Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 14, 1994 TAG: 9405150010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A current was boiling and bass were coming to the surface, the white of their bellies shining like new potatoes rolling up behind a plow.
The fish were surfacing under a surge of AC current and were being dipped up by a crew from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
When Spangler saw the same thing happen last spring, he said he asked for an explanation.
"They couldn't give me any justifiable reason for what they were doing or one I could put a handle on," he said.
Spangler isn't the only one asking questions about the operation of the state's shocking boat, said Mike Duval, a fisheries biologist supervisor for the game and fish department.
"One of the things we are doing is shocking with our elaborate boat, and it is a God-awful looking rig. It is really intimidating," he said. "We have had some people calling in to our offices wondering if this is legal. We try to decorate our boat with our logo so people will understand that it is the game department and is a legitimate operation."
For Spangler's part, legitimacy wasn't the concern. He wanted to know why the shocking, called electro-fishing, was taking place.
"They took several bass out from under my dock," he said. "I'm not worried about that, but I don't know why they make a survey of bass, because they don't re-stock them. Why are they taking them away, especially this time of year, when the bass are trying to spawn?"
Duval said, "What we are hoping to accomplish with these samplings is to evaluate the status of the bass population. How is it doing? Are the bass reproducing adequately? What is the size distribution? Do we have young fish and older fish to represent a balanced population?"
These facts serve as clues to the well-being of the bass population, Duval said.
"It is true that, yes indeed, we do not stock black bass, but that makes this sampling all the more important. A lack of young fish might indicate there is a reproduction problem, in which case we may need to contemplate stocking."
Right now, the bass population appears to be in good shape. Fishermen often report that their success has improved sharply during recent seasons. Duval likes to think the better fishing is the result of management decisions that were based on survey findings, especially decisions to reduce the number of bass harvested from the lake.
"Management extends beyond simply fish stocking," he said. "Although bass reproduce by themselves and seem to be able to maintain themselves, our management involves working with size regulations and creel limits to keep the population functioning at a high level and giving people a reasonable catch on the lake."
The electro-fishing takes place in the spring because that's when bass of all sizes move into the shallows, where they can be sampled. Egg development also can be monitored.
"What we are doing is introducing electricity into the water," Duval said. "The fish are attracted to the current and are stunned momentarily, until we can dip them up and throw them into our livewell. We go along the shoreline and get about 25 or 30 fish, then we stop."
The fish are measured, weighed and sometimes aged.
"Then, basically, when we have finished collecting the information, boom, the fish go back over the side of the boat," he said. "We aren't carrying these things 10 miles downstream. These fish generally will go back to where they were taken."
Other species also are examined, because what happens to one population will have an impact on another, Duval said.
Some interesting discoveries thus far: Surprisingly large numbers of 2- to 4-pound walleye were found in the lower lake; and the Roanoke and Blackwater arms hold flathead catfish that approach 40 pounds.
by CNB