Two fishermen tied off on the cable below Fort Gibson Dam on Thursday and noticed several dead fish floating by their boat.

Luther Trammell of Fort Gibson said he and his friend noticed about 75 to 100 dead striped bass against the base of the dam.

They estimate two fish they closely examined at 15 or 16 pounds, he said.

“It was kind of a shame for that to happen,” Trammell said. “They’re a very fun fish to catch, and they’re pretty good eating too.”

The two men went to the Mr. Crappie Bait and Tackle shop one mile south of the spillway and told owner Larry Fulton.

“They told me it looked like there were a bunch of stripers dead up under the base of the gate,” Fulton said. “Luther (Trammell) tried to contact different agencies and departments about the situation.”

Trammel’s messages got through to the Oklahoma Wildlife Department and Regional Fishery Supervisor Jim Burroughs headed out to take a look.

“Ninety-nine percent of the dead fish are stripers, or striped bass. I’d guess most are in the three- or four-pound range,” Burroughs said. “There looks to be 60 to 70 of them that I could count.”

When the Wildlife Department receives a call about a fish kill, they send someone out to investigate and frequently check dissolved oxygen levels first, he said.

“Most fish kills like this are due to dissolved oxygen levels,” Burroughs said. “With the excessive temperatures this summer, it’s been hard on the fish.”

Fulton, an avid fisherman himself, said his experience with striped bass points to low oxygen levels too.

“They’re temperamental fish. They can’t stay out of water for very long without dying,” Fulton said. “Stripers need a lot of oxygen and good water flow and they stress easily.”

Natural Resource Specialist with the Corps of Engineers, Jeff Seward, said stilling basins at the base of the dam catch the water that is spilled out to calm it before it goes down the river to prevent erosion to the river bottom.

Sometimes fish get trapped in the basins.

“When our generators are powered up, the water gets higher than the basin walls,” Seward said.

Whenever the generators are shut down, the level lowers and fish get caught inside the spilling basins.

“It’s like they’re trapped in an aquarium,” Seward said.

Between the lack of oxygenation in the basins when the sluice gates were closed, and the high temperatures overnight, the fish died quickly, Burroughs said.

The dam was not generating power overnight and the sluice gates were not open until morning.

The Corps has already increased the water flow through the sluice gate tubes and the Wildlife Dept. has checked the dissolved oxygen levels — which are high enough now, Burroughs said.

“The Corps of Engineers has been very good about working with us in the past,” he said. “They’re aware of the problem and doing what they can to prevent it from happening in the future.”

Reach Wendy Burton at 684-2926 or wburton @muskogeephoenix.com.