Carp graveyard

[dusky]

It started last Sunday, 7-23, when I went out to my trusty 'ol Cedarville Reservoir. The first sign was at the launch. Smelled it, but couldn't see it. As I drove out of the channel, I counted four or five dead carp. The rest of the day I counted another dozen or so floating around. No big deal, must've been some bow hunters upstream lately, I thought. Today I went back, it's been a week, and counted over a hundred dead carp floating around. I didn't even see them all because they were up under the shoreline brush, back in the bays, etc. And this is after a week with good current. And I saw only maybe a three mile portion of river. As I was casting for shad, I pulled up a carp. It was sluggish. (you know how spastic those critters can get!) And the whole one side of it was bloodied and puffy, as if by some infection or parasite or something. ? At this point I really started wondering. Plus, I didn't see any signs of puncture wounds from an arrow in any of the fish, but any holes could have been swollen shut. Then, I saw two other carp, and they looked sluggish also. Then I saw a dead softshell turtle. If it's a parasite or chemical that kills them, then why not the other fish? Did the turtle eat a contaminated carp, or was it killed by a choked hook or prop or something? Do carp just die off for no apparent reason sometimes? I hope it doesn't happen my to my slimy whiskered friends. I reported it to the DNR because I have never seen anything like this. Have any of you?

[Ahquabi_Master]

Thats some wierd stuff. I would probably pack up and leave if i saw that...

[jdstraka]

It would my Guess that the DNR is killing off the lake either that or some sort of chemical has gotten in the lake to cause the fish kill. Just my thoughts Sir. You might want to check with the Fish and Game people also to see if they know whats up. J.D.Straka

[FishMan]

Why would you blame bowfisherman when you see a carp dead??

I don't think he is blaming anyone, he is talking about a kill of unknown reason in our waterways, things like this can get out of controll and maybe by reporting it he did us all a favor. You bowhunt for fish so I would think he is providing you a service by trying to get to the bottom of the kill. He even said he didn't see any arrow wounds.

[zappaf19]

I would call the DNR and see whats up. If it is a parasite you might not want to eat any fish you catch for awhile.
Bill

[Fatkat]

Why would you blame bowfisherman when you see a carp dead??
Maybe he seen your signature at the bottom of your post, LOL. :tounge_out:

[Fatkat]

I read my signature and it doesn't say anything about throwing them back in the water??? Try reading it again...:roll_eyes: C'mon
What do you do with them, I hear they make good cut bait but I've never tried it. :smile2:

[Fatkat]

I have several people that take them. Most of them go to a few pig farmers, the pigs love the protein. I use them for fishing bait and have a few guys that want them for making trapping lures and bait.
Do you have any luck using them for bait? I figure its been so hot out it might be a good time to catch some. It seems like when I was a kid thats mostly when I caught them.

[Fatkat]

Thanks for the info, if I can catch one I'll give it a try. :smile2:

[river scum]

havent been there in a few weeks dusky, but i have fished it all my life,and never seen a carp die off like that yet. please post any responce you get from the dnr.

[SkiMax]

I would say contact the DNR immediately. It sounds like a parasite or virus. They are probably aware of this already, but just double check. Anytime you see any number (more than 3) dead fish of a certain species it is time to call the DNR and have their biologist check it out. The sooner somebody alerts them of a problem the better chances of them being able to handle it accordingly and hopefully not kill off a good fishery.

[Fishgeek]

Dusky,

I was up there yesterday on "unofficial" business -- took my boat out for a spin and I too saw the dead carp. Saw the same thing you saw...lots of dead carp but nothing else. That's a bit selective for a chemical spill, usually a spill will kill other species (especially those less tolerant to pollution than carp: crappie, gills, bass, etc.) as well. Something else I noticed, all the carp were roughly the same size. Say 15 (maybe 20) inches. Is that what you saw? More than likely the carp got hit with a virus. Not a terribly uncommon thing. The DNR will probably check into it but won't be real concerned since it was only carp that were killed.

Someone mentioned that the DNR might be killing off the lake. Not so. If that was the case, the reservoir would be drained way down. Also, Cedarville would probably never be considered for a renovation because the DNR could never rotenone the entire watershed so efforts to eliminate carp or gizzard shad in the reservoir would be futile!

Dusky, thanks for keeping you eyes open!

[Fishgeek]

By the way, Dusky, welcome to the BOC! This is a great sight full of great info and great people!

[JAinSC]

The Santee/Cooper Lakes experienced a similar carp die off a few years ago. They took samples and sent them to a fish pathologhy lab. The really key thing there is that it's almost all carp that are dieing, not other fish. Here it turned out that it was a fish disease that is specific to carp/goldfish type critters. Really wasn't anything that anybody could do aabout it, but at least it's good to know what's going on.

[dusky]

Mr. Howard,
Thank you for contacting us about the dead carp and turtle near the Cedarville Dam.
Our Law Enforcement division is taking the lead role in the investigation of this fish kill. I have shared your careful observations with our District 3 fisheries biologist, as well as discussing it with my boss. The DNR is trying to arrange for some fish samples to be tested at Purdue. The city utility is also testing water quality. At this point, we're leaning toward a naturally occurring virus found in Carp.
Let me thank you for the detailed information you provided on our website. Many times we would not know about fish kills without the help of concerned citizens like you. I will keep you updated when we have an answer about the cause.
Thanks,
Jennifer
************************************************** ******************
Jennifer Campbell-Allison, Restoration Biologist
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Div. of Fish & Wildlife, Fisheries Section

[dusky]

Carp make great cut bait. I dream of the day mr. fat cat chomps down and runs with one of those whopper bloody carp heads. Gotta be big to get one of them in the mouth.

[Fatkat]

Well done Gary. :smile2: :smile2:

[FishMan]

Good job Gary, you did the right thing.

[vegasryder]

Heres the answer to your questions,fellas...http://www.ussfn.com/Archives/exotic%20virus%20found%20in%20illinois%20carp.html

[Fishgeek]

Thanks for the post Kenny!

[teaysvalleyguy]

Kenny that sounds like that may of been the issue. Great article and explanation of the same occurence.

[vegasryder]

I`ve been hearing alot about the carp dying in the local rivers.I hope not too many of them die...i`d like to try one for live bait:big_smile:

[dusky]

Good article, kenny. Thanks!

[dusky]

Something else about all those carp... my brother and I were wondering if all that carp scent floating around in the water would turn the catfish onto carp. Or maybe they'd tune it out because it was everywhere. I never fished with anything that rotten though! We used shad, which worked alright. But I wonder what woulda happened I used carp.

[Fishgeek]

Dusky,

I've read that in the spring, right after ice-out, catfish will line-up in reservoirs to feed on the shad that have died via winter-kill. It doesn't take long for shad to get ripe -- even in cool water temps. So, I guess that the cats would do the same thing with the dead carp at Cedarville. When I was up there Sunday I was wondering the same thing: Dead stinky carp good bait or bad bait at that time?

FYI: The District 3 biologist went up to Cedarville today to look for any fresh floaters or carp that were struggling at the surface like you described. They were hoping to find some fresh ones to send to Purdue to be tested for the carp virus. He only found a few carp left & they were all way past their prime for sending to the vet lab.

[dusky]

I also heard that about ice out dead shad.

That bites that they won't be able to test them. It probably was a carp virus.

[Fishgeek]

I hit Cedarville last night. Fished from about 8 to midnight. I caught one channel on Danny King's and had a bunch more hits. I think most of them were too small to take my shad chunks....just nibbling. I did have one really good hit but I missed it.