Pymatuning Fish Kill

Ok, I have been reading all the post and something no one has ask is are the fish dying in the preserve water. And from what I can tell they are not!! So why is the main lake killing the fish once again as it did about 4 years ago with all the dead walleye. ( remember o2 levels ). Come on this stinks again with the smell of someone screwed up. I have fished the lake all my life ( 42yrs ) and the only time I know of fish dying like this is 4yrs ago with the walleye kill and now the crappies. Something stinks besides the fish!!!

In all that time( since 1934 ) this is the only time the lake got warm real fast and Bacteria just exploded causing all the crappies to die. I fished Friday ,Saturday , Sunday 95% of the dead fish are crappies. which were in the weeds two weeks ago spawning like crazy. And now there are dead weeds floating all around the lake. Kinda makes you wonder don't it. Come on people wake up!!!! I call BS.. JMOP.

Spring Kill
Spring kill occurs in lakes and rivers when fish survive the winter but die as the water warms rapidly in May and June. It rarely claims many fish and is usually over in a couple of weeks. Spring kill is almost always due to natural causes beyond our influence. The usual victims are large bluegills and crappies, and other fish which spawn in the spring such as perch, bass, pike and suckers.
A combination of stresses is usually responsible. Fish come through the winter in a weakened condition because they've been eating at a reduced rate. As the water warms, their metabolism increases and they divert much energy to strenuous spawning activities. In lakes, additional stress may be added during "turnover", which is when wave action stirs up bottom water low in oxygen and high in noxious gases. Diseases and parasites also become more active and on a few occasions have been implicated in fish kills. An example is the spring salmon mortality in Lake Michigan caused by bacteria kidney disease (BKD).

Summer Kill
Summer kill occasionally occurs in lakes and streams during extremely hot summer weather. High temperature and low dissolved oxygen combine to stress the fish. Most prone to summer kills are pike, perch, suckers, bass, and bluegill living in shallow, productive lakes or bays with excessive amounts of algae or rooted aquatic vegetation. The plants consume large amounts of oxygen at night, causing a temporary shortage of the vital gas just before dawn. A cloudy, calm day extends the critical period by reducing re-oxygenation from photosynthesis and wave action. Apparently, fish in the oxygen-depleted areas do not sense the danger and swim to safety in time.
Summer kill may also occur in deep, unproductive lakes containing trout or cisco. These fish require both cold and well-oxygenated water. During summer they seek refuge in the cold bottom layers where temperatures are less than 72 degrees F. Death results if the oxygen level there declines below about 4 ppm. Trout will also die in streams if they are unable to find cold spring water. Several stream trout mortalities were reported during the hot summer of 1995.
A very unique type of fish kill is caused by a lightning strike on water. Death occurs immediately. Large fish, which draw more electricity than small fish, may be killed selectively.
In conclusion, the risk of some types of fish kills can be reduced by keeping as many nutrients out of the water as possible. Sources of nutrients include septic fields, fertilized lawns and farm fields, and wastes from livestock and waterfowl (including tame geese). Reducing nutrient input starts the following favorable chain reaction: production by aquatic plants is reduced, less decomposition is required, and oxygen will not become depressed to critical levels.
Natural fish kills are obnoxious, and may affect fishing and predator-prey "balance" for years. However, they are often not serious in the long run because lakes contain thousands of fish per acre. They may be thought of as nature's way of thinning out fish populations. Usually, fish kills indicate that the habitat is of marginal quality for certain species because of the broad range of weather conditions we experience in Michigan.
Infrequently, fish kills indicate habitat or pollution problems we may be able to correct. And sometimes, fish kills beneficially reduce over-populated, slow-growing panfish and actually increase growth rates and improve fishing.
 
 
 
Walleyes will be affected more by low O2 beacuse they live on the bottom where O2 levels are the least....
 
Crappies are very suseptable to disease during and after the spawn. They are just worn out for a time...
 
Very quick spikes in lake temps can bring all of these problems...Which seems to be what has happened here..
 
No big conspiracy just Mother nature taking care of her own......
 
Pymy used to be one of the premiere Musky lakes in the east till a disease about devastated the Musky populations years ago......

I have to say, I really didn't notice any more dead weeds than normal over the weekend.

Spent quite a few hours all over the south/central lake & was watching for major weed die offs & didn't see anything out of the ordinary. A few dead weeds along shore, but aren't there always?

Not sure myself...just doesn't seem to fit the MO of weed killer, too widespread IMO.
Time will tell, but there weren't many fresh dead fish last weekend (I saw 1) Most were badly decomposed.
So hopefully the worst is behind us.

Very good point Cap78. Now think about the preserved water on the other side of the lake. It is also shallow, And would warm very fast why aren't the fish belle up over there also?????.

SOMETHING STINKS AND ITS NOT THE FISH.

Check out the PA fish commission home page there was a large fish kill at Tamarack and a posted do not eat the fish from that lake.
 
I also witnessed a rapid increase in surface temp at Wilhem just as Eyesandgills mentioned about the lake his cuzin fishes, wilhelm also went from 62-64 to 75-77 in a week. This last holiday weekend at wilhelm there where dead white suckers I seen less than 10 and dead small panfish floating here and there not many but more than what might be assciated with people ripping hooks out of gut hooked 2 to 4 inch bluegills and crappies

The first thing we thought down here was weed killer. We haven't been up there though in over a month, so I can't say anything for sure. It just seems odd. Regardless it's sad and I hope other lakes don't have the same misfortune.

Pymatuning Fish kill article...bacteria

thats not too bad. dont know all the specifics but didnt it only take them how long(10+ years) to admit to what happened to the walleye population(fry)?...or did they ever admit it was due to alewife stocking? didnt they hire biologists, scientists, universities, etc... to investigate that also.

uhhh, pretty weak, even by your standards. just sayin'

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/newsreleases/2010press/pyma_tam_lifted.htm
Headed up there Tuesday. Any recent reports? Haven't been up there in 10+ years.