KINGSTON TOWNSHIP -- Folks at a state park in Luzerne County are finding something "fishy" about the water there.
A large number of fish were found dead at the lake at Frances Slocum over Memorial Day weekend.
It was a busy day on the lake at Frances Slocum State Park in Luzerne County Wednesday with plenty of anglers looking to hook a fish.
“I haven't really fished over here recently so I'm not sure how the fish are biting these days,” said Tyler Freas from Kingston.
But unfortunately, there are fewer fish in the water to catch.
Over Memorial Day weekend, several dead fish were found floating in the lake.
“We were just out kayaking and then in one part there just like a murky area where there was just dead fish everywhere, like catfish this big, even some smallmouth bass, just all over the place,” said Cameron Ianniccari of Pittston.
Freas was at the lake on Memoria Day and spotted a few.
“Just at the boat launch, we saw a couple crappy washed up on shore. It was maybe like four. They were very small,” said Freas.
The Fish and Boat Commission said it looked into the die-off of fish and it found no pollution in the water, saying the fish died due to natural factors.
“It didn't seem like pollution to me. It seems like the water's really clean. We were in and around the whole lake here and it was fairly clean,” said Freas.
The commission says there could be any number of reasons why the fish died; from the sudden increase in temperature to the fact that fish are spawning, which takes up a lot of energy, weakening the fish.
People enjoying the lake say they didn't think anything suspicious happened.
“I just noticed them in the water, I thought people were just throwing them back in from catching them on the shore, but was not concerned at all,” said Andy Wally from Scranton.
While the dead fish aren't cause for concern, the smell left behind is, well, a little fishy.
“Yeah, every once in a while, you get a whiff,” laughed Diane Marcinkevich from Scranton.
The Fish and Boat Commission says it is common for a large number of fish to die-off at the same time, saying it happens every year due to natural reasons.
