Hey guys,

Does anybody know what is going on in Denton Creek near Grapevine? I went there Sunday afternoon to see if I could catch a few creek sandies, and there were a bunch of dead carp along the bank/in the H20.

I didn't see any dead sandies or crappie, but there were TONS of dead carp. I hope it doesn't affect the main lake. I'd appreciate any info that you guys might have.

Thanks,

--BD

Dead carp, so where is the problem.

Gee, bigger problems with the drainage???

Poisons moving toward Grapevine and Lewisville???

No big deal...

BD-

What section of Denton Creek? I was out there last Friday west of 377 and didn't notice any dead fish on the section I was fishing. I noticed a few odd things with the water, but I assumed it becuase on the low water conditions and minimal flow.

alot of bow fisherman bowfish for carp and leave them on the bank to die due to the fact those fish have overpopulated our area lakes and rivers. that would be my guess, if it was only dead carp you seen.

SVDK,

I fished West/North-West of 377 on Sunday. It looked to me like the fish had been there a day or two. Lots of vultures around.

Brazos,

I don't think that a bowhunter could have gotten that many. I fished a few different places in a 1-2 mile stretch and I came across at lest 50 dead fish. They ranged from very small (4-5 inches) to quite big (20-30 lbs) I looked at a couple of the fish up-close, and I didn't see any arrow enrty marks at all. (I definitely would have noticed that)

I sure do hope it's not something that will affect fishery on the main lake. The low water situation is bad enough!

If you were West of 377, how low was the water? My fishing buddy has a vacation next week and we'll be taking my canoe out a few times next week. Denton Creek is my first choice and West of 377 is nicer than East of 377, but I don't know if there's enough water West of 377. Last year I fished exclusively East of 377 and the water level at 377 looked about the same as last year over the weekend. So just how low is the water West of 377? Is there even any water in the small sections with rapids? I guess I should also ask if you caught anything.

any shad or forage fish? you paint a grim picture thus far, my speculation would be that this is chemical related. you should contact txpwd ASAP so they can investigate.

Ok guys,

I contacted TXPWD, and they are passing on the info to their biologists. Hopefully they can figure out what's going on before it affects the main lake. By the way, their hotline # is 512-389-4848. (Just in case you guys ever run across something similar.)

Brazos-- to your question-- No, I didn't see any shad.

Fishhead-- I didn't catch anything. The water is pretty low; about the same as last year. The small sections with "rapids" look like they have 3-4 inches of water. I imagine you'll be dragging the canoe over several shallow spots.

This doesn't sound good. Carp are generally less affected by chemicals, low oxygen, algae, water temperature, etc. then any other fish. They are usually the last to die. If you saw that many dead carp the other fish may have already died off.

Kevin

No kidding, K. Carp are usually one of the hardiest, toughest fish in our waters. If there are only dead carp, everything else may have already died, or it may be something unusual that affects carp first, or only carp.

Whatever it is, good call on contacting the biologists. They need to check it out and investigate and see if there is a problem or not, and if so, if they can stop it.

Hate to hear of 20-30lb carp dying. Grapevine is definitely not one of the overpopulated lakes, though losing a good portion of the carp under 10lbs would probably benefit it.

But losing fish over 20, who are probably 20-25 old years and occupy an important section of the food chain in that lake, won't do anything but make it easier for the smaller carp to populate even faster. Bummer.

Anyway thanks for the report and glad you called TPWD!