Anyone else seeing a bad winter kill this year?

huskerbowhunter · 03-31-2009, 10:41 AM

It seems to me that the winter kill on my lake has been a lot worse this year than other the others. The good news its mostly just been carp and shad that I've seen and nothing else. What would have caused this? A lack of aerators maybe? I think we've had the same amount of aerators as the past years though, so it kind of has me puzzled? I guess we did have a pretty long/cold winter that could have done it?

Shorty · 03-31-2009, 11:20 AM

Cold fronts with lots of wind mixing the water column and bringing down the waters temps extremely quick are shad killers, shad simply don't tolerate the cold temps real well. The carp on the other hand puzzles me, were there a lot of dead carp?

Aerators really don't need to be run during the winter as cold water typically holds a lot more dissolved oxygen (DO) than warm water. If aerators are run during the winter time they should be placed shallow (2-3ft) so they do not "super cool" the water column. About the only time you see DO sags in the winter time is when there is prolonged snow cover on the ice that prevents sunlight from reaching aquatic vegetation which in turn kills off a lot of aquatic vegetation. The dead vegetation under the ice then pulls DO out of the water as it decays creating a fish kill.

huskerbowhunter · 03-31-2009, 02:27 PM

Thanks shorty. There is quite a few dead carp. Around my beach alone i probably saw around 15, and I don't have that big of beachfront. It appears to be mostly suckers and commons, with very few buffs dying off.

huskerbowhunter · 03-31-2009, 02:27 PM

A message from Daryl

Nope, have had far less winterkill reports this spring than last spring. Keep in mind that winter is a hard time on all wild creatures fish included, so some mortality during the winter is natural. What we talk about when we talk about a "winterkill" is a situation where oxygen levels declined during the winter to the point where there was a major die off of fish in a body of water. When that happens there will be lots and lots of dead fish in the spring, dead fish of a variety of species and sizes.

If you are seeing only dead carp and gizzard shad, I would suspect something else. Common carp are tolerant of low oxygen levels, so if you had a winter kill caused by low oxygen levels you should see a lot of other species dead before the carp die. Winter and early spring can stress fish to the point where they are more likely to succumb to some bacterial infection or some other disease. Fish kills comprised of only one or two species are more likely to be caused by some disease.

Long/cold winters may not necessarily be as stressful as one would think. Once a body of water gets covered with ice, conditions stabilize. As long as oxygen levels remain adequate the fish can ride the winter out below the ice. Weather conditions that result in a late freeze up or longer periods where the water is cooled and mixed are actually harder on the fish.

Keep an eye on things, if dead shad and carp are all you are seeing, I would not worry much about it.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
daryl.bauer@nebraska.gov
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - Trout Stocking

bassnbaseball · 04-03-2009, 07:34 AM

The only lake I've seen with a substantial amount of dead fish to even pay attention was yours Blake. I'm not sure if that's because there actually ARE more dead fish than usual or it's just that I'm paying more attention to things lately haha. I have noticed a LOT of dead frogs on several different bodies of water, though.

epb35085 · 04-06-2009, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassnbaseball

The only lake I've seen with a substantial amount of dead fish to even pay attention was yours Blake. I'm not sure if that's because there actually ARE more dead fish than usual or it's just that I'm paying more attention to things lately haha. I have noticed a LOT of dead frogs on several different bodies of water, though.

hope it aint that damn chitrid

Sandbilly · 04-11-2009, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huskerbowhunter

A message from Daryl

Winter and early spring can stress fish to the point where they are more likely to succumb to some bacterial infection or some other disease. Fish kills comprised of only one or two species are more likely to be caused by some disease.

Daryl Bauer
Fisheries Outreach Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
daryl.bauer@nebraska.gov
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - Trout Stocking

QUICK! If it's only killing carp, someone mass produce this bug and let us infect the state.

dc

Sandbilly · 04-16-2009, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Actually there is a herpes virus (I am not kidding, I said herpes virus) that does kill carp. We have already documented some carp die-offs in the state from this virus, so it is already here. Unfortunately there are always some fish in a population that have a resistance or develop a resistance to diseases, so this probably ain't gonna wipe out our carp populations.

If you catch a carp that ain't looking too good. I wouldn't be kissing it. Just kidding.

Daryl B.

P.S. Feel free to share this message with others if you wish.

dc

Fish On · 04-16-2009, 09:33 PM

I don't wanna know how that got started.

Harold · 04-16-2009, 09:43 PM

Quote:

If you catch a carp that ain't looking too good. I wouldn't be kissing it. Just kidding.

So, what you're sayin', Mr. B, is DON'T KISS NO CARP!

I can live with that...

Harold F.

(enter "no fish kissin' smilie" here)

bigjigs · 04-19-2009, 10:29 PM

I knew that fish was lying when she said it was just a fever blister.

03-31-2009, 10:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
huskerbowhunter huskerbowhunter is ready for turks 2008 Outdoorsman of the Year Finalist Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fremont Posts: 576 Thanks: 60 Thanked 84 Times in 62 Posts	Anyone else seeing a bad winter kill this year? It seems to me that the winter kill on my lake has been a lot worse this year than other the others. The good news its mostly just been carp and shad that I've seen and nothing else. What would have caused this? A lack of aerators maybe? I think we've had the same amount of aerators as the past years though, so it kind of has me puzzled? I guess we did have a pretty long/cold winter that could have done it? Last edited by huskerbowhunter; 03-31-2009 at 10:44 AM..

03-31-2009, 11:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
Shorty Shorty is itching for open water Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: on the water near Lincoln Posts: 2,305 Thanks: 1,296 Thanked 320 Times in 200 Posts	Cold fronts with lots of wind mixing the water column and bringing down the waters temps extremely quick are shad killers, shad simply don't tolerate the cold temps real well. The carp on the other hand puzzles me, were there a lot of dead carp? Aerators really don't need to be run during the winter as cold water typically holds a lot more dissolved oxygen (DO) than warm water. If aerators are run during the winter time they should be placed shallow (2-3ft) so they do not "super cool" the water column. About the only time you see DO sags in the winter time is when there is prolonged snow cover on the ice that prevents sunlight from reaching aquatic vegetation which in turn kills off a lot of aquatic vegetation. The dead vegetation under the ice then pulls DO out of the water as it decays creating a fish kill. __________________ Sometimes it's just fun to sit back and watch the circus.....

04-16-2009, 09:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
Fish On Fish On is going metric. 2008 Catch and Continue Finalist Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: next to the trolling rod Posts: 1,865 Thanks: 49 Thanked 277 Times in 182 Posts	I don't wanna know how that got started. __________________ When you have the option, please buy American made. If it does not save your job, it might save mine.

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03-31-2009, 02:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
huskerbowhunter huskerbowhunter is ready for turks 2008 Outdoorsman of the Year Finalist Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fremont Posts: 576 Thanks: 60 Thanked 84 Times in 62 Posts	Thanks shorty. There is quite a few dead carp. Around my beach alone i probably saw around 15, and I don't have that big of beachfront. It appears to be mostly suckers and commons, with very few buffs dying off.

03-31-2009, 02:27 PM	#4 (permalink)
huskerbowhunter huskerbowhunter is ready for turks 2008 Outdoorsman of the Year Finalist Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fremont Posts: 576 Thanks: 60 Thanked 84 Times in 62 Posts	A message from Daryl Nope, have had far less winterkill reports this spring than last spring. Keep in mind that winter is a hard time on all wild creatures fish included, so some mortality during the winter is natural. What we talk about when we talk about a "winterkill" is a situation where oxygen levels declined during the winter to the point where there was a major die off of fish in a body of water. When that happens there will be lots and lots of dead fish in the spring, dead fish of a variety of species and sizes. If you are seeing only dead carp and gizzard shad, I would suspect something else. Common carp are tolerant of low oxygen levels, so if you had a winter kill caused by low oxygen levels you should see a lot of other species dead before the carp die. Winter and early spring can stress fish to the point where they are more likely to succumb to some bacterial infection or some other disease. Fish kills comprised of only one or two species are more likely to be caused by some disease. Long/cold winters may not necessarily be as stressful as one would think. Once a body of water gets covered with ice, conditions stabilize. As long as oxygen levels remain adequate the fish can ride the winter out below the ice. Weather conditions that result in a late freeze up or longer periods where the water is cooled and mixed are actually harder on the fish. Keep an eye on things, if dead shad and carp are all you are seeing, I would not worry much about it. Daryl Bauer Fisheries Outreach Program Manager Nebraska Game & Parks Commission daryl.bauer@nebraska.gov Nebraska Game and Parks Commission - Trout Stocking

04-03-2009, 07:34 AM	#5 (permalink)
bassnbaseball bassnbaseball is waiting for ice out! 2008 Catch & Continue Champion (18 and Under) Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fremont Posts: 731 Thanks: 130 Thanked 47 Times in 45 Posts	The only lake I've seen with a substantial amount of dead fish to even pay attention was yours Blake. I'm not sure if that's because there actually ARE more dead fish than usual or it's just that I'm paying more attention to things lately haha. I have noticed a LOT of dead frogs on several different bodies of water, though.

04-19-2009, 10:29 PM	#11 (permalink)
bigjigs bigjigs has no status. Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: fremont Posts: 295 Thanks: 35 Thanked 70 Times in 53 Posts	I knew that fish was lying when she said it was just a fever blister.