# mosquito walleyes dying



## smalliediehard (Oct 28, 2005)

went up today,fishing has slowed a bit.the water is gettin too warm for some fish,counted over 25 walleye between 17 and 23 inches dead along with crappie and some bass.the walleye can't handle the heat,they didnt even fight today barely,so i'm done fishing for them till it cools off.


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## kprice (May 23, 2009)

That is not good at all... Most fish will be stressed if they do not have deep water.. Fishing at night should be prime at inland lakes


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## dmills4124 (Apr 9, 2008)

thats not good. Gambler has their big regional tourni there on the 24 next sat.
looks like ice in the live wells if they want to return them alive.
good luck ya'll
don m


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## FireMurph (Apr 16, 2007)

I posted that the other day, I was up their at the Army Corp doing a class and they had someone in from Pittsburgh to check on the fish kill. I know they said the water coming out of the dam was 78.8deg. I guessing that means the surface water's around 80-82degs.
I also sow on their board that the winter pool and the summer pool are only 1.5' difference. I always thought it was more.

On a side note they told me they give tours of the Dam Tower just about every Sunday. We had a baseball game this Sunday but I'd like to see it one of these days.


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## freyedknot (Apr 10, 2004)

but where is the thermocline at. i thaught anything below 15 ft was a lot colder?? so you think they would hang out in the deeper water.


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## JIG (Nov 2, 2004)

Skeeter doesnt have a thermo. There isnt enough deep water to keep it from mixin. Doent mean the water isnt cooler @ 20 fow but not all the fish use it. If they have dropped the lake just a couple feet itll hurt fish. Stains the water up and then heats it. The shallow ends of res. are brutal for high temps. On bigger in-land lakes that hold deeper water itll change from area too area. Berlin has some @ 10fow and some @ 15. After swimming out there its cold down there at 10fow! Even with the surface pushing 90.


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## firstflight111 (May 22, 2008)

was up yesterday ..most of them were from people ripping hooks out an putting them back... watch 2 guys kill about 20 small crappie...


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## smalliediehard (Oct 28, 2005)

the bass were probably from tournaments,they were mostly close to release bay and in the marina.those walleyes weren't released fish though.


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## Sculpin67 (Dec 11, 2007)

I was there Sunday and saw one 16" walleye floating. Also saw a really nice bass dead.

Anyone know why the water was so dirty? It seems like it was always clearer that it was on Sunday.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

I have a 3/4 acre pond with(a few) walleye in it. It was not dug due to gravel layers in the area so I had the sides built up. It's maybe 5-6 ft. in the middle. The water gets warm as bath water and they don't die. Walleyes can tolerate warm water, though I'm sure they don't prefer it! I'd say it's due to something else esp. since various species are also reported dying. There's a ton of things that would kill fish and temp. is not one of the top items(by itself). Warm temps(mixed with other factors) could do it. The ODNR need to be advised so they can check it out scientifically.


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## ldrjay (Apr 2, 2009)

we pulled two dead wallys out to weight them just to see both were 7.25 lbs damn shame to see them floatin


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## Trolling D3 (Jun 10, 2006)

Ive herd that walleyes can handle the warm water but they can not handle the low 02 levels that come with warm water. Expecially the big ones. This would make sense since everyone is finding 3 to 5 year olds dead.


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## BigDaddy300 (Nov 1, 2004)

This is such a shame. Although I did not get into the hot bite this year I know the lake was giving up nice fish on average. Best in recent memory. I hope it does not affect the future too bad.


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

How do the fish survive in Buckeye lake and Indian lake....your hard pressed to find 10feet of water in those bodies of water


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Dying weeds consume a lot of available oxygen. There seems to have been a lot of weedgrowth, and earlier than normal(which means they will start dying off earlier), so I bet that is what has happened. Too bad ALL those "recreational boats" don't have some kind of agitators to put some O2 into the water!


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## kprice (May 23, 2009)

Agree with cj


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## Lawman60 (May 17, 2010)

I'm going to check out the lake tomorrow. Mosquito Lake gets pretty warm due to the dark bottom content and the suspended silt, but it does so every year without a walleye die off. I'm going to talk to someone at the department of natural resource if at all possible. I hate to say it but, there is really nothing we can do to stop a die off if that's what's happening. Low oxygen levels could be a cause, but I think that we would see dead pike if that was the case. I'm wondering if it's the same thing that happened at Pymatuning this past spring. The same natural bacteria could be at work now in Mosquito. There must be hundreds of boats that have been in both lakes this season, and it would be easy to transfer this bacterium unintentionally. All we can do is wait and see what happens next.


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## Lawman60 (May 17, 2010)

didn't make it to the lake this morning after all, but I did call the district three office in Akron. They have had NO REPORTS of a die off of walleye on Mosquito, but the man I talked to told me he would speak to there biologist and try to get back to me. I also called Jarod Allison, our Trumbull County game warden. I got his answering service, but I expect a call back soon. I'll keep you all posted.


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## starcraft67 (Jul 4, 2004)

Last friday I emailed the ODNR about Mosquito's problems and received this e-mail today.

Hello. My name is Matt Wolfe and I am a Fisheries Biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife in Northeast Ohio. Your message below was forwarded to me for a response. Unfortunately, we have heard reports of fish dying not only at Mosquito, but other lakes around the area as well. Earlier in the year, there was a pretty good bacterial outbreak that affected the crappie on Pymatuning, Mosquito, and several other lakes around the area. BUT, this is not the case here from what we can see.



Whats been going on recently is due to the high temperatures, little wind, and few weather systems rolling through, the water is just becoming stagnant. I do agree that it has been hot before and we have not seen this happening, but when you add the three up (high heat, no wind, and no weather) the surface water heats up very quickly. I was just out this morning, and even after a cool night, the water temp was 85. WAY too hot for a lot of fish. Not only are the high temperatures affecting the fish, but the lack of oxygen too. Mosquito has had a lot of vegetation growth recently, and as those plants die off, they actually suck up oxygen that the fish need. So imagine the fish being sandwiched- hot temps from above, low oxygen from below, and since theres only so much space available, some fish will die, especially if they are stressed (illness, being hooked deeply, spending time in a livewell, etc.).



The only thing that will remedy this situation is some cooler weather and some fronts passing through. This week should bring some reprieve (mid  lower 80s towards the end of the week). Hopefully youll see less fish dying off. In the meantime, practice proper catch and release if you dont plan on keeping the fish. The less stress for them, the better! If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me at our District office.

Here's his mailing address and e-mail:

Matthew D. Wolfe
Fisheries Biologist
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife- District 3
912 Portage Lakes Drive
Akron, OH 44319
Phone: (330) 644-2293 Ext. 3016
Fax: (330) 644-8403
[email protected]


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## sylvan 17 (May 22, 2010)

sounds like a good reply,hope the cooler weather helps out.


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## smalliediehard (Oct 28, 2005)

yeah,sadly big pike are dying too along with bigger walleye


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## JIG (Nov 2, 2004)

It is sad but all our lakes go through it. Dillon is green and was pushing 90. Berlin is another lake that has had some die-off in the past. Not much for weeds but stained with run-off. I think there was 4 parts per million @ the top ten fow and 0 below 20 fow. (O2) Isnt much! The boats help the top ten and the lakes lay-out be it north to south or east to west pays alot. Wind generation is key! Just be glad the Army corps didnt lower them a month ago. We would have ALOT more floating.


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## bountyhunter (Apr 28, 2004)

nice report from dnr lets us stop guessing about why the die off.


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## Lawman60 (May 17, 2010)

Fished Mosquito yesterday, July 27, for 6 hours. Found 18 dead walleye, 5 dead bass, a few carp dead, a few cats dead, and one 35' pike dead. The good news is that the heavy wind and rain last week has improved the desolved 02 in the lake. Fishing was VERY slow and only managed two channel cat in 6 hours.


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## FireMurph (Apr 16, 2007)

LawMan and others, check with the Army Corp of Engineers they own the lake. They lease part of the lake to ODNR. When I was at the Army Corp Engineers doing a class they were the one that had someone over from Pittsburgh their checking out the problem. I don't know what they came up with but I'm sure if someone call they'll tell you.
I live on the creek and haven't seen any dead fish down here (almost at the Mahoning river) and the creek has been way low all year and has a ton more weed and Algeria growing than I've ever seen. Hope the weather helps this week!


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## flylogicsteelhead (Oct 4, 2006)

I want to make a general statement; kudos to all of you who have voiced your concern and initiative to find out the real issues which affect the die off in many of these inland lakes. It's nice to see that many of the fisherman here make for the best conservationists.


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## Lawman60 (May 17, 2010)

starcraft67 said:


> Last friday I emailed the ODNR about Mosquito's problems and received this e-mail today.
> 
> Hello. My name is Matt Wolfe and I am a Fisheries Biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife in Northeast Ohio. Your message below was forwarded to me for a response. Unfortunately, we have heard reports of fish dying not only at Mosquito, but other lakes around the area as well. Earlier in the year, there was a pretty good bacterial outbreak that affected the crappie on Pymatuning, Mosquito, and several other lakes around the area. BUT, this is not the case here from what we can see.
> 
> ...


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## walipro (Feb 23, 2010)

I have seen numerous pike dead, all very nice fish, I also spotted some dead channel cat n it takes hell of a lot to kill a cat.


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Matt is a good guy.


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