Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Fish Gasping at Surface

The bluegills in my pond are gasping at the surface this afternoon. I did not see any other species. I have never seen this before. I believe it is a result of a turnover. We had 2" of rain in the last 2 days. There has been no other issues. Is there anything I can do???
Thanks
Ron

Are you sure they are piping and not just feeding on an insect hatch? They can sometimes look very similar.

I do not know. They are doing it all over the surface of the pond. The pond is 1.25 acres, 4 feet in the shallow end 15 feet at the deep end. Once again I only seen the bluegills nothing else. I hope you are right, that would be a relief. I have read about turnovers, but have never had or seen one.

Ron

Probably a turnover. It may be too late by now, but if they haven't already kicked the bucket in large numbers, driving around the pond in a boat with an outboard motor will oxygenate the water and prevent a fish kill. If I were you I would go to the pond NOW and check to see if fish are dying. If they're not dead yet, or just a few are dead with lots of others piping, you can still save the ones that aren't dead but you'll need to get an outboard in there pronto.

Another way to do it is to back a bushhog into the water a few feet and run it full-bore for a few hours. I haven't personally used this method but got it from people who have either done it or seen it done.

Several years ago I happened out one afternoon to a pond I was working with to find bluegill by the dozens piping at the surface; a few were already dead. We had had several days of cloudy weather in a row, and the pond had a very good (probably a little too good) plankton bloom, so probably the plankton had crashed. I rushed back into town and got my grandfather's V-bottom with a forty-horsepower Johnson and sped back out to the lake and proceeded to circle it for a couple hours. It worked; they stopped piping and only a handful died, whereas probably a large percentage of the population would have if I hadn't happened out there at the right time.

Also, it seems that the term "turnover" is used to describe more than one phenomenon. Every pond or lake that has a thermocline turns over in the fall when the surface layer cools and sinks, thus mixing with the lower layer; this is normal and usually doesn't kill any fish. But I've also heard the term used to describe a phenomenon that is less common whereby water cooler than the water in the pond is introduced suddenly - i.e. by a cold rain - and somehow displaces just a portion of the water column with deoxygenated water (biologists feel free to chime in here and elaborate/correct). I don't remember the exact specifics and didn't find anything just now on google, but the gist is that only the fish at one certain depth of the pond are affected - but it can kill every fish at that depth in the pond. This happened once years ago to a pond I had worked with previously; I wasn't fortunate enough to be in TN when it happened and thus couldn't have prevented it; dozens of "huge" (pond owner's adjective) shellcracker bit the dust from it.

Hello Gates,

Yes, it would be a good assumption with the weather and possible increase in algae growth this time of year that the pond did go through a flip flop or as Walt described, the turnover.

Ponds are diurnal or naturally mix in the fall and spring. If the area of anoxia (low or no oxygen water) is not too large it will have no affect on the fish. I would make a hypothesis that this zone was farily large which is common in ponds this time of year and a drastic flip will cause an oxygen drop in the zone where your fish have set up house.

Right now, yes I have suggested to clients to put a boat in the pond, I say keep it hooked up to the trailer and trim the motor so it will spray the water up. The fish will come to area of more oxygen content.

Secondly, now is the time to look into some sort of emergency aeration like a surface aeration unit. **Do not use a lake bed aeration unit for emergency** They are so efficient at bringing the bottom water to the surface and right now we do not want to do that. It will though be a great choice to prevent this turnover from happening again by creating a constant flip once a day.

Lastly, I have had clients use the local Volunteer Fire Department to draft water with their engines and spay it over the surface with the deck gun. As a former Capt. on a Fire Department, we don't mind doing this because it allows us to practice and helps keep the pumps working properly.

Good luck!

Great news, no dead fish this morning. It may of been a feeding frenzy as CJBS2003 suggested. I have never seen that many fish coming to the top of the water. I was expecting a disaster this morning. I do not know what it was, but I am happy camper.

Ron

Glad to hear everything turned out OK.You might want to look into areation BEFORE you have a turnover that could kill your fish.Just a thought.

Glad to hear you dodged a bullet Gates! Having a fish kill is no fun.

Great discussion on pond turnover.

Thanks Tom & JHAP. I dd not know what to think. As I previously posted, In my 10 years with this pond I never saw that many fish coming to the surface. I had read that you usually find this type of activity in the morning, due to the DO falling the most at night.In my case it was 6:00 PM. on a very sunny day. Numerous events can cause this but in my case the only thing close was the heavy ran. So, me being the eternal pessimist that I am, I assumed the worse. You know, the wheels start turning, did I do something, was it a chemical, some type of fungus or disease, etc.etc.
My first thought was the Sonar I used to take out the Hydrilla. But that was 9 weeks ago, so I discounted that theory. Second was the rain and a turnover. Third was a fungus or disease. Some of my catfish have white blotches on them. I have read a bunch about this and do not know what to think. So I figured I would make a post and get some input. It is definitely comforting to be able to get information from people who are in the know and eat,sleep,drink, ponds everyday.
I can only assume it was feeding. There seems to be a large amount of the insects( spider like) that seem to walk on the water. Maybe that is what they were feeding on. None the less, no dead fish today = a happy day!

My pond is now 22 years old. It has never had any type of aeration, fish feeders or any other human help, just mother nature. It is more like my personal fish tank then a pond per say.It yields some great fishing. Up until 9 weeks ago the pond had never seen a chemical, which was applied as a last ditch effort with all other options exhausted.
I have never had a single dead fish, except for the ones the Blue Heron gets.Could it be better if I intervened with some technology ie. aeration,feeders, culling etc., I am sure it could.I have went through great lengths to control runoff and any possible pollution from finding its way into the pond, it is spring fed. I believe that sometimes interfering with mother nature can sometimes lead to more issues. On one hand I think I should leave it alone, let it do its own thing, on the other hand when you have a scare like I just had, you think OK. lets throw the all the technology at it. Maybe I have been lucky, I do not know. I am by no means denouncing any of the technology or advancements that can be applied to a pond. I guess it is to each there own, it all depends on what you want out of your pond experience.

Respectfully,

Ron

That's why it's great to OWN your pond... You get to manage it the way YOU wish. I am glad to hear your fish seemed to pull through OK.

I personally can't wait for the day when I own one of my own - that is indeed the holy grail of ponding.

Ron,

Very glad to herar the fish are OK! Soiunds to me that when you say to be "in the know" means to "eat, sleep, drink ponds", means you are certainly one of those in the know.

When I read your statement "I have went through great lengths to control runoff and any possible pollution from finding it's way into the pond"< I thought to my self, This guy REALLY cares about his pond! That is often one of the most labor intensive ways to manage your pond. Some could say that was interferring with mother nature, along with fishing it. Bottom line is that it is your pond and I certainly admire and applaud your obviously diligent effort to keep your water as pristine as possible.

I would personally love to see some pictures of your pond. I absolutely love spring fed waters!

Every pond is different, has been wriiten here many times. Just as true, are that everyone's ideal pond is different along with management strategies. I beleive many of the bells and whistles used in our ponds take away from our learning to truly appreciate many aspects of Mother Nature's work, yet they are often quite beneficial.

Here are some pictures.

Wow, that is truly beautiful.

Very cool.

Wow; must be right outside 'o Mayberry. Where's Opie & Paw?
-
...classic beauty!

wow, really nice pond

Thanks to all. A little praise goes a long way towards all of the endless work.

Wow very nice Gates

Wow Gates, talk about post card perfect! Where in MD are you located?

Real nice!

I am in Northern Baltimore county 30 miles north of Baltimore. Post card perfect is a direct correlation to untold hours of work, continuous maintenance and god knows how much money. The pond is the centerpiece of the property.

Thanks again for the compliments.

Ron

"Post card perfect" = The Ying

"untold hours of work, continuous maintenance and god knows how much money" = The Yang