The recent situation on Pelican lake has me wondering. How does this affect the fish. Obviously they are looking for more O2, but do they quit eating? Does the lack of Oxygen cause them to pretty much shut down and die a slow death?? Anybody ever ask a DNR biologist this?? Does this affect larger fish different than smaller? How about species, say bullheads vs. gills??
I would venture to guess the larger fish will be hit harder since they probably cannot take the same stress levels smaller fish can because of their age. I’m sure their metabolism slows waaaaaaaaaay down…
Great question Kooty!!
I’ve always felt depleting oxygen levels make fish lethargic. When you think about it often times fishing is picking up again when ice begins to honeycombe and fresh water is melting back into the lakes. My feeling is fish continue to feed, but are not willing to exert much energy to find a meal. Makes finding fish more important as there is a less chance the fish will be moving through. I’d be interested also in a Fisheries Biologists point of view on this. Maybe I can get one for us.
I have heard that they stop eating and look for water with better oxygen levels. Usually areas with natural springs and slowly they die off if the levels get too low. 
Number of years back public TV (Nova possibly) ran a program on salmon farmers out West. Essentially, these salmon farms consist of huge netted areas which house the farmed salmon. Every day the farmers would have to go around and clean the algae, fish feces and such (they referred to it as “ick”) off the net due to it impeding the flow of water thru the net. If the flow of water was less than acceptable, it would lower the O2 content by parts per million-which in turn caused the fish to quit eating.
One reason for fish going deep in winter is a more stable environment temp. wise and O2 wise.
But, the best advice would be: find green weeds, that area will still produce the most O2 and have the most diverse food chain: i.e. will hold feeding fish.
This may require moving within a given lake or going to another lake all together.
Another reason to buy a fish camera and go lookin. 
Jeremy
This was on Dave genz website
Q: What about those shallow, prairie, dishpan lakes (a lake without much clearly-defined structure)? There are a lot of good ones. A lot of people live in areas where this is what they have available to them.
A: It gets tough on most of those lakes. (On a winter like this, with lots of snow cover) we lose a lot of our shallow lakes, because oxygen levels deplete. Because of the heavy snow, you see a lot of dying weeds. The fish are still there, but they quit feeding. If you’ve ever tried to catch fish out of a lake that they open up to promiscuous fishing (which local natural resources agencies sometimes do when low oxygen levels threaten to kill of most of the fish population), you know it’s really hard to make those fish bite. The fish are right up under the ice, trying to suck air bubbles to stay alive. Or they’re just sitting there, shut down.
We were at Metigoshe (in extreme north-central North Dakota) in early March a couple years ago, when there was a lot of snow on the ice, and we could see big ‘gills right under the ice but couldn’t make ‘em bite. We ended up over the deepest water in the lake and fished from just under the ice to about 5 feet down, and that’s where the fish were. We found a few that would bite, but most of those fish were in survival mode.
So, as the winter progresses (during a year like this), shallow lakes are not where I’m gonna spend my time
Mississippi River Project
An older article I refer back to once in a while. Very informative that touches on the topic of discussion.
Great article. Was there ever anymore funding dedicated to this?? Post 2002.
Mississippi River Restoration Programs
I should add you can go to the corps website and read up on the status of certain projects. Some of the figures for future projects like the Harpers Slough are an eye catcher to say the least….
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