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I asked a similar question a lond time ago and Bassbabe who is employed somehow in the biology field gave this response, no numbers but it is info.
Quote:
Originally Posted by beamie
Does anyone know what the best breading fish is? i.e. When people get bent out of shape when 50+ pounders are taken do those big old fish still produce or not. Are they like humans where after a certain age it just doesn't work anymore?
It all boils down to reproductive potential and fecundity. Fecundity is the number of eggs a female fish produces. The larger the fish, the more resources it can allocate toward egg production. Therefore, the largest fish lay the most eggs -- and they don't go thru the 'pause. But although a 50 lb-er may lay more eggs in one whack, it has lower reproductive potential, as it is not expected to live for a heck of alot longer. Reproductive potential is the potential number of offspring a fish can produce in its remaining lifetime. So...a younger, smaller fish has greater reproductive potential, assuming it will live for many more years, grow, and make more babies each year. So don't feel guilty taking the monster fish...think twice about keeping the 28 inchers, because they're the ones with many years of breeding and tons of striper babies in their future.
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