Hundreds of dead fish reported at Rocky Fork Lake
With buzzards circling overhead, the stench of dead and decaying white bass permeated a small boat dock on the eastern edge of Rocky Fork Lake Thursday morning.
At a cove just off McCoppin Mill Road, hundreds of dead fish dotted the shore line.
Nearby residents Jerry and Sally Hinton contacted The Highland County Press Thursday about the dying fish.
"So far, it's mostly white bass," Sally Hinton.
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However, a dead bluegill also was sighted floating amid several bass.
"We've lived here since 1997, and we've never seen anything like it," Jerry Hinton said.
Paint Township Trustee Randy Mustard said he became aware of the situation Wednesday evening after receiving a call from Mrs. Hinton.
"That was the first I've heard about it," Mustard said.
Mustard added that that particular cove, just below Wood Street, attracts a lot of debris due to the typical wind direction.
Inspections at other popular lake areas – including Blinko Cove and North Beach – also revealed a number of dead fish either floating near the shore or washed up from the lake.
Fishermen at Blinko Cove told The Highland County Press Thursday morning that they noticed a few dead bass last week, but many more in the past 24 hours.
"It could be a virus related to that particular species," one angler suggested.
Another fisherman had four good-sized crappies in a basket that were still full of life. He said he planned to clean them and eat them, in spite of the dead white bass floating around him.
Kathy Garza-Behr of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources/Division of Wildlife District Five Office said that they were looking into the matter, and that fish kills are "not unusual" when there are extreme temperature or water level changes. As of late Thursday afternoon, ODNR officers were at the lake doing initial testing.
"They've checked multiple sites and got fish on each site, and they are actively engaged in trying to find a source," Garza-Behr said.
Check back to www.highlandcountypress.com for further updates.