Officials from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency are probing the mysterious death of about 300 channel catfish along 32 miles of shoreline in the Chickamauga Reservoir.
State biologists responded to several calls concerning dead catfish on Chickamauga Lake this week, according to a news release from the agency, issued Friday. After covering 32 miles of shoreline, from the lower part of the reservoir to the dam, biologists found approximately 300 dead channel catfish, according to the news release. The fish averaged just over a pound in size, with the largest concentration of fish found near Chickamauga Dam.
“This sounds like a large number, but in the biological world, it isn’t. There are several clues that allow us to know this incident is not due to chemicals, bacteria or a virus,” state aquatic habitat protection biologist Bobby Brown said Friday in the news release.
Because there was a single species — channel catfish — of similar size, agency biologists believe this was a solitary occurrence. If chemicals, a virus or bacteria were the cause, there would be multiple ages and species of fish. 
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency / A dead channel catfish floats on the water’s surface. The fish is one of about 300 found during the first week of May on about 32 miles of shoreline on Chickamauga Lake, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
All catfish died at the same time, and the fish had good body composition, with no obvious signs of disease or trauma. Due to the stage of decomposition, samples could not be taken to determine the cause of death.