Mid-April Electrofishing Recap

The electrofishing team has been bouncing around middle and south Georgia for the first part of April. The team has been tackling many diverse fisheries from lakes less than two years old while others have run their course and need to be drained.

Georgia electrofishing
The weather was erratic at best. The weather fluctuated between down pours and gorgeous early spring skies.

Post-Spawn Conditions

The spawn was very flat this year. There wasn’t much of a buildup. With the amount of rain and unusual temperatures the bass spawned when the conditions were right. Many of the fish we shocked had fresh sores and flat bellies indicating the spawn has already happened. Some lakes had schools of bass fry with males guarding the school.

Georgia Electrofishing
A few pounds in the bass world makes a load of difference.
Georgia Electrofishing
Even after spawning this fish is still in great shape. Her relative weight was well over 100%.
Georgia Electrofishing
The crappie were moving up to spawn as well. This crappie was about 1.5 lbs. Crappie spawn before bass hence why their numbers can get out of control but, it seemed like this year the bass and crappie were spawning side by side.

Seasonal Growth

This time of year we get lots of calls about algae growth. With the warming water algae is starting to grow again. There are some species of algae that grow in specific temperatures but die in warmer or colder temperatures.

Georgia Electrofishing
Growth this sever needs to be chemically treated.
georgia electrofishing
Launching our shock boat in lakes with aquatic vegetation can be tricky. It’s critical that we clean our trailer so we don’t transfer vegetation from each lake.
georgia electrofishing
When algae is this thick it makes fishing almost impossible. A topwater frog is about the only thing that works in when filamentous algae is this thick.

Wrapping the Week Up

With a long week week of electrofishing coming to an end the team saved the best lakes for last.

Georgia Electrofishing
These bass are small but they are what all sizes of bass should look like. We always tel people healthy bass should look like footballs. Often times when electrofishing we shock bass that look more like torpedoes which indicates unhealthy bass.
Georgia Electrofishing
We are always telling people to diversify their forage base. Bass evenly eating four different forages allows no one forage base to get depleted. This particular client has low bass numbers so a small amount of goldfish survived. This particular lake had great numbers of shad. The property owner was adamant about stocking another load of shad but electrofishing revealed he had plenty.
Georgia Electrofishing
Let the boss get on the rail.
georgia electrofishing
An aerial view of the shock team pushing some fish off shore.
Georgia Electrofishing
Pure Florida strain bass are slow growers but they have constant growth while other strains of bass slow down after a hot start. Greg is holding two bass that are in the 4 year old age class.
Georgia Electrofishing
Bass harvest is a great tool to ensure fisheries remain in balance. With this lake being a quality bass fishery we only released bass that had relative weights greater than 95%. At the end of the day almost 70 lbs of bass were harvested.

After four days of electrofishing and being on the road the team heading back to Ball Ground. Electrofishing is all fun till the boat is hooked up and pointed home. The real work starts now with report writing. We are booked out till mid-May so if you have any interest in getting your lake shocked now is the time to get in contact with us.