Thread: Henderson fish kill

Originally Posted by black n chartreuse

Fish are starting to die in large schools today and they are spraying the grass if you had plans to go go to plan B trust me this doesn't look good

I went to Breaux Bridge this morning (from Baton Rouge) and stopped by the Butte LaRose landing under I10 to see what was going on.....I talked to three different boats that had just pulled out of the water and none of them had any fish.....must have been around 10 AM.....they said the water did not have any oxygen....the mullet were all on top gasping for air.....and hydrylla was everywhere.....water by the landing did look black to me.....this does not look good....

looks like its time to get a spear and get some catfish bait!

Yes just got off water had a bass tournament. There is dead fish all over bass,bream,sacalait,and trashfish. It is not that bad yet out of 24 boats 1 boat caught bass. We had our sacalait tournament yesterday and they didn't have any dead fish this occured over night. It took a lil over 3lbs to win we had 7 boats and all boats caught fish I took 3rd and keep 17 fish all over 9 inches. I am hopeing it doesnt last long I will keep Everone updated

Uh oh. Are they spraying the lake right now? This always happens after a big flood during hot months though. Happened on the Ouachita River a few years back, there were thousands of fish floating at the mouth of D'arbonne Bayou. Most of them were shad and 'rough fish' though. This is what is so bad about hyacinth, when it dies it takes up oxygen when it decays, so you can not spray it all at once, you will end up with a big fish kill. But, usually by the time you come back to re-spray the remaining hyacinth has multiplied, so it is a constant battle.

Natural fish kills happen like the one mentioned on the O River too. All that decaying vegetation and algae that comes out of the backwaters and thenfast-dropping water levels. All this is put into the main system too fast and the decaying veg takes out a lot of oxygen = fish kill.


I was trying to explain how bad hyacinth and salvinia was to a tour guide on Lake Martin that shall remain nameless:p I did not get to get many words in during that 2 hour visit though! He says it was the basis of the food chain, etc. and LDWFshould NOT spray this stuff. He was having to pick up his motor often during this trip. Finally got a word in and told him that the decaying vegtetation is silting in this area (hence the reason you are having to pick up the motor so often), he didn't want to hear that and said silt is good, we need more of it in the gulf! I said silt is bad for spawning fish, didn't want to hear that either. So, finally I asked him that IF hypothetically he had a ten acre pond - would he want hyacinth in THAT pond? He says 'well I wouldn't mind a little bit in there'. SO I tell him that there is no such thing as just a little bit of hyacinth in a pond type system. He says 'well no, you would definitely have to MANAGE for it'Doh At that time a neuron should have fired, a lightbulb should have gone off that told him that was EXACTLY what is happening MANAGEMENT, but that did not happen. He makes a living guiding people around and if not managed, the lake would be a hyacinth jungle, but do NOT spray it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saw this on La Sportsman FYIHenderson • Freshwater Fishing in Henderson Lake in South Central Louisiana • Louisiana Sportsman, LA

Terrible news! Please keep us posted. Thanks.

Hope it does not get too bad...it was just starting to get right again. Keep us posted ranger....