Methods - for pond fish surveys


Bob stated the following in his post.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=23;t=000008;p=1#000003

"His boat worked very well, but this lake is probably too acidic to be efficiently electrofished. Greg collected a small sample of fish, and on the depth finder of the Morgan Company boat, we could easily see fish stacked up in the long creek channel, just beyond reach of 550 volts of electricity from Greg's boat.
Catch records prove that the fish population is thriving. So, we are now thinking of ways to efficiently collect samples of fish, other than exclusively using angling data or depending on electrofishing."

I will be surveying an acidic pond this week. Here is the plan to increase conductivity a few hours prior to starting. I will add some hydrated lime and some pelleted lime so the water column will have enough conductivity. I think you can do this in an isolated area so you can get a sample. Have to be careful not to overdue it so as not to kill the fish. I will let you know in a week if it worked.

There are of course other methods including seine surveys , creel (catch) results and visual inspections and in some cases sonar or camera results.