Thousands of fish dead on Lake Owasso in Shoreview

Thousands of fish dead under ice on Lake Owasso in Shoreview, Minn.

{Copyright Fox9 KMSP9}

Posted: Nov 30, 2013 8:15 AM CST

Updated: Nov 30, 2013 8:18 AM CST

by Maury Glover – bio | email

SHOREVIEW, Minn. (KMSP) –
Thousands of fish were found dead under the ice on Lake Owasso in Shoreview, Minn. because of what may be a lack of oxygen in the water.

The massive fish kill comes just before the ice fishing season and includes trophy-sized walleye, muskie and bass. The ice formed on the lake last week and many people that live nearby and fish on the lake have never see anything like this.

“I am sick to my stomach and worried this lake is connected to other lakes,” said Jason Nelson.

PHOTOS: Lake Owasso fish kill

Neighbors noticed the fish kill on Thanksgiving and took pictures of the fish they pulled from the lake. They are at a loss to explain why so many of the fish are dying in such large numbers early in the season.

Some believe the fish are not getting enough oxygen – something that is a problem later in the winter. Others fear a chemical weed killer sprayed in the lake caused the fish kill.

“These are sport fish. This is one of the better fishing lakes in the area and we would like to know what the cause of the fish kill is,” Nelson said.

Some people have tried to revive the fish by pulling them out, but they are usually too lethargic to swim away.

The Minnesota DNR is expected to come to Lake Owasso on Monday to take water samples and test the fish. They have oxygenated the water in the past, but that is typically done in the spring.

Link to Fox9 on Lake Owasso w/Photo’s

Pretty sad for the Lake and guys that fish it.

Lack of oxygen? Right. Try chemicals associated with shoreline property owner.

The MnDNR is waiting until Monday, guess they don’t consider Thousands of Dead & Dieing fish an Emergency.

IMO, with Chemicals being possibility, the MPCA should be out there too.

I saw a lot of dead fish on Rush lake yesterday too. Not thousands but more than I’ve ever seen. I get a feeling that there is a typical first ice die off on all lakes with weeds. But I also bet that chemicals in the lake can significantly effect the severity.

That’s no good! Looks like some nice reproducers have bit the dust. It will be interesting to find out what caused this!

The locals poison the lake with weed killer four or five times a year. They don’t want us fishermen there anyway. The lake is now very murky since there aren’t any weeds and the dead weeds just decompose and all you get is algae.

About the only weeds left are the sand grass flats as sunlight can’t penetrate more than a few feet. The DNR is all about the destruction of lake habitat in the name of killing milfoil. Maybe this will be a wake up call, but I doubt it.

Before the weed killing blitz, Owasso had nice clear water and great cabbage and milfoil beds. Fantastic musky, bass and walleye fishing. It really hasn’t been the same in the past years as the fish are there, but patterning them other than docks is tougher.

It’s a shame.

One of my favorite lakes in NW Iowa had a bad fish kill late this fall. Monster walleyes 31″ and bigger washed up to shore. The Iowa fisheries officers said it was a fungus in the fish gills that didn’t allow them to get oxygen. We wanted so bad to blame agriculture or residential spills but that was not the case here. I am sure the fisheries will make a determination and publish their findings.

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One of my favorite lakes in NW Iowa had a bad fish kill late this fall. Monster walleyes 31″ and bigger washed up to shore. The Iowa fisheries officers said it was a fungus in the fish gills that didn’t allow them to get oxygen. We wanted so bad to blame agriculture or residential spills but that was not the case here. I am sure the fisheries will make a determination and publish their findings.

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That’s what they want you to think…..

This was bound to happen on that lake sooner or later. Looks like the morons on the lake association might finally get a wake up call as to what they’ve done to their precious little waterskiing grounds. As stated above, Owasso used to have great water clarity and beautiful cabbage beds before these bombings started. The chemicals used to treat Owasso do not discriminate in what aquatic life they destroy. Basically over the last six to eight years the lake has been stripped of any and all aquatic vegetation in over 90% of the lake and water clarity/ quality has taken a nose dive sine this began. There is more information on the Minnesta DNR page and Owasso’s lake association page about the chemicals used and who is/was contracted to do the “bombings” for those interested. I’m no biologist but I can say that these bombings have hurt the fishery from the day they started strictly based on my observations and observations by others who frequent the lake. Shortly after these bombings it is quite common to see hundreds of dead fish floating.. or near death. The first bombing also coincides with the post spawn period for quite a few fish in the lake. Weeds that held eggs/ fry/ shelter etc. are destroyed in a matter of a couple days. Doubt survival rates of fry and spawn on the lake have been very successful on the lake in recent years as well. Unfortunate! Hopefully this serves as an eye opener for those who are responsible.

If they trace it back to what the Lake Association has done, I’d hope someone would grab the ball and introduce legislation banning chemical herbicides in all lakes. If they can force land owners to leave ponds on their property untouched when they designate it as wetland, they can do this. I’d also like to see a ban on lawn fertilizer for shoreline property owners.

Hopefully some good comes from this. The herbicide spraying on Owasso is what I would call an extreme case and hopefully an isolated case. Many other lakes in the metro are sprayed to control curly leaf and other “problem” weeds in a controlled and well managed manner. If I remember right the DNR usually will approve a 15% or so weed kill by total acreage of a body of water..Owasso on the other hand has been assaulted over recent years with a mass genocide of any greenery whatsoever throughout the entire lake. How this was approved, or slipped through the bureaucratic gaps, I don’t know. Perhaps some light will be shed upon this when answers to what happened surface.

I’m headed over there for lunch break right now. Will report back on the carnage.

Gas bubble disease

Owasso has plenty of that too!!! What a mess.

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Owasso has plenty of that too!!! What a mess.

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No seriously. It’s like the bends.

Kare 11 Link

Looks like Blackbay might actually be right. DNR is claiming that acute hyperoxia (too much oxygen) is the cause. I wasn’t buying it at first, but from what I can gather the high oxygen levels mess with ventilation rates (gill movements), and this can result in in improper ion exchange and acidosis etc. Seems like a rare event.

http://www.startribune.com/local/234167401.html

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Looks like Blackbay might actually be right. DNR is claiming that acute hyperoxia (too much oxygen) is the cause. I wasn’t buying it at first, but from what I can gather the high oxygen levels mess with ventilation rates (gill movements), and this can result in in improper ion exchange and acidosis etc. Seems like a rare event.

http://www.startribune.com/local/234167401.html

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From a Comment to Star Tribune, this link was posted MnDNR Owasso LVMP link

I’ve seen similar Plant Kill issues on many other lakes.
They come in an ERADICATE the Permitted Kill area weeds and come back a week or two later, you’ll find Virtually ALL VEGETATION DEAD and then a 40-60% Kill Rate in areas extending 100’+ on either side of the treated area.

Following Treatment, the Fish avoid the area

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Looks like Blackbay might actually be right. DNR is claiming that acute hyperoxia (too much oxygen) is the cause. I wasn’t buying it at first, but from what I can gather the high oxygen levels mess with ventilation rates (gill movements), and this can result in in improper ion exchange and acidosis etc. Seems like a rare event.

http://www.startribune.com/local/234167401.html

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A couple people got on the weed killer bandwagon so I went a different direction. Google fish diseases and you get tons of things most of which didn’t fit but gas bubble disease seemed to be the most logical. A little non-bias detective work is all it took.

I’d be willing to bet it happens more often than people think. This year we had cold weather with “early” clear ice so people could see the dead fish.

Does not change my mind one bit about what happened. Not saying the fish were poisoned here. What I’m saying is that the lingering effects of the bombing screwed up the eco-system of the lake, and that to me and many others is evident. You can only dump so many chemicals for so many years before it catches up with itself. The lake was in far worse shape than I can ever remember preceding ice-up, fish were stressed/sickly before ice-up as well. Myself and a buddy took a short stroll in a few areas on Monday. The North end around the beach and mid-lake flat wasn’t too bad, although most of the larger fish had been removed. The South end on the other hand was appalling to see. Thousands upon thousands of dead fish. I’d say for every ten or so square feet in certain areas there would be as many as 25 dead fish on the bottom and half frozen in the ice. Among these fish were all species and all sizes. Counted over 25 walleyes in one area with most of them being 24″ to over 30″. As I said above..hopefully some good comes from this, hopefully changing the bass ackwards lake management plan that exists.

Cant we, somehow, blame the native american community for this?