OUTDOORS NOTEBOOK

[Bassmaster-ND]

[size 5]Cats Incredible signup begins Tuesday
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Tuesday is the first day teams can submit their entries for this year's Cats Incredible Catfish Tournament.

According to Diane Blair, president of the East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce, organizers moved up the entry date a month at the request of many tournament anglers.

Applications dropped off in person or postmarked Tuesday will carry equal weight, Blair said. If the total number of entries submitted or postmarked Tuesday is less than 150, those teams will be in the tournament. If Tuesday's entries exceed 150, all of the applications go into a lottery.

That's what happened last year, Blair said, and the same scenario is likely this year. The top 15 teams from last year's Cats Incredible receive automatic berths this year, she said.

Blair said tournament organizers won't know for a couple of weeks whether the lottery will be necessary because they will have to wait for the postmarked entries to trickle in to the chamber office.

"If we have 149 teams" entered in person or postmarked Tuesday, "those 149 are in, and the next day goes into a lottery," Blair said.

This year's catfish tournament is July 31-Aug. 1, and the entry fee is $200 per two-person team. Info: [url "http://www.eastgrandforkschamber.com/"][#0000ff]www.eastgrandforkschamber.com[/#0000ff][/url].
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[PunkBass]

Hey

did you hear about the winterkill that is happening this year in North dakota. i heard it on the radio. they said that about 19 lakes have had a winterkill of fish because of the low water that we had this summer. thats the most since 1998. because in 1998 i think there were about 27 lakes with winter kill. And in like the 60's we had a winter kill of about over 60. just thought u might of wanted to know about that. I'm tryin to find out what lakes. still hant found out. the most winterkills were on lake in the south west or northwest because of all the snowdrifts that they had overthere.

thanks

Michael
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[Bassmaster-ND]

Hey PunkBass, I will get back to you when I find out the lakes that have had winter kill this year.

Here's some info in winter kill:
Winter fish kill occurs when the oxygencontent in a body of water falls below a
level fish need to survive. It is not an
uncommon occurrence in North Dakota,
and shallow lakes are typically the vic-
tims. Winterkill is often more widespread
in years when deep snow prevents sun-
light from penetrating lake ice, causing
aquatic vegetation to die and decompose,
a process that takes oxygen from the
water.Some fish species tolerate reduced oxy-gen levels better than others, so winter
fish kills come in varying degrees.
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[Bassmaster-ND]

Hey PunkBass, I emailed the game and fish and asked about if they knew anything about lakes that have had winter kill and they said this:

"Your inquiry about a winterkill fish list was received. We do keep tabs on lakes/reservoir where we’ve had calls of dead fish and/or where we’ve collected water chemistry data that would suggest we may have problems. However, this list is very informal and intended for internal follow up – meaning we will net most of these lakes after ice-out to determine the magnitude (if any) of winterkill. It is at that time we will provide a press release to the public informing them of winterkill lakes. Hopefully, with this break in the weather, we will see improvements and chances of winterkill will decrease dramatically. Thank you for your inquiry and concern."
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