Electric fishing
...what is inside?!?
E-fishing is not a method for the lazy angler to recreate the animals, but the most gentle method to get an overview of the species spectrum of a body of water.
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The exercise is only permitted for appropriately trained persons and also requires official approval for each fishing operation. The devices used are subject to inspection by the TÜV or a qualified electrician at specified intervals and are constantly maintained by us in order to largely exclude hazards .
But electric fishing is exactly what it sounds like - electric current flows through the water - which is always potentially dangerous, especially if you wade through the water.
However, if you want to manage / maintain a body of water, e-fishing is the most tried and tested means of checking the stock - fish monitoring - in order to plan further measures based on this.
In addition to monitoring, e-fishing is also used to catch spawning fish, for purposes of scientific research, to resettle fish during construction work and to determine the extent of fish death.
Fish that fall into the effective range of a catchable field are temporarily deprived of the ability to swim in a targeted manner and can then be removed with landing nets. If used properly, the fish will not be harmed and will be back to full agility and vitality within a very short time - usually immediately after switching off the field.
In principle (without wanting to go into too much detail) there are two methods of e-fishing related to the way the devices work, that of methods with pulse or direct current. Due to the lower energy consumption, the pulse current method allows a longer distance to be fished because the battery cell is less stressed, but has a higher scaring effect.
The direct current method offers the advantage of a more targeted swimming movement towards the anode (the positive pole) - thus the fish can be steered towards a by-catcher in the field, which then catches them. Disadvantages are the higher energy requirements due to the direct current field and any difficulties in "keeping" larger fish.
The safe nursery
In order to give our small brown trout a good starting position for their start into the wild, we also use e-fishing.
In small streams on gravel banks and somewhat deeper pools with enough hiding places, we release our little brown trout to freedom.
But even in these small streams, predators are lurking. So that we do not set the table for them, we have to move them now.
Locations are targeted where trout can be found that can be dangerous for the little ones. These are then removed, fed to breeding or reintroduced further down the river. This gives the small trout enough time to get used to it and to find hiding places. Because the fish that are released further down rise again in the water.
In this way, the loss of broodlings can be somewhat limited and new breeding-fish can be obtained at the same time.
The wildlings obtained in this stream are characterized by their rich colors with bright yellow bellies and the sharply defined drawing.
After the brook piece has been searched with the e-net, the little ones can move in.
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As mentioned at the beginning, e-fishing is also used for stock control. The pictures shown here were taken during fishing at the end of April, so minnows were found that had their spawning rash, bullheads, loaches as well as brook lamprey that had already spawned - therefore areas with fine sediment were left out - there are ailerons to be expected (larval stage of the brook lamprey) .
Here are the minnows - the male in the spawning dress, to his left 2 "fat" females almost ready to spawn and in the next picture a loach.