Vegetation Identification

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

I’m hoping someone can help me out in identifying this grass. I live in the New Orleans area and it’s prominent in most areas I fish around the Louisiana Delta. I’ve looked at tons of pics of different species online, but I can’t figure out the exact one. I was thinking it is either coontail or milfoil, but I could definitely be wrong lol. Thank is advance for the help! 

[MickD]

I think it is coontail.  Both plants you suggest have segmented stems, and the "whorls" grow out of the segment joints.  But the whorls of the milfoil have only one strand or a strand that divides into a fork.  Coontails have a stem growing out of the segment that has many strands growing out of it.

 

I could be wrong, but that is what I have concluded.  

[BayouSlide]

Looks like coontail, all the "leaves" are the same length vs. milfoil, "leaves" are varied lengths.

[PressuredFishing]

32 minutes ago, Big_Easy_Bassin said:

I’m hoping someone can help me out in identifying this grass. I live in the New Orleans area and it’s prominent in most areas I fish around the Louisiana Delta. I’ve looked at tons of pics of different species online, but I can’t figure out the exact one. I was thinking it is either coontail or milfoil, but I could definitely be wrong lol. Thank is advance for the help! 

we mostly got milfoil, but looks to me like coontail as well, but im not a bioligist so maybe someone else knows

[Big Rick]

We've always called it coontail and it is a bass magnet! I've caught a ton of fish out of that stuff! We had an invasion of giant pennywort and the process of killing it back also killed the coontail. That was several years ago and the coontail still hasn't returned. 

[Team9nine]

Regional names aside, looks like milfoil to me from those pics…

[Big_Easy_Bassin]

Based on all the research I’ve done, I think it’s coontail as well. I feel like coontail and milfoil are extremely similar when it comes to grass as “structure” or “cover”. It could also be a mixture of the two in some places. I know both are known to be found in the delta. I’ve just been curious about the exact species. ??‍♂️

7 hours ago, Big Rick said:

We've always called it coontail and it is a bass magnet! I've caught a ton of fish out of that stuff! We had an invasion of giant pennywort and the process of killing it back also killed the coontail. That was several years ago and the coontail still hasn't returned. 

That’s what I have always called it as well. But I’ve heard a ton of people say they’re fishing milfoil. Even a few times I’ve heard hydrilla… I didn’t even know there was hydrilla in this area. 

[BayouSlide]

The September/October 2021 issue of Bassmaster has an excellent illustrated calendar of which months to fish the grasses, with useful illustrations of coontail, milfoil, hydrilla and peppergrass which clearly help delineate the four.

[Mike L]

The “leaves” of Coontail looks more like the branches of a Scotch Pine Christmas tree, kinda fluffed. 

 Milfoil more like a Frazier Fir. 
Thinner and more spread out. 
 

 

 

 

Mike
 

[Catt]

14 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Regional names aside, looks like milfoil to me from those pics…

 

Eurasian watermilfoil 

 

 

[Team9nine]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

 

Eurasian watermilfoil 

 

 

Another way to tell that’s it’s likely milfoil from the pics is that milfoil is soft and will fold on itself out of water like in his picture. If you look at @Catt picture of coontail which is shown out of the water, you can see the “leaves” retain their stiffness and form. This is because coontail has a much higher concentration of Calcium and Magnesium. Milfoil out of water is more like a piece of cooked spaghetti.