Base lake to undergo fish rebalancing Published Aug. 20, 2010 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Scout Lake will be drawn down and restocked to correct an imbalance which is restricting fish growth and reproduction. The draw down is expected to start Monday and take more than two weeks, with the lake level lowered 25 to 30 percent. Most of the lake's large fish died in May when the sudden die-off of an algae bloom depleted dissolved oxygen levels in the water, said Bob Sargent, natural resources manager at Robins. The remaining fish will be killed with the chemical rotenone, a natural substance which is harmless to other wildlife and dissipates within a few days. The dead fish will be collected from the lake and buried, and the lake restocked at proper rates in late fall with young sunfish and catfish, called fry. Largemouth bass fry will be restocked in the spring. For several years, the lake has had an imbalance of predator versus prey fish. Predator fish include bass, while prey fish include bluegill and redear and spotted sunfish. The lake has an overabundance of prey fish, which compete with bass fry for food. Crappie stocked by fishermen also eat the bass fry, said Sargent. In turn, the bass fry don't survive to become large enough to reproduce and control the prey fish. "Anglers want to catch big bass and sunfish, but the bass fry aren't surviving to adulthood, and the sunfish aren't growing because there are too many of them vying for limited food," Sargent said. From 2004 to 2007, an attempt was made to correct the problem by stocking large bass and implementing a catch-and-release rule for bass. The hope was big predators would eat many of the prey fish and naturally bring the fish population into balance. That helped, but many anglers don't abide by the catch-and-release rule. The fish kill earlier this year made the problem worse. Sargent said the decision was then made, with consultation from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, to remove the overabundant prey fish and restock the lake. In about a year, the lake should have catchable-size fish again, he said.