Electrocuting Fish

Delw · Oct 27, 2005

What a fugging blast.
I just got back from electrofishing with the az Game and Fish dept. it was fun.

kinda goes like this
gas $30
food and drinks 10 bucks
Drive 2.5 hours in heavy traffic.

Watching fish hit the bug zapper PRICELESS

I got one pic and will post it tomorrow

Delw

Elkhunter · Oct 27, 2005

Why do we have to wait until tomorrow?

noharleyyet · Oct 27, 2005

Would that be considered 'high fence'?

Delw · Oct 27, 2005

This was one of the average size buffalofish.

Saw a ton of these critters walking across the road on the way to apache.
I am guessing about 20 of them with about that many runned over.

The first spot we checked just had buffalofish and a few shad one good size cat about a 1.75lb largemouth(which I tossed before putting it on the weightscale).
as we were going to spot number 2 I was chatting with Dave and said somethings missing, we couldnt put a finger on it but something seemed not right. Then I said its the blue gill. And Dave said yeah that is weird.
So we hit the second spot and we got one or 2 bluegill. Third spot provided quite a few bluegill/sunfish. and a walleye.

The few bass that we got looked to be from last years spawn, the yellows there were a few from this years spawn and lots from last years. the bluegill definatly a good representation from this years spawn and a few from last year.

most of the shad were about 95-100 mm
What we were able to get into the boat as far as shad and other small bait fish was about a 1/3 of as many that got away.
the bass was what was kinda disturbing only a few and none from this years spawn.
The bluegill and sunfish mostly came from the last 6-10 months.
I think the lake has plenty of bait fish of last night.

The areas we shocked 3 of them were where I always caught a ton of smallies, 2 of them were on flats which sure we should have gotten them if they spawned this year or last year. Even the largemouth I figured we would get alot more of this years and last years spawn than we actually did. And It didnt look like any were from this years spawn to me.

Whats cool to watch is the spot were you would normally think held fish so you would cast while fishing, we just turned on the Juice instead and sure enough a LM would float up and a bunch of bait fish.

We had lots of little fish get away due to not enough power, we tried to crank the power up but the lights got to dim , so we couldnt see. so we went back to the the other setting we were using.
I probally saw about a dozen bass 10-16 inches that we just couldnt get into our nets.

I had so much fun I tried to get them to work until it became light again. HA they wouldnt go for it. I even tried to bribe them to let me take the boat out myself. we could have hit every spot on the lake before I got too tired. I am betting that I could probally do this for 3 straight days with out sleep

its really fun to have your foot on the pedal of electrocution and then see whats floats up to the top.
I thought the fun part was measuring the fish( until I got to play with the pedal or Electrocution) but I could have measured fish all night long and still had a blast.

In our Boat we had Dave Weedman who drove all the way from camp verde after a meeting. Bill from non game and Brian? the unit 22 Game Warden.

All I know when they do saguaro People who volenteered are going to start missing, things like flat tires run out of gas heck I might even tie them up and throw them in there trunk at the ramp, so I can have some more fun...

Delw

Elkhunter · Oct 27, 2005

All I know when they do saguaro People who volenteered are going to start missing, things like flat tires run out of gas heck I might even tie them up and throw them in there trunk at the ramp, so I can have some more fun...

Guessing you are going again for sure.

Sounds like you had an alright night playing on the water.

Delw · Oct 27, 2005

it was a blast

Delw

Moosie · Oct 28, 2005

Cool stuff man !!! that sounds like fun for sure. Was the whole purpose to monitor fish ? I might have missed that part with all the fun going on

Delw · Oct 28, 2005

Here is the information on the upcoming information on the AZGF conservation projects at Apache, Canyon and Saguaro Lakes.

Fish population surveys at 3 central AZ reservoirs

What/Why: We are conduction fish population surveys at Apache, Canyon and Saguaro lakes this fall in light of the algal induced fish kills we experienced at these reservoirs last spring (2005). We need to look at our standing crops of various sportspecies and determine if we need to employ various management tools to sustain viable sportfish populations for our angling public.

Where/When:

Apache Lake week of October 17-21.
Canyon Lake week of October 24-28.
Saguaro Lake week of October 31-November 4.

How:

Electrofishing at night, about 4 to 5 stations per boat per night (~7:00-midnight).
Gill nets, experimental, overnight sets for 3 nights per week.
Pelagic nets, experimental, surface and bottom sets, overnight sets for 3 nights per week.
Hydro-acoustic transects, one daytime run, one nighttime run per lake.

Who: All known and unknown fish squeezers to help in running/setting nets, electrofishing and watercraft operation (aka-drivers).

ApacheLake:

- - - 6 people to run/set nets Oct 18 – 20.
    - 4 people to aid in electrofishing Oct 17-20.
    - We’ll stay at the Apache Lake resort that has kitchenettes for cooking and a restaurant for those that want to eat out.

CanyonLake:

- - - 6 people to run/set nets Oct 25- 27.
    - 4 people to aid in electrofishing Oct 24-27.
    - 2 people for training/conducting hydro-acoustic work Oct 25-28.
    - We’ll commute from Mesa/Phoenix area, lots of motels within 30 miles of the lake.

SaguaroLake:

- - - 6 people to run/set nets Nov 1-3
    - 4 people to aid in electrofishing Oct 31- Nov 3.
    - Same 2 people from previous week for Oct 31-Nov2 to complete transect work.
    - We’ll commute from Mesa/Phoenix area, lots of motels within 30 miles of the lake.

Equipment: Boat wise Region VI will have 3 boats for netting and 1 electroshocker boat. Research will be providing a craft for doing hydro-acoustic transects and a shocker boat for Canyon and Saguaro lakes. We need a shocker boat for Apache (Oct 17-21) and an operator.

To Volunteer:

If you are available to volunteer please contact either Jim Warnecke or Richard Wiggins. They can be reached through their E-Mail addresses listed below. This is an important opportunity for Anglers to assist AZ Game & Fish and demonstrate our commitment to preserving and enhancing our fisheries.

Delw · Oct 28, 2005

I just copied and pasted the above.
We had a very bad fish kill on apache lake 2 years ago and canyon and saguaro are being hit hard with alge and fish kills from time to time.

heres some Pics a buddy of mine took