Residents bury dead fish in Butts County - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Resident near a Butts County lake spent the holiday cleaning up the mess left by thousands of dead fish.

Low water levels and high temperatures caused many fish to surface and die along Lake Jackson.

"They came in here when the water was up.  Now they've laid their eggs, the fish are getting bigger and there's no way for them to get out to good water," said Jody Ledford.

The Ledford family was among many those digging holes to bury the fish.

"We started at 8 o'clock this morning and it's been a struggle in that mud ever since," said Jody Ledford.

Department of Natural Resources officials had said that they would let Mother Nature take over.

"Waterbirds...raccoons and other animals that eat fish are much more efficient at it than we are at cleaning this up," said Keith Weaver of DNR.

But instead of waiting, neighbors took matters, and shovels into their own hands.

The Ledfords say the smell continued to go down after each fish grave was covered by dirt.

The hope is that this was a first step to make the lake worth visiting again.

"We've scooped turtles out, big bass, carp, brim, catfish.  It will never straighten itself up till some of that gets out of the cove," said Ledford.

DNR officials say they've gotten reports of fish kills all over the state as lake levels remain low and temperatures remain in the 90s.