Post By: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/18/2012 9:25:31 AM Points: 177
Took these over last weekend, couldn't believe there was this many fish still in Bonny. I only seen 1 big dead walleye, a couple huge wiper and no catfish. But there was still alot of fish swimming around the drain and under the ice, so I believe there are thousands that are still trying to survive. Also there were thousands that I couldn't get close enough to i.d. them.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/18/2012 9:29:16 AM Points: 177
1st pic - big dead wiper 2nd pic - another big dead wiper (there is another fish resting against its head) 3rd pic - biggest carp I've ever seen, all you can see is it's side. (for reference the fish on the beach are around 16-18")
Reply by: fishhooker Posted: 1/18/2012 9:53:37 AM Points: 2061
Truly a sad waste. Have you by chance sent these pics to some news agencies? I'm sure that some news channels of papers would eat this info up. Keep up the good fight!
Reply by: dogpaddle Posted: 1/18/2012 10:13:43 AM Points: 21
This makes me sick, why don't they save the fish and take them to some other lake? Why aren't parks/cdow doing anything to save these fish? This doesn't make sense. and I totally agree call the news because they do love stuff like this.
Reply by: dadch Posted: 1/18/2012 10:14:18 AM Points: 455
what a shame... thats just sad... all those fish could have been transfered to other lakes, ponds ect. or gone to some of the shelters to help feed some of those in need... what a shame..
Reply by: fishinwfoos Posted: 1/18/2012 10:23:24 AM Points: 1475
I truly hope this is the last colorado lake to go through all of this. Maybe we could send these pics to local officials before they decide to do this again.
HOLY DRUM....I think thats what those dead ones were??
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/18/2012 10:27:35 AM Points: 177
pilotphil They set 4 small nets out for a little over 2 weeks. That's all they did besides relying on fisherman. They could easily string a net out across the canal that leads to the drain. We saw alot of fish swimming around the drain.
Reply by: Tbubb Posted: 1/18/2012 10:33:20 AM Points: 3457
Wow. What are the multitudes of fish stacked up there? Crappie or Drum? What are the ones circling the drain? Can you get down there? I'm surprised no fishermen have gone to 'rescue' limits of the living for the fridge if they are edible species!?!?!?
Meanwhile, I suppose the harks, fox, coyote, and racoons are celebrating a fortunate winter for themselves at least.
Reply by: pilotphil Posted: 1/18/2012 10:34:34 AM Points: 851
Well, how many carp does the rest of the state need? What's done is done guys. The state entered into the agreement to close the lake and that's what they've done. Crying about it won't bring back the fish.
Reply by: pilotphil Posted: 1/18/2012 11:03:58 AM Points: 851
how many natural lakes have you guys fished in CO? We play 2nd fiddle to water rights and I assure you they don't give 2$!*s about you, me, or the fish. It's their sandbox we just play in it while they allow it.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/18/2012 11:20:30 AM Points: 177
pilotphil - I am not crying about it, but trust me we have fought this from day one and we have every right to continue. Yep it's definently too late for the fish though. I am simply just keeping people posted.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/18/2012 11:22:58 AM Points: 177
Mostly shad, drum, white bass, carp and wipers. I know there has to be alot of catfish and walleye still in there, but there are alot of fish frozen in the ice.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/18/2012 11:27:37 AM Points: 177
As for fishing. There really isn't any way to fish. The ice is way to thin to hold any weight. I threw just a little rock out there and it put a hole in it. The water has to be pretty nasty from all the diseased rotting fish that carry Botulism (from what I read). And eating them or even handling them could be harmful. I couldn't really tell what kind of fish were swimming around.
I sent this link into 9 news and they have responded and said that they have done 2 reports on this topic. (link 1 & 2 below) once they seen these pictures they came back and said "We had not seen these images before. I will show these in our editorial meeting ~Misty"
This just makes me sick to think that all these fish are going to waste! What happens to us when we waste fish???? Seems like a 1 way street to me!
Trollinghunter, I told them that if they want to use the pictures the credit needs to go to you and if needed i would get your email for them to ask. i don't want credit, Just someone to take action! I appreciate you taking these photos!
BCAT Thanks, I really don't care about getting credit for this. It's all out in the open for everyone to see I just so happend to have a camera. There have been pictures in the Burlington Record over the past couple of weeks of some of it. The lady that started the Eastern Colorado Water Issues group took all of my 47 photos and sent them to the Matt from 9news, the same guy who did the stories before.
Draining any lake will result in thousands of dead fish, there is just no way for them to get them all. The only thing is that they could have done more than set 4 nets out for a couple weeks. But this is the way politics always seem to work, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Makes me sick!! To know there is a record Flathead in there, it was released 2 years ago its the current Cand R Flathead on record and propably still there in the deepest part suffing. I say they need to get in there get there hands dirty get off there butts, roll up the sleves and Electro shock these fish and save them. Do a better job then what is being done.
Not the carp and drum, shad unless there is a place to put them, but come on man atleast save the trophy fish for sure. What a fracking waist. They cannot give me enough reasons to have not done this before. Absolutly no excuse for waisted trophy fish. Here is a picture of that Flathead just dieng in there. Im sure this guy that caught this fish and released it has got to be very upest. I know I would be.
Take a good look at that fish and tell me its not worth saving.
You will soon see them shut it down so you will not be able to get pictures anylonger. The bigger fish will come soon im sure.
36 inches and 24# From what I gather hes not the type of angler to do that even if he had known what would have been its fetal demise. Plaese keep the pictures coming. The public needs to know how this is being handled. But I would be willing to bet they shut you down from gaining access.
The powers the be misslead all of us, that is for sure with the fish harvest and the nets. Not enough effort in my mind has been made to save these trophies in that lake. I dont think we should trust what they tell us anylonger.
Scott is a friend of mine. He is the one the picture and he really is a great fisherman. Another friend of mine caught another state record Flathead this past summer and I think that they are waiting for it to be posted. There is a picture in the Burlington Record of a flathead dead on the ice from a couple weeks ago. It looked as big or bigger than the one in the picture. HUGE WASTE!!
suck me sideways i wish i knew about this before the death started because i would have gone in and taken them all i live off fish when i can and this just plain sucks to waste good food . Same thing is happening in pueblo at minequa lake but all i have ever caught out of ther is carp and i dont care to eat them too much
At least take the Wiper and Walleye out and transplant them unless this is what is left over for the nets. That just makes a guy sick. Why wouldn't the DOW net the fish and take them elsewhere? They dam sure would fine the hell out of each and everyone of us if we wanted to over take our limits, but then they do this$!*. I am not impressed.
On a little different note....I bet the seagull and vulture hunting would be fun out there with a 20 ga. but I would much rather have gool ol Bonny kicking strong!
Well, we tried to catch some fish there back 2nd week of Oct.
Couldn't catch anything tho (except 1 sucker). Made the long hike to one of the very few places to reach shoreline safely. Water was barely a foot deep for quite a ways.
Even the group of kayakers checking their jug lines didn't catch anything.
Went home with a couple last photos and said goodbye to Bonny.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/19/2012 9:21:01 AM Points: 177
paulent Probably not, it's quite a hike to the waters edge now and all of roads on the north side are blocked off. The silty bottom is barely frozen enough to hold a person. I went knee deep in stinky nasty silt a few times.
Reply by: cassmaster Posted: 1/19/2012 9:28:21 AM Points: 627
im so sick of giving this state me 1000 dollars a year in licences and parks passes and everything else you have to pay for anymore just to see such a great lake flusked down the drain. kansas and nebraska here i came.
Theres not much DOW can do. Doing fish salvage is extremely difficult, time consuming and costly. You don't realize how hard it is until you're actually out there trying to do it. It sucks, seems like a waste, but it's reality. Its a good learning session though, cause this is what has to be done when people act as bucket biologists. Remember the waste the next time you think about moving walleye, pike or brook trout to another area cause you think it would work.
Reply by: cookster Posted: 1/21/2012 9:09:55 AM Points: 2323
This is very sad to see, BUT I think the CPW did a heck of a job salvaging the game fish. In all the pictures are piles of thrash fish ( carp, shad, and drum ) with a wiper here and there. Over the summer and fall i filleted over 1000 fish and burned up 3 electric fillet knives. The biggest fish were 18.5# -22.3# wiper, 18# flat head, 16# channel cat, 14# blue cat, 4- 8# walleye, and tons of white bass. Sure they were alot of game fish that died but it could have been alot worse. So how many fish did all you guys help salvage from Bonny over the summer?
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 1/21/2012 10:15:44 AM Points: 177
I even had to look at the better quality pictures.....But yes it's a carp.
Cookster I admire your outlook on things, however the CPW only set out 4 small nets for 2-3 weeks there were 2 at the south end of the dam, 1 at the mouth of the north cove, and 1 at the east side of birds island. Leterally all of these nets were in 2' to 5' of water and the nets themselves were probably 15-20' in length. Not to say they didn't get any game fish, but the regional biologist told me they were only really going after the flathead cats, since they are not native to Colorado. The fisherman like you and I and many others are the ones that salvaged the game fish, not the CPW. I suspect the game fish are staying in the deepest water trying to survive, and they will be showing up shortly. I will keep you posted. There is no way to get all of the fish out but for a lake being there for 60+ years it would have been nice to see them try a little harder. Nothing anyone can do about it now so this post is more or less to help with the curiosity for everyone.
With gas prices, relocating fish is extremely expensive. You almost completely negate the cost of saving the fish when you calculate transporting trucks, drivers, maintanence and gas. Then the other problem, which seems silly but very real, is where to relocate the fish. Have to be aware of spreading disease, micro organisms, inverts, and the list goes on. I'm not defending their actions or possible lack thereof, but these details are often overlooked unless if you've actually done it. Plus, warm water fish reproduce well so the initial stocking cost was minimal. Granted you pay for wipers, walleye and trout, but gill netting is effective at getting alot of walleyes and wipers.
Reply by: kokee Posted: 1/22/2012 7:49:47 PM Points: 603
what a shame , and by the time the water goes threw nebraska kansas probley wont see much of that water, what a nice multi species lake gone to waste , i feel real bad for kenny at papa's bait and tackle , he is going to lose his business
Reply by: Tbubb Posted: 1/23/2012 9:20:43 AM Points: 3457
Cookster - I'm glad you made some use of the situation. I was disconnected from the events this summer, or I would have done the same. Loss is one thing, but waste is another. I don't know what was done or how much, but I can see the downside of trying too hard too. Frankly, I think there was reasonable effort put into it if the CDOW put the note out there, informed the community, and removed the limits to promote salvage... It is still a shame, but sometimes these things happen. It's probably hard for some people to separate the reality of water usage and water law from the emotions that they feel when they see piles of dead fish bigger than they normally catch...
Kokee, I'm right there with you on feeling bad for Kenny and Brenda, they put everything they had into the bait shop, that's is the real waste. Great people, I hope the best for them. Hopefuly they will stick around.
As for the water rights issue. The only thing draining Bonny has done for Colorado is make it so Kansas and Nebraska can't charge us the evaporation loss each year. We are also giving away water on the North Fork by building a pipeline that cost $70+ million and pumping water downstream (operational by July). After all of this is finished we will still owe more water than we have, leaving only irrigation and towns water wells for the taking. I've learned over the past years, we are doing all of this so "when" we go back to court with Kansas the court hopefully will be sympathetic to our situation and give Colarado a break with our wells. Scary Stuff!! When will it end, maybe Dec. 21, 2012?....haha.
That doesn't leave much for water on the eastern plains. I sure hope thtey don't mess with Sterling or Jackson or Jumbo. I'm glad some of you were able to harvest some of the fish. i'm still wondering why it was necessary to wipe out one the best fisheries on the plains.
I don't think those reservoirs are in the Republican River Basin , but there are water issues all over Colorado. I think that we are only 1 of 2 states in the US that only has rivers flowing out and nothing in, the other is Alaska, at least that's what I've been told. Colorado does have a similar argreement with KS on the Arkansas River Basin though so some of the same things might happen with those lakes.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 2/1/2012 10:18:03 AM Points: 177
Walleyenut - I wonder if all fish go to heaven....hahaha!
I do have some more pictures from this last weekend, I will try to get them posted in the next few days. They are pretty much of the same thing just more of it. They blocked off the drain with some snow fence.
Bald Eagles are not great hunters, better at scavenging...so an empty lake with a buffet of different fish.....is DOW or dept of interior there to keep an eye on the birds ?
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 2/2/2012 7:51:48 AM Points: 177
I talked with a Guy from US Fish and Wildlife and they don't really seem concerned about the Bald Eagles. He told me that this was the first time that he heard about Bonny being drained.....same old same old
Reply by: pikeNcolorado Posted: 2/2/2012 9:13:33 AM Points: 2334
I agree with Tbubb, CPW did do it's part in saving fish (Netting) and harvesting fish(lifting all limits). But it is impossible for them to get everything. Not sure if anyone has noticed but the budget cuts that CPW has faced over the past 2 years has been brutal. Also, I was informed that a lot of the fish went to close by reservoirs like Stalker. They can't get them all guys, I hate seeing dead fish as much as the next guy, but in my humble opinion, they did what they could considering their budget. On the plus side, if they would've spent all summer on Bonny, they would've neglected other reservoirs that are here to stay for future generations.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 2/2/2012 10:23:09 AM Points: 177
I completely agree that they couldn't get them all, not even close. But seriously they didnt even set the nets out until after they opened up the drain. Yes, it would have been stighlty costly, but then again they could have saved millions by not building the visitor center, paving the roads and remodeling the shower buildings. Man I sure hope that they didn't put the fish they salvaged in Stalker Lake because it's fed by the North Fork of the Republican River and there is a chance that it will get drained too, wouldn't surprise me though.
Are you serious mtnmn? If they would have spent the time and money to truck thousands of fish do different lakes across the state you would be crying about wasting taxpayers money. But you are right, lets arrest the CDOW!?! The crime isn't the handling of the fish its how it got to this point in the first place. The CDOW were in a lose, lose position.
So I wonder if anyone could try for the whoppers that would be in the deep? Looks like the deep areas were accessible... well at least for someone crazy enough to try... There have to be some MONSTER eyes and others in the bottom.
Reply by: Trollinghunter Posted: 4/16/2012 10:29:30 AM Points: 177
Lots of people were trying to snag what was left around the end of February/first of March and then the temp warmed up and to my knowlege killed the remaining fish. I wouldn't recommend going out there, the ground is thawed and now it is very dangerous soft mud/silt. The smell was very bad then and I'm sure worse now. The fish then were only swimming in 18"-24" of water and you could see the dorsal fins of the bigger ones. Now there is only 59 ac/ft of water and the average is 22,168 ac ft.
