The Year of the SPOT

NOT!

Interesting information on the lifecycle of the "lowly" SPOT, aka Lafayette, from an angler who goes by the internet name of Bucktail Willie (I have a link to his blog over on the right!):

Forget this year as it was year 2 of their 6-7 year cycle. Last year nothing.this year there were afew around. Next year will see abundance following 2 years consistent. Year 6 majority will be huge and than the 6 -7 year cycle will start all over. Been like that for last 60 years. Except 45-60 years ago the cycle was longer usually 7-8 years. In early days they were called CAPEMAY GOODIES and not Spot

Spot (fish)

  (Redirected from Spot croaker)

Not to be confused with Spotfin croaker.

Spot
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Sciaenidae
Genus:	Leiostomus
Species:	L. xanthurus
Binomial name
Leiostomus xanthurus Lacépède, 1802
Spot range map

The Spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) or Norfolk spot^[2] is a small short-lived saltwater fish in the family Sciaenidae. The species inhabits estuary and coastal waters from Massachusetts to Texas, and derives its name from the prominent dark spot behind each gill. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Leiostomus. Spot are frequently caught by recreational anglers and are good to eat.^{[citation needed]}
Their diet consists largely of organic detritus, small crustaceans, and worms. Bloodworms are the ideal bait when fishing for spot.^{[citation needed]}
Spot are the natural prey of the following fish: striped bass, flounder, sandbar shark, dog fish, weakfish, puppy drum, red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout, Atlantic mackerel, king mackerel, spanish mackerel, barracuda, cobia, black sea bass, tautog, tarpon, dolphin. The list can go on for some time however these are some of the most known predators of the spot fish.^{[citation needed]}
Fishermen also use juvenile spot as whole live bait to catch summer founder, spotted seatrout, puppy drum and tautog as well as several other species.^{[citation needed]}
The North Carolina Spot Festival is held at Hampstead, North Carolina, on the last weekend of September.^[3]