Sirfishalot Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Does anyone have a clue as to what killed the hundreds and hundreds of smallies along with some sheepshead along the lake Erie shoreline . The bass guys said they couldn't get anything to hit yesterday and saw them floating as they headed in. One guy had 5 monster bass in his livewell for the ministry and one was still alive although its eyes had already been poked out by seagulls. They've never seen anything like it. Bass are so hearty it takes alot to kill them. Possibly a drastic temp change? or something ejected from ballast of a passing laker ? I hope the ministry gets to the bottom of it. This could devastate our world class bass fishery. For those interested , there were no reports of any Walleye floating amongst the dead bass. What are your thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottydog Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Hey Thom: Talked with some guys on the lake yesterday. There was a wash up of sheephead and bass on the US side. The lake flipped temperature after the storm on Sat. Some areas saw a change from 74 degrees to 59. Quite drastic. The bite was really off yesterday. All part of nature I guess. Scottydog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeetmuck Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Hard to say whether that much of a temp change could have caused it but would be interested in keeping an eye out for an answer. It happens on the BOQ with sheephead as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cplummer Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 This is a normal occurance that happens every year as the great lakes flip ( turnover) where the bottom temps come to the top and the top temps go to the bottom due to density ..this happens twice a year with the early fall affecting the fish most..most species don't get affected by this change because out deep the changeover is slow but when the lake flips the winds blow all that cold temps into shore thus affecting the fish in the shallow water. Sometimes the temp change changes 20 degrees and the fish in shallow just can't handle the sudden shock of cold water..i have discussed this with a CO about 25 years ago and this is the answer that he gave me.. cliff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Yes , that explains it very well Cliff........We hate to see it happen ,but we can't do anything about it. I heard the die off in Quinte was due to a viris . I saw a lot of big sheephead floating in Mohawk Bay last year. This year I saw a doz. or so catfish belly up in the same place . These were all brown bullheads about a pound or two . Looks like this water turn over has put off the bite until the fish get used to the temp. change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Chopin Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 We were on the Upper Niagara River yesterday and the temp was 55 degrees. Someone had posted that water temp link and most of the surface temp of Erie was still in the low 70's. That's a big swing in temp. over a day or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwl Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 this is one of the times a year that water temps stratify then turn over..and with all the bad weather we have had I am sure that the fish from shallower water just didn't have time to adjust to the temps, just like happens if you don't climatize a fish in a fish tank..they get shocked and die...don't think it would affect the walleye as they naturally suspend with the different temperature zones in the water..as do some of the big smallies that frequent some of the deep walleye spots..might be some good news for the walleye fishing for a bit though, as the fish will start to come back into some of the closer to home haunts like earlier in the season..and start to suspend alot more before the big schools start to break up and spread out later in the fall...and for the Upper and Lower Niagara, should start bringing out some of the big guys...muskies and kings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellfish Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 that is preet unbelieveable u learn something new everyday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallyman Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 On the Buffalo news there were hundreds of fished washed up. All different species. It was sad to look at. The biology guy they were talking to also said about the water turning over due to wind. All the warm surface water gets pushed to one end of the lake which forces the cold water up in other places. So fast that fish can't adjust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest squid Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 I was out in Lake erie yesterday also. We netted a 6lb bass and tried to revive it but it was a no go. I have to say that it was the water temps flipping. This is very hard on fish. The temps in the niagara river were 46 to 48 degrees yesterday. Nothing was biting. If the water was 70+ degrees and it flipped to 47 then that is a helluva temperature switch for a fish to adapt to in a short time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 On the Buffalo news there were hundreds of fished washed up. All different species. It was sad to look at.The biology guy they were talking to also said about the water turning over due to wind. All the warm surface water gets pushed to one end of the lake which forces the cold water up in other places. So fast that fish can't adjust. I just saw it on the Buff .news at noon.......looks like a lot of sheephead on the beach too . One fish looked like a big walleye . Big cleanup for sure . Sheephead are bottom feeders and they seem to be easily killed when water conditions change . I guess we can be thankful we don't have thousands of other game fish like muskie and trout washing ashore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROB MCINTOSH Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 SAD SAD FOR SURE: I was on erie as well. The water temp was 67 and that was a big drop from 73 the week before. I also noticed the smell of the water and your lures, you could tell something was happening the smell was a strong algie smell, and if the lake had 7 to 10 foot waves on it from the storm that lasted 2 days or more then you can bet that it would affect the fish. I netted 1 fish and knew right from looking at it that it came up from the bottom fast because it looked bloated, I should have fizzed this fish and put it in my livewell to see if it would come around but when I seen the fish that were floating I still would be out there trying to help.There is nothing any one could do when this happens so we need to stop the guessing of OH a oil spill OH a tanker dumped it's ballest and every other comment that has been made on what may have happened. Cliff's post is as best you will get and most of the bass guy's know this, it is a shame that it has to happen but what can we do NOTHING except hope that this years spaunn was a good one and it will all work out Catfish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwl Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 just a little reply to smerchly's comment about the sheepies being bottom feeders....seems like lots of them where caught trolling earlier this year..I got a few big ones pulling wormharnesses on the riggers..20-25 feet down..in 40-50 foot water depth ranges..thought it was pretty odd to get them that way, and a couple other people on here said the same thing early on into the walleye opener Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Andrews Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 On the brighter side the cool down period is now started so we have a better chance of the lake freezing this year. I had very little ice fishing here last winter. I saw my first wooly bear caterpillar yesterday. Big bands means a cold winter . Looking for more to varify this but they were dead on last year. Too bad about the quick turnover though. Some damm nice fish going to spoils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardl33 Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I was out in Port Colborne yesterday, and talked to the guys who netted the big dead bass. Didn't see any in port between the walls or in the bay. Caught 4 smallies and 1 small pike. Either the fish were not as affected in port as at point abino or they moved in there for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captnn Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I was fishing to day west of the can and didn't see any dead fish while fishing or going out or coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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