Fish Kill - 05/29/13 06:31 PM
Hello Guys & Gals,
There is a local 7 acre pond that is 20+ years old (Southeastern Indiana) and I have been fortune to have fishing access there a few times a year. The fishing is great with lots of large bluegill and shellcracker- the bass are nice as well. Two weeks ago my buddy and I went there to catch some of the gills and shellcracker while they were spawning, and it was a great trip. We caught 63 fish with over half of them weight over a pound! A good day to say the least. My buddy returned last Sunday to catch a few more and found dead fish floating in a cove and tons more dead on the bottom. He said he fished for a while and only caught smaller fish- not the bruisers we are accustom to catch there. The pond did not have excessive vegetation, water clarity was good ~18”, the water temp was in the mid 70’s (shallow water). We did have a major dip in weather temp last Thursday and Friday down to the high 30’s. Could that have caused it? Should I send a water sample off to have checked for hazardous pollutants? If so, where the best place- maybe local water treatment??? Any advice you can give would be appreciated. I would like to know why it happened and how I can prevent, because I have 2 ponds of my own within a few miles of that one. Thanks in advance
There is a local 7 acre pond that is 20+ years old (Southeastern Indiana) and I have been fortune to have fishing access there a few times a year. The fishing is great with lots of large bluegill and shellcracker- the bass are nice as well. Two weeks ago my buddy and I went there to catch some of the gills and shellcracker while they were spawning, and it was a great trip. We caught 63 fish with over half of them weight over a pound! A good day to say the least. My buddy returned last Sunday to catch a few more and found dead fish floating in a cove and tons more dead on the bottom. He said he fished for a while and only caught smaller fish- not the bruisers we are accustom to catch there. The pond did not have excessive vegetation, water clarity was good ~18”, the water temp was in the mid 70’s (shallow water). We did have a major dip in weather temp last Thursday and Friday down to the high 30’s. Could that have caused it? Should I send a water sample off to have checked for hazardous pollutants? If so, where the best place- maybe local water treatment??? Any advice you can give would be appreciated. I would like to know why it happened and how I can prevent, because I have 2 ponds of my own within a few miles of that one. Thanks in advance