The end of the 2012 Mark & Recapture Study season was marked by two passes of electrofishing from the ODFW Springfield crew on August 8th, 2012. Nearly 200 fish were captured over the course of the day.
I had the pleasure of joining the ODFW crew (Jeff, Kelly, Shannon, Matt) for a day of electrofishing on the Hendricks-Bellinger stretch.
The ODFW driftboat contains a generator which powers two ‘squids’ at the end of retractable poles. The squids are outset slightly from the front of the boat. The electrical current stuns the fish, which come up to the surface. Two people in the front of the boat have dip nets and gather up the fish.It all seems simple enough, until you add in the dimensions of moving water, confined space, 10’ long nets, fish that are only stunned for a very brief instant, and loud noise of the generator which makes communication nearly impossible.
It requires an impressive amount of skill on the part of the rower, as well as quick reaction from the dipnetters. Jeff manned the sticks for the entirety of our two runs. The four of the rest of us rotated on net for the first run (the other two following in my boat). Kelly and Shannon went back to the office for the second run, leaving the greenhorns (Matt and myself) to learn on the fly.
Our first pass down the left side of the river yielded only a half-dozen or so trout that met the 150mm criteria. The second run down the right bank was more productive, and we ended up with 25ish trout in the book, including a couple of recaptures, and a cutthroat which had lost his tag. Trout weren’t all we found – in addition to the 25 trout, we recorded about 150 other fish. The majority were Chinook smolt and whitefish (ranging from 6” to almost 18”), several pikeminnow, and a few sculpins, shiners, and dace. We stopped about every mile to measure fish and rotate water in the holding tank.
There was a definite feast or famine element in terms of where we’d find fish. We’d drift a couple hundred yards and not see a thing… and then in the next riffle, in a ten-yard section, the water would explode with flopping fish for a few seconds. Nets flew, fish were (sometimes) netted, and then it’d quiet down for another hundred yards. Since you can’t exactly sneak up on fish with an aluminum boat holding a loud generator, it seemed like the best spots were where we could herd fish against banks or bars.
Thanks to Jeff, Kelly, Shannon, and Matt for letting me tag along. I learned a lot and had a great time.
Shannon watches patiently:
Kelly is ready too:
The rodeo begins. Looks like Kelly has done this a time or two before (notice the fish in net):
Matt got in on the action quickly. That guy has ridiculously quick reflexes.
Lots of work for Jeff on the oars:
Yes, it’s work, but Jeff and Shannon seem to be enjoying a day on the water:
View from the holding tank:
Some cool stuff you don’t get to see often if you’re flyfishing:
Cutthroat #1234:
