What could cause dead trout?

[mr7183]

I was walking my local stream (Huntington Creek in Columbia County) and noticed about 15 dead fish at the bottom. I was able to grab two of them (both were stocked Brookies); they weren't cleaned and I didn't see any obvious signs of fisherman mishandling. There was a family bait fishing down stream, but again, I don't think they caused this.

On all of the fish, the meat was still on their bones but their skin was ripped off on the sides.

Any idea what could cause this? It was disheartening to say the least.

 

[bigslackwater]

I found two dead stocked brookies this year also. This is in a section that they supposedly only stock browns and rainbows. Judging by the number of brookies I caught, I think the state stocked brookies where they were not listed to be stocked. I figured they didnt adjust well to their new home. Maybe someone with more knowledge will chime in.

 

[Fishidiot]

mr7183 wrote:
On all of the fish, the meat was still on their bones but their skin was ripped off on the sides.
Any idea what could cause this?

Beats me.
While it's common to see some stocked trout that went belly up - to see the skins off is strange. Are you sure they hadn't just faded in death and appeared to be skinless? Dead trout can fade pretty quickly. If the skin was shredded, perhaps a turtle picked at them. Hhmmm....

 

[Cold]

If they spent very much time at all dead on the bottom, it's entirely possible that with the softening of decomposition, the abrasion of random rocks, sticks, etc. flowing downstream might have stripped off the skin. Normally, a free meal doesn't spend too much time uneaten, though...

 

[sandfly]

in a research station by penn state years ago it was determined that 60% of stocked trout do not survive. They just don't know how to feed on natural feed. I think this was done on spruce creek. could be this and they just washed down stream to that point.

 

[mr7183]

I plucked a few off the bottom and the skin was definitely ripped off on both sides of each fish. It was very odd.

Huntington is my home water, I hope it isn't indicative of a larger problem.

 

[PASKIINGSUCKS]

Well here's one thing that causes dead trout.......

I know this doesn't answer your question but I was trying to find an appropriate thread to drop this in without starting a new one.

Swabia up above macungie. About 5 or 6 inches of brownie sticking out of the mouth, snake was maybe 2 foot plus. Of course I tangled the tree right next to it on a bad cast. Snake was still very much alive, the trout.....not so much.

 

[salvelinus]

You should report it to the local WCO. I've seen dead trout here and there but not with the skin missing like you said.

 

[troutbert]

Since there were 15 dead trout in one pool, odds are that something went wrong in the hatchery truck. Probably a temperature and/or oxygen problem.