Post By: koko Posted: 8/12/2012 5:15:08 PM Points: 198
Breaks my heart to see several 20"+ walleye dead on the shore...I am pretty sure that it is from the extreme heat conditions and/or due to the fact that the water level has gone down dramatically, but I may be wrong. I also found several dead crawdads (5"+) along the shorelines.
I guess this is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of fish that are showing up dead in the midwest, especially in Nebraska.
Koko, thanks for the report, was nice talking with you at my work place. This is sad to see, no doubt about it. Did the first one have any signs of being caught/released injured ? I will try and get a temp reading in 10 and 20 foot levels tomorrow, and not just the surface temp.
Reply by: koko Posted: 8/13/2012 8:14:40 AM Points: 198
It was nice to meet you the other day Bud, thanks for all your help.
I did not notice any signs of injuries or that it was caught by a fisherman. Went out for a couple hours again last night and found several more walleye, carp, an shad laying on the shore dead.
Its almost a hazard at this point with all the people visting at this time of year. I had to tell many kids not to play with the dead fish as they were tossing em around to each other like footballs and their parents just watching.
Reply by: badextracab Posted: 8/13/2012 8:40:47 AM Points: 68
The Beautiful Lakes of Eastern Sierra are Full and Just Fine !!! I Like High Sierra Lakes BETTER than Colo, ....(most of all lakes in Colo are man-made, res) :(
Reply by: FishinChris Posted: 8/13/2012 11:19:07 AM Points: 524
Even two weeks ago I noticed a bunch of big floaters. Sucks to see a bunch of fish die, but I don't think there will be any shortage of walleye at Creek.
Reply by: koko Posted: 8/15/2012 11:18:41 AM Points: 198
The stench is aweful, couldnt stick around for more than a few hours last night. The rangers really need to get out there and continue their efforts on getting these picked up as it is extremely bad out there and getting worse.
Reply by: BED Posted: 8/15/2012 3:37:55 PM Points: 53
Saw dead LMB, carp, bluegill, and walleye yesterday at another metro lake. All were very large for this lake. It appears that the older, larger fish are affected by the heat the most.
This morning on CC, see some washed up along the dam, moved in close enough to see a pair were large Shad. Think I remember reading someplace that low water causing less oxygen affects small fish first ? But what ever caused it, the breeding shad numbers have to have taken a hit. When do Shad spawn ? Spring right ?
You know, with all the bubblers they got in that lake, that the fish would be better off than other places. I'll head up Monday anyhow and check it out for myself.
Reply by: Ydoc Posted: 8/23/2012 9:59:05 AM Points: 15
Paul, they said in that story that the plants are gobbling up all the oxygen. I'm by no means a scientist, but I remember second grade and I was always taught plants gobble CO2 and give oxygen as a byproduct WTF?
Koko no update from rangers, dow did test water quality and said it was fine, I'm sure most is due to heat, water is cooling now , we should see less game fish floating, but fast changes in temp is very hard on the shad populations , creek has plenty of shad ,some die off would help reduce a forage glut, I have seen this before and noticed no serious impact on that body of water, maybe it is natures way of culling a population, I have no for sure answer , mostly just speculation at this point.
What I noticed today, so far as floaters was mostly all shad, and have been dead for some time. According to Pauls link, the last line (The definitive cause of the shad kill could be announced on Thursday)
Reply by: koko Posted: 8/23/2012 7:07:57 PM Points: 198
I'm sure the quality of the water is just fine and it seems that it has not affected the bite at all. I stopped by earlier today along the dam on the west side. After walking for about 2 minutes, the stench was so awful that I turned around immediately. I saw at least 50 dead fish on the shorelines (what appeared to be mostly shad) from walking 100 feet of the dam. Saw many floating as well...
Is the plan to let mother nature take its course? I feel that the numbers are too great and need to be cleaned up. My concern is that the stench and massive amounts of dead fish will basically ruin this fishery (at least for the shore fisherman). I hope they make an effort to at least get this cleaned up.
koko rangers also told me they pick up floaters every day and get rid of them, Boat ranger Bob told us worst day he had was 115 floaters , still a bunch, but I guess they are making an effort to keep it from getting to bad .
Reply by: pridetattoo Posted: 8/24/2012 12:09:26 AM Points: 75
I have to agree with what the general thought that the temp is what is killing the fish. I have been out to CC basically every day for the last week, minus one day, and have noticed the floater population spike and lessen with the heat. Earlier this week when the temp was in the 90's again there was a ton of floaters....more than I care to count. However, in the last couple of days when the temp has dropped I have noticed that there are not quite as many. I know part of this is from the rangers cleaning up the floaters, but being that I am out there most every day I have noticed a decrease with the cooler temp, not to mention there are not near as many in the AM as there are mid day to early evening. I have noticed with the fish finder that the highest temp I saw was 74 degrees earlier this week, tonight the temp was down to 68 degrees and I did not notice nearly as many floaters.
It too breaks my heart to see all the fish dieing, but I suppose mother nature takes care of things the way she sees' fit. Now to the negative comments about CC all I have to say is that it is no different at any other lake. From Grand lake to Jefferson lake and all the lakes between you are going to find trash, debris, and an assortment of numerous other things that destroy the beauty and enjoyment of our lakes. Perhaps we all should learn to pack out, pick up and have concern about our lakes then there would be no need for any negative comments at all. I hope my opinion doesn't offend anyone, just one crazy guy's hope that one day everyone will do their part.
Tattoo, Stewardship is a part that everyone should play, as you elude to. If we want our parks and lakes to maintain their beauty, we have to step up when others don't. Most people on this site are very concious and take action so your words may preach to the choir on that one. But, it is good to see people with a heart for taking care of things.
On a separate note, I am from the Springs, and I am taking my 3yr old daughter and a buddy out to CC on Tuesday. Is the smell that bad that we should hit chatty instead? I don't want it to be a bad experience for my daughter. It will be her first time fishing from a boat. I also really want to get into some eyes so I am hoping this cooler weather maintains for a few days to keep that water temp on the decline and the eyes hunger on the rise... Hoping anyway.
Reply by: troutfishing30 Posted: 8/27/2012 11:04:08 AM Points: 300
This place lost respect.lets let everyone fish and boat while there is a father in the water dead.the wife is asking that no one goes there till they locate the body.please respect her because I will..
Trout, there is no lost respect here. I personally didn't even know there was anyone looking until FOM posted his update yesterday. I was glad to hear the body was found. People come from all over and not everyone knows what may or may not be happening at a body of water. Our prayers and thoughts go out to that family. Deepest, deepest sympathy.
