MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Toni McAllister, LakeElsinore-WildomarPatch – “Residents around Lake Elsinore are taking notice: Thousands of dead Shad fish are being spotted on the lake’s beaches this week.

Saturday, a Patch reader submitted the attached photos and expressed some concern about the dead fish.

‘I went fishing this morning back behind the abandoned boy’s military school off Grand and all along the shoreline for at least a mile there were thousands and thousands of dead Shad all over the place,’ Eric Ritchie said in an email.

Additionally, during a town hall meeting Wednesday night at Lakeland Village School, a resident voiced her concern about the lake’s odor caused by the die-off.

But Lake Elsinore Mayor Brian Tisdale told the audience assembled at the school this week that Shad are very sensitive fish that can easily succumb to sudden temperature change. He pointed to an earlier heat wave this month that was followed by a cool spell, and now more hot weather.

Tisdale said the aeration system in the lake hasn’t changed, and the Shad die-off is something to contend with when the weather causes abrupt temperature flux.

In April, Lake Elsinore had a similar Shad die-off. Then Interim City Manager Pat Kilroy said, ‘Shad are sensitive,’ and tend to be the first species hit when changes occur in the lake.” Source – LakeElsinore-Wildomar.Patch.com.