Root Admin Phil Lilley Posted November 17, 2015 Root Admin Posted November 17, 2015 There is a rumor going around some social media sites about a big fish kill at our trout hatchery. I wanted to post and get out ahead of it. This is what I posted: I just got back from visiting with Clint Hale at the hatchery. They've lost some fish - 2 events in the last couple of days. The numbers are not close to what's been reported (700k) but the situation isn't good. He did not give a number. The water from Table Rock is very high in sulpher and nitrogen - both are lethal to fish at certain levels. They're doing all they can to keep those levels down but for the most part it's out of their hands. All the trout lost are in the 5-inch range. The facility on the east side of the hatchery, the brown trout facility, is in good shape and they've moved fish from the head of the hatchery to the brown facility - it is now full. As for stocking, they continue their normal stocking regiment and are only stocking trout from the Branson Landing down lake. Because of the water quality, it is my guess that none of those fish are moving up lake at all. We are sending all out guest down to that area to fish and they are doing fairly well considering. As for correcting the problem, there's no solution. Our spring rains (which many were of the flash flood type) this year pushed tons of debry into the lake. It's that debry that is decaying and causing the depletion of O2 plus the sulphur and nitrogen issues.
fishinwrench Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 If the debris from flooding is the cause then shouldn't all our lakes be suffering from this (to a degree) as well ?
Old plug Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 You know wrench I do wonder about that. There is darn sure something wrong in the Gravois. I kind of think it is wake related. The kind of wakes going on round here the last couple years can wash things out including spawning beds. I was down on the dock yeasterday morning and got hit by a darn cruiser wake. About knocked me down. There just does not seem to be a end to this season.
Root Admin Phil Lilley Posted November 17, 2015 Author Root Admin Posted November 17, 2015 The hatchery continues to have troubles today. They are moving trout from Shepherd to other hatcheries in the state - Montauk, Roaring River and Bennett. There is another fictitious rumor going around on FB about the hatchery losing most of their broad stock which wasn't true. They did lose some this morning but nothing that hatchery can't cover. I'm not trying to paint a rosy picture of this situation... I'm trying to keep people from panic and exaggerating the facts. We have 2-3 weeks of this ahead of us and the hatchery is doing the best they can to keep from losing more trout. When man builds dams and create tailwaters, the nature of those tailwaters create water quality issues, especially in the fall months. It's the nature of tailwaters. Not all tailwaters/lakes are not the same either so you can't compare them equally. awhuber 1
snagged in outlet 3 Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 Talk around the hatchery pavilion over the weekend was, they were running water early in the AM to flush out all the dead fish before sunrise. Apparently a lot die at night and they use generation to flush them out. I didn't see it so it's just hear say. Pete
Root Admin Phil Lilley Posted November 17, 2015 Author Root Admin Posted November 17, 2015 When they run water it's in the evening. And trout don't just get "flushed" that easy. They stick on things, like rocks.
Mitch f Posted November 17, 2015 Posted November 17, 2015 If the water from TR is that bad I wonder if it in any way correlates with that fish kill on the lake we had a month ago? I thought there was talk about some thermocline issues if I recall. "Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor
Guest rwolfe Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 9 hours ago, Phil Lilley said: Our spring rains (which many were of the flash flood type) this year pushed tons of debry into the lake. It's that debry that is decaying and causing the depletion of O2 plus the sulphur and nitrogen issues. If so, then why didn't this happen in 2008 and 2011, when we hit 933 and 935 on Table Rock?
fishinwrench Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 21 minutes ago, rwolfe said: If so, then why didn't this happen in 2008 and 2011, when we hit 933 and 935 on Table Rock? Wolfe, you can't make sense out of the crap biologists say. It's like reading the bible, totally rediculis but you have to come up with reasons to believe it. This fish kill, and the similar conditions in the past/future that SHOULD cause repeat kills....but don't....are the plan of a higher power that we as mortal humans haven't the reasoning capacity to understand. You believe that, right ? Smalliebigs 1
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