Dead Bony Bream Somerset

[Whitto]

:'( The mate had a trip up to Somerset yesterday, Plenty of fish showing on the sounder but none interested in the lure said he threw everything at them but no avail, What has disturbed him is that there we 100's maybe 1000's of dead Bony Bream on the surface, not all were dead and if you touched a livey it would swim off but return to the surface, Not even the birds were interested in them. So what do we have here bearing in mind we have had a couple of very cold days or are we seeing poor oxygenated water or the start of it:-/ , it will be very sad God forbid to see Bass belly up, anyone out there able to voice an opinion, I would be interested in replys, Cheers Whitto:( :(

[Whitto]

:-/ Judging by the hits and no replys, We have answered our own Question, feel free to reply if you have any idea's, Cheers Whitto:o

[tunaticer]

Was it only bony bream that were floating around??
If it was I would be more suspect of a virus or something specific to bony bream. Bony's are remarkably hardy critters and survive is some very cold waters over winter without too much trouble.

I would doubt if the bass would be too affected by the temps in Somerset, Wivenhoe or Sampsonvale impoundments, the smaller and higher altitude dams would be lots more at rish of temperature drops to these extremes.

Jack.

[Pumba]

Just a thought also- Cooler water can carry more oxygen than warmer water. I doubt low oxygen would be a issue, unless a large algae bloom has crashed, which is very unlikely.

At other dams such as Borumba and Hinze, at different times of the year, I have come across large numbers (1000+) rainbowfish and gudgeons floating dead or stunned, swept into a bay or onto banks by the wind.

A food source crash or rollover is another possibilty.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers,
Matt

[Thepato]

G'day,

Bony bream are not very tolerant of low disolved oxygen levels and are apparantly one of the first species to be affected by this. I definetely don't think it could be the cold weather as bony bream live in the southern states without any problems. I'll be at Somerset this weekend so I'll be on the lookout. Sounds like it will be a tough time fishing there though.

Cheers,
Patrick.

[Haji-Baba]

About 25 years ago we had a couple of very cold days in the south of Queensland, snow, sleet and high winds. On an impulse I took my son out to the Condamine for a couple of days, thought the cod might have come on.
No such luck, but because of the cold thousands of bony bream died in a ringtank near the river. The farmer who owned the property took us up to see the dead fish. There were so many even the crows had given up eating them.
Even though we had our worm bucket in the tent with us they died too.

It definately was the cold weather that killed those Bony bream.

Have fun Haji-Baba

[Whitto]

Thanks Everone for your replys, It's a bit of a worry, The mate said it was only bony bream and that the only bird life having a crack at them was the odd Seagull, It looks very much like the cold weather has had a hand in this, Thanks All, Cheers Whitto

[Fitzy]

G'Day Whitto,

Im thinking with the wind Somerset is rolling over or has done so.
Usually see bonies being effected first & worst. Hope we see some good tilapia numbers floating as weel.

Usually makes the fishing toungh around this time. Bass in Big W were a bit sulky last week too, not in their usual "belt anything" winter attitude. They normally go quiet around when the Ekka Winds kick in.

Fitz..