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| Message Subject: Panfish Floaters | |||
| jonnysled |
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Posts: 13688 Location: minocqua, wi. | Steve, Dave ... anyone noticing the inordinate number of floating panfish in the waters of oneida and vilas county this week? i first noticed it on Moen's tuesday night and then the stench of the minocqua chain is pretty crazy. last night i ran into some of the local guide and tournament anglers and everyone is noticing the same thing ... is it the dramatic change in water temps.? ... one guy said there was a bug or worm they could have ... of course this is all speculation and heresay, but it is different and from the arbs to minocqua to the rhinelander area there are lots of rotting panfish floating on the water. any ideas? | ||
| Joe_Fisherman |
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| Here is a post from another site. *** Hi; When you find muskies (or other fish for that matter) floating on the surface please call my office, 715-241-6372, the sooner the better. In addition to hopefully determining the COD, I can gain a lot of valuable information from these fish even if they are in horrible condition. As for the dead panfish found this spring in Lake Wausau, the results from bluegills sent to the health lab came back negative. Garrett Fisheries Technician-WDNR Wausau | |||
| ostdc |
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Posts: 185 Location: Pound, WI | There were a lot of floating panfish on Lake Noquebay two weekends ago, too. Nice ones, too, so we didn't think they were caught and thrown back. Brian | ||
| muskiefishman |
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Posts: 189 Location: Hoboken, NJ / North Webster, IN | Same thing down in Indiana on Webster in mid-late May. Tons of panfish...mainly crappy and bluegill floating by. Josh | ||
| seaman |
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Posts: 128 Location: ontario canada - Well Anderson Indiana now | Yea Josh I saw quite a few dead panfish on Webster and Barbee in May. | ||
| jonnysled |
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Posts: 13688 Location: minocqua, wi. | http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2007050... it's beyond wausau and seems to be hitting a wide area from the conversations i've had with people. Edited by jonnysled 6/14/2007 2:39 PM | ||
| ghoti |
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Posts: 1291 Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | Jon, I recall reading something about it in a recent Sun. outdoor section. I'll check, if it hasn't hit the recyclables yet. | ||
| ESfishOX |
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![]() Posts: 412 Location: Waukesha, WI | I asked the warden I saw on Saturday about the floaters too. His reply was that Pewaukee Lake has this every spring from post stress spawn and increased temperatures in the shallows. Not too many of them I saw had any spots to report. After his comment, I thought the spots I did see could have just been from spawning. | ||
| jonnysled |
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Posts: 13688 Location: minocqua, wi. | i did clean a couple of bluegills a couple weeks back where the meat looked like what you would see on a rock bass and i discarded the two filets and stopped keeping panfish. i'm sure it's a parasitic or viral thing going on at least on some of the lakes i've seen and smelled ... just wonder how broad and if it will affect other fish which seems very much a possibility ... just very little information going on out there at this moment with exception of the one report from wausau where fish are being evaluated in the lab. | ||
| tfootstalker |
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Posts: 299 Location: Nowheresville, MN | It's called Columnaris, a bacterial infection and a common event in early summer when water temperatures rapidly increase. It effects gills, crappies, and bullheads most frequently. These fish are stressed from spawning and since they spawn in the shallows they are effected the greatest by the water temperature. Not really anything to be alarmed of. Do be on the lookout for VHS. | ||
| ulbian |
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Posts: 1168 | Yep, columnaris...pretty common thing. Lake by my mom and dad's this happens every year. Every year people freak out about it, hound the DNR to do something or the world will end, it's explained that it's nothing to worry about and it's not mentioned again. The next year the same group gets all up in arms, DNR explains it, people are satisfied...rinse, repeat. Kinda funny deal if you ask me. The bonus of it is that it's enough to shoo people away from these little pothole lakes and the pressure will decrease dramatically. | ||
| sworrall |
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Posts: 32953 Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | None on Moens or Pelican yesterday. | ||
| esoxaddict |
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Posts: 8848 | Happens every year on the Yahara Chain, some years it's worse than others. I was told it depends on how warm the water gets during and immediately after the panfish (most notably bluegills) spawn. The DNR biologist I asked about it said that its a combination of the (columnaris) bacteria counts being higher when the water gets warmer and the stress from spawning. | ||
| happy hooker |
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Posts: 3160 | Seeing it quite a bit in the metro especially the city lakes of MPLS and St Paul,,,,Im wondering if thats why the bite has been slow the muskies are picking off the staggering panfish and their full up???? | ||
| esoxhunter951 |
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Posts: 129 | there are alot of them on little st. germain too. even a few bullheads. but i dont remember seeing any on boom lake. | ||
| muskyone |
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Posts: 1536 Location: God's Country......USA..... Western Wisconsin | A lot of the floaters that you see, have to do with the water temp increasing enough for any dead fish to finally bloat or gas up enough to finally float. Happens every spring at one time or another. That is not to say that there are not several reasons for them to die in the first place. All lakes have a certain amount of winter kill and these fish will tend to float up at about the same time every year as well. Just remember that if the water is cold enough they would never float up at all. Lake Superior for instance. | ||
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