Lake turned over

SamS · #1 06-25-2010, 06:04 PM

This really sucks. The small lake in front of my house turned over and most if not all of the big fish are dead. Fish and Game says that there's a lot of that going on right now with the heat in small lakes that are shallow and weedy. There's probably 40 bass ranging from 3-5 lbs floating along with a hand full of catfish from 4-7 lbs and many bluegills and 5/6 20lb + grass carp. like many of us I have barely any spare time and what little I had was spent on the lake fishing. I'm heart broken. At least the smaller fish haven't died yet so maybe in a couple of years it will come back but unless I can get the neighbors to help out and fix a hole in the levy so the lake level can get deeper I fear that this is not over yet. Oh well, spare time is over rated anyway, at least that's what I'm telling myself right now.

MissouriFree · #2 06-25-2010, 06:16 PM

I guess i am confused or ignorant - both most likely .
I always thought " lake turn over' was a naturally occuring thing that happened a couple times a year , usually once in the spring and once in the fall - the surface temps change and the density of the water was different top to bottom. I never associated it with a fish kill though.

Teg · #3 06-25-2010, 06:43 PM

Sorry to hear about your lake, good luck with the neighbors.

DM · #4 06-25-2010, 07:31 PM

Gather them up for your garden, they are VERY high in nitrogen!

DM

SamS · #5 06-26-2010, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DM

Gather them up for your garden, they are VERY high in nitrogen!

DM

Thought about that myself DM but pretty sure the wife would have my head for puting about 100 lbs of dead fish 50' from the house.

Pokeberry Mary · #6 06-26-2010, 01:54 AM

Thats kind of sad.
Before we left wisconsin we had a hot drought summer and my neighbors big pond --smallish lake-- turned and she had it full of koi. She was just heartbroken.

I'm not exactly sure what the 'science' of it is--but I remember she had a problem with erosion or something near the natural spring--or maybe the spring was drying up due to the drought.. All I know is she loved her fish--she wasn't fishing them- for food--but just love them and there were a lot more in there than we knew--found out when they died.. lots of time hauling them out.

I hope you can get it fixed and be back fishing it again in a couple years. Good luck!

DM · #7 06-26-2010, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamS

Thought about that myself DM but pretty sure the wife would have my head for puting about 100 lbs of dead fish 50' from the house.

You can put them away from the house in a barrel of water, and then water the garden from the bbl... It makes things grow like crazy... Some folks pay big money for a bbl. of that for their garden... lol

I use to put salmon in my garden, i'd just burry them between the rows, and it worked pretty good.

DM

mozarkian · #8 06-26-2010, 10:34 AM

Very sorry to hear about your lake. In 2007 we had the same thing happen to our pond, came home one evening to find all of our recently stocked catfish floating, along with some big bass and lots of smaller fish. It was horrible, we used two small john boats to float around and net all the fish out. (We spread em across the food plot that we do for deer and it grew really good the next year.)

In retrospect, I think we overstocked it and caused the problem. We called an old friend who is a retired conservation agent, and he said we shouldn't have been feeding the fish in warm weather because it saps the oxygen. (and we had been feeding because of all the catfish we had put in)

Some fish did survive, we harvest a couple for dinner once a month or so and see several when we do feed, so could have been much worse I guess.

Hang in there, moz

leera · #9 07-10-2010, 11:07 AM

Just read an article about a small lake here in Michigan that locals had named The Duck POnd......with heavy rain we had this year,it broke the small dam that held the water in,and all that's left is a small stream and a lot of mud and stumps.....

Guy in the article stated that he had just been there less than 48 hours before,fishing with his kids....DNRE says they may or may not repair the dam......

SamS · #10 07-15-2010, 10:39 PM

Thats sad if they don't fix it. Some of the best memories I have as I kid are fishing related.

pamsabear · #11 07-18-2010, 03:19 PM

If you aerate the pond would that prevent this problem?

SamS · #12 07-18-2010, 09:59 PM

It wouldn't hurt pamsabear. The main problem with our little lake is there is a section of it that is held in by a levee. Over time the saplings have become trees and the roots have allowed water to pipe through and cause leaks. Then some Muskrats started to tunnel through the weak spots and the water slowly bled off to a level that was perfect for weeds to flourish. Best I can figure from talking to the DNR guys it was a combo of the lake being so shallow, the huge amount of weeds and the heat wave we had come through a few weeks back that led to the depletion of O2 and killed the larger fish off.

Thankfully there are smaller fish alive in it so if I can get a backhoe over here and fix the levee the lake should slowly fill up. Then a little weed control and trap/kill the muskrats and maybe my little piece of heaven will be alright.

Sam

StatHaldol · #13 07-30-2010, 05:09 AM

I grew up in an area that had lots of commercial catfish ponds. During a hot summer, if the pond wasn't aerated, many of the fish would die. Many of the ponds now have an aerator
which looks like a big egg beater that churns the water...

pamsabear · #14 08-05-2010, 09:02 PM

Just read an article discussing the problem of botulism in turned over lakes. Any animal ingesting plant or animal material from the lake could be poisoned. From my canning books I see that botulism thrives in anaerobic environments.

Pam

land steward · #15 03-17-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissouriFree

I guess i am confused or ignorant - both most likely .
I always thought " lake turn over' was a naturally occuring thing that happened a couple times a year , usually once in the spring and once in the fall - the surface temps change and the density of the water was different top to bottom. I never associated it with a fish kill though.

Lake turnovers in most situations are a normal process. The rate at which the lake rolls over is different. If this happens too quickly the oxygen and pressure changes dramaticially and I believe their air sacks burst. Atleast that is how it was told to me by a fisheries scientist.
Our lake is 130 miles long and 600 feet deep. When this happens the fish die in the tens of thousands. Sad to see a 30 pound rainbow dead from such an event.