that many fish were in a ripening state and apparently were coming into the 

 fishing area from Baflfin Bay and other southern points in Laguna Madre that were 

 closed to commercial fishermen. As indicated by Figure 44, the peak of the drum 

 catch, taken almost entirely from a central portion of Laguna Madre and landed at 

 Corpus Christi in 1926, occurred during the months of July and August. While 

 one of the causes for the much larger catch during these months was the general 

 exodus of all fish from the waters of the lower Laguna Madre because of the high 

 sahnity that is reached during the late summer months, a spawning migration of 

 many of the adult drum served to increase the catch by bringing the fish from the 

 closed waters, where evidently they had matured, into the restricted open fishing 



area. 



