Iowa DNR
Fish Kill DatabaseDB

Fish Kill Event - Little River Lake

Leon, near main boat ramp

Event ID
1037
Date of Kill
5/22/2023
Waterbody Type
Lake
Cause Origin
Natural
Cause
Disease/Parasite/Stress
Mode
N/A
Magnitude
1 (1 - 100 fish killed)
County
Decatur
ESD Field Office
FO 5
Fisheries Office
Mt. Ayr State Hatchery
LongDD
-93.77580
LatDD
40.76677
Created Date
7/6/2023 4:02:47 PM
Last Update
7/6/2023 4:02:47 PM
For more information about this fish kill event, contact the Field Office or Fisheries Office listed above.
Impacted Assessment Segments
Lat/Long uses WGS84 datum
Onsite Comments

There are some dead Bluegill and Black Crappie washed up in the curly leaf pondweed, but I didn't see any large dead fish (eg. Largemouth Bass or Walleye). Checked the water quality and temperature was 71 degrees F, pH was 8.3, and dissolved oxygen was 13.2 mgl/L. The water was very clear and I could see fish, including big Largemouth Bass moving around without any signs of distress. There was no odor or discoloration of the water.

Fisheries ruled this a natural, partial fish kill relating to spawning stress since most of the dead fish were Bluegill and Crappie. The panfish have been spawning for awhile (Bluegill are still spawning) and the water temperature has warmed up so that could have led to the partial kill. There are also a lot of panfish fish skeletons in the water from people harvesting fish and throwing the waste in the water so it may look worse than it actually is to the general angler.