Major bass die-off following Potomac Tournament

[Bryan]

From Ken Penrod's Website:


Potomac River, tournament related bass kill: one hundred and fifty-eight boats (316 anglers), launching boats from Smallwood State Park on June 25 and 26 and left behind a conservatively estimated 1000 largemouth bass, floating in the river, a disgraceful and unforgivable result. Maryland Department of Natural Resources initially estimated the kill to be 100. I began to contact DNR on Tuesday, June 30 after receiving many telephone calls from concerned anglers. I asked for an immediate investigation and on Wednesday, July 1, a team of DNR employees searched the creek and by their count, some 600 dead bass were still in Mattawoman Creek. That’s four days (about seven tidal flushes) after the last day of the tournament. There is no way to estimate accurately how many bass died due to this event—but I firmly believe that “600” is just the tip of the iceberg. I have reliable reports from as far downriver as Arkindale Flats of huge amounts of dead bass days after the event.

Anyone got any ideas as to what may have caused this, or seen it for themselves?