Summerkill

[Guest tallieho]

anybody heard of any summerkills on any of the waters.just went for a cruise out to dewitts a few fish floating,would really be interested about those in the deep se or sw..planning to take some holidays ,if i can ever get a chance.thanks damn cell-phones

[ham]

hmm havent been to dewitts in a few weeks, but it would suprise me if that happened. I think the people brutalizing the fish before they release them got em killed. How bad were the weeds when u were out there?

[Guest tallieho]

hmm havent been to dewitts in a few weeks, but it would suprise me if that happened. I think the people brutalizing the fish before they release them got em killed. How bad were the weeds when u were out there?

i guess it all depends on ,how thick is thick.i watched one guy put on some waders,thought he might wade out past the weeds .but h ll no this guy brought out a pitch fork to clear a path,so he could winch the fish in to shore.

[bloom]

Fished Bullshead early this morning. Weeds are good for this time of year and there's lots of water over 20'. Didn't see any dead fish. Did well, but size was down (nothing over 16'') No surprise though for late July. Probably won't hit it again until late August.

[Weedy1]

Bloom - have you ever performed a temperature survey on a lake with depths such as Bullshead in the middle of a summer heat wave? I've been meaning to do such a survey at Muir just for curiosity purposes. We are measuring surface temperatures upwards of 80 degrees in the Edmonton region for the last few weeks at lakes like Star and Muir. Lakes like Muir probably have very few if any areas that actually stratify which lead me to believe that the temperatures at the bottom may come as quite a surprise. Do you happen to have any info on this subject?

[bloom]

Bloom - have you ever performed a temperature survey on a lake with depths such as Bullshead in the middle of a summer heat wave? I've been meaning to do such a survey at Muir just for curiosity purposes. We are measuring surface temperatures upwards of 80 degrees in the Edmonton region for the last few weeks at lakes like Star and Muir. Lakes like Muir probably have very few if any areas that actually stratify which lead me to believe that the temperatures at the bottom may come as quite a surprise. Do you happen to have any info on this subject?

 

 

Haven't ever come across any of this data. I've spend my last two summers on the Island, and this morning was my first trip there since mid June. I don't hit Bullshead during the summer a lot, but I may have to start packing a thermometer and some string with me when I go. Bullshead is very close to being 'in the mountains' (people keep telling me that the Cypress Hills is close in elevation to Banff) and I would be surprised if it ever reached 80 degrees. The lake is one of the biggest and deepest potholes around, so it will be the last to 'summerkill'...problem is though that it also contains the biggest fish which are likely more susceptible. And it's been stickin' hot here in July.

[Weedy1]

I'll see what I can get from SRD. By the way Bullshead is at 3525 ft and Banff at 4590 ft.

[bloom]

come on, what's a thousand feet They were probably comparing the tallest hill in Cypress to the town site or something like that

[reevesr1]

The lake is one of the biggest and deepest potholes around, so it will be the last to 'summerkill'...problem is though that it also contains the biggest fish which are likely more susceptible. And it's been stickin' hot here in July.

Don't want to sound stupid (probably way too late for that) but why would the biggest fish be the most susceptible? I realize they need more oxygen, but with larger gills, for any given O2 concentration, would get more than a smaller fish due to larger gill surface area, correct? So wouldn't it be a wash? Just like people right? Size does not really matter when the O2 content is low. The healthier individual is least susceptible. Or am I totally off on this?

[Weedy1]

Rick, correct me if I'm wrong but I think the larger the fish the higher metabolic rate which equals the need for more O2 per pound of fish. The warmer the water the less O2 it holds.

 

This is also interesting regarding Spring lake outside of Edmonton. Take a look at figures 5 and 6.

 

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Albert...&page=Water

 

If a guy could find an O2 monitor and a decent digital way of measuring temperature at depths, man could a guy pound the fish.

[Christofficer]

I haven't seen any dead fish yet, but I haven't been out a whole lot lately. I have the same concern though, extreme heat like what we've been having sucks and not only for the fish.

[reevesr1]

Rick, correct me if I'm wrong but I think the larger the fish the higher metabolic rate which equals the need for more O2 per pound of fish. The warmer the water the less O2 it holds.

 

This is also interesting regarding Spring lake outside of Edmonton. Take a look at figures 5 and 6.

 

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Albert...&page=Water

 

If a guy could find an O2 monitor and a decent digital way of measuring temperature at depths, man could a guy pound the fish.

Weedy, I just did a very quick internet search and it looks like metabolism rate decreases as body mass increases. Here is a link to the abstract

http://www.springerlink.com/content/ur34734013188116/

[bloom]

Rick, correct me if I'm wrong but I think the larger the fish the higher metabolic rate which equals the need for more O2 per pound of fish. The warmer the water the less O2 it holds.

 

This is also interesting regarding Spring lake outside of Edmonton. Take a look at figures 5 and 6.

 

http://sunsite.ualberta.ca/Projects/Albert...&page=Water

 

If a guy could find an O2 monitor and a decent digital way of measuring temperature at depths, man could a guy pound the fish.

 

 

Yah, I've heard of people using the old thermometer and a string method to find the thermocline. They would keep dropping it down and taking temp readings every few feet. Now if someone could make a fish finder with that feature on it...

[cuttbow]

Go to clear lake and look at the floaters, water was 77. Pike floating all over the place.

[Jeffro]

If a guy could find an O2 monitor and a decent digital way of measuring temperature at depths, man could a guy pound the fish.

 

Weedy just go fork out the dough for a YSI meter and you can monitor all the water parameters for your fishing needs........may have to sell off the fly equipment to pay for one though

[lonefisher]

I was once explained to that the big fish often can survive harsher conditions then the smaller ones until they reach a certain age where that begins to weaken them to things like temperatures...... made sense when I heard it. but I dunno if its true or not for sure though

[Weedy1]

Weedy, I just did a very quick internet search and it looks like metabolism rate decreases as body mass increases. Here is a link to the abstract

http://www.springerlink.com/content/ur34734013188116/

 

I took a look at the abstract Rick, don't know if it applies, it may be like comparing apples to oranges, I don't know. (2-5 pound trout compared to 0.0002 g to 2.9 g porgy?)

[reevesr1]

I took a look at the abstract Rick, don't know if it applies, it may be like comparing apples to oranges, I don't know. (2-5 pound trout compared to 0.0002 g to 2.9 g porgy?)

I saw the weight as well, but my very strong suspicion is that the principle will apply for 2.9g porgies and 1000 lb marlin. Decreasing metabolism with size/age is pretty universal, I think, across all species. Also, something Lonefisher said falls in line. Here's what I think:

Small fish more suscepceptible to summerkill due to O2 depletion than larger fish due to metabolism. This will hold until weakness due to age starts to affect the larger fish. That would explain why some really large fish die in bad water conditions. I've never been around a summerkill in fresh water, but I bet you see a lot of little and very big fish, not as many mid size?

 

But as I've said before, I don't let me total lack of knowledge get in the way of stating strong opinions. In other words Weedy, I could be completely wrong!

 

Where are all the biologist to set the record straight?