This past weekend I had the privilige of visiting Muncie, Indiana where Fish biologist Jason Doll of Muncie Sanitary District of Water Quality demonstrated some of the duties of his job. He along with two assistants demonstrated the process of electro shocking a stretch of the White River so we could observe how it's done.
It was truly amazing to see so many fish come out of a small section of the river. At first glance I only spotted maybe 2 places where if fishing, I would have made some casts. As it turned out... those few places were indeed where the fish were holding. Of course in shallow water, it is pretty certain that fish will move to deeper and cooler water. Seeking shelter and good food source, it made sense that larger fish were found just below the damn where a good food source would be found.
Oxygenated water is also a main attraction for most fish, so this area proved to produce the most fish as well as the largest.
Jason also showed us how they conduct surveys for habitat summary and how to obtain a QHEI score as well as an IBI score.
The most fascinating for me was seeing so many different species of fish, particularly bait fish. Shiners such as spotfin, sand, steelcolor, mimic, striped and redfin were found in great numbers.
It was also interesting to me that darters were found in various types. Bob Clouser told me that darters are found pretty much in every watershed and are a favorite food among smallmouth. That is one reason I keep darters in my fly box in various colors. Smallmouth seem to love them~!
In any case....thanks Jason for giving us such a great demo...I learned alot and it is always nice to have a better understanding of what is going on down in the water!
Thanks to Indiana Smallmouth Alliance for arranging the demo!
Nice visiting with members of the Normal City Fly Fishers also!
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