Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Things may be looking up for the brook trout

For those of you that have been following this I was all set to take a brook trout specimen to the animal diagnostic lab at Purdue University this morning. I even waterproofed the back of the wife's SUV, filled up a large cooler with water etc. etc. Problem was I couldn't find any sick fish!

What's changed? Lower water temps. I cranked up the well last night as the water temps were creeping up into the upper 50's, which I figured would stress the trout even more. Water temps are in the lower 50's right now and what fish i can see seem to be happier than clam nailing minnows. No stressed fish hanging out under the pier or inflow pipe either. A hookless jig produced lots of strikes and one fish even came out of the water to nail it.

Of course I'm on the third day of a five day antibiotic course, but the sick fish I was observing as recent as yesterday were no longer feeding.

So Cecil you dumb*** you should have left the well on until it gets really cold!

Hey since I may have killed and stressed my fish by doing something dumb am I a fish farmer yet? One day I will have all the answers due to learning by doing all the wrong things.

That's good news. I thought the fish stressed when the well was turned on, and they didn't stress this time?

Yes they stressed this spring when the well was turned on. They are much bigger now though and bigger fish are supposed to handle iron particles better due to larger gill filaments. At least the only explanation I can come up with. You should have seen the plume of iron that came out of the pipe when I first turned it on that apparently builds up in the pipe and comes loose when I first crank the pipe up.

Good deal Cecil!

Thanks Rex. BTW got the plastic bags today. You da man!

Glad to hear Cecil... I told you it would work out!

Cecil:
I am very happy for you, I saw those photos and it looked really really bad didn't it? I bet you were so happy to have it work out this way.... We have our permit for Fish Kill II, now just have to set a date, keeping paddleboat out there to help with gathering dead fish. GF says they have to stay to get the fish, but I know it won't work that way, we will have dead fish for a while. Have kept kitty litter buckets, lots of them, with lids just for this reason.

Cecil, did you use medicated fish food?

2cat:

It's cold enough out, they might not float when dead....

burgermeister:
I think Cecil is on his 2nd or 3rd day of feeding the medicated food.

Essup:
Wow, didn't know that - they may all sink? I will tell GF that. Expecting some big carp. Don't understand why the Cormorant has been around. Used to watch him eat G. Shad, there isn't much (that we can tell) left, so I wonder why he is here, eating the newly spawned little Carp? Hardly seems worth the effort with 5 other lakes full of fish. The Herons haven't been back since the first fish kill.

You know the Gordon Lightfoot song "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" where he says the lake doesn't give up her dead? It's because of the cold water....

The fish might float, but then again, depending on the water temp, they might not.

Yes but the really sick fish were no longer feeding.

I had a trout farmer tell me that trout are more likely to stay on the bottom than other species but I'm not sure why. Colder water temps may be an issue. I have seen dead ones on the bottom when I've drained the trout pond on previous occasions.

Could be they are more dense than other species, and since they have smaller scales and seem to decompose faster, they are more likely to have an opening that will fill with water causing them to stay down?

Did see a really nasty looking brook trout drift by today. The kind that I was trying to collect for Purdue. Most likely he's one of the ones that never took to the medicated feed.

Edit: I made a swipe at him with my new net. The handle bent in two. I'm hoping I can send it back.

Great, thanks Esshup, thanks a lot. Now I have that song bouncing around in my cranium.

Anytime, JHAP!

Here, I'll return the favor...

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead.
Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is deeeeaaaaaad.....


There, that ought to do it.

Trout not floating in my transport tank is what got me into trouble----lesson learned!

Cecil, good to hear your trout might be out of the woods, I'll bet your wife is relieved her vehicle won't smell fishy.

Another good brain song: "THEY'RE COMING TO TAKE ME AWAY HA HA HE HE HO HO"

I don't care if they stay up or down, as long as they die! Gee, I have changed my tune haven't I? The carp never ate the hot dogs anyway. We had lots of rain, level is high, will be dicey getting the whole thing done.