Fishery surveys utilizing electrofishing and gill nets have documented natural reproduction of striped bass in 2 Maryland impoundments: Liberty and Piney Run reservoirs. Natural reproduction has occurred for 5 years, 1986 through 1990, in Liberty Reservoir; and for 3 years in Piney Run Reservoir, 1988 through 1990. It was initially thought that reproduction occurred in Liberty Reservoir because the relatively hard bottom and high dissolved oxygen levels allowed hatching of striped bass eggs that descended to the bottom. Recent discovery of natural reproduction in Piney Run Reservoir, a small eutrophic impoundment, supports the theory that striped bass eggs may float or remain suspended in the water column until hatching occurs in these impoundments.
