Fish Kill on Lake Cumberland

[Duayne]

Hasn't the water temp already dropped? I think it was in the 90s at this point last year and it's in the low 80s now. The rains we've had of late help. The spring rains, not so much. We had a drought at this point last year. We've had steady storms this time around. They may be in the clear..

[mhall]

Hasn't the water temp already dropped? I think it was in the 90s at this point last year and it's in the low 80s now. The rains we've had of late help. The spring rains, not so much. We had a drought at this point last year. We've had steady storms this time around. They may be in the clear..

Duayne, Andrew and I were talking about this the other day and you have kinda echoed our thoughts. It was our hope to that the rains they have been getting is helping to cool and bump O2 levels in the upper layers of the lake. Lets pray that is what is happening. I'm still not ready to call it an all clear, but we just might be in luck with these cooler nights and rains.

Here's for hoping....

[stripernut]

the only dead stripers ive seen so far are the unfortunate short fish that decided to get dragged for hours to their death on an umbrella rig......

im all for catchin fish and to each his own.....just sayin

[Duayne]

Tis why I'm bass fishing if I fish. Love down rigging this time of year, but it's just not worth risking the small fish that are possible. I figure they'll be grown up more next year if I leave em be this year.

[Duayne]

Mark, I certainly agree that they aren't out of the woods as of yet. I think it would take a few weeks of 95 plus weather with no rain to put them in the danger zone. That's just a rough guess off the top of my head. But the fish, including the dinks, are still very much at risk if caught from deep and released. It's sorta two different things that are related.

[mhall]

Agree with you both.....

[coombro]

Wasn't the 5" of rain the major culprit in the big fish kills last year? One August day Jamestown was dumped with some very heavy rain. With a hurricane brewing and not sure where its' going could dump a bunch of rain.

[mhall]

Wasn't the 5" of rain the major culprit in the big fish kills last year? One August day Jamestown was dumped with some very heavy rain. With a hurricane brewing and not sure where its' going could dump a bunch of rain.

NO, When Cumberland has very heavy rain in the spring time the Corp especially now since the lake is being held low is forced to dump HUGE amounts of water out of the dam. In doing so and if they can't keep up they will even open the Sluice gates on the bottom of the dam which pulls cold very oxgenated water from the bottom layers of the lake. The longer this goes on, the worse it is..

After this happens and is followed by a very hot year with little rain like last year the lake's lower depths ''WHERE STRIPERS AND WALLEYE'' want to be have very poor water to live in. Low O2 levels and warm water are a striper and walleye's nightmare. Both fish will stay in that water until they stress and eventually die. Bass and other species will move to find better water, but these two species will not. Juvenile Stripes alot of times will come up, but the mature fish are the ones usually lost, which are the ones we want not to loose. Rains especially cold ones in the summer or early fall are usually a good thing if they aren't too excessive. The rains last year came way too late and the damage was already done, they played almost no role in the die off, other than washing out some dead fish into the river and making Kendall smell really really bad. However if they did open the sluice gates it would have made matters a little worse but again according to Fish and Game the damage was already done.

This is the short version, and it's a little more complex than this but hopefully you get the idea. There are written articles and available information from the KDFWR that will explain in great detail, and they will tell you exactly what I have just typed pretty much.

[coombro]

Just wondering I remember a big walleye kill in the 90's when hurricane rains supposidly turned the lake upside down in the fall. or so it was explained to me in that manner and that was before dam repair.

[mhall]

Just wondering I remember a big walleye kill in the 90's when hurricane rains supposidly turned the lake upside down in the fall. or so it was explained to me in that manner and that was before dam repair.

Like I said, an excessive rain could cause some issues during the peak hot months or when the water is high 80's. But according to fish and game this wasn't the problem last year.

[coombro]

Like I said, an excessive rain could cause some issues during the peak hot months or when the water is high 80's. But according to fish and game this wasn't the problem last year.

Yeah I'm with you on that. i was thinking that 5" of rain that August day did it. have seen the kills before dam work began.

[stripernut]

my oldest daughter is 23 and i can remember picking up floating walleyes in september when she was a baby. the dam repair has magnified weasonal oxygen deficiency problems that have been there off and on for years and years. and like others have stated , when you pull the plug it removes valuable layers of suitable water .

i do remember the hurricane that killed tons of walleyes, i / we were afraid to eat them we thought they had been poisoned lol. (what kind of poison targets only walleye? duh )