Has Moss / Aquatic Vegetation Gotten Worse Over Your Lifetime?

[livemusic]

I recently am getting back into fishing after fishing a lot back in the 60s - 80s, my youth. Now, I notice horrific problems with aquatic vegetation. Making some places unbearable that were fine back when. I am thinking this is just a natural thing going on with man-made reservoirs. Eutrophication I guess it is. I suppose building lakes is a modern thing, generally less than 100 years old. The wildlife people try this and that on the more popular lakes. Drawdowns, chemicals, etc. But I note that the small reservoirs I fish are just not much fun. Some due to coontail or hydrilla or giant salvinia but some not due to the larger vegetation but with all of the nuisance slimy moss / algae. I wish there were a solution.

 

We had one medium size lake around here get a total do-over a couple years ago. I am going to go out there and see how it has fared.

 

I wonder if a man-made lake just have to get a do-over every 50 years or so to stay healthy and fishable?

 

Have you found this to be around your location?

[curtis9]

SC is pretty active in controlling grass in our lakes with carp.

[F14A-B]

State of Florida drew down Rodman & ran D8 Caterpillar's in & thru it to clean it out.. (80's)

So yes, it does indeed happen, to what extent it is dealt with or whether it is or not, is decided by state agencies. Tougher winters keep a lot of weed growth in check.. Further south, into the Deep South other measures have to be taken as you mention. Fish happen to enjoy hydrilla just fine, it's the fisherman & boaters that frown on it, at least many do.. It sure can choke a lake out though.. Lake Monroe in Indiana was a very good bass lake, till the state embraced a eradication program to deal with Lily pads.. Lake has never been the same.

[tin boat]

One lake I fished as a kid has vegitation problems to the point you can't launch by late June/early July.

[gulfcaptain]

The best bass fishing places I fish have nice weed beds.  Once I learned to fish the grass it made for a much higher catch/size difference.  I think they do more damage trying to manually and cemically reduce it causing  worse issues such as green hair algae which is worse then the grass or weeds that were there to start with.  Some people seem to have a bigger issue with it not looking "pretty" and clean because they think aquatic growth is ugly.

[Scott F]

In urban areas, the communities demand for lush, green lawns means a lot of fertilizer is used and the runoff pours these nutrients into our lakes and rivers causing explosions of weed and algae growth. Hard to convince the homeowners that a deep green lawn is not good for the environment.

[the reel ess]

In urban areas, the communities demand for lush, green lawns means a lot of fertilizer is used and the runoff pours these nutrients into our lakes and rivers causing explosions of weed and algae growth. Hard to convince the homeowners that a deep green lawn is not good for the environment.

It's not even required for happiness. Take my lawn for instance.

 

I know a couple (friends of mine) who own a small pond that is choked. They bought some sterile grass carp, which helped the grass, but this hasn't helped the moss. The moss has attracted snails. The snails host a parasite (yellow grub) that infects the fish. You can still eat them, but who would knowingly? The fix for the snails and to break the life cycle of the parasite is to stock shellcrackers (red-eared sunfish) to kill all the snails... It's an expensive cycle.

[RoLo]

Aquatic Vegetation Poll:

Fish:                   Yay

Landowner's:     Nay

 

Roger

[lectricbassman]

In urban areas, the communities demand for lush, green lawns means a lot of fertilizer is used and the runoff pours these nutrients into our lakes and rivers causing explosions of weed and algae growth. Hard to convince the homeowners that a deep green lawn is not good for the environment.

This^

[gulfcaptain]

Years in the aquarium business, here's a fact......Moss/algae grows in absence of plants.  I have heavy planted fish tanks which have ZERO algae/moss issues as the plants use up the resources and starve out the algae/moss.  The stringy green moss is an algae and not a plant, slimmy algae, well that's a bacteria. Removing the plants out of the system opens it up to these problems which then get worse as they try to figure out how to control it when it was naturally being controlled by the very plants they removed.  Yep some are book smart, but dumb as a brick when it comes to real world experience. When I was small, ponds had weeds in them, they were a pain to fish because I knew nothing about it.  But the waters were clean, the fish stock healthy, and there was no green stringy algae and a resident duck population.  30+ years later, concrete around the pond, maybe a dozen ducks call it home year round, issues with algae although they didn't treat it last year and the grass came cleaning the water and so far this year the algae is not an issue.  The ponds where they try to control plant growth with copper sulfate, hairy green algae, fish die offs, off colored water instead of healthy plant growth, clean water, and hence a healthy system.  Bottom line, if you remove the plant growth you open the door for more issues which then cause more problems.  I can understand trying to control/trim sections and keep it in check, but trying to remove ALL of it is costly and just causes more issues which then are even harder to control when nature does it all by itself.

[Bankbeater]

Around here it depends on the lake.  Some of them are choked with vegetation, and some of them are bare.  In some of the more empty lakes, the DNR has begun planting plots of vegetation.

[Senko lover]

Back in the day...............*oh wait* this is my day! No, it hasn't.

[Matthew2000]

Aquatic Vegetation Poll:

Fish:                   Yay

Landowner's:     Nay

 

Roger

I'm digging that jacket RoLo.

[RoLo]

I'm digging that jacket RoLo

 

Ahh..you're just saying that 

 

Let me explain: it was a cold morning in Canada,

the jacket was shed that afternoon and the insulated vest took it's place.

 

Roger

[Matthew2000]

Ah, you're just saying that 

 

Let me explain: it was a cold morning in Canada,

the jacket was shed that afternoon and the insulated vest took it's place.

 

Roger

Well the fish make up for it.

[basshole8190]

I wish my favorite lake had more grass

[blackmax135]

A small state park lake down from my house has had some excellent fishing in the past but the grass seems to be growing to fast and taking over more of the lake than the DNR folks want.  So about 4 years ago they started spraying it once a year now they have started spraying it twice a year.  The grass was the main structure the fish used in this lake because there is not much more for them to hide in.  I have noticed an extreme difference in the amount of fish I catch and I fish the lake way more that I used to.  I feel like its not good for the fish.  You know what the sad part is? There is one tournament put on out there every year and every time they decide to spray it.  Its done either on the day of the tournament or the day before.  Ridiculous!!!  I understand they need to keep control of the vegetation.  But they need to think of others.  also they whold area smells like sewage a few days after they spray.

[WRB]

With man freely moving about the planet and introducing plants and animals from all corners of the world exotic aquatic plants and fish, some very invasive, have changed our bass fisheries. Lots of mistakes have been made and some positive plants and animal species, including fish, have been introduced during my lifetime.

Brown trout and Peacock bass are good exotic fish. All the bass in California have been transplanted from northern or southern regions of the USA. Zebra-Quagga mussels came from the Baltic sea area, various specie of carp, snakeheads etc from Asia are not good.

Most of the aquatic invasive plants came from people letting go thier tropical fish into lakes,the Asian aquatic plants dumped into the water with the pet fish.

Golden alga first appeared in Texas in the 1980's, reached California in 2014 killing the trophy bassfishery in Mission Viejo lake, that isn't good. Quagga mussels reached SoCal in 2004 from the Great Lakes via boats with trailers, this has impacted our ability to fish different regional lakes, our boats are locked to a specific lake and must go up to a 30 day quarantine procedure to fish a different, not good.

Tom

[the reel ess]

I wish my favorite lake had more grass

I grew up on a SC lake that had no vegetation. Hydrilla was introduced, but it never took over because the water is stained and they drawdown in winter. I used to wish the same, but fishing was pretty good. Now I fish a reservoir that is loaded with grass & moss. You can't use anything Texas rigged because it's buried in grass or moss. You can't use a crank that's designed to dig a certain depth. You only have the top or middle of the water column.And since it's all over, you can't just go to the grass to look for the fish. But you adapt.

[Dogmatic]

In urban areas, the communities demand for lush, green lawns means a lot of fertilizer is used and the runoff pours these nutrients into our lakes and rivers causing explosions of weed and algae growth. Hard to convince the homeowners that a deep green lawn is not good for the environment.

Don't forget farming, increase in development, and the general increase in the use of chemicals in our society that continue to pollute our waterways. BUT, we must never forget that bodies of water go through a "natural" process, that eventually ends in their disappearance.

[J Francho]

I've found it's gotten worse, in the form of less weeds, or the wrong types. Water has gotten much greener too.

[Nice_Bass]

Don't forget farming, increase in development, and the general increase in the use of chemicals in our society that continue to pollute our waterways. BUT, we must never forget that bodies of water go through a "natural" process, that eventually ends in their disappearance.

While farming does have a large share of the blame- increases in tech and application has been helping albeit not quickly.  Recently, there are plans being put out by the EPA, IEPA in Illinois called the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy to help alleviate the run off problems.  Really came into play along with other states due the hypoxia zone all the way down in the gulf of Mexico.  Watersheds are vast. 

Anyhow, at a smaller scale, you can see it here in some of our lakes very quickly nonetheless. 

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

 

What Francho said.

 

As some here know, I was away from fishing for about 10 years or so prior to last year.  When I came back, I was overwhelmed by how much things had changed.

 

The lake I'd fished as a kid for bluegill overgrew with moss, and not knowing how to fish it (never heard of a frog then) I sort of gave up on that lake.

 

When I came back last year, the moss was mostly gone and replaced with weeds of various sorts.  Knowing what I know now, I wish that topwater moss was still around.

 

As is, I'm getting a special thrill out of doing with modern lines and tackle what I couldn't do with it back in the '80s and '90s.  For example, cover isn't nearly the obstacle it used to be and I catch most of my bass in deep cover I'd never have thought of tackling with my previous setups!

 

But yes, the water is much greener and more fertile.  The bass I catch are extremely healthy and well-fed.  I don't recall a time when I've seen a healthier population of fish critters.

 

The downside is that these changes have made the fish move, so the tree (still there!) that used to produce large panfish no longer holds much of anything I can find.  I'm having to re-pattern the whole lake.  I plan to have my boat going this year and take some soundings again.  (Nobody I've found has bothered with this small lake).

 

I look forward to seeing you post.  I'm sure the changes in fishing techniques and equipment will surprise you as well.

 

By the way, just a small secret:  Some of the lures and techniques we used to use "back in the day" are working very well again, better than some modern stuff.  It's because these new generations of bass haven't seen them before!

 

Regards,

 

Josh

[the reel ess]

The downside is that these changes have made the fish move, so the tree (still there!) that used to produce large panfish no longer holds much of anything I can find.  I'm having to re-pattern the whole lake.  I plan to have my boat going this year and take some soundings again.  (Nobody I've found has bothered with this small lake).

 

Josh

 

I notice this too. There are three docks and a few blowdowns where I mostly fish and there are almost never fish on them. They hunker in the mossy bottom until they feel like chasing bait. The fish don't get concentrated like they would on a barren lake with wood cover.

[scaleface]

The lake I fish most has no vegetation because of grass carp.  I catch just as many fish , just had to change my approach .