The Topeka Capital-Journal
Dozens of dead trout could be seen washed up on shore or floating in shallow water Friday morning near Lake Shawnee's south boat dock. The already-stressed fish died after being dumped into the lake as part of a Feb. 23 stocking. The frigid condition was more than they could take, said an official for Shawnee County Parks and Recreation.
Dozens of dead trout could be seen washed up on shore or floating in shallow water Friday morning near Lake Shawnee's south boat dock. The already-stressed fish died after being dumped into the lake as part of a Feb. 23 stocking. The frigid condition was more than they could take, said an official for Shawnee County Parks and Recreation.

Mass mortalities resulted from the stocking of thousands of rainbow trout.

Many rainbow trout died because they were stressed out by the cold water of the lake and were not able to survive.

The department lost 100 to 150 fish that were already stressed and that caused them to die, said Mike McLaughlin, the department's communications and public information supervisor.

There were more than 60 dead trout that were washed up on the shore or in the shallow water near the boat dock.

The dead trout were being removed by the park maintenance staff as they became visible.

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Dead fish were part of same release

Since 1979 the lake has stocked rainbow trout with that type of fish, which is not typically found in Kansas during the fall or early spring.

The trout are from Crystal Lake.

The county will pay Crystal Lake Fisheries $57,400 a year for three years to stock the lake with rainbow trout.

McLaughlin said two trucks were used to stock the lake.

The south boat ramp was the site of the first truck releasing trout on Feb. 23, when the temperature was 3 degrees.

The trout that died were part of the release.

He said the trout did well when the temperature was 30.

The winds were coming from the north at the lake when the office reported gusts here were reaching 36 mph.

Some of the fish that expired and were not captured that day wash up into the shallow areas because trout sink when they die.

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'Lake Shawnee is fine and is safe to fish'

There were 7,000 pounds of trout that were released into the lake.

The number of fish varies with each trout stocking as they are of different sizes.

Dead trout wash up Friday morning on the south boat ramp at Lake Shawnee.
Dead trout wash up Friday morning on the south boat ramp at Lake Shawnee.

The recent trout deaths are an unusual occurrence that has to do with the weather.

The lake is safe to fish, he said.

McLaughlin said that no similar incidents could be recalled Friday.

One colleague remembers that a decade or more ago, the trout were stocked and the weather suddenly turned warmer and some trout were lost due to the sudden change in temperature.

According to the archives of the Topeka Capital-Journal, trout stop feeding when water temperatures reach 65 degrees or higher.

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Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com.

The article was originally published on the Capital-Journal.

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