Fish Kill

Superdad · **Posted:** Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:18 am

Rec'd this from an angler in Montreal who sent it to the Atlantic Salmon List Service.

"24+ dead Musky found yesterday floating in the waters around Mtl. This included the Mille iles River so we're talking the Ottawa River as well as the St Lawrence. couple were 50in + fish ! Bay of Quinte on Lake Ontario reporting 100's of Sheaphead washed upon shore + 8 Musky."

I hadn't heard of the musky kill in Quinte - has anyone else heard of this???

bluedog · **Posted:** Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:54 pm

hi superdad
when we were up in may saw a lot of sheepshead washed up on shore
on the right side going in towards the nappanee river
but that was it no walleye or musky or northerns or bass
blue :lol:

wulf · **Joined:** Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:51 pm **Posts:** 22

Has there been any word from the ministry about this? Seems to me it could be a politically sensitive issue. Tourists might find unexplained mass fish mortality in the waters they are about to catch and eat fish from a trifle unappealing.

Stormsearch · **Joined:** Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:34 pm **Posts:** 28

Last year there was a pretty good Muskie die off in Lake St. Clair in the springtime. On most days, you would see 10 or more muskie floating down the river - all sizes including monsters.

They identified a disease that was killing the fish, which didn't seem to affect other species. It didn't seem like an emergent urgent issue last year once they found the cause and nothing this year, so far so good.

I've done alot of fishing on Lake Erie over the years, on most days I see several dead shephead floating around. Not 100's but alot. I'm glad people are paying attention though and reporting any dead fish. This resource is to valuable to go unchecked.

hoser · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2005 10:59 am

was out yesterday and seen alot more dead sheephead, you can almost smell them driving down dundas st. now. what the heck is happening to these fish??!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen alot swimming around acting very odd too, hitting themselves against rocks and swimming upside down........ very wierd.

The Tech · **Posted:** Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:06 pm

hoser wrote:

was out yesterday and seen alot more dead sheephead, you can almost smell them driving down dundas st. now. what the heck is happening to these fish??!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen alot swimming around acting very odd too, hitting themselves against rocks and swimming upside down........ very wierd.

While I was up there for the opener, I too noticed the sheephead swimming oddly. Just below the surface, I would see swimming on odd angles, strange.

Actually, one night a friend was booting through the reach at night, and heard a clunk from his motor, then it began to make strange noises. He stopped, checked the motor, and wouldn't you know it, a huge dead sheephead was exactly perpendicular to the motor shaft and was stuck there. Would hate to see what a 50"+ floating dead musky would do.

Hopefully they find out whats going on here.

hoser · **Posted:** Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:16 am

I wonder if anyone has caught a sheephead and got sick from handling it. I hope they find out soon, I don't think I want to catch one at the moment, had one chase my streamer 2 days ago and I yanked it away from him.

bowhunter · **Joined:** Fri Nov 19, 2004 11:01 am **Posts:** 147

I'm not a fisheries biologost but if I was to hazard to guess, I'm guessing these die offs are due to the sudden shift in temperatures which would have also caused sudden shifts in wonder temps. This is not an unusual event, went water temperature fluctuates quickly. What is unusual is the sudden shift in temperatures that we've seen this June. I would suspect warm water species that live in shallower water are more subject to these types of die offs.

hoser · **Posted:** Mon Jun 20, 2005 9:34 am

starting to see dead smallmouth in the end of the moira river now. geez.. some nice sized ones too.

dllm413 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:26 pm

According to article in Watertown Daily Times...numerous dead muskies found along St Lawrence..DEC says sudden temperature change did it..muskies are sensitive to temp changes.

Mike · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:46 am

dllm413 wrote:

According to article in Watertown Daily Times...numerous dead muskies found along St Lawrence..DEC says sudden temperature change did it..muskies are sensitive to temp changes.

I heard this also. Just to give you an idea I was out on the Rideau River two Sunday's ago and it was 79-80 degrees F. I went back the following Sunday and it was 67-68 degrees F. That is a pretty big change in just 7 days and it probably happened in less than that.

We are lucky to have our Air conditioners and able to dress appropiately. The fish can't, they need to adjust body temp with the water. Too much of a change in a short time can be deadly.

Mike

hoser · **Posted:** Sun Jun 26, 2005 8:55 pm

yeah, it's been pretty hot lately too, I've stopped my trout fishing, until the fall before the season closes, too hot to stress them out, less chance of survival releasing them.

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Fish Kill

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