Fish Kill 8-2-2006

[TNHeadhunter]

<font face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">I went fishing the other day on one of my favorite ponds near Pikeville.  As soon as I started I noticed a couple of dead bluegill floating in the water.  I continued from the dam around to the opposite end where I've been catching several dozen bull gills and shellcrackers the last few times (actually caught a good mess 2 days before this).  The closer I got to the shallow end the more dead panfish I saw.  There were a few that were still twitching.  I fished for 2 and a half hours and didn't even get a sniff.  Anyone know anything about what might cause this? A few people I've talked to say it was the pond turning over, but noone could explain what tha was exactly and what causes it.  Thanks!!!</font></p>

 

[churly]

Happens quite often in ponds this time of year. Too many fish + Not enough oxygen + hot temps= fish kill. One way to help prevent it is to harvest fish regularly, and some people will install a fountain that helps circulate and oxygenate the water. I have seen it happen on more than one awsome pond. One particular was at buddy's unles pond in Cohutta, all thge fish died including an 11+ lb largemouth and hundreds of other cats and gills. TWRA offers pond managment info check out their site; www.tnwildlife.com

Sorry to hear about that.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Churley is right. We had a bunch of farm ponds that I used to fish in Harrison. The ones that were harvested correctly never had a fish kill. Some of the folks that put in ponds won't let anyone take a fish out of the pond which sometimes results in overcrowding and dead or stunted fish.

 

[TNHeadhunter]

Thanks for the imfo guys!</p>



Good thing I have several other ponds to fish.

  It was a shame it happened. 

I was really figuring out how to consistently catch good bass and shellcrackers, gills and an occasional slab crappie.  From what i've heard there have been several 10 to 14 lb. bass caught there in past years.  Hopefully it will come back well in the future </p>