Investigators Look Into Dead Fish Found Near Deep Fork River In Lincoln Co.

Levi Knight has lived near the Deep Fork River in Lincoln County since 1989 and he said he’s been fishing there almost just as long.

“Summertime, three, four times a week we eat the fish out of her,” he said.

But the tides are turning for Knight and other longtime residents like Tommy Jones.

“They couldn’t pay me to come fishing out here now. I used to fish here all the time,” Jones said.

Knight said he noticed the problem last Friday; hundreds of dead fish floating in the river near him.

Officials with the state Department of Wildlife say they found nutrient overloads upriver near Arcadia.

All that led to algae blooms, which in turn robbed many fish of oxygen.

While officers with the wildlife department are investigating, Knight is also looking for someone to be held responsible

“Make a full grown man want to cry when your passion is hunting and fishing, and then see this,” Knight said.

Wildlife investigators have not found any chemicals in the fish and say they don't appear to be poisoned.

Leaders in the Department of Environmental Quality say researchers took water samples from the area and found high levels of dissolved oxygen.

Researchers say further results can be expected later this week.