Doug Haman, right, points out a fish to TVA biologist Stan Stamey on Chickamauga Lake at Harrison Bay on Tuesday. TVA annually monitors fish in various reservoirs across the Tennessee Valley and invites local anglers and the public to participate.
John Justice shows off a yellow perch at TVA’s annual sport fish survey at the Chickamauga Reservoir at Harrison Bay on Tuesday.With a splash, a net went into the creek to scoop up a largemouth bass. Moments later, it returned to the water to scoop up a couple of crappie.
Again and again in the cold early morning mists Tuesday, TVA reservoir fisheries biologists dropped their nets into the waters of Wolftever Creek as part of the Chickamauga Reservoir 2014 sport fish survey.
The biologists were using a method known as “electrofishing” — stunning the fish, causing their muscles to tense and air bladder to close, bringing them floating to the surface, unharmed.
Because a fish’s physiology is different, an electrical shock that could cause a person serious harm will only stun a fish, said Kurt Lakin, a TVA fisheries biologist and pilot of one of the survey boats.
Once the fish are brought to the surface, they’re scooped from the water with a dip net and stored in a live well with an aerator and flowing water.