 |
| TROUT - are often found near the periphery of eelgrass beds, where they primarily feed on shrimp, larger zooplankton, crabs, other crustaceans and small fish. In the estuary, adult weakfish occur in schools and frequent shallow sandy bottom areas with salinities above 10 percent. Larger fish (2 years and older) appear in the lower Chesapeake Bay in April and May with age-1 fish becoming abundant in the summer. In the fall, adult weakfish begin an offshore and southerly migration to the continental shelf from the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Lookout, North Carolina where they over winter. North of Cape Hatteras, spring warming of coastal waters prompts adults to migrate from their offshore wintering grounds back to the Chesapeake Bay and estuaries. |