Eating Fish From Springfield Lake

[Tim Kav]

I have searched around on here and this seems to have been off-topic-ly discussed. I was hoping to get peoples opinions about eating fish out of Springfield Lake.

I live only a few miles away and its too close not too fish. Plus I love catfish and that seemed to be the thing I pull out the most.

So how polluted is it REALLY?

[RSBreth]

What's safe to eat and where to avoid them...

PDF pamphlet of the same thing, more or less...

There you go...

[BKDANGLE]

I moved here 3 years ago and everyone told me the same thing" don't eat fish out of Springfield"... My son in law has cuaght several 8-12 pound flathead out of the spillway and I myself just recently ( when it was about 18 degrees out) caught a 16.5 channel and more bass and walleye than I ever caught in Colorado....I love eating catfish and more than that I love watching my son inlaw catch big ol' flatties just do to the fact that he doesn't eat fish.....if they think the waters here are that bad then you all need to stay away from Coors beer.... if if you saw the river that flows through Golden before it hits the brewery you would all be filling your canteens with Springfield lake water..........if anyone seriuosly thiks that all those lead weights are still at the bottom of the spillway then you need to really think about the time when thr water is halfway up the sidewalk and your throwing 3 oz egg sinkers and still have no luck in keeping your line anywhere near the spot you cast.. Just my opinion but if the high waters can carry a full size trash dumpster ( full of trash ) and deposit it on one of the inlets of the Finley River in Ozark park then I would have to say that it probably gets cleaned out pretty good ( not that that makes it any better for the waters that are downstream from Springfield but if everyone would make the effort to pick up all of thier stuff before they leave it would help ) I fill the front of my aluminum boat with stuff from the spillway almost every time i go out.

[smallmouthjoe]

There are those who feel that the bio-accumulation of chemical compounds that are not removed by treatment plants or that are flushed down the toilet into septic tanks is a real concern for anyone who consumes fish that belong to the higher trophic levels of this lake. I feel that if this was a real concern there would be a species that would act as an ecological indicator alerting us to the high levels of a chemical pollutant, be it animal, plant or human. While I have not researched this in depth, I've found no published evidence that would indicate that such a species exists. I do know a person that catches and keeps fish from the lake and has been doing it for years and to my knowledge he has no health problems related to chemical or heavy metal poisoning. We had a discussion related to this not too long ago and I'm sure that there are those who will disagree with me. But I feel that if fish are harvested and eaten with moderation then you should have nothing to fear.

[Fly_Guy]

smaller soft-bodied invertebrates are often the best indicators - their tissues readily uptake chemicals, and because of their size, relative toxicity is higher. I don't know if there has been real studies done on Springfield Lake though... What Joe says is correct - you typically see bioaccumulation in the tissues higher level predators - like sportfish, so the danger of course is that the sportfish you're eating is much more toxic than the environment would indicate. I don't know too many people who died from "lake springfield toxic fish syndrome" though. You eat everything at your own risk - from plants to beef to fish. I wouldn't really worry about it.

[Dutch]

Above the Spfld. sewage dump I'd eat them then go way down stream like to Ashers before I'd keep anything.

[nathan RN]

do you eat fish out of table rock, taney, bull shoals..... all the same water,water is contantly moving trough there. i have ate a number of fish out of there and i am still typing. lol as long as you cook the fish appropriately it doesn't matter... to me anyway.... eat at your own risk i guess.

[denjac]

It cant be any worse than eating farm raised Tilapia and shrimp from filthy lagoons in Asia.

[fozzie.]

I think you'd be fine. Springfield Lake seems to have made it onto DNR's proposed list of impaired water bodies this year, but it seems like that's the result of too many nutrients and algae in the system. So long as the fish are properly prepared, you ought to be fine.

Smallmouthjoe brings up a good point, though. Most sewage treatment plants don't remove organic compounds such as hormones and antibiotics from the water they treat. The science hasn't caught up with the chemicals, and no one seems too sure as to what effect those chemicals have on aquatic organisms. The USGS got a lot of press last fall for the release of data indicating the incidence of intersex black bass has increased throughout the US in recent years, although I don't believe they answered the question as to what was causing the change. If you're worried about hormones and antibiotics in beef, pork, poultry, etc though, you may want to reconsider eating the fish you catch out of Lake Springfield.

And IF you are worried about heavy metals or mercury- bottom feeders such as catfish, carp, sturgeon, and suckers seem to accumulate the greatest proportion of toxins, as a result of their feeding habits and the proportion of fatty tissue on their bodies. Larger fish (the big flatheads you mentioned), also tend to have higher concentrations than smaller ones.

[Big Fishin Fool]

Can't wait to get my hands on a 3 eyed fish.....roflmao. Have eaten fish from Springfield Lake for years and never have had a problem. Just my opinion, though.