Winter kill

dean nelson

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So any of you guys who have made it our recently seen any signs of it? The way the game and fish is talking it sounds like it's going to be pretty severe and a lot of lakes are going to be dead or at least partially dead but they're still kind of dancing around it for now.
 


johnr

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3F414C26-3C07-47FA-A7BA-3DD62F6B8776.jpg
Patterson lake in Dickinson has sun fish floating in some spots. Didn’t see anything significant
 

BRK

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Haven't been up to Pipestem yet but word is it's near a total kill off. May try and get there tonight to peak around at the landing.
 

Reprobait

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It sounds like they are concerned about Jamestown Reservoir as well. According to the game and fish preseason fishing videos.
 

FishSticks

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I fished several spots in Richland County and Stutsman that seemed to have winterkill
 


Chas'n Tail

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So a question for the armchair biologists here. How big does a lake need to be to not winterkill? I mean I get it, if we get 6 feet of standing snow in the open and it lasts until mid may, yeah Sak and DL are probably in trouble. But realistically, does it come down to surface area of the lake? Depth of the lake? Jamestown Reservoir is a pretty decent sized body of water in size and depth, right?
 

Lungdeflator

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So a question for the armchair biologists here. How big does a lake need to be to not winterkill? I mean I get it, if we get 6 feet of standing snow in the open and it lasts until mid may, yeah Sak and DL are probably in trouble. But realistically, does it come down to surface area of the lake? Depth of the lake? Jamestown Reservoir is a pretty decent sized body of water in size and depth, right?

Nean should know, I expect a comprehensive answer any second now.
 

MSA

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Type of vegetation also plays a factor.
 

Lycanthrope

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This explains why I wasnt catching any pike this winter! Guess its gonna be river fishing for me this spring...
 


zoops

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Doesn't seem to be real predictable as some lakes that would seem to be fairly susceptible (shallow) don't kill much and others with a decent amount of 15-20 ft. water do. I'd imagine weed growth, water clarity, water chemistry (nutrient load) and abundance of fish play a big role, along with of course a fresh water source.
 

Fisherman25

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Crooked lake and long lake in McLean county are toast again. They’ve been floating there since February.
 

Allen

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Winterkill is a pretty complex problem but can be simplified a little.

Once ice cover is on a body of water, sunlight gets really restricted in the water column. Hence, algae struggles to survive, much less thrive. So the dead algae along with any other dead organics begin to decay. Aerobic decay consumes oxygen and leads to the winterkill.

Some of the trickier parts of how they contribute to the problem are length of time the water has been iced over. Thickness of snowpack, depth of water (more water = more volume for holding dissolved O2 prior to icing over), lots of small things influence this.

There are parts of Sak where winterkill take place. I've talked with fisheries staff in the past where there have been some issues around Little Knife Bay, so I'm sure there are other places as well.

This same kind of thing also happens in the summer, but water temp is a big factor in the summer dieoffs. Warmer water holds less O2, so when the sun goes down or gets hidden behind a cloud the rate of O2 consumption by decay outstrips the production of O2 by algae/plants in the water. Granted, this is a much larger problem in places like Georgia.
 

WormWiggler

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the thread makes me wonder, what if you ice fish and bring an air compressor. Attach a weight to the hose, either open ended or a bit restricted and dropped it down the hole? maybe not the hole you are fishing, or too near, but in general? obviously joe schmoe won't prevent winter kill on his favorite lake, but say you have a permanent with air running 24/7, will it attract fish or dispel them? I also a person has guywhomakesthings skills to prevent freeze up, power supply, and other such commoner issues....
 

RustyTackleBox

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Sakakawea would never winter kill because it has a little stream flowing into it all year round some have called the Missouri, flowing water brings oxygen into the water even if it's slow it will still oxygenate the water... also lakes that get 40+ seem fairly immune they also tend to have some sort of a river attached... just my bachelor's in interwebs bro science degree talking
 


thriller1

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Wonder how Ashtabula will be. I see that the Corp drained it out completely up around by the Sibley area..
 

Davey Crockett

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the thread makes me wonder, what if you ice fish and bring an air compressor. Attach a weight to the hose, either open ended or a bit restricted and dropped it down the hole? maybe not the hole you are fishing, or too near, but in general? obviously joe schmoe won't prevent winter kill on his favorite lake, but say you have a permanent with air running 24/7, will it attract fish or dispel them? I also a person has guywhomakesthings skills to prevent freeze up, power supply, and other such commoner issues....






Probably wouldn't matter because the bubbles would make the ice thin so your vehicle or permanent or both might end up on bottom.

Good question though if diffusers attract or repel fish I ran air in a pond for a couple of years and fished around it a lot and never had a bite. The only problem with aeration is liability, The darn snowmobillers wouldn't stay away . I had a portable unit out on the ice the area clearly marked with danger signs and it was like a magnet to idiots.
 
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