Intersex Smallmouth Found in Chesapeake Tributaries

This isn’t a story I thought I’d ever write, and I doubt many of you ever expected to read it. But thanks to an in-depth story by Deborah Weisberg in Fly Fisherman Magazine, we’re now aware of a serious problem plaguing smallmouth bass in tributaries to Chesapeake Bay.

Habitat loss and degradation has hit smallmouth bass in this area as hard as any other fish in the country. What’s really harmed the smallmouth here, though, is contaminated water. Bad water has caused some male smallmouth, particularly in the Susquehanna River, to produce eggs in their testes. That presents an obvious problem for creating more smallmouth bass.

Read more about the issue here.