kind of weird, wonder the cause

[TRIGGER]

I saw a catfish that looked like that on Nickajack last weekend. It was alive but barely. Looked like it's skin way rotting in big places

 

[killingtime 41]

Yea I'm definitely thinking someone tossed in their "catfish pond" stuff. It was about 5-6 years ago that we had a drought and one of my uncle's ponds was just for channel cats. Well with zero rain or wind to work the windmill aerator all the channel cats died. It was a nasty and smelly job and probably a couple hundred dead fish

The theory of them being dumped is a very plausible answer. Especially with them being all around the same size. As if someone was raising these fish in a catfish pond. As you normally have several staging ponds. And they are moved from pond to pond with size and age. If it were natural law kill off. Why wouldn't it have killed 10 pounders and all sizes. Not just mostly 1 pounders. Next question is there ant catfish farms or ponds right near the water. Was they're any flooding that might have swallowed the ponds close to the lake. It's either an intentional dump or accidental situation. Where somebody made ponds to close to the lake. That's my 10 cents on it.