Great Bend ? The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said several reports of dead fish at a Great Bend veterans park were the result of people catching small fish and releasing them, and not because of anything wrong with the water.

Complaints last week prompted the department to investigate the lake and test the water.

KDHE spokesman Mike Heideman said pH levels, dissolved oxygen and the temperature of the lake were all in the normal range at Veterans Lake.

The study concluded that the number of people fishing over the recent Memorial Day weekend likely resulted in increased dead fish sightings because some of the fish didn’t survive being caught and then freed back into the water.

KDHE consulted with a fisheries biologist on the Kansas Wildlife and Parks staff in Dodge City, and Heideman said staff members of both agencies “were on the same page” about the water and the fish.

On Thursday, two KDHE staff members from the Hays office went to the lake and talked to the park manager, who said there had been a large number of people fishing over the holiday.

“Our conclusion was that the dead fish were due to the catching and releasing of the small fish when they were caught,” Heideman said.

“They sometimes don’t come out of that,” said Terry Hoff, Great Bend’s human resources director who also is head of the parks department.

Heideman said KDHE’s review noted that most of the dead fish were either shad or very small catfish. KDHE has not received any reports this year of a large fish kill at the 13-acre lake.

On Friday, Great Bend resident Billy Goodman caught a sizable trout and catfish that he planned to clean and eat. He said he had seen only a few dead fish floating while he was out on the lake.