weed kills

[RobDar]

PART ONE:

Any of you have DNR doing weed kills on lakes near you?

It seems everytime I turn around Indiana DNR has done a weed kill right where I want to fish! LOL!

They say it does not hurt the fish..and I believe them...otherwise I think I would see a bunch of dead fish everytime they do a kill...but it sure screws up the fishing.

How long does it take for the fish to accomidate?

How long does that stuff stay in the water?

how long till the fishing goes back to "normal"?

PART TWO:

I fully appreciate the problem with invasive species. I fact, my garden is all native species plants...stuff that grew here before the white man came...none of that european hybrid decorative stuff around here...BUT...

I am not sure that I feel invasive plant life in lakes as much of a problem as invasive fish and mollusks. DNR says it is because the invasive weed species provide specific habitat for some invasive species of fish etc so the weed kills are kind of a " full spectrum" control..kill the habitat and reduce the invasive fish etc.

but aren't they fighting a loosing battle. Most populous of both fish and weeds are brought in by birds and deposited in their waste...so how is killing off ALL the weed cover in a lake helpful?

as long as there are birds...unmanaged ponds and lakes all over packed full of invasive species plants and fish...Home Depot keeps selling invasive plant species like Loosestrife and certian breeds of Lillies to people for their fish ponds...

next year the whole process will have to start all over again.

I feel like our lakes and rivers would be better served by concentrating monies spent on increasing native species and native species habitat...perhaps regulation of the introduction of invasive species ( at places like home depot and landscape centers)...you know, concentrate on increasing the good and stop spending tons of money on controlling the bad...

start more stocking programs of native species...that kind of thing.

[Guest avid]

My lake gets sprayed.

It doesn't harm the fish, but they don't like it.

If an area has recently been sprayed, fish somewhere else.

It's hard to say how long it lasts.  Rain, wind, etc, will impact that.

[Shad_Master]

My home lake has had a reputation for having heavy weeds throughout the season and the fishing has been tremendous.  This year they sprayed the lake all around the bank to accommodate the bank fishermen.  However, now we have this slimy crap all along the edge and the fish have pulled out to deeper water and are holding in the channels away from the bank .

Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it.

[senile1]

It all depends on the characteristics of the lake being sprayed.  Smithville Lake near Kansas City was sprayed for Eurasian watermilfoil back in the 90s and they killed all of it.  The milfoil was used by bass fingerlings to hide from predators.  Once the milfoil was gone the bass population plummeted.  Fishing was poor for a few years until more vegetation was planted.  The lake still hasn't recovered to its previous level.  That's not to say that the disappearance of the milfoil was the only problem but it was a big contributor.  

[RobDar]

...see...I wonder if there is really much value in the control efforts. I can understand areas where the waterway may close up from the weeds. I am going to have to do some research now. There must be some other impacts that arent common knowledge.

[RoLo]

Spraying may not have an immediate affect on the health of fish, but as Senile1 pointed out,

it may eventually cause a profound negative impact on the bass fishery.

Even spontaneous weed-kills emanating from natural sources like drought, hurricanes and water spouts,

can do tremendous damage to a bass fishery.

Prior to the hurricane-trio of 2004, my home lake was Number-1 in the state of Florida based on the FWC Big-Catch program.

Now it's 3 years later, and many lakes in Polk County, Florida are only shadows of their former selves.

In my area alone, I know of boat dealers, professional guides and tackle shops that have gone belly-up due to the loss of hydrilla.

On the upside, the vegetation will eventually come back on all the lakes, and as often the case, even better than it was before.

Roger