Chickamauga Lake Catfish Deaths Likely Caused By Change In Water Temperatures

Biologists think they know why hundreds of channel catfish died in recent weeks on Chickamauga Lake.  Biologists with Habitat Protection and Fisheries say the catfish all died from a disease known as columnaris, or ‘saddle back disease.’ It is caused by a sudden change in the water temperatures.  The disease impacted only channel catfish and no other fish species seems to have been affected.  WTVC reports that more testing will be conducted to confirm the hypothesis.