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Cutler Fish Die Off? - Printable Version

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Cutler Fish Die Off? - SkunkedAgain - 05-25-2020

So I ran up to IF for the in-laws to decorate some graves today. As I drove by the clay slough this morning there were maybe a dozen dead fish floating belly up right there by the road and again tonight on the way home there was a fair bunch of dead ones floating. Has anyone heard what is going on?  I sure hope whatever it is it doesn’t spread into the rest of Cutler. Later Jeff


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - Anglinarcher - 05-25-2020

Could you tell what kind of fish they were?  If it was carp, they might have that virus that kills mostly carp, in which it could kill 70 to 80 % but leave 99% of the other species alone.  I have seen this once in Louisiana, once in Northern Idaho, once in Eastern Washington.  The Aussies are using a version of this to control carp.

If that is what it is, it is in a way natures help to us.  Banks will smell for a time, but......

If it was another species, or more then just carp, that could be a problem for sure.  Did you notice any species details?


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - SkunkedAgain - 05-26-2020

Unfortunately, I was just driving by, so couldn't tell for sure, but looked like they were carp. Have asked others that were out on Cutler if they seen any dead fish, and they said they didn't... So hopefully it was contained to that arm. I think there are some industrial and Amalga sewage returns that re enter the water system from that arm, so I'd probably look for something they released that they weren't supposed to... Kind of weird to see so many fish belly side up in such a small area... Hope it's nothing to worry too much about... Would be kind of cool if it was just a carp virus that would reduce the carp population by 90%, if so the other fish might be able to keep the population in control after that big of hit... Thanks for the suggestion... Later Jeff


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - Mildog - 05-27-2020

Could be arrowed carp from bow-fishers that they left in the water??


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - Anglinarcher - 05-27-2020

Always a possibility, but seldom true. Bowfishers get the blame a lot, and they do leave their catch, but science gets in the way here.

A bow shot carp is seldom dead on retrieval. So if they just release them they swim away to die, and groups are seldom seen. If they are shore shot fish, they usually end up on the bank. I personally do a gillectomy and release them, so again they swim away to their own lonely demise. When you shoot them, the school usually disperses so bowhunters seldom shoot many in one spot (unless during the spawn when it can be different).

Groups of fish are normally ones that were stressed. Stressed fish, not hurt fish, tend to school. When a school dies it is normally a toxin as SkunkedAgain suggested, or a sickness.

One can always come up with a way it could happen, like they were put on a stringer and grandpa told the kids those are carp and we don't eat carp so toss those dead trash fish away, but just because there is a way it could happen does not make it the most likely way.

I would not be offended if it were bowhunters (do it myself once in a while) but toxin or sickness strikes me as more probable.


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - Mildog - 05-28-2020

I agree ! Could be any of the above. It can add nutrients to the water by letting a fish decompose, that is why they encourage leaving entrails out in the water and not on the shore.


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - SkunkedAgain - 05-28-2020

I agree the bow fish take is usually scattered out, all these fish were in area less than a hundred feet wide by about that far away from the road. Pretty heavy concentration of dead fish... I've been wanting to run back over and see if more fish are there, but I haven't made it... Luckily I'm not seeing it over on the main body of the reservoir.... It must have been some sort of local cause in that area... Power company is playing around with the water levels testing for their re license, maybe they trapped the fish in too shallow of water and they died??? Lots of possibilities... Later Jeff


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - Arthur11 - 11-09-2021

I had the same problem with my fish. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to save my fish. But what you need to do now is clean a fish tank after a fish dies to prevent the water from being polluted and affecting the other fish: first remove the fish carcass from the tank, then check the filter system. I had to equip the tank with a sufficient filtration system. strong enough to keep the water clean from the waste produced by dead fish. Water testing is necessary because contaminated water can be the cause of engine downtime. In addition, a partial change of contaminated water is also the fastest way to remove contamination in the aquarium.


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - wiperhunter2 - 11-09-2021

(11-09-2021, 04:17 PM)Arthur11 Wrote: I had the same problem with my fish. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to save my fish. But what you need to do now is clean a fish tank after a fish dies to prevent the water from being polluted and affecting the other fish: first remove the fish carcass from the tank, then check the filter system. I had to equip the tank with a sufficient filtration system. strong enough to keep the water clean from the waste produced by dead fish. Water testing is necessary because contaminated water can be the cause of engine downtime. In addition, a partial change of contaminated water is also the fastest way to remove contamination in the aquarium.

??? Unless I missed something, this post, that was over a year old, is about a lake die off, not an aquarium, big difference.


RE: Cutler Fish Die Off? - SkunkedAgain - 11-09-2021

Probably got on the wrong forum.. Google can do that to you. But thanks for tip anyway even if it doesn’t apply very well to our lakes. But as an update Cutler seemed to recover this year and the fish seemed pretty healthy. Just no real big ones like we hoped for. Later J