"We don't seem to have been impacted by the kill below Scottsville and probably even up to Bent Creek," Michaelson said. "I haven't heard many fishing reports, but what I have heard is that anglers are reporting good catches of fish to 12 inches with some larger fish starting to show up in their catch."

The Shenandoah Watershed largely escaped fish kills in 2008. Herschel Finch, conservation chairman for the Potomac River Smallmouth Club (PRSC), believes a logical reason exists for this reprieve.

"I think that's mostly contributable to the cool, damp spring we had," Finch said. "The gradual warm-up and regular rains helped the smallmouth immune systems to ramp up in a gradual manner prior to the spawn, and bass didn't have to try and fight off the viral and bacteria blooms we've seen the past few years when there were high temperature spikes and heavy runoffs.

"And I also know that the general levels of pathogens, viruses and bacteria (feared) to cause the fish problems are still present at lethal levels. But the moderate weather we had this spring helped to keep them in check somewhat. I have not seen or heard of any reports of many dead fish or fish with lesions anywhere on the Shenandoah. There have been some reports of fish with lesions in the Potomac around Knoxville Falls and just above Brunswick, but not in the numbers we have seen in past years."

Finch notes that the PRSC has a "go team" in place where club volunteers can take off work with a day's notice and conduct scouting and data-gathering forays on the Potomac and Shenandoah if a fish kill event occurs. They would assist Jeff Kelble and Ed Merrifield, Shenandoah and Potomac riverkeepers, respectively.

As Finch notes, the situation on the Shenandoah is better. VDGIF biologist Steve Reeser said that a light smallmouth kill took place in the spring of 2008 on the upper reaches of the North and South forks of the Shenandoah and signs of stress were noted in the form of lesions. The odd redbreast sunfish and occasional sucker also perished. As readers recall, considerable numbers of smallmouths and other game fish have been dying on the Shenandoah and Potomac watersheds in Virginia and West Virginia since 2002, especially in 2005.

Interestingly, during those fish kill events, recruitment of young smallmouths has been outstanding informs VDGIF biologist Steve Reeser.

"What we're seeing on the James and Shenandoah is a shift in the size structure," he said. "The numbers of bigger bass are going down, although quality fish do exist. There are lots of 1- to 2-year-old smallmouths, especially on the Shenandoah."

Just when there's some good news regarding the fish kill situation, however, harsh reality seems to strike.

"Most disappointing was to hear the Cowpasture and Jackson rivers (which come together to form the James) are now showing the same problems we have on the Shenandoah and the Upper James," continued Finch. "The rivers we're now most concerned with are the Rappahannock and Rapidan.