A striped bass is actually seen swimming upside down…its equilibrium is all out of wack…and it’s dying. It’s not alone.

“But stripers are just real sensitive to the environment..when oxygen and temps are not right, they just die,” said boater Brant Ratliff of Frankfort, one of many sportsmen out on Lake Cumberland for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Striped bass are dying in Lake Cumberland because the hot summer weather has lowered the lake’s oxygen levels. The lower lake level because of ongoing work to plug a leak at Wolf Creek Dam is also putting stress on fish. Ratliff quickly noticed the problem early this morning.

“When we actually got in the water and got out, there were dead stripers floating all over the place, the banks are littered with them, all up and down the main channel,” he said.

Lost of dead fish have brought out lots of buzzards. But boaters could have a banner holiday weekend as well. That’s because sportsmen are allowed to take more fish out of the lake. Usually they are only allowed 2 stripers and now they’re allowed up to 5.

Some fish struggle their way to the surface and can’t get back down, and Ratliff says it’s better to just go ahead and grab them..essentially putting them out of their misery.

“If people knew about it, they ought to just do away with the size limit all together for the hand grab fish. I mean they’re dying anyway, the only ones to benefit form it is the buzzards,” Ratliff said.

Officials say as of now, the conditions only seem to be affecting striped bass and some walleye. Warm-weather fish like bluegill or crappie are not affected.