I've heard rumors of James River Fish Kill -- Anybody got the 411?

[Woolly Bugger]

Somebody is saying that there was another fish kill on the James this spring affecting larger fish. This was reported in the upper section above Buchanan.

[Woolly Bugger]

http://blogs.roanoke.com/wildlife/fishing/james_river_fish_kill_is_the_real_deal.html

oh, that's the '07 report

here is the 2008 info

http://www.deq.state.va.us/info/srfishkill.html

Guess it's the real deal....

[Woolly Bugger]

Anglers have been a big help with these investigations; many anglers are reporting steady fishing on many sections on these rivers, but are also reporting incidences of fish with lesions, and a few dying or dead fish. VDGIF fisheries biologists encourage anglers to continue reporting what they are seeing when they get back from their fishing trips; there are a lot more anglers than biologists and angler reports are very important to help document the upstream and downstream extent and severity of the problem.

To report sick, dying, or dead fish in these rivers anglers can contact DEQ's Harrisonburg Office at (540) 574-7800 or (toll-free in Virginia) (800) 592-5482. Information can also be emailed to fishreports@deq.virginia.gov.

Report the location, number of fish, and type of fish.

Or, you can call VDGIF's offices at Forest (434) 525-7522 or Verona (540) 248-9360.

[FlyFishinFool]

My friend and I floated the James for 2 days above Buchannan this past weekend (Aug 2-3) and I only saw 1 small dead fish, but it was a chub.  The fishing was ok, but the fish were smaller than usual.  I heard about the fish kills as well, it seems that it hit pretty much every smallie river, although I haven't heard of it being real bad on the New.  I usually get pretty up to date info because of where I work, but I do hear that the South Fork of the Shenandoah is coming back in a big way this season!  Have had a couple reports of some lunkers taken on some senyo sculpins.