why so many dead fish

[sansui]

Hi,
At Pigeon lake now and was really wondering why there are thousands of dead Whitefish floating around.

[JohninAB]

Hot weather depletes the oxygen levels in the lake especially near the surface where whitefish tend to hang out. Or that is what I have been told.

[brianscott]

Possible algae bloom depriving the fish of oxygen in the water, warm water temps or some other factor ie: human carelessness.

Just my guesses

[ChrisRenaud]

That definately sounds like a summerkill to me, but i would think other fish would be affected also.. than again, whitefish dont seem to be very tough at the best of times...

[Wulfespirit]

Yikes - can anyone else confirm this?

[floppychicken]

..doesn't sound too good. Whitefish tend to be a good marker of how good or 'bad' a body of water is....

Have you ever seen how whitefish move through a river and tend to leave the 'polluted areas' ASAP? Fortunately, they 'can' move from the bad part of the river, up or downstream.... There's no escape from Pigeon. I hope things improve.

/FC....

[nevercatchmuch]

sansui, did you call fish and wildlife to report it and also see what they say?

hopefully all the pelicans go there and eat em and stop scoopin up my rainbows! :lol:

[sansui]

Oh I,m sure they would know about it you can't miss em. First time I was ever at Pigeon, sure easy to catch some nice wallies.

[hockeyfish]

was at pigeon a week ago and saw one dead whitefish

[Jayball]

was at pigeon a week ago and saw one dead whitefish


I just spend past 10 days out there at familiy cabin. When i first got out on Thursday, July 31, I only saw a few floaters. But the time I left last night... the eastern beaches were littered with dead whites. I went out on the lake sat. night and they were everywhere as well. I also noticed an algae bloom really develop on friday and saturday night as well (more than normal)... so maybe that had something to do with this.

I think it is summerkill... but interestingly... every single dead fish i saw was BIG... no small fish at all. Every single one that I saw was in the 24-28 inch range... and fat (not due to bloating).

Also.. I saw no other dead species... and I was on the lake twice a day for 10 straight days.

[PoorTurtle]

I was told by F&W that older whitefish die very easy from lack of oxigen due to warm waters and algea. I also saw lots of floaters at pigeon on Saturday.

[Penner]

I just spend past 10 days out there at familiy cabin. When i first got out on Thursday, July 31, I only saw a few floaters. But the time I left last night... the eastern beaches were littered with dead whites. I went out on the lake sat. night and they were everywhere as well. I also noticed an algae bloom really develop on friday and saturday night as well (more than normal)... so maybe that had something to do with this.

I think it is summerkill... but interestingly... every single dead fish i saw was BIG... no small fish at all. Every single one that I saw was in the 24-28 inch range... and fat (not due to bloating).

Also.. I saw no other dead species... and I was on the lake twice a day for 10 straight days.

What, how could this be??? :scared: I thought the Walleye had ate all of the Whitefish in Pigeon Lake??? :lol:

Warm temps with little to no rain combine that with algae blooms means summerkill. Seems to be happening more often on Pigeon lately. Whitefish are more susceptible to warmer water and lower O2 levels than Walleye, Pike, or Perch so that is why you only see Whitefish floating around and no other species. This is why you mainly see populations of Whitefish around or north of the 49th (cooler water’s).

Also with the algae blooms you may want to be cautious with water skiing, swimming, pet’s in the water, etc. Some algae can be harmful to humans and or animals. Use caution!!!:sick:

[Jayball]

What, how could this be??? :scared: I thought the Walleye had ate all of the Whitefish in Pigeon Lake??? :lol:

Warm temps with little to no rain combine that with algae blooms means summerkill. Seems to be happening more often on Pigeon lately. Whitefish are more susceptible to warmer water and lower O2 levels than Walleye, Pike, or Perch so that is why you only see Whitefish floating around and no other species. This is why you mainly see populations of Whitefish around or north of the 49th (cooler water’s).

Also with the algae blooms you may want to be cautious with water skiing, swimming, pet’s in the water, etc. Some algae can be harmful to humans and or animals. Use caution!!!:sick:

ah... that explains the swimmers itch :)

[Stewie]

It happens at Pigeon every now and then... it is the older fish that die off when the temp. heats up

[Penner]

ah... that explains the swimmers itch :)

Yup that would do it. Can get you really sick too if swallowed!

[SNAPFisher]

What, how could this be??? :scared: I thought the Walleye had ate all of the Whitefish in Pigeon Lake??? :lol:

Warm temps with little to no rain combine that with algae blooms means summerkill. Seems to be happening more often on Pigeon lately. Whitefish are more susceptible to warmer water and lower O2 levels than Walleye, Pike, or Perch so that is why you only see Whitefish floating around and no other species. This is why you mainly see populations of Whitefish around or north of the 49th (cooler water’s).

Also with the algae blooms you may want to be cautious with water skiing, swimming, pet’s in the water, etc. Some algae can be harmful to humans and or animals. Use caution!!!:sick:

Yep, first they are getting snapped up by walleye, pike and now they are getting summerkilled. I would add anglers to that list as long as I'm excluded. Those whitefish are in no danger from me catching them ;)

[wildman]

i can confirm this too....
one of my fishin buddys was there sunday.
he saw tonnes of dead BIG whites too.
apparently so bad they were using a bobcat to help clean the prov. pk. beaches. really sucky for us winter whitie hunters....

[carmike]

i can confirm this too....
one of my fishin buddys was there sunday.
he saw tonnes of dead BIG whites too.
apparently so bad they were using a bobcat to help clean the prov. pk. beaches. really sucky for us winter whitie hunters....


Looks like my smokers going to get a lot of use making jerky this winter instead of Smoking Whites... &%#$!!

[I-Love-Eyes]

We were fishing at South Buck Lake this weekend and there were a lot of dead whites there as well. Our buddy in another boat weighed a freshly dead one (not bloated yet) and it was 10.3 lbs. The algae bloom is getting very bad and Buck Creek even has the blue/green algae. It looked very scummy and awful.

[hockey1099]

i must be oblivious. i was there on monday and saturday and did not see a single dead fish. in any event lets hope for a lot of rain and cooler temps