If you’ve seen a lot of dead fish washing up on the beach at Steamboat Park in Pierre, most of them are lake herring.
A spokesman for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks says with the high flows coming out of the Oahe Dam, fish are being sucked through the intake tubes. Lake herring are a cold water species and hang out in deep water. He says this time of year, they like the depths that are about exactly where the intakes are on Lake Oahe. Those that survive going through the tubes will typically stay near the dam area.
Photo credit: Katie Fulcher
