Had no idea that native fish got this disease in their natural habitat.
http://ksax.com/article/stories/S185531.shtml?cat=10263
Not a good Labor Day weekend for many fish and it wasn't so great for the fisherman either on Pelican Lake; not confirmed but it looks lake an acute case of bacterial disease has affected crappies on this lake and in large numbers.
DNR Fisheries Supervisor Dean Beck says, "certainly more than hundreds and probably pushing a thousand fish (have died). We collected some fish tissue from some dying or freshly deceased fish and sent them to our pathology lab but I'm relatively sure what I'm looking at is likely an acute outbreak of a bacterial disease called Columnaris."
Don't worry there isn't any harm to humans. Patience and the best lure most likely won't even be able to catch one of these infected crappies...because they just won't bite.
"In all likelihood they probably wouldn't bite...it's (the fish) not gonna be very active. In fact you can see them a lot of times just laying on the surface of the water. They're very weak and can't swim very well, " Beck says.
This type of fish die-off is not so typical in late summer but recently the water temperatures changed quite a bit on Pelican Lake which put extra stress on the fish and made conditions just right for this certain type of bacteria to thrive.
Beck says, "those adults are there yet...we'll have a big year next year in terms of trying to fill the void with young crappies. So we'll feel a bump but they'll be back on."
Although not uncommon for fish to die off from disease, the number of fish is what made this die-off a bigger deal. A lot of great fish that never had the chance to be reeled in.
"I guess we've lost some good fish...a report of one fish up to 15 inches which is just pushing that trophy size that everybody wants. What a waste....if I could produce good crappie fishing every year I'd be a hero. I hate to see 'em go to mother nature's whims, but that's the case. It's a tough environment for them out there," says Beck.
The DNR is still waiting for test results to come back to verify the cause of this die-off. This type of bacteria is very specific to just fish. The DNR office encourages you to call if you see large amounts of different kinds of fish washing up on shore.
http://ksax.com/article/stories/S185531.shtml?cat=10263
Not a good Labor Day weekend for many fish and it wasn't so great for the fisherman either on Pelican Lake; not confirmed but it looks lake an acute case of bacterial disease has affected crappies on this lake and in large numbers.
DNR Fisheries Supervisor Dean Beck says, "certainly more than hundreds and probably pushing a thousand fish (have died). We collected some fish tissue from some dying or freshly deceased fish and sent them to our pathology lab but I'm relatively sure what I'm looking at is likely an acute outbreak of a bacterial disease called Columnaris."
Don't worry there isn't any harm to humans. Patience and the best lure most likely won't even be able to catch one of these infected crappies...because they just won't bite.
"In all likelihood they probably wouldn't bite...it's (the fish) not gonna be very active. In fact you can see them a lot of times just laying on the surface of the water. They're very weak and can't swim very well, " Beck says.
This type of fish die-off is not so typical in late summer but recently the water temperatures changed quite a bit on Pelican Lake which put extra stress on the fish and made conditions just right for this certain type of bacteria to thrive.
Beck says, "those adults are there yet...we'll have a big year next year in terms of trying to fill the void with young crappies. So we'll feel a bump but they'll be back on."
Although not uncommon for fish to die off from disease, the number of fish is what made this die-off a bigger deal. A lot of great fish that never had the chance to be reeled in.
"I guess we've lost some good fish...a report of one fish up to 15 inches which is just pushing that trophy size that everybody wants. What a waste....if I could produce good crappie fishing every year I'd be a hero. I hate to see 'em go to mother nature's whims, but that's the case. It's a tough environment for them out there," says Beck.
The DNR is still waiting for test results to come back to verify the cause of this die-off. This type of bacteria is very specific to just fish. The DNR office encourages you to call if you see large amounts of different kinds of fish washing up on shore.
