Whats Up With All The Dead Crappie

[topher]

Saw the same thing at Truman last weekend...Weird!

[Feathers and Fins]

As my Professor once told me. " I can guess what's in bear crap but until its in the lab and the proper test are performed its only bear crap "! If there is a die-off going on the Scientist / Biologist should gather samples and take them back to the lab and find out what it is.

It has been a strange year but if I was getting reports I think due diligence on the part of the biologist would be to go gather the affected animals and 1st visually inspect them, then take them back to the lab. I would hate to think a wild guess is how they maintain the health of a lake.

[fishinwrench]

Wouldn't you expect a paid biologist, assigned to that region, to be the first one aware of a mysterious number of dead fish?

I just kinda think his response to your call shoulda been more like..."yeah I know, I'm looking into it and should have some answers by the end of the day".

Not that he'd be able to do anything to stop it, at least there would be a cool new word used to describe it.

So does anyone know the cool word assigned to the white bass decimation a couple years ago?

[MOPanfisher]

There have been at least 3 white bass die offs since I have been here, plus one virus that killed a bunch of carp. Don't remember if the white bass one had a specific name or not, but the carp one was a Herpes type virus, guess they weren't using safe sex methods. When I first sent him the e-mail he replied basically "I was just hitting the "send" button on the same subject in response to a contact from the CA. Realistically you have to have fresh dead fish to get good samples from and there needs to be enough of a mortality to be really concerned about. He didn't have either. and like you said unless it was a pollution or poison problem (normally it would be limited to a particular area), other than identify the specific cause there isn't much that can be done. I was out last night on the lake and saw some old dead ones but no fresh ones.

[fishinwrench]

That's good that it doesn't seem to be getting worse. Maybe the Musky are giving them anxiety attacks

A carp kill would be a trip. Those buggers are practically immune to everything.

[MOPanfisher]

Just imagine the smell if all the carp were to go belly up.

[Feathers and Fins]

Just imagine the smell if all the carp were to go belly up.

No Need I took out my trash last night and there were some carp from last weekend in there....

[Bitethis]

I went to Bolivar Landing on the 23rd. Fished from 7am-7pm...was a beautiful day!! Caught my personal biggest LM Bass of 5lbs, 22.5 inches. I will be wall mounting it. Big fan of catch and release, but this was just amazing for me!

To add commentary to the thread topic, however....I saw enough dead crappie floating all over lake to have a limit+. I was somewhat concerned. I also saw 4-5 dead gar on the banks, and chalked it up to bowfishing. I also saw 1 dead Musky, probably 25-30 inches. I am not sure what is going on, but it is concerning as an avid angler to see such a sight on a beautiful body of water. I hope there is an answer to this that arises soon, and if it is something we can manage better I would support it. Proper handling is important, also.

[packersooner]

One thing to throw out there is the lake level and feeder rivers themselves. When is the last time the Pomme and Lindley have been that high? Who knows what could have been on the exposed shorelines since the last time they were that high. Could they have washed something into the main lake? Speculation at best...

Jason

[pruett417]

I would certainly hope this is being researched to find out the cause of this "kill", the fact that there has been reports of a "fungus" visible on these fish is concerning to say the least. I would hope MDC is going well beyond just chalking it up to a "condensed spawn", the fact that other species are also being found dead tells me that there is a grave possibility that something else may be at fault.

Yes, I'm worried about the Musky