Not surprising that signs of disease showed up. I just checked the Hbg gauge and during the vast majority of July and August the flows were below the median for that time period and, if you recall, we had a pretty good streak of hot weather in the high 80’s and low 90’s. Combined with low flow, the river probably got pretty warm, which is conducive to disease production and SMB stress. If the water was warm enough to stress the fish, immunity would be reduced. Parasites can provide a route to infection by creating initially small wounds in the protective slime and skin barriers as well as by weakening fish if the infestation is substantial.
Lower Susquehanna Bass Fishing
- Thread starter larkmark
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larkmark
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- Jun 11, 2019
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Mike- I wonder did the river get low and warm over the 100 yrs prior to the 1980s or 90's? Were parasites present then and were there die offs of fish? Or are all the other factors of water pollution the straw that broke the camels back and caused the problems we are seeing? Was the fishing good in the 1970s and 80s etc due to cooler temps and higher flows or some other factor? I am confused about all of this because the Clean Water Act of 70s should have resulted in better water quality by now. And yet we see bacteria counts for lower river are extremely high?
