Lake Miccosukee mystery
Posted: May 30th, 2016, 10:16 pm
Went out to the dam on Lake Miccosukee at highway 90 today, originally in search of a geocache. However my attention was immediately redirected to the hundreds of fish congregating on the surface of the water on the south side of the dam. Catfish, bream, gar, specks, a few bass and a huge bowfin were all pointing their mouths to the surface. The folks fishing on the boardwalk said they had been like that for hours and wouldn't bite anything. What was the deal?
Some theories were entertained, including low oxygen levels, spawning, and lots of forage near the surface. I personally subscribe the the low oxygen theory, as I've never seen so many catfish on the surface at one time. Bream would be one thing, but the cats surprised me.
I was also taken aback by the sheer number of fish on that side of the dam. In one corner of pond there was a writhing mass of catfish with their backs out of the water, and some were pretty darn big. I have pictures, but my phone camera is so bad I doubt their worth posting.
Anyone have an idea what was up? It would be a shame for all of those fish to asphyxiate.
Some theories were entertained, including low oxygen levels, spawning, and lots of forage near the surface. I personally subscribe the the low oxygen theory, as I've never seen so many catfish on the surface at one time. Bream would be one thing, but the cats surprised me.
I was also taken aback by the sheer number of fish on that side of the dam. In one corner of pond there was a writhing mass of catfish with their backs out of the water, and some were pretty darn big. I have pictures, but my phone camera is so bad I doubt their worth posting.
Anyone have an idea what was up? It would be a shame for all of those fish to asphyxiate.