Audio clip
Donny Lowery
Biologists found robust fish in the Chickamauga Reservoir at Harrison Bay during their annual spring sport fish survey Tuesday.
“They were big and healthy,” Stan Stamey, a Dalton, Ga., contractor who helped measure the fish, said.
The average fish caught weighed between 0.5 and 1 pound and was between 6 and 22 inches in length, Tennessee Valley Authority fisheries biologist Donny Lowery said.
He said that for the most part they found the fish to be very healthy with good length-to-weight ratios and with very low incidence of parasites and disease.
TVA conducted Tuesday its first of three surveys in the Chickamauga Reservoir to help determine the number, age and general health of black bass and crappie populations. The survey, conducted annually since 1993, is used by state agencies to protect and improve sport fisheries.
“It gives us a good aquatic picture of organisms in the reservoir when you can study the bass species, which are top predators,” Mr. Lowery said.
He said the bass are a good indicator of the reservoir’s health and water quality, and that biologists can determine if fish are getting enough to eat by the condition of the bass.
The biologists collected 558 fish, or 46 fish per hour, in 12 30-minute runs using boat-mounted electro-fishing equipment.
In that process, Mr. Lowery said, they used an electric current of 400 to 600 volts that temporarily stuns the fish.
“It fills their air bladder with air so they become buoyant and float to the surface. The fish are then collected with nets, counted, weighed, measured and released unharmed,” he said.
Chattanooga resident Bill Raines, who participated in the survey, said he was surprised by the amount of fish the biologists collected in such a short period.
“This is going to make me a fisherman, because I didn’t think there were this many fish in the whole creek,” he said. “In 30 minutes they caught more fish than I have caught in 30 years.”
His son Will Raines, 11, was amazed by the size of the fish.
“The biggest one we have caught is probably their smallest one,” he said.
TVA will continue its survey of the Chickamauga Reservoir today and Thursday at Skull Island and Sale Creek. The survey of the 21 Tennessee River reservoirs is expected to be completed by May 15.
FISH FACTS
Harrison Bay
* Type of fish: largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, black and white crappie
* Total fish caught: 558
* Fish caught per hour: 46
* Average weight: 0.5-1 pound
* Length: 6-22 inches
Source: Donny Lowery, TVA fisheries biologist
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Annual spring sport fish survey
Perla Trevizo joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2007 and covers immigration/diversity issues and higher education. She holds a master’s degree in newswire journalism from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas. In 2011 she participated in the Bringing Home the World international reporting fellowship program sponsored by the International Center for Journalists, producing a series on Guatemalan immigrants for which she ...
