One Cold Magnolia
The snow came again today. Another below average temp day in the Upper Mid-West. The deer continue to munch the landscape shrubs in my yard. They are starting to piss me off. I caught them trying to munch this magnolia. I will protect this one like a Mama protects her baby. The buds are swelling and soon they will be the first spring flowers to appear in my yard.
Talked with Marty Engel, DNR Senior Fisheries Biologist today. The DNR considers this event a serious fish kill. The Kill took place in an area of the river with low trout density(100-200 trout per mile). This does not make the event any less important. Preliminary interpretations of the kill seem to indicate that the source of the kill was of a single pulse into the river causing wide spread death to everything in an area above CO RD Y in Centerville near the headwaters of the Rush River. Down stream from that point additional ground water entering the system helped dilute the pulse and negate the deadly effects. The waters 3/4 of a mile below The CO. RD. Y bridge and below showed signs of live trout, suckers and other aquatic life. It appears at this time, the prime sections of the river holding trout densities of 4000-5000 trout per mile were not affected. Anglers have reported excellent fishing in these sections with Olives and midges hatching on overcast days with good feeding activity. Nymphing with stone fly, and small mayfly nymph imitations has also been productive. Leads on the cause of the fish kill are being followed up by Area Conservation Warden Brad Peterson. I will keep you in the loop.
10 users commented in " April Showers……What? and Fish kill Update "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThanks for the update on the fish kill. We appreciate your vigilance.
Is that lead singer of The Hold Steady, Craig Finn?
I don’t know if he sings, but as a software engineer he plays a mean keyboard.
Forgive the stupid question, but a “pulse” of what?
Greg
This is exactly what I am told the DNR is investigating. There is much speculation out there as to what the cause is and exactly where it came from as you might guess. I just prefer to make sure I have the facts before I report them. In these cases it can sometimes be difficult to prove the cause. Many times the rain, snow will wash away all evidence of the pollutant. That can make the burden of proof difficult in placing blame and heighten the frustration level to those who are looking for answers.
why olives just on overcast days…I have had good olive fishing when the sun is beating down.
Charlie
There are many species of mayflies we, as anglers, group together and call olives or Blue wing olives or Baetis. It is a broad generalization as science is concerned. When we look at each individual species we find that many of the small mayflies in this group respond to periods of high humidity, cool temps and low light to emerge and hatch. As I re-read my post I was glad to see that I had not made the statement “just on overcast days” because there are mayflies in this group that will come off under sunny conditions. It is my understanding that the cool overcast conditions allow more insects a higher success rate at completing their full life cycle. The sun and bright light is responsible for dehydrating many of these insects resulting in a lower rate of re-population.
Thanks for the info on the kill. Not good at all.
Thanks for the update, Andy!
Andy – Thanks for clearing that up! Keep us posted…
Greg
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