I'm looking for someone to perform an electrofish survey on a 2.5 acre pond between Woodville and Jasper. Any recommendations? Thanks.

Get yourself a battery, coat hanger, and some jumper cables.

Viola! You're now a non-TPWD biologist

Unless the policy has changed state biologist will just refer you to a private lake management service. Maybe they have biologists, like the Wildlife Division has, that will actually work with land/lake owners now. Even when I worked it was telephone consultation only with private lake owners. However, if a private lake was on the way that I was going I would often stop by.

https://blessedbayou.com/fisheries-2/

Used to work with this ag back in college.

I throw a couple contacts out for you.

Dan Ashe is the TPWD Jasper district supervisor you can call with general questions or advice. Its up to the district staff if they will come visit but most will not work on private waters anymore unless accessible to public anglers.

TAMU AgriLife Extension is more than willing to help educate and set a plan for you to manage your water and they have several programs to help teach. Worth a call.

For the electrofishing survey, I am almost certain you'll have to pay a private company to survey the pond. I would shop around and look at the different pricing options. Thankfully, East Texas has several companies to contact.

Tyler Fish Farm: great East Texas option, would be my first call. Might not have as many total services to offer, but they have an in-house hatchery to source fish stocking from.
Solitude Lake Management: Nation wide company that has bought several smaller companies. Total Lake Management was based out of Bryan and acquired by SOLitude. Still run by the same guy I believe, just under a new name.
Lochow Ranch: Several Aggies involved here, they always put on tailgates at Aggie games with grilled gators to eat. Well respected group, might be booked out for awhile.
TX Pro Lake: Ran by Steven Bardin who is very involved in the fisheries science realm. Got his master's at A&M. They're at the forefront of bridging science & bass tournaments through MLF. Another company that might be booked out for a bit.

Several more options to contact out there, these are just a couple I have experience with.


If you have the means, I would have a private company come survey the population and document the results. From there, the company might offer a plan going forward based on your interests and will certainly be able to put you on a management rotation if you want to pursue more involvement ($$$). Whether you want a trophy bass fishery or a bunch of bluegill for family to catch, you'll likely have a couple management options to implement in the coming years. You can pay whatever company to come out and help along the way, or take the survey results and speak with AgriLife on the steps going forward.

Bob Lusk, The Pond Boss is an Aggie and although it's been years ago when we used him, he did a great job.
https://www.facebook.com/PondBossMagazine/?http_ref=eyJ0cyI6MTc4ODgxMDU5MjAwMCwiciI6IiJ9

Have used Lochow several times. Highly recommend

Also heard good things about overton fisheries