South Holston Lake - Electrofishing 2010
Sampling date: April 21 - 22, 2010
Species collected in survey (20 runs, 5.0 hrs total effort):
Walleye = 17
Black Crappie = 55
Smallmouth Bass = 134
Largemouth Bass = 188
For the third year in a row, the 2010 largemouth bass catch rates were well above average and they were the highest recorded since standardized sampling began in 1998. The size structure has not changed much in the last 4 years, which is very good because South Holston consistently has an incredible percentage of largemouth over 12-inches. However, like many of the other east TN reservoirs, there was an increase in the number of largemouth 10-inches and less during 2010. The good numbers of largemouth collected under 10-inches should keep the quality of this fishery stable.
Smallmouth bass size structure improved again for the fourth year in a row. After seeing three years of a slight decline in smallmouth bass greater than 18-inches from 2003 to 2006, this is great news. Even though there was a slight decline in the percentage of larger (> 18-inches) smallmouth bass from 2003-2006, the size structure is still superior to most area reservoirs. Just like largemouth bass, we saw an increase in the number of smallmouth 10-inches and under which will help maintain the quality of the fishery.
Black crappie catch rates were slightly below average in 2010. However over 80% of the black crappie collected were 10-inches or bigger and nearly 50% were 12-inches and bigger.
Walleye catch rates were a little low but nearly half of the walleye collected were harvestable size fish (>18-inches).
