The 2001 survey runs from March 20 through June 7. The results of the survey, which uses a fish-sampling technique called catch depletion, are used by state agencies to protect and improve sport fisheries.
Volunteers fish for one hour in selected coves that have been blocked off with a net.
Then TVA biologists use electrofishing equipment to catch, or deplete, the remaining fish in the cove. In that process a n electric current is used to temporarily stun the fish so they float to the top. They're collected with nets, counted, weighed, measured, and released unharmed outside the cove. The cove returns to normal within hours after the net is removed. The schedule is subject to change.