Big fish caught by electrocution (1931). People seem to have a different relationship with fish and electricity in the 30s.
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Ever since I was in grade school I’ve loved the 1930s Popular Mechanics issues. Impossibly impractical ideas were lavishly illustrated to seem like they would soon be part of futuristic, every day life. I’ve always wished I were a science fiction writer and wrote stories about future were everything those pictures predicted has come true.
Why not?. Fish have been electrocuting humans for thousands of years.
My uncle told he how he used to use a hand cranked generator with the wires hanging over the side of his john boat, crank it, and then scoop up the biggest fish for dinner. The others would “come to” after a little bit, and swim off.
I think they liken this to fishing with dynamite, to hear some people talk.
In Colorado the DOW uses something like this to survey fish for disease and population. The fish are stunned temporarily. I don’t know of a public waterway where this is legal to use outside of DOW uses.
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Fishing/Reports/ManagementandSurveys/
I don’t know of any fishermen who would smile upon it’s use for fishing.
I actually picked up an electrofisher device from a surplus sale a few years back. Didn’t know what an “electrofisher’ was until I got home and google’d it, but this thing is one massive power supply! It’s got a transformer in there the size of my head.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/satiagraha/elec/PanelTop.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/satiagraha/elec/TransformerTop.jpg
I especially like the atomic fish icon in the upper left of the control panel.
Several years back I used one of those electrofishers for scientific work as part of my technician job. We had to get a permit from the state DOW, AND let them know before we went out fishing. The rig was sort of like a jellyfish, with a set of dangling electrodes out in front of the boat, with the hull of the boat (aluminum Jon boat) as the other electrode. The person with the fiberglass-handled dip net (and lineman’s gloves) ran the foot switch to put juice to the electrodes. The other person ran the 5 kW gas generator and the boat motor. Made for a fun afternoon of work.
Quite right though, it is highly frowned upon otherwise. Works too well! However, you can use this same concept to bring worms out of the ground. Makes the legit rod and reel fishing just that much simpler.