Fish Kill at Lewisville Lake
If you happen to be driving along 380 east of Denton, and wonder what that fishy smell is, it’s a small fish kill that happened last week when extreme fluctuations in lake levels apparently led to oxygen depletion and death of what is estimated to be 2-thousand fish.
JH and I took a look at the carnage yesterday as cars flew by at well beyond posted speed limits, and were puzzled at first by the sight and then by the mystery of what may have caused the kill. Early yesterday afternoon, we had no idea the story had been documented already by local Channel 11 (Denton Fish Kill). The scientist in JH was ready to collect samples right then and there, but didn’t have a means of collection, so it was back to class, and some research. That’s where the story turned up on the Channel 11 web site.
If you want their scoop, be sure and go to their site. Later in the day, I dropped in below the Ray Roberts Dam, and although I didn’t see many folks catching fish, I was audience to a fisherman catching a five pound Hybrid on a huge live bait he had just netted. He and I agreed, pound-for-pound no freshwater fish beats a Hybrid – or more aptly H-Bombs. He caught only the one, and of course I wasted my time flailing with my 5wt and flies that did nothing to entice the other two H-Bombs to bite. Honestly, they don’t appear to be in there thick, but last week’s prediction of Sand Bass running up and H-Bombs being the icing on that cake, has me thinking about an 6wt and sinking line this foggy morning.
Those pesky gar finally gave me a break, and took a big white / white Clouser deep. This is my first Spotted Gar on a fly and weighed in at 11 pounds and 45 inches.
Category: Fish Kill, Fishing Reports, North Texas, Writing
Remind yourself to never check the records after releasing some fish. It turns out the Longnose Gar caught the other day blows the Texas fly rod record away by 12 inches and about triple the weight of the current record. Forget about it, and go get another. It’s as simple as threading a needle at five feet.
BROKEN BOW UPDATE – by Dusty Montgomery
Broken Bow area has had more than 16 inches of rain this month. They are opening up the spillway today. And when they did this last year, it was opened for 3 weeks. Zone one will be closed today, and for how ever long they keep the spillway open and flowing. All those big fish we had caught are going to get pushed down river. This is not good. Last time, the flyshop in the park almost went down, as did many structures, benches, and a lot of the man-made structure. I guess the only good thing could be the flooding will push out the didyomo. – DM
longnose gar don’t look too bad, but alligator gar are hideous!!! ew.
I’ve been corrected! Apparently that is a longnose gar. Caught it in the canal below the dam – what jurisdiction is that?