thousands of fish dies

birdman652001

birdman652001

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BROOKINGS, SD - Thousands of dead fish have washed up along the shore up West Oakwood Lake in eastern South Dakota. The fish, mostly carp, appeared this week after the ice on the lake in the Oakwood Lakes State Park melted.

Park manager Randy Pitts attributed the fish deaths to annual winterkill, caused when the thick sheet of ice and snow reduce
oxygen levels in the lake. But he says it appears to have taken a significant toll this year.

Todd St. Sauver of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks says the department will test the dead fish as a precaution and determine whether a large number of game fish were affected. He says Spirit Lake in Kingsbury County and Long Lake near Madison also experienced a large fish kill.
 
Saw a picture of that in the paper. Pretty nasty looking. I am sure it will not smell.
 
"They think possibly some of the northerns and perch made it through, but the walleye may have gotten hit pretty hard I think and, of course, we got rid of some carp which is kind of a good thing,” said Pitts.

Pitts says game fish will be re-stocked and the lake will eventually bounce back, but a more pressing problem is the clean up. Some of the fish get blown from shore to shore and eventually sink, but others will have to be picked up.

"It's not real appealing to have them setting out in front of your cabin day after day looking at them, so picking up some of them will definitely be an option, I guess,” said Pitts.

Pitts says Game Fish and Parks will stage a clean up and will call for volunteers to help out. He knows the clock is ticking on this "dirty job."

"They're in pretty bad shape now and so the sooner, the better actually. They're not much fun to grab a hold of now, I'll tell you that,” said Pitts.

Pitts says he's working to secure a dump site where homeowners can bring fish from their shore line to be buried. We'll keep you posted.
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well it did affect some other fish, but mainly the carps died. i hate carps. they're worthless fish
 
Lake Andes had a big carp kill off this winter too. That's good news
 
I thought rough fish such as Carp were more tolerant to low oxygen levels then game fish such as Bass, pike or walleyes?
 
That is not going to be a fun job on those nasty smelling fish. I had the luxury of doing this 2 years ago. Thought the coons and Eagles would eat them, not!!! Seagulls ate the eyes out and that was that. When I grabbed the carp they just oozzed a nasty liquid and fell apart. Had to throw away every thing I had on and couldn't eat fish for 6 months. Picked up over 300 carp in the 8-20 lbs. range and had to put them in a hazmat container. I did get a 500 dollar bonus, but I will not ever do that again!!!:eek::eek::eek:
 
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