It looks like a snake bite. I've seen the same thing on fish that have been bitten while still on the trotline. I had some catfish in a live basket this weekend and when I pulled the basket up the next morning there was a 3 1/2 foot snake hanging from the basket. He'd gotten his head stuck in the bottom of the basket and drowned. Just a water snake but scared the carp out of me when I pulled it over the side of the boat.

Well, we have a little more data, the neighbor talked to the folks at the local marina, and the only other catfisherman in the area that is a regular there told them that he has been fishing the northern part of Lake Livingston for 15 years, and he also lost a bunch of fish this weekend. That was also the first time he lost any fish in all of those years. I would say at this point that it is probably something in the water, but there is no telling what, and low oxygen saturation could certainly be it.

Keep any ideas coming! And thanks for all of the help so far!

Catfish Flu ?

I caught 6 in a row at T-WOK drifting and looked like all of them were eat up ringworms.

That's either 'Ich' a microbial condition or from them spawning around rocks, structure, concrete and gravel...common this time of year.

Well guys, I have some good news!

The ranger didn't seem to know much, so he wasn't of any help. We did however catch a 27 lb Flathead this last weekend, and a number of blues, kept them in the same container (after the neighbors tried mid-week without any trouble keeping them alive), and they all were fine after a couple of days!

My feeling is that this must have been some kind of microorganism that was in the river, either a result of the temperature or just something that was washing downstream, and that it has moved past where we are. We keep really good records of what we catch and where we catch them, water and air temperature, etc. and we have kept a record of this, so it will be interested to see if we have the same problem during similar conditions in years to come.

Thanks for all of the help, and (fingers crossed) hopefully it won't happen again!

Is/was there any elect. current running through the water at the time.

I doubt there was any electric current, there certainly were a lot of people water skiing, and I'm sure one of them would have protested getting in the water with electric current.

Breambuster had pointed out the possibililty of a microorganism called "Ich" and I looked that up, and it could have been the culprit. If not that one another one like it, as they all seem to attack with the fish are stressed out. I can't think of any more stressful environment then being put into a cage after being hooked through the mouth!