Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Finally, the Fish Kill Took Place!

The fish kill took place on my lake when I was out of town at the Lake/Stream Leaders Institute at Kellog Biological Station on beautiful, pristine Gull Lake. It did not take place as we expected and I got frantic phone calls from Girlfriend LakeChair while it was happening.
It was supposed to be on Tues., but because rain was in the forecast (a permit requirement)it was postponed until Thursday, so fate spared me viewing the fish die in large numbers. Made me happy.
I am told it was a circus like atmosphere with people all out on their decks watching, and the access site crawling with spectators. Boys of Summer did not do the procedure, they hired another company to do it, same guys who did the fish survey, and part of the deal was for them to remove the dead fish to a dumpster brought on site - something they normally do not do.
With all those people watching, imagine, they could not get the motor to start, all suited up in protective gear, long shirts, long pants, poor guy. They exchanged motors with another boat. They started applying the chemical in front of my place first. People expected to see dead fish start coming up immediately, which did not happen. It took some time: the first fish to come up were all the small minnows and fry. The next fish to come up were larger than expected populations of crappie, and the bluegill. There were very few small LM Bass, and we did a great job harvesting the bigger ones as there were not too many - although some people tried to revive the larger ones, but failed.
Believe it or not, my husband took the day off work to cover for me since I was out of town, how nice. The applicator told him he guaranteed that nothing would survive in the lake with the amount of rotenone (sp) used. The water temp was 74, and we know it works best at cooler temps thanks to Cecil and the information he sent us. The guys spent the night. By the next morning the fish were coming up by the thousands, the Gizzard Shad, big ones. They picked up about 1,000 lbs. of fish and left by 7:00 p.m. Friday. When everyone woke up on Saturday our lake was a sea of dead fish, majority being Gizzard Shad, and there were some suckers, a few bullheads, some carp, but 90% G.S. A stinking mess! Girlfriend LakeChair had gone to Flint to care for her mom, just out of the hospital. She got a call from her frantic husband Harvey at midnight Friday saying all the fish were coming to the surface, what to do? Harvey sprung into action the next morning by 7:00 calling board members and residents saying the dumpster was being hauled away within an hour, please come and help. This is the best part: residents rallied together and got out there and bagged up the fish, at least 1,000 lbs, mostly G.Shad and some larger carp. They kept asking where I was. Although we have been writing in the newsletter about the GShad for months, we found we had many people who thought we were doing the wrong thing, until they saw how many G.Shad there were, they were all shocked and now on board with the total fish kill. The Shad had taken over the lake. The numbers of fish matched what the fish survey revealed very closely, with the exception of the crappie.
I arrived home at 8:00 pm Sat. evening, and there were still dead fish floating about into the shore, so I made several trips around my end of the lake and picked them up, mostly GS and some suckers or small carp, not sure. Same thing on Sunday morning. Residents got about another 500 lbs. of fish out,(thank goodness it was windy and not hot.) These fish are bagged up and stinking at the access site and GF Lakechair is trying to get a special pick up this a.m. to get them out of here. It is ripe.
Last night under the willow tree with a spotlight 7 large carp were spotted in the lake, looking like they were not struggling in anyway. Ken Grand (we would be lost without him) speared one large one, and this will be reported to the applicators, they may have to come back while the permits are still good, unless they floated up overnight. I am so glad I missed this process and instead had one of the most fun/interesting events of my life at the Lake Leader Institute, intensive 3 days of education and field work in an awful lake at a bird sanctuary, and a cold water stream collecting. We learned how to assess the plants, bugs, water chemistry on both the lake and the stream. The lake made mine look pristine.