A SALE woman walking at Sale Common Nature Conservation Reserve on Monday has reported seeing dozens of dead fish and eels and an oily-looking substance in the water.
Louise Bates said she was walking from the Longford trail entrance towards the Swing Bridge when she saw the dead fish and eels.
A Parks Victoria spokesperson said a team had been responding to the fish deaths since last week.
She said incidents like this were generally a result of drying water bodies and low dissolved oxygen levels, and the current drying cycle and warm weather was driving the fish deaths.
Whatever the cause of the deaths and what appears to be areas of algae, one thing is certain.
Walkers using the area will need to hold their noses to avoid the stench of rotting fish and eel.
