toledoblade.com --

Few things grab your nose's attention on a hot summer afternoon down by the creek quicker than the putrid odor of a dead carp.

But imagine 20,000 dead carp.

That is what the good folks on western New York's famous Chautauqua Lake are contending with right now - in the height of summer vacation season with the big Fourth of July holiday weekend looming.

OUTDOORS DATEBOOK

Today through Thursday — Toledo Trap and Ske et Club, 2 to 9 p.m. daily, 3150 State Rt. 295, Berkey; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; call the club, 419-829-5101.

Tonight — Public trapshoot, 6 to 10, Dundee Sportsmen’s Club, 2300 Plank Rd., Dundee, Mich., repeats Thursday 9 a.m. to noon and Sunday noon to 6 p.m.; call the club 734-529-3581.

Tonight — Public trap and skeet shooting, 6 to 11, Camp Perry Shooting Club, Camp Perry, State Rt. 2 west of Port Clinton, repeats Thursday 6 to 11 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m.; call the club, 419-635-2682.

Thursday — Trapshoot, 6 p.m., Sandusky County Sportsmen’s Club, State Rt. 600 east of Gibsonburg; also, Saturday, .22 silhouette shoot; call Kevin Planert 419-307-3066.

Thursday and Friday — Public trap and skeet shooting, 6 p.m., United Conservation and Outdoor Association of Hancock County, Township Road 243 north of U.S. 224, east of Findlay, Friday 40-bird protection trap, 8 p.m.; call Don Borkosky, 419-427-4236.

Saturday — Bald eagle program, 1 to 5 p.m., Mary Jane Thurston State Park, campground amphitheater, State Rt. 65 west of Grand Rapids; repeats Sunday 1 to 5 p.m., Van Buren State Park, nature center, State Rt. 613 east of I-75 north of Findlay; call naturalist Ron
Bowerman 419-832-7662.

Saturday through Monday — Fourth of July Trophy Trapshoot, starting 9:30 a.m. daily, Jaqua’s Trap Club, 900 East Bigelow Ave., Findlay; nine events, 1,100 targets; call the club, 419-422-0912.

Saturday and Sunday — Native butterfl ies weekend, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Kitty Todd Preserve, 10420 Old State Line Rd., butterfly hikes Saturday 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m.; call The Nature Conservancy, 419-867-1521.

Sunday — Bowshoot, Four County Conservation League, Bellevue, register 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 3-D targets; call the club 419-483-8113.

Monday — Public trapshoot, 6 p.m., Wolf Creek Sportsmen’s Association, 349 Teachout Rd., north of State Rt. 2, Curtice; voice-activated traps now available; call Rick Ferguson, 419-836-5264.

"There is some odor, but they're trying to keep ahead of the game," explained Russ Biss, natural resources supervisor for the Allegany, N.Y., office of the state department of environmental conservation. "The Chautauqua Lake Association has been very active out there, picking up fish."

The rafts of dead carp are being buried in trenches next to the local landfill. "They're the big fish - 10, 15, 20 pounds up to 30 inches long," said Biss. "They're probably stressed from spawning."

Add in the sustained heat wave of air temperatures in the 90s, plus an outbreak of koi herpes virus in the lake's carp stock, and there you have it: Piles of dead fish.

No significant carp dieoffs have been noted in Lake Erie so far this year, said Jeff Tyson, supervisor of the Sandusky-based Lake Erie Fisheries Research Station of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. But he added that noteworthy numbers died a couple of summers ago. An exact cause could not be determined at the time.

Tyson noted that significant dieoffs of freshwater drum, or sheepshead, have occurred this summer, but those deaths likely are linked to post-spawn stress. Stress seems to cause a sizable drum dieoff about every third summer, the biologist said.

Koi, an Asian species commonly called "goldfish," are an aquacultural color variation of common carp. They vary in color from reddish-orange to orange and white with colored patches. They are popular in residential fish ponds and other ornamental ponds.

New York's Biss said that Chautauqua Lake, 17 miles long and covering some 13,000 acres, had a smaller oubreak with dying carp last summer. But a few thousand dead fish then have blossomed to an estimated 20,000 so far this summer. Again most of the outbreak is in the lake's relatively shallow southern basin, where it empties into the Chadakoin River. Water temperatures there this week are in the mid 70s.

Fish recovery crews also have found some dead muskellunge in the lake, but Biss said their deaths are unreleated to the koi herpes outbreak. He noted that some muskies die every summer from spawning stress.

The supervisor said that the koi virus obviously has been introduced to the lake system, but he stopped short of accusing someone of dumping unwanted, infected koi into the lake. It is possible, he explained, that the virus was water-borne, entering the lake in runoff from a pond where infected koi were stocked.

In any case, biologists so far have been unable to trace the actual path of the outbreak. But the veterinary college at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., confirmed the identity of the outbreak from samples of dead fish.

So far, Biss said, the damage control being done by the lake association, in terms of scooping up and carting away the dead carp, has limited the impact on tourism and vacationing. But some inquiries are coming in nonetheless.

"We were expecting tourism concerns to occur but it doesn't look like that is happening," said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau. He said that some beaches may have some odor problems while crews continue to catch up with the dead fish, but health authorities have assured the public that the lake waters are safe for swimming, boating and other water activities, Nixon added.

"This is a new experience for us," said Biss, noting that the hot weather, possibly a contributing factor, is expected to continue through mid week.

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An Ontario commercial gillnetting operation on Lake Erie has been fined $10,000 after operators pleaded guilty to exceeding their initial quota of 2004 walleye.

Larry Jackson, Port Stanley, Ont., the license designee, was fined $5,000 by the Ontario Court of Criminal Justice, said the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Shawn Cook, captain of the gillnet tug L.R. Jackson, was fined $2,000, and the license owner, listed as 944674 Ontario, Inc., was fined $3,000.

A provincial conservation officer found that two men had caught their initial 2004 walleye allocation by March 2, 2004, but continued fishing until March 21, making for an overharvest of nearly 2,150 pounds. Canadian netters are allowed a small catch of walleye from Jan. 1 to May 1 to allow them to fish for other species but to limit the walleye catch during spawning season. The balance of the annual walleye quota is allowed only after May 1.

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Lake Erie fishing report - Walleye action in the western basin has been spotty at best, likely for a combination of reasons led by the heat wave.

"They're catching a lot of fish, but they're little fish," said Rick Ferguson at Al Szuch Live Bait in Jerusalem Township. A 15-inch minimum size limit is in effect in both Ohio and Michigan
waters of the lake, and tons of 2003 walleye currently are about a quarter to a half-inch undersize and must be released.

Trollers are having best results with small spoons in copper, gold or silver, and casters are doing best with mayfly rigs such as Weapons with spinner blades in the same colors, Ferguson said. He blamed mixed results on the heat, plus a huge hatch of mayflies and huge minnow schools. Mayflies and minnows provide a walleye smorgasbord.

Yellow perch action had been very good about a half-mile to a mile east of the Turn-Around Buoy at the outer end of the Toledo Ship Channel, Ferguson said. But the mayfly hatches may have shut it down at least temporarily.

Yellow perch action, however, was decent off Marblehead Lighthouse, east of Port Clinton, and between Gull Island Shoal and Kelleys Island, according to Rickard's Bait at Catawba Island. The shop also said smallmouth bass action was decent over the weekend using softcraws off Perry's Monument at Put-in-Bay.

Contact Steve Pollick at: spollick@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.

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