|
The dogma is 2 years for males and 3 years for females. However, it really comes down to degree-days. In warmer climates, fish may spawn at a younger age.
Its not uncommon for 2 year old females to spawn. The professionals don't fool with a female less than 5 years old because the small number of eggs is not enough to fool with. For you and me, having too many eggs is probably a larger problem. Someone here commented about the egg size being smaller from young females.
It takes a male with some weight to "put the squeeze" on the female and express some eggs as he releases milt. You'll see one-year-old males acting like they are participating in a flock spawning, but invariably its the larger males doing all the heavy lifting.
-steve hopkins
|