Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations electro-shocking

Lusk chimes in--
Electrofishing is an effective sampling tool, for warmwater fish. That's all it is, a sampling tool. Random samples allow us to qualify and quantify a fishery, provided our technique is adequate.
Electrofishing is dangerous. Hire a pro. Even if you could learn to do it, you still have to identify species and interpret the data.
Water does not conduct electricity. Quite the contrary. Water is an insulator. What's dissolved in water is the conductor.
The electric field is small, relative to the entire body of water. Shocked fish tend to quiver, because they are in tetany, but recover quickly, rarely longer than 10 minutes.
When the electric field passes over fish, they are quickly stunned, or thrust themselves out of the electricity.
Threadfin shad are stunned, but sit still in the water long enough to dip. If left alone, they begin to sink slowly, but quickly revive and move on. I don't pick them up, due to their delicate nature. But, I do a quick count, and log the data.
Mortality is rare. In fact, I have only seen young of the year bass die. Hit a school of newly hatched baby bass, 8 or 10 die. I have never seen any other species of warmwater fish die due to electrofishing.
But, if water is highly conductive, and the voltage is too high, more than 10 amps can break the spine of channel catfish. That's quite rare, too.
Different species react differently. So do different sizes of different species. For example, largemouth bass are easily shocked. Bluegill are, too. Channel cat, when in shallow water, are easy. Grass carp are tough. Their muscle configuration allows them a quick burst, enough to escape the field. Gar are tough, too. Shaped like a tree limb with teeth, gar can quickly evade with one burst of their tail, like a wet arrow under water.
Considering the benefits of data collected via electrofishing to the down side, I overwhelmingly favor electrofishing. The data is invaluable.