Alpharetta, Georgia Small Boat Electrofishing Recap

We are in the heat of shock season now with the cold nights and mild afternoons. Today’s lake was an HOA lake that we manage. Since it’s an HOA they have the goal of catching lots of 1-2 lb fish to keep residents happy along with large bluegill. This blog won’t be as educational as previous ones but more of an update of what we have been up to.

These were the typical sized bass we shocked during the survey.
Weighing bass on the little boat makes us appreciate the large working space of the main shock boat.
Seine hauls give us great amounts of data about bluegill and how well they are reproducing.
Can never see enough of these guys in a lake if you have any aspirations to grow bass.
Internal organs can tell us a lot about the environment a bass lives in. These organs were mute and dull. This bass was shocked in a lake with dissolved oxygen levels that ranged from 1.31 mg/l to 0.86 mg/l ie a harsh existence at best.
The biggest bass of the day!
Bullhead catfish come in from creeks to the lake and compete with bass for forage. As gross as they appear their numbers typically never get high due to bass predation.
Large redear sunfish are prized by pan fishermen for the good tasting met. Bass also prize them for the same reason.
Unfortunately, in this lake there was no intermediate bluegill just large and newly hatched bluegill.

Keep checking for updates about the shock season as the shock team is having very little office time so blog post may be far and few between.