Good response Pheasant Tail 2, quite plausible. I was conversing about this subject 3 days ago @ a local restaurant near the lake and the owner stated "the Fish Commission said someone released goldfish in the lake and they had a virus". That would be possible, but I question how the FC was aware goldfish were released and if they were aware, one would think they would prosecute for releasing non-native species. It seems unlikely they were merely observed in the lake given its' size and unlikely they just happened to roll up on the activity as it happened. Still, it would be possible, just unlikely. I wonder how many carp were eradicated??? 

All's I know is late this summer you could see a dead Carp or decaying Carp carcasses about every six feet or so on shore. Little , big, didn't matter they were everywhere from Pa. shores up into the Ohio shorelines on the west side. The decaying smell was real bad while shore fishing.  Seen some alive and swimming in circles......had to be easily thousands die off. 
 
Wonder how the Linesville Carp Bowl will be this year ?

two thoughts here:
A. there's probably STILL an overabundance of carp in the lake. I would guess the population will bounce back in no time at all.
2. for those of us that enjoy CPR fishing for carp, a die off of mass proportions may be a good thing for us too. A smaller biomass might allow the "growth stunted" population to actually reach trophy (20+lbs) size more easily, Making Pymatuning a destination lake for trophies. This, I believe is unlikely though, as Pymies physical characteristics are not conducive to producing giant carp in any great numbers. Are they out there? sure, but not in great numbers. (I am not counting the behemoths in the hatchery waters). Whole different set of rules going on there.
 
let the comments fly..........

KingKool
two thoughts here:
A. there's probably STILL an overabundance of carp in the lake. I would guess the population will bounce back in no time at all.
2. for those of us that enjoy CPR fishing for carp, a die off of mass proportions may be a good thing for us too. A smaller biomass might allow the "growth stunted" population to actually reach trophy (20+lbs) size more easily, Making Pymatuning a destination lake for trophies. This, I believe is unlikely though, as Pymies physical characteristics are not conducive to producing giant carp in any great numbers. Are they out there? sure, but not in great numbers. (I am not counting the behemoths in the hatchery waters). Whole different set of rules going on there.
 
let the comments fly..........

 
You are absolutely correct on A and 2, look on the back of the latest issue of PA Angler of the carp pics and where they came from. Canonsburg Lake is a miniature Pymy in regards to carp. Just wait till you hear the reports of catches from Pymy of eyes and crappies in 3 years because of this die off, and yep, bigger carp..the survivors. But less of those invasive habitat ruining, egg eating, smelly oversized goldfish to mess with the other fishes business...good gill spawn, food for all....good crappie spawn, food for all. Less carp to intervene. 

Your probably right it will bounce back fast ....Pymy has always been Carp infested for many years.
 
Anybody here ever see or catch any silver carp ( jumping ) up this way yet ?
 
Biggest Carp I've ever seen in size were in Presque Isle Bay.....huge girthy pigs swimming under the boat in Misery bay.

Haven't seen any silvers but I don't fish as much as I used too. There are some real pig carp swimming in Raystown Lake too, a friend sent me a pic of a huge one he caught a few years back, huge like 40lbs, enormous, didn't look real, they chummed an area near Nancy's campground with two sam's club sized cans of corn and fished it the next day. I told him he should have had it officially weighed he laughed, it broke the hoop on a big net.

My boy told me there's no walleye tournament on Pymie for '18. Haven't checked the site, but if that's true, could be 'cause the walleye fishin' sucked this year? Muskie tournament on May 19 & 20.