Differential Growth of Largemouth Bass in West Point Reservoir, Alabama-Georgia

Growth of the 1977 year class of largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, at West Point Reservoir was highly variable. A clearly bimodal length-frequency distribution evident by fall 1977 was not a result of disruption of spawning by temperature or water level fluctuations. The abundance of fish as prey was inadequate for small young-of-the-year largemouth bass after June 1977, but was adequate for the larger, fast-growing largemouth bass of the same year class. This difference in availability of suitable food was apparently instrumental in creating the growth disparity. Fry of gizzard shad, Dorosoma cepedianum, were collected in littoral areas with small largemouth bass but were not important as prey until the largemouth bass were longer than 25 cm. Although bluegills, Lepomis macrochirus, were the most abundant young of the year in littoral areas, they were not selected as food in proportion to their abundance.