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This forecast is produced from data collected by fisheries management biologists during their annual lake monitoring activities, which includes test netting and electroshocking. Not every impoundment is sampled each year. Impoundments with low densities of certain species may not be listed.
The data is separated into three impoundment categories because sampling on small water bodies may not be comparable with that on larger waters.
Tables have been created for popular species and include a Density Rating, Preferred Rating, Lunker Rating (based on a 3-year sampling average), Biggest Fish and Fishing Rating. Keep reading for explanations of each rating.
The Density Rating is the number of fish that were high-quality size or larger sampled per unit of sampling effort. The number, listed in parentheses at the top of the Density Rating column, is the length of fish considered acceptable to most anglers and is different for each species. The higher the Density Rating, the more high-quality sized or larger fish per surface acre in the impoundment. Theoretically, an impoundment with a Density Rating of 30 has twice as many high-quality sized fish per acre as an impoundment with a Density Rating of 15.
Preferred Rating
The Preferred Rating identifies how many above-average-sized fish a water contains. For example, an impoundment may have a good density of crappie, but few fish over 10 inches. The Preferred Rating tells you which lake to go to for a chance to catch bigger fish.
Lunker Rating
The Lunker Rating is similar to the Density Rating, but it tells you the relative density of lunker-sized fish in an impoundment. A lunker is a certain length of fish considered a trophy by most anglers. It also differs with each species and is listed in parentheses at the top of the Lunker Rating column. For example, most anglers consider a channel catfish longer than 28 inches a lunker. Many impoundments may have a Lunker Rating of 0, but this does not mean there are no big fish in that impoundment. It just means that no lunker fish were caught during sampling, and they may be less abundant than in impoundments with positive Lunker Ratings.
Biggest Fish
Lists the weight in pounds of the largest fish caught during sampling period.
Overall Fishing Rating
The Fishing Rating adds a human touch to the forecast and allows each biologist to consider environmental conditions that may have affected the sampling. They also consider previous years’ data. A rating of Poor, Fair, Good, or Excellent. Sometimes the Density Rating may not agree with the Fishing Rating. This will happen occasionally and means the Density Rating may not accurately reflect the current fishing conditions.