The Iowa Department of Natural Resources(DNR) is investigating a fish kill in Lake Panorama after witnesses reported seeing “hundreds” of dead fish during the last days of July near the Sunset Beach area of the popular lakeside community.
Steve Roe, president of the Raccoon River Watershed Association and a resident of Lake Panorama, took a picture of two large flathead catfish Aug. 1 that someone brought ashore.
“They died three days previously and were dragged on shore,” said Roe, who estimated the size of the fish at 30 to 35 pounds. “There were also crappie, walleye, channel catfish, bluegill and bass in the rocks off the shoreline.”
Kristy Kay of Dawson was visiting Lake Panorama July 29 and was shocked at the sight of the dead fish.
“We just saw hundreds of fish floating when we were out boating last weekend,” Kay said. “I have never seen so many dead fish at once. Everyone is saying different things about the cause of it.”
A jetty about 30 yards west of the beach area creates a backwater, which is where the fish were seen. Lake Panorama is fed by the Middle Raccoon River, and dead fish were seen floating through the lake in the channel for several days, Roe said.
“I doubt that the fish died there,” he said. “They died upstream and floated there.” Empty water bottles and trash often collects in the backwater near Sunset Beach.
Preliminary investigation by the DNR suggested the fish were not killed by a toxin, such as agricultural chemicals, spilled livestock manure or microcystin, an algae-born poison, Roe said. The fish might have been deprived of “thermal refugia,” shady spots under trees or deep, cool holes, during the very hot weather last month.
The DNR has not issued a statement about the fish kill.
