HOLLAND, Mich. — If you've been spending time near Lake Macatawa in Ottawa County in the warmer weather, you may have noticed a fishy problem.
Dead fish are piling up along the southeast end.
"It's nothing that's disastrous," said Brian Gunderman, who works for the Michigan DNR.
The problem caught the attention of people in the community so 13 ON YOUR SIDE decided to look into what was causing the problem.
"This is a pretty large scale fishkill," said Gunderman.
However, Gunderman said this issue of several hundred dead fish popping up isn't unheard of.
"We will have fishkill of this magnitude somewhere in southwest Michigan every year," said Gunderman.
He said the fish showing up in Lake Macatawa are mostly freshwater drum, also known as sheepshead. His team thinks they're likely dying from some kind of disease. Some were collected and are currently being tested at Michigan State University.
"We also had folks from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy that went out there. And they did not see any evidence of pollution or anything like that that was causing it," said Gunderman.
While fishkills of this scale do happen every year, Gunderman said this is a little early. While disease can be a cause, so can temperature.
No matter the reason, fishermen fear not, Gunderman said the fishing in Lake Macatawa is nowhere near over.
However, if you plan to fish in multiple lakes, he said, "make sure you properly disinfect your boat and all your gear before you, before you go so you don't spread it around."
DNR said they will not be cleaning up the fish, however, animals will take care of some of the mess.
13 ON YOUR SIDE will share updates when we learn what disease is causing the issue.
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