I was down by the beach on Lake Waconia last night and found thousands of bluegill and crappies washed up all over the shore. It was a calm night so I could see countless other fish floating around in the water. The whole SW shore was covered in them. The smell was less than desirable. I’ve never seen it that bad after fishing and working on the lake most of my life.
I’m thinking it’s Culumnaris Disease? Anybody have a more educated idea? Has anybody else seen it on other lakes in the area?
Not sure myself, I heard someone say the water temp rose quickly and that could be part of the reason…..not sure I believe it.
Yikes! That’s one of my favorite lakes for panfish! Keep us in the know if you hear of anything please.
Yikes! That’s one of my favorite lakes for panfish! Keep us in the know if you hear of anything please.
I know, she’s a real gem. A ton of 6″ gills and 8-9″ crappies. I was curious to see if I’d find any donks, I didn’t….
I fished a tournament there on the 31st and noticed quite a few floaters, not thousands, but enough for a few folks to comment at the weigh-in. Many looked like they were swimming in a lazy, haphazard manner. I’ve seen this a few times on various lakes this time of year, but never heard of a big die-off before.
something like this happened on North Center Lake, Chisago Lakes area a couple of years ago, didn’t dig into it any further, but under the bridge in North Center everything was fine.
I emailed the DNR SW Metro Fisheries Office. They were quite helpful and had already posted something to the DNR website implying Columnaris. Scroll down to notices and postings…
Here’s some further information:
“Columnaris disease is caused by a bacteria that is constantly present in fish populations, but does not typically cause death except during spring spawning season when fish are stressed. Most commonly observed die-offs are of crappie and sunfish populations. Symptoms of Columnaris disease are discolored patches, sloughing of scales and eroded gill filaments. The DNR recommends that diseased fish not be consumed, but healthy fish from the same lake can be safely eaten.”
That was winterkill in North Center last spring. Brought on by too much ice/snow and no oxygen.
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