Kept a large female yesterday and when I cleaned it this morning to my surprise it was full of eggs! She look as if she was ready to spawn any time now, any one else seen this? I don’t keep a lot of fish but an older couple at church wanted some filets, and after cleaning I noticed the large belly and thaught it was full of shad, but just the eggs and an empty stomach.
Finding eggs in rockfish isn’t unusual even though they don’t/won’t reproduce in the lake (so we’re told). If you’re surprised to find them this early in the “spawning” season, I don’t believe that’s its’ too early for eggs to start developing even though the “spawning run” is a ways off. My observations, though, are mostly based on what I’ve seen in bass, crappie, etc. as I’ve only been seriously fishing for rockfish about 2 years.
-The size of a fish is directly proportional to the time between when it’s lost and the story is told. - Me
-What’s the best eating fish, you ask? I’ve found that for a lot people, its the ones that they happen to be able to catch, clean, and cook. - My Dad
-Until you have loved a dog, part of your soul remains unawakened. Anatole France (paraphrased)
-RIP my “Puppy Dog” 10/15/2004 - 1/14/2013. I’ll never forget him. What a special friend he was.
-Team Gonna Fish
Very unusual to see FULL row sacks this time of year. During my 35 years of chasing them on several state lakes, I have never seen a striper full of eggs until February. If it’s a female, you definitely see the deflated, undeveloped row sacks, but never full in my experience in early December. Disclaimer, though, I have never cleaned one over 15 pounds in December as I’m normally chasing “schoolies” with artificials.