Thread: Lake Norman Fish Kill

Just left Norman. Spent a lot if time yesterday between marker 10 and almost to 150 bridge. All I saw was 2 dead catfish. Maybe the striper kill was minimal and short lived.

The fishkills happen just below where you were. usually Davidson creek all the way to the dam below the Nuke plant. I was out there last saturday just riding around. I counted 42 in a short time. was going to take a pic, but realized i left the cell phone on the dock. All nice sized fish without touching some looked to be pushing 12-13lbs. the good news is all the fish i saw looked very bloated and seemed like they have been there for several days. nothing fresh. The 2+ inches of rain the area got 2 days after may be what was needed to cool the water down and add some O2 to slow it down and perhaps end it.

Moral of the story is NC needs to take notes from TN, GA and SC on how to manage the lake, but then again we all know NC doesnt have enough sense.

Originally Posted by pete

The fishkills happen just below where you were. usually Davidson creek all the way to the dam below the Nuke plant. I was out there last saturday just riding around. I counted 42 in a short time. was going to take a pic, but realized i left the cell phone on the dock. All nice sized fish without touching some looked to be pushing 12-13lbs. the good news is all the fish i saw looked very bloated and seemed like they have been there for several days. nothing fresh. The 2+ inches of rain the area got 2 days after may be what was needed to cool the water down and add some O2 to slow it down and perhaps end it.

Moral of the story is NC needs to take notes from TN, GA and SC on how to manage the lake, but then again we all know NC doesnt have enough sense.

NC does not care!

Monk

Ive always heard its because of the river herring , but also heard from a DNR officer its the nuclear plants intake of cool water at the 60-70 ft level. Thus depleting the o2 in the deeper water suffocating the fish. Ive always wondered if all the houses on the lake that fertilize those beautiful lawns has an inpact on the fish (mercury levels and so forth) because you and I all know that when it rains the run off goes straight into the lake . Just some food for thought.

Originally Posted by gotta_fish

Ive always heard its because of the river herring , but also heard from a DNR officer its the nuclear plants intake of cool water at the 60-70 ft level. Thus depleting the o2 in the deeper water suffocating the fish. Ive always wondered if all the houses on the lake that fertilize those beautiful lawns has an inpact on the fish (mercury levels and so forth) because you and I all know that when it rains the run off goes straight into the lake . Just some food for thought.

High Rock is full of fertilizer. More than most any lake in NC. It never caused a fish kill. In fact, it causes nutrients to grow in the lake that small fish eat. Its one of the reason High Rock has always had a massive shad population.

In my opinion. I has more to do with dissolved O2 than anything. The fish would have a problem without the herring. Stripers just can't take the low O2. Much like speckled trout can't take too cold a water.

My opinion. Duke Power should put some aerator lines in the lake like Salem, Thomalex and other lakes have done. If Duke is going to make money off using the water.... then they should be a good steward and at least do that. Just my penny.

Originally Posted by pete

The fishkills happen just below where you were. usually Davidson creek all the way to the dam below the Nuke plant. I was out there last saturday just riding around. I counted 42 in a short time. was going to take a pic, but realized i left the cell phone on the dock. All nice sized fish without touching some looked to be pushing 12-13lbs. the good news is all the fish i saw looked very bloated and seemed like they have been there for several days. nothing fresh. The 2+ inches of rain the area got 2 days after may be what was needed to cool the water down and add some O2 to slow it down and perhaps end it.

Moral of the story is NC needs to take notes from TN, GA and SC on how to manage the lake, but then again we all know NC doesnt have enough sense.

Its a shame our wildlife administrators are not voted in. That would get them off their rear and make them do something.

If they were voted in don't you think they'd be doing whatever Duke wants like the folks in office now....

Originally Posted by sundance

It certainly has something to do with the herring but Badin had the same issue without the herring. Badin might get it next.

How do the herring harm the stripers? I thought they were a good food source.