Watauga Lake - Electrofishing 2010
Sampling date: April 26 - 27, 2010
Species collected in survey (20 runs, 5.0 hrs total effort):
Largemouth Bass = 101
Smallmouth Bass = 59
Spotted Bass = 74
Walleye = 41
Black Crappie = 7
Black-nose Black Crappie = 1
The largemouth bass catch rates for Watauga Reservoir stabilized in 2010, but were still well above average. As always, the size structure was really good and stable, and it was also virtually identical to the 2009 sample. About 75 % of the largemouth were 14-inches and bigger and there were good numbers of smaller size fish to help keep the population stable.
Smallmouth bass catch rates were below average for 2010, but the size structure drastically improved for fish over 17-inches. The low catch rates could be due to colder than normal water temperatures while sampling coupled with the difficulty of collecting smallmouth bass in reservoirs. The smallmouth size structure in Watauga is very good and has been very stable the last several years. It should remain this way for the next several years to come.
About 63% of the walleye sampled were 18-inches and bigger. There were also lots of walleye in the 16 to 17-inch range which should grow into harvestable size fish over the next year. We also saw signs of survival of last year’s stocking, which should keep the population stable.
